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,

Changes

Let's face it.
I'm a quilting meddler.
I'm one of those pattern changers who cannot leave well enough alone!
If it's square, I make it oblong.  If's it's fusible, I make it needle-turn.  If it's in pastels, I force it into my pallete of brown, green, gold and red.  (Blue is for cool people: I think I'm a "warm" person. :-P)

All that changing is working well for me so far this week, though! :-D

First is my UFO (Judy's UFO Challenge) for the month of March.  #1 for me was Stars Around the Garden, a block of the month from Bits 'n Pieces.  I've had the 14 pieced blocks done for a while, but could NOT seem to get "into" the applique center medallion.  What to do, what to do.....? 

I rummaged around, found some pinwheel blocks I'd planned to use with another quilt that I meddled with (the one Mary at Quilt Hollow is quilting now!! Isn't she just a fabulous quilter!?!), and thought, "Hmmmm......" 

So I had enough pinwheels for most of the center, and just had a 10 1/2" x 21" space to fill....what can I put in there? OH! Why not Bear Paw blocks!!!!

Here's the result, a finished top for the UFO Challenge! The lighter brighter colors intended for the flowers sorta make my pieced center glow. I don't mind a bit! :-)  It's DONE! (well, the top is! :-D and now I can get back to February's and see if I can get caught up! :-D)

I've also been working on Eventide (the quilt-along with Thelma at Cupcakes 'n Daisies).

Yeah, I'm thinking of changing it up a little, too.  It's very nearly square.  I just prefer oblong quilts.  Probably because beds are oblong.  I don't have any square beds in the house.  I probably don't have any square walls either! LOL (That's a little carpentry humor...very little! :-P)

Here's my progress so far on Eventide.  I have some more quarter-square triangles and Ohio Star blocks pieced....gonna play around and see if I want to make changes to it.

I've got some other projects to complete.....

My "Brown Bag Quilt Challenge" quilt has an April 1st deadline.

My other UFO for March is my Mountain Laurel Sampler (I've got about 2/3rds of it hand quilted; here's one of the blocks)....NOT gonna get that one done this month. 

I've been watching Teresa at Fabric Therapy as she hand quilts her All Around the Town quilt.  I love how she has made the quilt her own with her whimsical additions to the pattern. 

I think it's interesting that what we do as quilters is so very similar to what God does with us.  There is a very clear pattern that He has designed for us; we are to be like Jesus!

Yet He never intended that we should be only clones of His Master Design.  One of my favorite passages, 1 John 3:2 (NIV), says,

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

I don't always know exactly how my quilts are gonna turn out.  But my hope is that they will be like the design, yet uniquely mine.  I rejoice that, as I follow and emulate Jesus, I am still free to be who God made me to be! His design; my colors and personality and size!  I will not be Him, but I will be like Him.

Hallelujah!

Running!

My friend Patty has a saying that fits me this week....

I'm so far behind, I'm ahead!

I didn't write at all last week, didn't get to read all my favorite blogs, didn't get to exercise, seems like all I did was run, run, run!!  And I was so trying to "crank" out a few things.  This week I'll be teaching at the Jabez Quilt Seminar and I'm just now getting one of my sample quilt tops completed, still have instructions to prepare, packing to do (and laundry before I pack!), a trip to college to return my daughter (they require her back until I pay her ransom, i.e. tuition! :-D), and drum lessons, and basketball practice, and errands, the funeral of a friend. and...and...and...

So my little hiatus from blogging seems long to me although it has only been about ten days.  I managed during that time to get a few things finished.

Roll, Roll Cotton Boll!! YAY!!! :-D

I'm proud of myself for sticking out the mystery and pretty much keeping up with it from week to week (it kept me from adding RRCB to the way-too-long UFO list!!).  I didn't care for string blocks before starting this mystery, but never having done them before, I took the plunge! I enjoyed the process!!

I still don't particularly like the string "look"  (and if I'd seen JulieK's quilt top -- oh, my! Isn't that just gorgeous!?! -- I would have saved my string blocks for another project! LOL) -- but I like how this quilt turned out.  The teal/turquoise is a little more muted than Bonnie's poison greens, but still nice.  AND I used a TON of fabric!  As Lori at Humble Quilts says, "Woo-Hoo!!"

I managed to get both my quilt tops from Kim Bracket's Scrap-Basket Surprises finished, too.  Good thing, since I'm showing them at Jabez for my classes!

My favorite is "Christmas Ribbons."  Mine isn't Christmas fabrics, just scrappy.

The "Bali Sea Star" turned out OK.  You know -- and I know this is weird -- I don't love batiks.

There it is. I've said it. Out loud!!

The color saturation is cool.  And I can see how they are wonderful -- but I don't seem to be able to present them to best advantage.  This is a quilt I'll probably give away once it's quilted and bound.

When I get settled in at Jabez tonight (or tomorrow night, if I don't get my copying done for the Mountain Laurel Quilt Sampler that I'm teaching!), I hope that I can enjoy NOT running for the duration of the three day conference!

I thought I'd see what the Bible says about running.... :-)

Jeremiah, that prophet of doom and gloom (God love him!) said, "Run for your lives!!" three different times! :-D  in chapters 48 and 51.    There's nothing so dire going on in my world to require that admonition, thank the Lord! :-) O' course, Jeremiah's message was one of judgement.  Best not to be in rebellion against God as Israel was in at the time, huh?

Isaiah 40:31 offers this beautiful encouragement to runners..."But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." 

So does Proverbs 18:10:  "The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe."

And if I need to re-order priorities in my life (and I always do!! :-) -- Psalm 119:32 offers this admonition:

"I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free."

Makes me think of Daniel Day Lewis in The Last of the Mohicans (LOVE that movie!).  The Native American brothers run constantly through the woods and paths of the wilderness that was North America -- but always with purpose and integrity and intensity.  It's a sight to behold.  Oh that I would run in the path of God's commands so beautifully!

Gotta run!!
Blessings,