I spent much of today up in the attic. We have the long 4 inch wide spaces in the ceiling where there used to be wall and we have nothing to attach pieces of drywall to. I am sure that the pros would say to take down the whole ceiling and do it the right way, but I think that if I can place wood spacers between the rafters, we can do this.
While in the attic, I measured each space, Mom cut the pieces of wood and passed up metal brackets and the drill and screws. I screwed the wood in with brackets and placed the wood pieces every couple feet. The end result is we have all we need to attach some drywall pieces in place to patch up the ceiling.
Of course, spending a few hours in the attic, getting covered in insulation and dust was not the most fun.