Never Alone

I'm finding it hard this just-turned Thanksgiving morning to find words...

This is our first without Sam, and it surely feels like something vital is missing...laughter, noise, and that greatest of all holiday accessories, the teenage-boy-eating-machine!!  :-)  I've dreaded the holidays this year, knowing these "firsts" will be difficult. Funny...we anticipate with such impatience the firsts of life's beginning. First teeth, first steps, first words.  Not so much those firsts of life's end.

I spent some time earlier this evening looking at photos from last Thanksgiving...

We traveled to Mississippi with "adopted" family -- ties forged between children and mothers who share adventures and hobbies, and time and treasures. What a blessed, sweet time we had together! 

And I find myself thankful for friends and family and times that can never be recaptured but can always be remembered. 

And thankful for here and now...

And all that is to come.

As I shed a few tears tonight, a Word came to me from Joshua...

The book of Joshua in the Old Testament begins, "After the death of Moses..." and God gives a charge to Joshua as he is to be the leader of Israel.  "Be strong and courageous" God tells him, three different times!

The final time He says, "Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."  (Joshua 1: 9 NIV)

Perhaps I can find words, after all.

Thank You, Lord, for so many blessings.  Beautiful children that You entrused to me and Jeff, one who has already accomplished all You purposed for him and who is with You now!, a wonderful home, memories that are not only precious to this momma's heart, but include testimony of Your goodness and mercy and what You can do with a life given to You.

And thank You for Your Presence and Your promises to never leave nor forsake.  How well I know You keep Your word!!

May God richly bless YOU this Thanksgiving!!

Blessings,

Following

I have always enjoyed Bonnie Hunter's pics.  You know the ones...taken from her car as she travels along.  Sunrises, sunsets, trees, highways, byways... It's a fascinating look at her perspective in life, a snapshot of adventures we are all taking with her as we quilt!!

I was traveling home after spending Thursday, Friday and Saturday with my "posse" of Mountain Laurel Quilters at our fall retreat, and I had to pull out my camera and snap what was in front of my minivan!

Let me get a little closer so you can see...

Uh-huh.
Bonnie gets vistas; I get...
Well!  LOL

That would be the worst of my retreat this past weekend! :-D  I got some much needed quilt therapy, working on some projects that have been lanquishing far too long (kinda like my blog!!)!




I finally got the alternate blocks pieced for Sam's Darlin' Hearts! I was able to put them up on the design wall when I got home.  My wall is not quite big enough to hold all the blocks (and it's behind my sewing table, so I have to get an angle shot to capture the bottom. :-D)...but they are simply gorgeous.






I also pieced blocks for the Shiners View quilt that I found through Sarah's Confessions of a Fabric Addict blog.  I love how the big prints play in this design!!

I "leader-ed and ender-ed" 1 1/2" squares for my Crabapples (one of Bonnie Hunter's
:-D), and just for funsies, also worked a little on a Tumbler quilt for which I've had a kit for at least a couple of years.  These 5+" blocks make for easy piecing!! And wonderful scrappy, dark fabrics -- my usual pallette, unlike the other blocks I worked on during the weekend!

It's the most time I've spent on quilting since Sam passed away.  It was much needed therapy!!  Being around other quilters is always good for the soul!

And following a donkey all the way home was a reminder....

I need to be sure I'm following the right people!!
I don't mean the rich or famous, or government leaders, or ambitious or even influential people, or even people exactly like me...

But people who are positive.  People I want to emulate because they are excellent quilters, excellent designers, excellent people.  People who have HEART!!

Paul writes, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:1 NIV).  Jesus said, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand" (John 10:27-28 NIV). 

I pray I'll be someone who always follows the right Person -- so that if others find themselves behind me, they won't be jerking out their camera to capture a jackass in all her glory!! :-D

Blessings!

Faith

It's 4:30 am and I should be sleeping!
I want (!) to be sleeping! but allergies (runny nose) and a million things circling in my head have me awake, so it's better to just get on up and do something productive until I feel sleepy again.

Do you ever have those kind of nights?

One part of my brain is wondering if I got everything to Konda that she needed...
She's hosting the Fat Quarter Stars Quilt-Along at Moose on the Porch and I designed a block that goes on today.  It's called Friendly Winds.  It's over there, so that must have worked out OK!

Another part of my brain is wondering about the Cathedral Stars blocks I made.

I started this quilt back in March when Bonnie Hunter was gonna be at Pigeon Forge.  Jeff came home from Afghanistan (he's always disrupting my quilting plans! LOL), so I didn't get to go to Bonnie's class.  I'd mocked up the quilt in EQ in different colorways than Bonnie's:

It looks good on paper, but I'm not so sure about it on the design wall.

I'm up anyway, might as well try something else.

So I've made a block with yellow star points and one with blue -- closer to Bonnie's original:

I'm liking the blue the best.

Isn't it funny how things always look better on paper than they do in real life?

A budget.
A schedule.
A plan.

If there is anything I've learned this year it's that things don't always work out as we plan.  We'd planned Sam's senior year and college visits.  Things we  wanted to get accomplished before the winter set in.  I have no less than a dozen quilts I wanted to finish by year's end.  Not much of what we planned is gonna come about.  I wonder how this difficult year will end.

At our church over the last several weeks, we've been hearing a series of messages called "Champions" on Faith from Hebrews 11. (You can check them out here.)  Hebrews 11:1 tell us "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."  Faith is resting in all Christ is and all Christ has done.  Faith is having confidence in what God has said.  Faith cultivates a life that is in agreement with God.  Faith lives in light of future anticipation....

That the best is yet to come.
That the present reality is not an indication of the future and what it holds for we who believe!!

One of my favorite movies is The Shawshank Redemption.  Andy Dufresne, played by Tim Robbins, tell his friend, "Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies."

At the end of the movie, Red, played by Morgan Freeman, says, "I find I'm so excited, I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head. I think it's the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain. I hope I can make it across the border. I hope to see my friend and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope."

Proverbs -- always full of practical wisdom! -- tells us "There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the LORD." (Proverbs 21:30)  There is so much to hope for, so much to believe!

I hope my quilt turns out as pretty as Bonnie's.
I hope I can get everything done today that needs to be done.
I hope I can go back to sleep!

Blessings,

Junk in the Trunk

We were driving through Lexington the other day and I saw an amazing and comical sight.  Now, understand that I'm a little old-fashioned, and my daughter is quick to inform me that fashionista! I am not!! LOL 

A young man was standing alongside the road, with pants slung so low they were about to fall off...hanging only by a, well... small protrusion up front!!

All I could think was, "That poor kid has no butt!!"

Granted, you'd think I'd have more to dwell on these days, what with school and quilts and working out and my Mary Kay business and what not...But today, as we are doing reverse curls in aerobics...

(And just by the way, WHO decided that lifting your rump off the floor was a good way to build abdominal muscles!?!  Don't they know it's made for sitting on!? Don't they know the force of gravity is stronger than our ability to rock the thing all the way off the floor multiple times when lying on our back!?!)

And I'm thinking, "At least I've got some butt to lift!"
You know that there are foundation garments out there (remember I was shopping for foundation garments a couple of weeks ago!) that actually build up a woman's posterier end?

But I've never, no never! seen such a product for a man.
Shouldn't he have a little something back there as well!?!  I mean, seriously! Wasn't Glutimus Maximus the name of Russell Crowe's character in The Gladiator!!?!!  He doesn't need a thing to improve the view!

I can remember some of the older generation talking about "Coal Miner Pants."  When I inquired, I learned it meant he had "slack" in his drawers.  No rear. No caboose.

Back in the olden days, when I was about 19 years old, I got down to 125 lbs -- skin and bone for this 5'6" girl.  My collar bones stuck out weirdly, my arms looked all twiggy, and I can remember my momma telling me I was too skinny and had no butt.  I soon got over the boy who made me sad and I retrieved my backside glory!!

My family has always been blessed with full posterior ends. Male and female -- no flat rears, no saggy britches, no pockets without something to fill them.  They've always told me I look good from the backside...but that might mean I look better going than coming.   Hmmmmm....

I'm pretty sure God has no preference for flat or rounds ones, since He made them all.  Proof positive, however, that He has a sense of humor, with all the variety in shapes and sizes.  I'm pretty sure, though, He wouldn't mind if the saggy britches were pulled up a bit.  I don't need to see the hook those pants are hanging on.  Just sayin'....

And He would have this to say, from Isaiah 52:12 (NIV):
"But you will not leave in haste
or go in flight;
for the LORD will go before you,
the God of Israel will be your rear guard."

:-D
Think I better get off my rear and get some work done.  Or maybe get ON my rear and get some quilting done.  That sampler isn't gonna quilt itself, now is it!?

Blessings,

Amazing Lift

After my makeover photos, I've been on a mission to keep up my appearance, even shopping for (gasp!) clothes instead of fabric!!!! Who knew!?!  LOL  I've not been much of a "high maintenance" woman, to be sure.

I told Jeff that for some 15 years as a stay-at-home/homeschooling mom, I haven't spent money on clothes, make-up, or jewelry, but that's all about to change!!   He took the news like a man.  Busted out in a big cry and begged me to be just as plain-jane as I've always been!! LOL  Nah...I think he's down with my new bad self. :-D

So, shopping!! And since I wanna look good, I figured some new, um..."foundation garments" were in order. :-D  Wanna see!?! NO...I'm not gonna show you my big-girl panties!! LOL

I admit, however, to being intrigued with the phrases the brands are using to tout their wares...

"Amazing Lift!"

Who couldn't use some amazing lift!!?
Got me thinking about what "lifts" me....

A couple of Sundays ago, my friend Lynette gave me a "Sunshine Bag."  A bright green tote filled with lots of little packages, with notes attached to each one.  What the...!?  Her card said, "Your 'sunshine bag' is filled with just 'stuff' that will hopefully bring a smile and encourage."

Check this out!

There are about 25 different little gifts.  The greedy girl in me wanted to snap them all up and unwrap them at the same time.  But I've tempered my impulses and I only open them when I'm feeling particularly blue or discouraged.  I've opened four little packages so far.  Amazing lift!!

What else lifts me?
Words with friends, definitely. Not the game (although I love it!!  lol!), but words with/from/to friends. I love each and every kind word I receive, either in person or in writing. I've been wickedly remiss in replying to so many sweet responses here on the blog!! Each one is precious to me -- healing and solace to my spirit! My lack of response is a perfectionist impulse....I wanna say the right thing back, and can't find the time to formulate the words like I want to...I should be just as lifting to you as you are to me, doncha think?!

Beauty! is another thing...
Quilts, of course...

The red and green I was fortunate enough to photograph at a museum display before being told that photographs weren't allowed. (There weren't any signs! hehehe)  The log cabin is my own, and the quilting still takes my breath!! Done by Mary at Quilt Hollow, there's not another quilt in my house that rivals its beauty.  I fondle it frequently! LOL

Humor -- always a lifter!!  My friend Rebecca tagged me in this one on facebook...

And of course, family.
We snapped this photo on Skype while Jeff was in Afghanistan...
The fuzzy blue robe on the left?? That's me....
Yet another reason for new "foundation garments!" LOL


Paul wrote to the Philippians a verse you've heard me quote before....

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praise-worthy -- think about such things."  (Philippians 4:8)

All around us are things that God has provided for "amazing lift!"  What is lifting you today!?

Blessings,

Half my life...

Is it me, or is time passing very, very quickly from summer to fall, from year to year...so fast!!

It was a year ago that I posted this beauty:

Just a measly 24 years since Jeff and I tied the knot :-D, and three children, and some 20 lbs per child have passed.  The loss of my parents and my son, a house built, three deployments, countless weekend National Guard drills, one kid off to college, and all three off to camp several times. 5K's, Boy Scouts, music lessons, mission trips, makeovers, sports events, chickens, bees, and quilts...



Happy Anniversary, Jeff!!

We celebrated tonight at Outback Steakhouse (hey, it's rural KY...that's as good as it gets! LOL), meeting there after Jeff's military duty and my taking Emily back to campus.  Every year I ask him, "Any regrets?!"  He's gracious enough always to say "I don't reckon." :-D

It dawned on me tonight as I drove home that I've now been married for half my life!! Is that scary or what!?

I wonder what I've been doing with the other half of my life!? LOL

Looking back at photos over the past few years...we're not much of a picture-taking family...

We managed to record a few memorable moments.

A trip to Monticello in 2007...
Lots of homeschooling memories....
Memories of camp...

Lots and lots of fabric and quilts....
And lots and lots of new friends.

I'm thankful for all that these 24 years have brought (and the 24 years before that, too! :-D)

The Psalmist wrote, "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." (Psalm 90:12 NIV).

David is a little more direct in Psalm 39 (NLT):

“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.  Remind me that my days are numbered—how fleeting my life is.  You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.  My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.” (v. 4-5)

Much has happened in twenty-four years, in forty-eight years!...and time passes very, very quickly!! So many memories still to make! So many more people to know and love.  So many quilts, so little time!!

I best get busy!!

Blessings,

Irene-isms

I had the great pleasure of hosting several of my girlfriends for a while on Sunday afternoon for a session of laughter, man-bashing (LOL), strategizing, reminiscing, and just plain girl time that always does something wonderful for the soul!! Do you know about those kinds of girl afternoons!?  Women at their best....I LOVE it!!

Whenever such afternoons occur, it is inevitable that I quote my mother.  Her birthday is next week, and she would have been 79 years old.

Zouri Irene Boone Burke was a phenomenally independent spirited lady who was so very wise and witty.  At first meeting, she was shy and carefully observant of you, although she was good to offer sparkling eyes and a genuine smile. But when you got to know her, she was practical, extremely funny, and had a way of "cutting to the chase" that all who knew her enjoyed.

(Doncha just love her glam photo, probably taken in 1949 or 1950?)

I don't know the origin of some her sayings, but see if you can appreciate the wisdom (and humor!) in them!!

1."Every tub has to sit on its own bottom."
Is that true or what!?! Even when I'm teaching quilting classes, I'm reminded that I am not responsible for other people's choices, and they are not responsible for mine.   You wanna use that color!? I probably wouldn't, but it's your quilt.  Do what you want! :-)

2. "[They] let their skimmer leak."   Huh!? :-D

Mom's and Dad's wedding day, 1952

This refers to missed opportunities.  She was especially fond of saying this to me and my sister in reference to all the boys who wouldn't date us in high school and now wish they had!! :-D  I use it when I realize I should have bought 8 yards of that fabric because it would have been the perfect backing for my quilt. :-)

3. "If cows pooped butter, we wouldn't have to churn!"  And yes, she actually said "pooped."
:-D  No "blackguarding" from my mother! :-)  Mom believed hard work would solve most problems in life and anything worth having you'll probably have to work hard for.  The equivalent would be "no free lunch!"  In this age of entitlement, a reminder that cows don't poop butter might be important to teach, huh?

4. "The more you stir manure, the more it stinks."  Mom used this one mostly in reference to running down gossip and trying to determine who did what to whom when... Nonsense!! Don't sweat the small stuff.  The more it's gossiped about or fretted over or messed in, the uglier it's gonna get.  Better to let it go!

5. "Some people wouldn't be happy if you pooped in their plate."  LOL  We're country and grew up on a farm; poop figures prominently in our reality and our vernacular!! :-D  Mom wasn't especially sarcastic, but this one is a classic!!  The wisdom? Some people you can never make happy!

There's many, many more of these "Irene-isms." :-)  As you might imagine, I'm keeping a list of them to include in her memory quilt.

I've shared her one intricately pieced quilt before....

The little red triangles are no more than an inch at their widest point.  After this scrappy beauty, she decided it was crazy to cut big pieces of fabric into smaller ones and sew them back together.  LOL 

She loved my quilts, but it was "dreamin' of the 'tater hole" to think she'd make another one with little pieces! :-D

"A wife of noble character who can find?" the author of the Proverb wrote. 

"She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue...Her children arise and call her blessed."  Proverbs 31:26, 28

I was very blessed to have such a mother.  I'm doing everything I can to make sure my children can say the same!!

Do you have any wise sayings from your family to share?

Blessings,

In Memory of Irene Burke

September 26, 1932 - May 10, 2007

Seeing Things Differently

I spent the weekend working on my Farmer's Wife blocks and watching 9/11 remembered on all the major news networks.  I admit to being somewhat flip about this ten-year anniversary.  The sites in New York City, Pennsylvania and the Pentagon seem very, very far removed from my little corner of the world in southeastern Kentucky.  Even Jeff's two tours in Afghanistan seem somehow unrelated, although both were part of the operations that grew out of those terrorist acts on American soil. 

I recently met someone who worked in the South Tower in 2001.  I don't know him well enough to have heard much of his story, but knowing someone who survived the devastation makes 9/11 more personal, more real.  It is one thing to remember where you were while watching the footage on television; it's quite another to think about someone you know at Ground Zero.

What if...?

As I listened again to the stories of last words, of heroic acts, of courage and compassion, I was struck again by how we impact other people.

When we laid Sam to rest, we're told that over 1,500 people came to pay their last respects, many with stories of how this young homeschooled boy had impacted their lives.

And ten years after 9/11, the stories of the fallen and those who survived still have meaning, still have power.

In Scripture, stones of remembrance were laid for major events in Israel's history.  As they crossed the Jordan river, Joshua instructed them, "In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ tell them... These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever." He explains the reason behind remembering: "...so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God."  (Joshua 4:6-7, 24 NIV)

I sew my Farmer's Wife blocks together and realize that quilters are all about remembering.  Whether it's the memorial quilts that I've sewn for other people, or the ones I plan for Sam, or remaking the patterns made by quilters long ago...As quilters, we remember and pay homage to those who have gone before us.

We celebrate those who are yet to be.
 
And we use every opportunity to give comfort, warmth, peace and joy to those who are touched by our craft. I think of so many quilts -- 9/11 quilts, the AIDS quilts, quilts for abused children, tsunami and hurricane and fire victims...so many tragedies in which quilts helped in the healing process.

We do not always know the reasons things happen, but God's hand is powerful.  And every act of remembrance, every time a story inspires or informs our lives, makes us aspire to greatness...then His hand is revealed.

I do not ever want to forget!
May God richly bless all who remain and remember!

Blessings,

Makeover!

Before Emily went back to college we decided to do a facial together.  A local and wonderful Mary Kay consultant (thanks Brenda Howell!) agreed to come to our house and bring "the works" with her!

And boy, did she!! We had a great time being "girly" and cutting up with Brenda, a regular old "hen party" with just us three.

A "hen party" is kinda appropriate.  After I got dolled up, my mother would have told me that my "comb was getting red!"  It's an old expression for older hens (like me, I guess! LOL) whose comb turns a brighter color to attract the roosters for the up-coming mating season and resulting chicks! LOL 

I don't know about "mating season" (and as for chicks, well...I think that ship has sailed, if not physically just yet, certainly mentally! LOL), but I am feeling the need to reclaim some health and beauty, and Mary Kay is as good a way as any to start.

Brenda also invited me to a makeover photo shoot...and it was so much fun!!  Take a look at some of the shots they achieved....I, who have NEVER been photogenic!! These pics are of ME! :-)

Change is inevitable and difficult! After doing well with fitness and weight loss earlier in the year, I slacked off when Jeff came home, then just couldn't find the heart or the time to go after Sam passed away.

But as the year slides away, I'm mindful of the time that I'm losing!  Of the opportunities that might be hindered if I am not healthy, looking my best, accomplishing all that I can in the short time I have remaining.  Even if God lets me live to be 100 years old, the time will pass all too quickly, as I'm discovering in my middle age. :-)

There can be makeovers by the dozen, but no do-overs. 

I was pulling out quilts to work on with my Hobby Quilter and found Ribbons from Kim Brackett's Scrap Bag Surprises.  When I laid it out, I found -- much to my dismay -- one of the blocks turned the  wrong way...

 I "carved" the block out of the top (thankfully it was close to the border!), and turned it around so that the pattern was preserved. 

If the quilt top had "feelings" :-D, I'm sure it would have protested the ripping, pulling, pressing, pinning and mending that took place
to bring it a little closer to perfection. :-)

I know I'm not having an easy time of this "perfecting" thing...
The Apostle Paul called it work!! :-)

"We proclaim him," (referring to Jesus), "admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.  To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy which so powerfully works in me."  (Colossians 1: 28-29 NIV)

Christ is in the business of makeovers, more's the praise!!  And the result is -- well, what we hoped we looked like all along!!  I'm glad His energy can work powerfully in me, even when I'm not too excited about the prospect.

Even when this old hen doesn't feel like it.  When pain and loss and mending are difficult.

So! It's up at 5:30 to walk in the mornings, aerobics three times a week. Beauty products and rest instead of staying up all hours to quilt and play Words with Friends! LOL

And the perfecting of the spirit--just as difficult and painful--but so worth the end result!!

Blessings,