Timing

We had a very large package arrive on our doorstep a few days ago.  One I'm not too excited about...

The freight guy wasn't thrilled either.  This thing was over 300 pounds!! So it wasn't going any further than the front porch 'til Jeff got home!  After a brief chat about politics (he was a conservative like me, so we were able to groan about the state of the union together! LOL), Delivery Guy skedaddled and left me with this monstrosity.

Jeff has high hopes for it.
He spent the better part of the evening assembling it...

I'm still not impressed.

It's in the basement.  How can I convert the basement into a Quilt Cave (like Teresa's over at Fabric Therapy) with this THING in the way!?!

He expects I'll use it.  Maybe.  If I can figure out how to unfold it!! Goans!!
This is normal me (see, I don't have on my Mary Kay face yet! And don't mind the facial hair!  LOL).


This is me contemplating the use of a treadmill.

Definite groans!!

I seriously don't know why Santa has covered his face.  Maybe because he doesn't have one!! I don't really like embroidery, so this is one block of a wall hanging I may never get done!  It's a beautiful pattern, but I'd rather applique than embroider.

I probably will use the treadmill, eventually.  But not right now!!  I have mysteries to solve!!

I've been working on Orca Bay, Bonnie Hunter's latest mystery quilt.

Amidst the chaos of my sewing room is this pile of my progress...

I've almost finished the blue strings, and I'm still working on black/neutral quarter and half-square triangles. 

In the meantime, I've also got Farmer's Wife blocks to finish (my class is finishing up the last of the 111 blocks this month!), a memory quilt to finish for a client in time for Christmas (oh the pressure!), a Mary Kay open house and several parties to complete...

And all I wanna do is play in this....

Not a real snow yet.
But it could be.
It will be.
Soon, I hope!! :-)

Timing is everything.  A white Christmas in Kentucky!?  Maybe.

God knows all about timing.  In the book of Galatians, the apostle Paul talks about the coming of Jesus.

"But when the time had fully come," Galatians 4:4 tells us, "God sent his Son..."

I've no doubt the snows will come to Kentucky.  They've been here before, and I've relished their beauty and the joy they've brought.

Just like God's grace.  I've seen it and felt it, experienced it daily.  His timing is always perfect!

And when the snows come, I just might give that old treadmill a try!

Blessings!

Do Nothin's

I've got a serious case of the do-nothin's!

Do you ever get them? It's not the blues exactly. It's not that I'm all that tired or frustrated or mad or lazy.  I just don't feel like doing ANYthing!!  Do you ever get afflicted with the malady?  Maybe it's hormonal....It does seem to come around with some regularity. Yuck.

I've had them for two or three days now.  I sit at the computer and read...following along with tears (like Teresa's mishap with her All Around Town quilt top) and with triumphs (like Thelma's Quilter's Tale) and wondering at the creativity and beauty of other people's projects!  I wanna do something fabulous like that!

I'm not lacking inspiration or things to do!  I have the UFO Challenge quilt #10. It's called Moon and Star Whimsey from the book Relax and Quilt. 

I have only to add some moons and stars to the borders and it will be ready to quilt for Sam.  I've done almost all the machine applique, and it shouldn't take too much time to get the remainder finished.

If I will get started!

Sam has a UK Wildcats print picked out for the backing.  This is one he's wanted for a while.  You can tell by the wrinkles and fold lines that it's been in the closet for too long.

I have the mystery quilt that I'm leading for the Mountain Laurel Quilters...Pieces cut, next steps planned.  If you wanna follow along, I've added a page above with the fabric requirements and February's directions.  Each month the next step will be added until we finish the quilt in October! I LOVE the fabrics I've selected.  But I'm not in the mood today.  Sigh.

I found a pattern to use with my Brown Bag Quilt fabrics...

It's called Granny's Jam Lap Quilt from Laps from Fats by Ellen Replogle.  I think it will work beautifully with the variety of fabrics I was sent and the coordinating prints I've added from my own stash.

I just don't wanna sew today.
Or do the bills. 
Or do my taxes.
Or do my laundry.
Or load the dishwasher.
Or take the boys anywhere.

I wanna sit and think or dream or leaf through magazines and blogs.  I wanna play Spider Solitaire and eat the Turtles in the lovely pink and brown box that Emily bought me for Valentine's Day (not promising for this week's weight loss...)

I was reading in Ecclesiastes today.  "To everything there is a season..."  So true! Today is NOT my season for productivity! :-)  The Psalmist writes, "Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the LORD has been good to you."  (Psalm 116:7)

So today is a mental health day. A day of rest.  A day to remember how good I've got it!  Lord willing, tomorrow and all the days that follow will have sufficient work and inspiration to keep me busy. I'll be sewing again shortly....I get a little crazy if I go too long without touching my fabrics, making something.

Who knows! With a little soul rest, I might even tackle the taxes!! 
.... Um...No.  Let's not go so far as all that, OK!?

Blessings!

A Mystery!

I love mysteries.  When Emily was a girl, and we were starting our homeschooling journey, I accumulated the whole first 56 original Nancy Drew books for her and for me to read.  It was the first indication that we might have more in common that blood after all!! LOL

In spite of her abhorrance for the concept of "legacy quilter" (I still have hope she will change her mind! She's only 20 -- and someday she'll want quilts for her babies!! :-D), we like many of the same books and movies.

Mystery quilts, however....that I have to share with people who understand! LOL  Four of us from Mountain Laurel Quilters -- Paula, Debbie, Lynn and I -- worked on Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt Roll, Roll Cotton Boll.  And we had so much fun doing it that we talked our club into doing a mystery, too.   Since Bonnie's mysteries are on-line and available for all to peek at, we decided to use something else to mystify our club members, and I am fortunate enough to be the Magical Mystery Tour Guide!  (It was too good an opportunity to quote the Beatles.  You should never pass up a chance to quote the Beatles! LOL)

This past Saturday, we started with the first unit of the quilt.  More and more of the mystery will be revealed until we put the quilt together in October.

I'm using Jo Morton fabrics in deep reds, greens, purples, blacks, and medium blues and browns, with a great mixture of her neutrals and shirtings for backgrounds.  Our first unit is a simple four-patch of squares and half-square triangles.



The units we'll do in March will use the purples, greens and blacks. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that I know the outcome of this mystery.  :-D

One mystery that has me stumped, though, is what I'm gonna do with the Brown Bag Quilt Contest fabric!

I've had my fabric several months, now...and I don't have a clue what I will do.  I found a nice print in my stash that will bring the different fabrics together nicely, and some neutrals to mix in, but beyond that I haven't a single clue!

I'm looking for inspiration among all the scrappy books and patterns that I have....I haven't found anything that speaks to me yet, but I gotta get crackin' since the quilt must be completed -- pieced/appliqued, quilted and bound!!! -- by April 1st.

Some mysteries end well -- like Nancy Drew! -- some don't.  I'm hoping the Brown Bag quilt is one of the former, not the latter! LOL

The Apostle Paul mentioned mysteries quite often in his letters.  I love what he wrote in Colossians:

"My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love...., in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 2:2-3 NIV)

In the movie City Slickers, there's this great scene between Billy Crystal and Jack Palance about the meaning of life. (Warning:  film clip contains what some would consider an offensive word.)



What I love about this clip is that I know the mystery....I know what the "one thing" is! It is, as Paul said in the passage from Colossians, CHRIST!   And the word that Jack uses is the very one that Paul uses in Philippians 3: 8 when he says he counts everything he's lost as but "dung" (KJV) that he may gain Christ.

There are many things I love -- my family, friends, homeschooling, church, music, quilting!!!! -- but none of them is equal to the "hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge" that is found in Jesus.

Oh, that all mysteries were so easily solved!!  I bet Nancy Drew would have figured this one out!  Maybe she'll help me with the Brown Bag Quilt!

Blessings,

A Brand New Year! :-)

I am the eternal optimist, I think.  I must be an optimist if I even consider making a list of New Year's Resolutions!! When Jeff asked me what mine were, I told him they were the same as last year!! Clearly, I didn't succeed in 2010 (or 2009, or 2008, or....).  But I try, try, and try again. :-D  (Of course, the definition of INSANITY is to do the same thing and expect different results! --- yeah, that'd be me!  LOL)

Every year I say I'll lose weight and exercise.  I'll have a devotional time daily. I'll be a better steward of the blessings -- financial and otherwise! -- that I'm given.  Jeff says I need to be more specific.  So -- numbers and deadlines and such will be added to my usual list to see if that helps me fare any better in keeping my resolutions.

Another one I make every year is to FINISH! something -- so UFO's here I come.  This year, I'll have Judy's UFO Challenge to help.  She's having us make a list of projects, numbered 1 to 12, and each month she'll draw a number and we have to work on that project.   Theoretically, at the end of 2011, we'll have completed 12 UFO's.  I have MANY more than that (I do an "inventory" at the first of each year...sigh), but getting this many done will be phenomenal!

So you and Judy will help me with accountability! The rules are fairly flexible, so I've decided to finish a group of quilt tops (most very close to completion!), and to completely finish (quilting and binding!) another group that I'll list next time.  The quilt top projects are:

1. Stars Around the Garden (a Bits and Pieces Block of the Month)
2. Victory Quilt (Quilt in a Day)
3. Hometown Christmas (Thimbleberries)
4. Wilfred and Cloves  (from Australian Patchwork and Quilting)
5. Daisy Days (Thimbleberries)
6. American Heritage (Thimbleberries)
7. Geese in the Garden (Kim Diehl design)
8. Land of the Free (applique from Piece o' Cake)
9. Circuit Rider (only a dozen more blocks to have them all done!)
10. Moon and Stars Whimsey (from the book Relax and Quilt)
11. Biblical Blocks (from the book of the same name by Rosemary Makhan)
12. Dolly Madison Stars (a two-fabric quilt from BH&G Two-Color Quilts)

I'd like to severely limit my new starts this year.  Maybe Kim McLean's Roseville Album, if I can find the time!!!! (It'll work out! There's that optimism, again!  LOL)

I'll also continue to work on some ongoing projects: The Farmer's Wife Sampler and possibly Dear Hannah or A Mother's Gift and the Layer Cake Quilt Along.

And I'll at least get the Roll, Roll Cotton Boll Mystery Quilt top completed!! :-)

The apostle Paul wrote, "It is written: 'I believed; therefore I have spoken.' With that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence...Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." (2 Corinthians 4:13-14, 16-17)

He must have been an optimist, too!  "It is written," he said -- and so is my list! :-D  "I believed" -- and I do, too! LOL "Therefore I have spoken!"  ME, TOO!  Of course,  he was referring to the promises of God and the expectation that, even though we suffer and have troubles, they are nothing compared with the glory that is to come.  Isn't that a great statement of hope!! I think I like old Paul! :-)

So I will not "lose heart!"  2011 is a brand new year, full of promise and the expectation of eternal glory.

Let's get to it!!

Blessings,

Chaos!

Oh, what have I gotten myself into!?!!
I, whose fabric is divided into categories like 1800's, 1930's, Thimbleberries and Batiks, then stacked by color on shelves.

I, whose books and magazines are carefully shelved --  like my corn and mashed potatoes:  NOT MIXING!!!! -- applique' on one shelf, hand quilting tomes on another, history, piecing, etc in their own space, and back issues of magazines (in a magazine holder, thank you very much!), on yet their own shelf.

I.....I!!!  I  have been reduced to this:

Oh, the drama!
Oh, the mystery!!!
The mystery is NOT what Bonnie Hunter's latest mystery quilt, Roll Roll Cotton Boll , will look like.
The mystery is how I -- control freak, "I can't do the laundry 'til it's sorted correctly," --  "The pillows must be turned this direction on the bed," -- perfectionist messy, must-know-where-I'm-going kinda gal -- got into this!!

The first two steps were OH! so easy!  Strips and half-square triangles....Sigh.

And then Bonnie's instructions were to dive into the void, and come up with handfuls of "stuff" and sew it together on phone book paper.
Oh. My. Word. 

I've never done this before.  I've always eschewed stringy stuff -- like rhubarb and greens and string quilts and shrimp (I know shrimp isn't exactly stringy, but a former neighbor grew fresh water shrimp and they have these long stringy tentacle-like thingys coming outta their snout....yeah. Cannot even think of putting one of those in my mouth!!  Eeww! eeewww! eeeww!).  I keep the piano lid firmly closed.  I don't do strings.

But I can't quit the mystery quilt, because quitters, they....

Well, they.....

Quit!

So now, the only way to finish strong is to conquer the chaos!....

And turn this:

Into this....

I had this box of neutrals -- mostly "junk" strips and strings and bits and bites...Almost all of it gone! GONE!

THANK YOU BONNIE!!!!!!

Sigh.  Who knew!?!?!

I have no idea what this mystery quilt will be when all is said and done.  But I will have conquered it like a hero.  A small step for most quilters, but a giant leap for my OCD tendencies and my "I don't do random" personality disorder.  I can't deny it's been fun!!  It's been a stretch for me, though! 

I've got 21 of the 60 needed squares completed.  The next step in the mystery will be revealed today...and I will be ready.  Soon. :-) 

Scripture tells us in Romans 8, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loves us" (verse 37, NIV).  The New American Standard version says "we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loves us."  (Emphasis mine)  Ain't it COOL!?!?!

Paul concludes the chapter with a classic (if you need a lift, this is a good place to go!):

"For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (verses 38-39, Amplified).

It's a good day!!! I am rolling in cotton! :-D

I am conquering the chaos, baby!!

Blessings!

Past, Present and Future!

Tonight is another Friday Night Sew In, hosted by the lovely Heidi at Handmade by Heidi!! I'm in the midst of packing for Thanksgiving travel, and cleaning house and picking up my eldest from college today, but I'm still going to make time to sew tonight! I've been in this sewing "frenzy" all week -- so tonight is the culminating event!! Accomplish something!!

And I've got a lovely array of projects to work on.  Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue!! :-D  LOL! No wedding quilts, thank goodness!   But a bit from the past, present and future, I think.

The something "old" and "borrowed" and "blue" is a LeMoyne Star quilt that a friend passed along to me to put together.  The blocks are made from original '30's fabrics, set in soft old unbleached muslin, a classic!  The blocks for the quilt top came to me nearly complete -- I'm in the process of assembling the last of the block pieces, making some 17 additional blocks to go with the 32 complete LeMoyne Stars and the 9 "criss-cross" blocks all with the vintage fabrics!

Knowing that I'm helping preserve the handwork of some dear lady from that earlier time is inspiring! Even the set-in pieces of the LeMoyne aren't nearly as aggravating as they usually would be! :-D

If I finish with this project (and I might, since I've been working on it the last couple of days), I'll move on to the present and work on my Circuit Rider quilt blocks.

I'm prepping a couple of fleur-de-lis blocks and I'll use a paper-cutting technique to make freezer paper templates for them, and  I'll wag out my little Bernina Deco for the Bible Block since I don't particularly enjoy hand embroidery.  (Weird, huh!?) :-)

The future project I want to work on  (if by some miracle I were to actually make it that far!! LOL) is Bonnie Hunter's (Quiltville!) latest mystery, "Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll!"   My fabric is picked out, and I'm excited about using up some stash.  The first mystery installment comes out today.

 

I read Bonnie's blog last night, and she shared that she'd learned of a fellow blogger who had taken her own life.  Nothing that was shared online indicated something like that was likely.  It was sad, shocking news for Bonnie.  I was thinking about that today as I chose my projects for the Friday Night Sew In....



So much of what we share on-line is authentic, real, nitty-gritty stuff.  Other times, we share what is on the surface because the hurts are too desperate for words or the situation too poignant to articulate in such a public forum.  In such circumstances, there is One who knows the real us, the one we cannot always share with the world -- or even with quilters who are among the most compassionate and giving people on earth.



It is to Him that the angels and the living creatures of Heaven sing in Revelation 4:8:

"Holy, holy, holy

is the Lord God Almighty,

who was, and is, and is to come."

Past, Present, and Future.  There's an old gospel song by Ira Stamphill that says,

I don’t know about tomorrow,

It may bring me poverty;
But the One Who feeds the sparrow,
Is the One Who stands by me.

And the path that be my portion,

May be through the flame or flood,

But His presence goes before me,

And I’m covered with His blood.

Many things about tomorrow,

I don’t seem to understand;

But I know Who holds tomorrow,

And I know Who holds my hand.

I need to learn to trust the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come with all of me -- my past, my present and my future, my quilts and hurts and all that I can and do share online -- and all that I cannot.

As you read posts today, say a prayer for those who write and those who read.  Lift them up to the One Who holds tomorrow and the One Who holds our hands. Remember them as you sew tonight with quilters all over the world during the Friday Night Sew In!

Blessings!

Anticipation!!

Anticipation!
Anticipay-yay-tion! Is making me late!
Is keeping me way-yay-yay-yay-yay-a-tin'!!!

(Thanks, Carly Simon! :-D)

OH! I'm getting excited!! I added another three Circuit Rider blocks to the wall today!! That makes 24 of the 42 blocks completed.  They are moving right along!!

Doing the prep work for several blocks -- cutting templates and fabric out, getting the overlays ready and so on for my needle-turn applique -- has really speeded up the process!!  And you know what that means...?

I'm THAT much closer to being able to start a couple of other projects calling my name -- The Roseville Album by Kim McLean and the Civil War Bride quilt!! (There are others, too, but I don't want to freak you out! LOL)

I can't wait!!!

There's more to anticipate, too!

I've decided to quilt along with Bonnie Hunt's latest mystery quilt at Quiltville -- "Roll Roll Cotton Boll."  Bonnie has done hers in shirtings and neutrals, pinks and poison greens and browns with an interesting red "constant"  fabric. 

I think I'm going to use browns, teals/turquoises and pinks with a "roony" red for my constant.  I've got a ton of old civil war repros in these colors and I'm going to dig in and use them.  I don't think I'll use them ALL, but a dent is a very good thing!!  The mystery is scheduled to begin on November 19th.

I can't wait!!

I'm doing the Moose on the Porch Layer Cake Quilt Along, too.  Actually got two of 'em going, mostly because the second layer cake was drawing dust in my sewing room (you know I'm allergic to dusting! -- not DUST, mind you, but dust-ING. :-D) .  The first two blocks are finished and in a couple of weeks, the pattern for the second block of the series will be posted here.   Fun!

 

And there's more!!
I feel like Oxyclean's Billy Mays (may he rest in peace)!!

Today in the mail, I got two precious unexpected gifts!

First, a honey bun and 2 1/2" charm pack of Charlevoix from Minnick and Simpson.  They blessed people who bid on items to benefit the Semper Fi Fund for injured marines.  How cool is that?!

And Mary sent me a fabulous gift pack with glow tape (I love that stuff! LOL), a wonderful notepad (my friends laugh about my obsession with containers and notepads! LOL), bobbin minders, and two fabulous charm packs of Kansas Troubles Butterfly Garden.  So I'm flipping through my Snibbles Times Two book to decide which quilt I'll make with those.  Fun, fun, fun!!!  (and thank you so much, Mary!!)

I can't wait!!! LOL

There's a wonderful scripture about anticipation in Romans 8.  Romans 8 is an awesome chapter in the Bible that starts out with the assurance that there is no condemnation in Christ -- in a guilt-ridden, blame-placing world, that alone is a great word.  The chapter ends with the assurance of God's love -- that neither height nor depth nor anything!! can separate us from the love of God.

Smack dab in the middle of the chapter is this little gem:

"For [even the whole] creation (all nature) waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God's sons to be made known [waits for the revealing, the disclosing of their sonship].  (v. 19, Amplified)

The image is almost like childbirth, isn't it?  The whole creation is aching, longing, praying for the blessing to come (as it did for Mrs. Goodneedle!) with all the anticipation and wonder it brings.

When we show who we are -- people who've been transformed (v. 29 of the same chapter! :-D) in the image of Christ demonstrating the love of God (they will know we are Christians by our love, after all!) -- it is the most exhilerating and challenging promise of all that could be in a person's life -- and all creation is waiting for that revelation, in "eager expectation!"

So what are you birthing in your sewing room these days?  In your relationships?
In your life?

Don't stop now! There's so much more to do!!! :-)

I can't wait!!!

Blessings!