Mr. Plaid got me a serger last week for my birthday! I'm crazy excited about it. I remember reading a couple of articles about all of the wonderful things one can do with a serger, but now that I have it, I'm absolutey stumped.  And I can't find the article, which I think was in an issue of Sew News...

Anyone have any idea where to start? I've got it all set up, just waiting to be used.  I practiced on some scraps, but I'm itching to do something productive.  I'm also waiting on The Complete Serger Handbook to arrive (Amazon prime...should be here any day now!)

But until then, I need projects, people! I'd love your recommendations.

We made our annual trip to Rombach's Pumpkin Patch this weekend, and it was an absolutely beautiful day. I just love fall, with its crisp air and early sunsets. Love it! 

I've been to a couple of other patches around here, and some of them have better attractions for the kids.  But Rombach's is our favorite. Maybe because it's the pumpkin patch where our fall family tradition began some 5 years ago.  Maybe because it is indeed the best patch in the area.  

Last year's crop was awful.  Most of the pumpkins were rotting in the fields. Very disappointing.  This year, the field pumpkins had already been cut from the vines and were just sitting there waiting to be hauled back to the parking lot. The purpose of the precut vines, I think, was probably so the pumpkins didn't rot again this year in the warmish weather.  But, still, it felt a little silly walking out to the fields to "pick" a pumpkin...

The patch really isn't that far from our house, and I'm relatively certain the air composition is 98% identical.  Nonetheless, it somehow feels fresher out there in the middle of all those pumpkins. It feels more like fall. 

Here's the thing: I'm not going to insult your intelligence with ridiculous apologies and excuses about how busy things are with a half-day kindergartner that I shuttle twenty minutes (one way!) to and from school.  Or explanations about how I just don't seem to have any time in my afternoons for blogging. Or lame whatevers about not feeling all that crafty right now.  None of that.

But I'm back, hopefully for good, so I hope there's still someone out there!

Because if you're out there, you're going to want to go buy this:

Isn't this great? It's the perfect tablecloth that I'm always scouring for at thrift stores and garage sales. Nevermind that it matches nothing in my house. You can find it at Pony Party.

Also from Pony Party, and I would buy them right now, if I didn't think Mr. Plaid would object.  But, accomodating as he is, I don't think Mr. Plaid would welcome these birds into our home the way I would.

And I'm thinking of switching out our melamine plates. These are enamel coated tin (or something).  Melamine freaks me out, just a little, given that it contains formaldehyde. Which freaks me out a lot.  The chances of any of that getting into our bodies? Not sure. Because it's not like we're grinding up the plates and putting the melamine into our milk.

I'm a frequent Target shopper.  Too frequent. Creepy frequent.

I stalk the clearance sections. I refuse to buy something at a 30% markdown. If it's meant to be, I know it will still be there for me when it goes to 50 percent.  And chances are, it will be there for me, because I check every other day. Pathetic? Maybe. But there are serious bargains to be had.

Tonight these recipe cards were finally at 75 percent. They were less than $2 a box! A pack of 48 uber-classy recipe cards! It's craziness.  I bought every box they had.  You'll notice they're still going for $7.99 on the website.  

I have big plans for these guys come Christmas. Go. Now. Buy some!

(It just dawned on me this post is going to ruin my Christmas gift plan.  If potential recipients read this post, they're going to find out I'm cheap.)

Incidentally, school supplies, lunch boxes and backpacks were finally marked down to 50% this week. Of course, the cute thermos I'd been stalking was already gone. But see, I'm okay with that. Clearly wasn't meant to be mine. 

Bargain stalking, it's all very zen.

I have a confession, I don't use one of those fancy "feeds" or "bloglines" or whatever.  Partly because I don't understand them, partly because, well, I just don't. 

Instead, I bookmark everything.  My favorites folder is on the brink of bringing down the whole computer. It's bad news, people.  Because I don't use a feed, my blog checking is kind of crazy and random.  There are the usuals that I check every.single.day. You see them over there on the sidebar? Yup, those.

Other days, I sit down at the computer, pull down my bookmarks and peruse my favorites. Random picking. I'll think, "Hey, Dabbler, haven't been there this week! Oh, Pure Joy! Wonder what those crazy Ex-Pats are up to..." And it goes on like that, sometimes for hours.

Then, when I go through the trouble to pull up someone's blog and find it hasn't been updated since I last visited, I get frustrated. Crazy frustrated. I seem to feel entitled to regular updates on people's lives. 

And now, here I am, one of those bloggers that drives me crazy.  Unpredictable, undisciplined, unfinished...

What I'm saying is this: Your frustration? I get it. 

(and I made granola again, but it wasn't as good this time)

They started as these:

Grace Violet shows you how to make the transformation here.  Genius!

The fabric colors for the criss cross coasters were so fun I decided to make a doll quilt from them.

This is my first attempt at a pieced quilt, but so far I'm feeling good.  I haven't even completed one block, but feeling good nonetheless.

I'm trying the Disappearing 9 Patch, using this tutorial. So far, things are moving along quite nicely. Like I said, I sewed the first nine patches together, I've cut them up and rearranged. Now I just need to sew the rearranged patches together and I'll have one block completed. 

I'm not completely sure how many blocks it takes to make a doll quilt, or how long the actual quilting process will take, or how to really do the binding, but I'm still feeling pretty optimistic. If nothing else, I'm just happy to be back in the crafting groove.