In the corner of our dining room we keep an elephant - a great big white one....
Ok, ok, I hear you all shouting, has this woman gone nuts?
But here in the UK we use the term 'white elephant' to describe an item which is unwanted, a waste of space etc but too valuable to discard.
When Nigel and I got married we had two separate houses worth of belongings and so struggled to draw up a list of wedding gifts - in the end we decided we'd rather like a good quality china dinner service and so picked a pattern we both liked and encouraged guests to each buy maybe just a single plate or something.
One of Nigel's aunts, who is not without money, thought that, instead of buying maybe a couple of plates or whatever, she'd buy us a hostess trolley. Needless to say there wasn't one of these on the list
We were obviously somewhat taken aback by her generosity but of course it then created the dilemma of where to store this particular piece of furniture.
It's never had a proper home, probably because we never use it. I believe we used it once for our first Christmas and the plug has never entered a socket again. I know some people find them incredibly useful but it just doesn't fit in with our lifestyle.
It now resides in the dining room alongside our china dresser slotted into the corner.
This is fine - it's not in the way there but of course it's just an invitation for people (particularly the smaller variety) to dump things on top of it as you can see from this picture.This practice drives me mad - we're naturally an untidy family, not particularly prone to putting things back where they belong and an additional surface for junk collection is an additional irritant to me
So I decided I'd make some sort of mat to place on top of it to try to discourage my family of 'flytippers'
I really liked the purple pyjama fabric I picked up the other week
So I started to stitch some purple and white geese
They then turned into a star
And were closely followed by seven othersOnce the borders are all on - who knows I might even do some applique.....
18 comments:
It looks lovely so far.
Your posts about your kids' camping trips made me remember one I went on with a church group once - a cyclone came down the coast and we had to pack up and go home due to heavy rain and strong winds - it was a lot of fun while it lasted though.
You're so speedy! Love that purple - in fact, I think my mom owns those pjs!
I heard about pink elephants LOL
Love your stars. But I love all sorts of stars. What are you going to make of these stars?? Looking forward to see the progres on it and if you decide to do some applique on it. Or maybe some stitchery in the squares?
That is lovey and you're so quick! My husband has a name for what happens in your house because apparently I have the same affliction ..... it is called FLAT SURFACE SYNDROME - LOL.
Sorry about all your rain - wow, I wouldn't have enjoyed camping in that weather.
You topper looks great. However, years of experience have convinced me that there is no way to prevent piles of objects from collecting on every flat surface. At least you will have something cute peeking out from under the pile!
You just can't every go wrong with stars . . . hope the top will make the dropping things stop *s*
We call it the magnet principal. If there is a surface free, it becomes a magnet for everyone to dump on!
Love those purple stars. Is the theory they will be so admired no one would dare cover them?
What a nice way to turn a white elephant into a purple and white elephant! LOL!
Ummmm. You should see this place. There is not one surface, not one, that is clutter free. I've given up hoping for a neat and tidy house.
How I miss the charity shops, but perhaps it's a good thing!
I could do with making at least one for every room in our house!
ps Quilters are only messy because they know there are better things to do with their time than picking up after husbands and kids.
Oh, those purple and white stars are lovely. I can't imagine anyone would dare put junk on it when it is done. Great way to cover up a white elephant!
And it's heartening to know that the clutter problems in my house are shared by other quilters everywhere -- we too are not a naturally tidy family, but oh my, I am trying to keep up with the mess!
I love that colour!
My house is the same - nice little piles of stuff scattered about. 9 times out of 10 though the stuff belongs to me !!! These stars are lovely - the purple looks great against the white. Love your blog !
That elephant will be gorgeous. loved the camping story, imagine that many kids in the rain (grin!) lucky leaders!!
Doctor liked your ideas, got better action this time, visit me for an update, THANKS, Tracey
Can't wait to see your mat! The only way to stop clutter from piling is to put something else there that's beautiful. Unfortunately, unless you change the beauty once in awhile everyone gets used to it and it starts to get covered again. You can make two mats!
Now I know LOL! A perfect cover for a "white elephant". Hopefully everyone will get the hint and not cover your beautiful work with miscellaneous stuff.
Good luck with the cover - do you think it will work?
I love the stars you really are very talented and you make it look so easy.
Racheal x
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