I Made a Turkey of a Turkey

I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.

 ~Thomas Edison

The above quote is quite fitting for how my day went yesterday.  But more on that later.  I'm a little better in the mood department today.  I think it helped that I had my normal Thursday out to lunch date.  And to even sweeten the lunch, my DH was able to join my BF and I.  We chatted, debated, and ate.  Great food and even better company.  Nothing can brighten a day like sharing a meal with your BFF (my DH) and my BF (Garry).  We made our Walmart/Costco run last night and it really wasn't bad.  The crowds were lighter than we expected and we made it home in good time.  So, all in all, yesterday was a pretty good day!

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PHOTO OF THE DAY

Eight Maids A Milking

The maids, of course, refer to the women who would milk the cows to obtain the milk. In times past, milking of cows or goats was typically a job for women. However, the term maid is also the shortened form of maiden which is a young, unmarried, woman. By combining the images of maiden and milk (which can also bring to mind a woman's breasts), it is easy to get the idea that this particular gift has more to do with sex and romance than with cows.  Further evidence of the sexual connotations of this stanza is the fact that during this time period in England the term to go a-milking had strong romantic and sexual connotations. It was a term that men used when they wanted to ask a woman to marry them or to have a simple sexual encounter. 

OK, this really changes things for me about this song!

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On Wednesday, I cut out several small pieces to make my fall quilt block for the gift I've been working on.  This was what my work produced......

A bunch of little pieces that had to be labeled so that I could match them to the pattern layout. 

Yesterday morning I sewed them all together.  Sometimes this was a challenge as the pattern came from my EQ5 and didn't give assembly instructions.  I was very disappointed with how it turned out....

This little turkey turned out to be a real turkey.  The left hand side seemed to be bigger than the right hand side.  No matter how much I pressed it (with a little pulling involved) I could not get it to square up.  All of the pieces went together just fine but obviously some how it just didn't work :(

So, in the afternoon, I decided to go extremely simple.....

Here is the Maple Leaf I made instead.  I used some scraps of Shades of Autumn by Kansas Troubles for Moda that I had left over from a table runner I made a couple of years ago.  I like the colors but I think the block is a little plain.  It will just have to do for now.

Here is the back.  Nothing spectacular but the colors certainly say autumn.  Perhaps I will make a different fall block some time next year and give it to the recipient as a replacement.

So now you see why I thought the opening quote was such a good fit for my day - lol!

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GIVEAWAYS

Honey Bee Buzz is having a giveaway with two chances to win.  There are two different bundles of fabric to go to two lucky winners.  This giveaway ends Saturday morning, December 18th.

And over at her other blog, Pinks Sweet Treats, you win a different bundle of very cute fabric.  This giveaway also ends Saturday morning.

There is a 100th Post Celebration giveaway over at Creative Confessions.  She is giving away Australian Homespun Magazine, a pair of holiday themed fat quarters, white ink fabric pen for dark colours, Schmetz universal 80/12 sewing machine needles, 45mm rotary cutter blade (Clover brand), charm chain scissor point protector, spool of Presentia thread, and a set of 4 pink "Bobbin Buddies".  You have a while to enter as it doesn't close until December 26th.

There is still a couple of hours left to enter my giveaway for the 5 fat quarters of Christmas batik fabric.  Just click HERE and enter before 9:00 PST tonight.  I will announce the winner tomorrow!

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FINAL THOUGHT

I know this posting was a little shorter than normal but with so much yet to do before Christmas I just didn't have the time to spend at the computer.  I hope you will forgive me, at least for today.  How many of you still have Christmas gift projects yet to complete?  I'm done with gift making (except for one to make after Christmas) but have a few more tasks to tackle before the big clean up next week.  I still have gifts to wrap, the house to decorate, and some fudge that needs to be made.  I could use more hours in a day - maybe make the next 5 days 28 hours long?

It's a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up.
~J.K. Rowling, "The Hungarian Horntail," Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, 2000

I'm off to make more messes!!  Have a fun Friday and a super weekend!!!