Life's little things

Do you have those days when it seems that you haven't accomplished much, but a look back makes a few small discoveries?

I've had weeks of those kinds of days. I really felt that I had not accomplished anything of worth lately. Then I drove Richard's mom to a wake. As we were talking, I mentioned my feelings of wasted time, and she began a list my recent doings.

She and my father-in-law belong at the top of the list. I don't do enough for them, but I do try to help. They truly enjoy when I  visit, but even just a few in a week eats into four or five hours. Let's just say I'm a good conversationalist. Plus I have experience with dementia patients. And they are good people.  

She reminded me of the little dresses and outfits I've made for Milly and the 7-8 year olds. Marley, Caki and Soph have gotten only a few pairs of shorts, but I've also altered a few uniforms for grandchildren so everyone could start the school year off.


Hmm, she reminded me that I'm the lone member on the church directory "committee." It's not a difficult job, but it takes time and only one person can put all the information and photos into the directory. And other committees are slowing me down since I have to wait for their info and photos. These two photos came along quite recently. The one on the right below is a painting of the church by a local art teacher, Mrs. V. McNutt, who has been deceased for several years. 




Then there's a quilt guild that requires about three days of each month. Not much, grant it, but still there go three days.

And in case I don't have enough going on, there are grandie duties--babysitting, taxi services, general pop-ins, plus family time, meals and the happy news of little ones on the way. 

In the studio there are some things happening: I've finished another quilt in my bipolar series and begun a fourth. I'm sewing lots of tee shirts for my friend Leta. Uh, 75ish so far and still another 50ish to go. 

Then that idea of cleaning the studio got started. What came over me? I haven't a clue, but I've made a huge mess--really huge--and pop! Nothing happening for weeks now. 

Except that Richard helped build a new design wall. The old one was a mess, dirty and ugly, so we pulled it down. He also built a cabinet with cubbies for fat quarters and small cuts. I folded for days!

We concocted this design wall using flannel and a tablecloth. I'm hoping the lines on the flannel will help me to keep blocks in relatively straight row/column lines. I make lines that slant higher and higher as I move to the right. I need level lines to follow. 

The flannel was in my mom's stash and I knew immediately what it was meant for. Now the wall is about 90" square. A good queen size. I may add numbers to the blocks on the flannel for easy measuring.

Since there are so many things happening, I have a plan to finish some of these starts: 

1. Tee-shirts go out this weekend. Boom! top of the list. 
2. My self-imposed deadline for the church directory is the 30th. (No more waiting...get the stuff to me or don't.) That book is going!
3. The alterations and repairs have been shut down for a while now that everyone is back in school. On hold till the Christmas holiday rush.
4. The guild meetings happen when they happen, and get done at the last minute. That's just how it is.
5. The cleaning mess will annoy me until that day (not too far away) when I can't stand it. At that point nothing else will happen until I finish cleaning.
6. The in-laws are flexible and I can pop in at any time. So I'll just continue to do that two or three times a week. I sometimes bring handwork to do while I sit and visit, something I used to do when I'd sit with momma. My hands like to be busy.
7. I don't know. The rest will take care of itself. I'll get a quilt finished eventually and then I'll start cranking them out again. That's just how life's little things happen here. 

How do you handle life's little things? Do you plan or fly by the seat of your pants? Or do you do both badly, like I seem to do?