Viral cleanliness

Yesterday I cleaned up the parts of the kitchen that I need on a regular basis, namely the sink and the counter tops.  Today, I tackled the table, which has served as a favorite dumping ground recently.  When it was all cleared-off & shined-up, I realized it would look so much warmer if a Fall mat sat under the snack bowl.  (Glass tables can look so cold, don’t you think?)  I didn’t have a mat to use, so I made one.

I used scraps that were leftover from the Fall napkins I made last year, plus a chunk of lonely brown flannel I found sitting next to my sewing machine.  I just stitched together some of the smaller pieces until they resembled a fat quarter size & shape, and then I sewed the whole thing to one of the two fat quarters I had.

It took me only about 1/2 hour, since I wasn’t being at all picky about what went where. I pretty much just slapped it all together.  Looks nice, though, I think, and it’s reversible:  Patchwork on one side, solid on the other.  The fabric is from the Fall Back in Time collection by Sandy Gervais (which I would link to, except it’s from 2007, and only seems to be available in dribs and drabs, here and there – you can google it, if you’re curious).

So now I have a clean living room and a clean kitchen.  That makes me so happy.  Just one problem:  the dining room (aka my unofficial craft room).  And, boy, is it ever a problem!  The three rooms are connected, and no matter which one you are in, you can see parts of the other two.  It’s hard to enjoy the success of two clean spaces, when the clutter from the remaining space is spilling out all over the place.  So, I’m thinking of tackling the dining room this afternoon.  It’s like “viral cleanliness,”  which I suppose beats most other kinds of viruses I could catch.

All of this decluttering is, in part, motivated by the little get-together we’re having tomorrow.  I can’t remember the last time I invited anybody over here just for the fun of it, and I’m so looking forward to it!  I’ve been thinking about having a Fall theme – pumpkin bread, mulled apple cider, maybe a bunch of votive candles lit out on the patio…  ok, actually, bread, cider & candles is all I’ve got.  Any other simple ideas?  And I stress simple, because I still have a dining room, family room & bathroom to clean before I’ll feel presentable enough to even open the door when they get here…

Oh, I jest.  They’ve seen this place as a disaster area before, and I’ll let them see it that way again, if I have to.  It would just be nice not to have to