Moving Along

Spring is easing into Summer and I'm wondering where the time has gone!!  Over the last couple of weeks, I've been walking with a close-aged friend, and we lament about our "lost years."  Wasn't I 30 just a few minutes ago?  Now that my youngest is officially a teenager (Will turned 13 in April), I've decided that teenagers suck all the years right outta ya!!  LOL   Since I've lost about 12 years -- which is, incidentally, the exact number of teenager years I've endured through three children (nearly 7 years with Emily, 4.5 with Sam and Will's 1st) -- I think it's entirely reasonable to accuse them of sucking up all my time!!  LOL

We've had a good couple of months.  We vacationed at the beautiful Edisto Island, SC, earlier this month with a couple of days spent in Charleston.
I took lots of books to read and some handwork, too!  The first I've worked on in nearly a year.

Applique...the center block of a pieced quilt that's been on my UFO list for a while.

And Tumbling Blocks...I'm up to about 115 completed 2" blocks...which means I only have about 479-ish more to complete!! :-)  So far it's a charm quilt with no fabrics repeating. I love the look of it, and English paper piecing makes it portable.  Bonnie Hunter's 1" hexies----uh uh! No Way!! :-D  These I can do without making my eyes feel any older than they are!!




We had some additions to the family...all now distributed to other homes. Mr. Stripey -- actually a Mrs! LOL -- was my favorite and she's safely ensconced with my sister, bravely intimidating her passel of dogs!!  She's every bit the tiger she favors!! :-D


Finally, we noted the first anniversary of Sam's passing.  His memorial stone was set, coincidentally, on the day, May 23rd.  The sillouette is actually of Sam; he would love that we captured him in motion, a fitting tribute to be sure.  His epitaph is the summary of his life: "Living to know Him, dying to make Him known." 

Moving on is difficult...One of the hardest parts of grief is noting that Sam will remain forever 17 and our ages and projects and lives will go forward without him.

But life is designed that way.  I once heard a pastor talk about the 23rd Psalm.  Sheep, he said, are always on the move.  They don't linger in one spot over long. And as long as they follow the Shepherd, they are provided for, comforted, healed...even through the valley of the shadow of death.

My cup overflows!!

 

 

Psalm 23

A psalm of David.



Sam's roses, planted just days before he died.

¹ The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
² He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
³ he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.
⁴ Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, 
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.

Blessings!!





Many, many thanks to those of you who have checked on me from time to time over the last couple of months!!! You'll never know how much and richly you have blessed me!! May God bless you 100-fold!!

Words with Friends

I haven't gotten much done in the last few days.  I find that I've been captivated by a little game called Words with Friends!!

I inherited Sam's iPod -- everybody else in the family already had one!! -- and I figured I'd use it to listen to audio books while I work or walk.  Sam had mostly games and music on his, and 99% of the games didn't interest me at all, but I really wanted to play Words!

And boy, have I been playing!! LOL
I blame my children, of course.  They'd never play Scrabble with me. 

And while it's true that I'm a TINY (teeny, tiny, really!!!) bit competitive, I would have given them a sporting chance.  At first.  Until the opportunity came to use all my letters....

Tracy from Back to Basics plays with me.  And when she's busy (cooking, canning, gardening, quilting, walking....she gets LOTS of stuff done!!!) or her kids are busy (they really are very good sports!), I troll for random players online.  I'm enthralled!!! I keep the game up by my sewing machine and respond when I hear the "ding-a-ling" signalling a word has been proffered!

The t-shirt quilt I've been working on has a lot of words on it...

I like some of the sentiments that are going into the quilt.  Like this one:

Scripture says "Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof." (Proverbs 18:21 KJV)
I like how the Message version states it:
"Words kill, words give life;
they're either poison or fruit—you choose."

I have received literally hundreds of words of comfort and blessing since I started blogging last year, and most especially in the last few weeks. 

Good words make such a difference, don't they? 

"A word fitly spoken," says the Proverbs, "is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." (Proverbs 25:11 KJV)
Doesn't that description make you wanna applique? LOL 

"Picture" is a seven-letter word...it's serious bonus points if I use all seven of my letters.  My ID is mlcasada if you wanna play!!

Blessings,

Circles

I have a nasty habit of procrastinating things I think will be unpleasant.

Case in point -- the dust on my furniture! I mean, seriously, it doesn't take THAT long to dust, but I whine and postpone and bribe the kids 'til the job gets done. 

My current procrastination problem involves circles. What is it with applique designs and circles? Does every flower need a center? Are berries SO lovely they must adorn every vine in the applique kingdom?

Apparently, yes. In the Circuit Rider, there are three -- count 'em, THREE! -- blueberry blocks.  Blueberries block number one has 24 berries. Blueberries blocks two and three each have 29 berries! 

Another block from "Folk Art Blooms" -- a block of the Month with luscious Buggy Barn fabrics (yes, yes, I'm working on more than one! Sigh :-d) -- has 40 berries! 

That's a total of 122 berries.  ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-TWO berries.  Plus flower centers and star centers.  Ugh!

I know how to do them.  I have Perfect Circles from Karen Kay Buckley.  I draw the circle on the wrong side of the fabric.  Then I baste in the seam allowance and draw the basting stitches around the Perfect Circle template, press, pop out the template, and VOILA! (as advertised) a perfect circle.

 I think I'm overwhelmed by the sheer volume of circles I need to do!

My "Accomplish Something Today" spirit says I need to tackle them here and now.  Do all the circle prep at one time then I can enjoy the process of adding them to my blocks.

Luke 9:51 tells us that Jesus "resolutely set his face toward Jerusalem."  And "for the joy set before Him, he endured the cross." (Hebrews 12:2)

Rather than focusing on the tedium of so many circles, I need to focus on the beautiful blocks in their finished form.  The fact that I'll be that many blocks closer to the finished quilt. The fact that anything worth having is worth working for.

Isn't it something beyond miraculous that Jesus found US worth the suffering? 

He neither procrastinated nor let the dust (so prevalent in my house today!) settle on Him as He purposed to do what must be done.

Yeah, a few hundred circles ain't so bad.  I'd better get started!

Blessings,

Mary Lou

Applique Therapy...

I get excited and optimistic about Eleanor Burns and her Quilt in a Day franchise. I mean what could be more promising and therapeutic than COMPLETING a quilt in day!? I have several of the books and several sets of blocks completed and ...

Well, I just get so distracted, you know!? I ran across another title in the QinaD menage... Applique in a Day. I learned to do needle turn applique at the end of the last decade (that would be December 2009! :-D), so I've been tempted to purchase another title just for the patterns, but really...? Is that wise?

I mean, Cheaper than Therapy Quilting is quickly turning into Obsessive/Compulsive Quilting. I can't just do ONE applique project! I must do...

Well, there's

• Circuit Rider by Jennifer Dick, and I have 17 of the 42 blocks done.
• Honoring Emma, the beautiful pattern by Lori Smith, 2 blocks of 16? or 18?
  

  

• Summertime from Primitive Gatherings...1 block of 12 (I think)
• Land of the Free from Piece O' Cake -- 4 blocks of 9

I've just started getting "Ladies of the Sea" by Susan Garman through a block of the month. You see where I'm going with this!!? And it's not just that I have more than one quilt started -- I've also taken to doing two or more blocks at the same time!

How many blocks at a time can I do!?

Is it really therapy if I'm bordering on insanity? And yet the quilts call to me! The fabric pleads for white chalk and serrated scissors and applique needles and upholstry plastic overlays. I, who never, ever, ever in a million years thought I could do needle-turn applique, am thoroughly, hopelessly, gloriously addicted.

I did a "spiritual gifts" survey a few weeks ago. Needle Arts rated in the top three. Hummph. BIG surprise there! :-D Does quilting really count as a spiritual gift!?

Ladies of the Sea

Yes, I believe so. Colossians 3:23 says "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord..." Philippians 4:8 tells us "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things."

KY Agriculture Development Team

While my father-in-law is undergoing a heart cath, or my husband is in Afghanistan, or my child is at college. Or when the day is long and hard, when times are restless and insecure, I turn to my quilts. And I pray or rest or glory in them. Quilting a spiritual gift!? Oh my yes!! One I am thankful for day after day after day.

And multiple projects in the works...Well all the best things come in multiples, don't they? :-) (You figure in out! :-D)

Blessings!

Mary Lou