On the Eleventh Day of Christmas

Merry Christmas, Old Fashioned Town Art Print
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My boys got tickled at this conversation in The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The last of the kerosene in the lamp had been sucked up the wick and burned out, and Ma was wishing she could contrive a light:

"We didn't lack for light when I was a girl, before this newfangled kerosene was ever heard of."

"That's so," said Pa. "These times are too progressive. Everything has changed too fast. Railroads and telegraph and kerosene and coal stoves- they're good things to have but the trouble is, folks get to depend on 'em."

The same could be said today, for if the electricity goes out, we are in an awful way. Even those with well water cannot pump it up manually, unless they have a special adapter and hand pump. The amusing thing was, that these pioneers thought the same thing back then about their lives, only we would look back and call them self sufficient! This is the part in the series where Ma makes a little lamp out of a button, scrap of cloth, and grease. 

My projects today were the last of my gifts.


This wall hanging is reversible, so one side can be displayed at Christmas and one side in the spring. I used the border to keep it all together. The top border is actually a pocket, to put the rod through. Do not ask me how I figured out how to do this, it was mostly the "Oh no! I made another mistake!" method. The wall hanging is interfaced with lightweight fusible interfacing, but not quilted. I am not well practiced at quilting. I used the buttons to anchor a few spots, and machine stitched around the border. This one took me all day. 

My late night project was to make an album for a cousin. It took me about an hour, because I had to decide which photos to put in, etc.  I glued photos on colored card stock, and I used the eyelet took I had to make holes in the top of each photo "page". Then I tied it all together with ribbon.


This has been my handy dandy sewing and crafting tool: my very large upholstery needles!

They are great for those times when you need ribbon or yarn to go through something, and also I am afraid that when I am in a hurry, I do not go hunting for my seam ripper, but just grab this needle and pull out a few stitches to clip. I also use it for helping fabric go under the presser foot, and it is handy for finding the lost thread in my sewing machine...  I am always reaching for these needles!