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!!

Instant Connection

I picked my husband up at Lexington's Bluegrass Airport on Monday evening!!  It's so very good to have him home!!

But....I'll just tell ya...Jeff being home on R & R from Afghanistan has put a damper on my sewing room time! :-)  It's a good thing, of course, but I an accustomed to sewing everyday and leisurely reading blogs on my computer and leaving facebook up on my own I.D.  Having him home means re-arranging my priorities a bit, and it's thrown me off my routine!  I'm having withdrawals! LOL

But I've gotten little doses of quilt-mania that are sew refreshing! :-D

I went with Jeff to the doctor's office, and while I sat in the waiting room, I worked on my Tumbling Blocks -- an English paper piecing project that I keep in a box and carry with me when I'm in the mood.  It's portable and interesting and fun....and what better way to while away the time!

As usually happens, a lady inquired about my quilt blocks....and then talked with me about her current projects!! Another quilter -- an instant connection!! Moira is new to the area, so I invited her to Mountain Laurel Quilters, gave her my phone number and was thrilled to talk "quilt" while Jeff talked with the doctor (nothing serious, a rash on his hands and feet that needs some prescription-strength cream).

Later, my friends Autumn and Tracy looked over the blocks and played with arranging them....one of my favorite parts of making the Tumbling Blocks!

I love the instant connection we make as quilters!  It happens both off-line and on- and it is a blessing every time.  During this week when I need to keep my quilting more subdued so as not to neglect my gone-for-the-last-eight-months spouse (!), having a dose of quilting tonic with new friends and old is an extra special blessing.

The apostle Paul told Timothy, "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine." (2 Timothy 4:2 KJV)

Seems I am always ready to talk quilts! Summer or winter, hand- or machine-piecing or quilting, applique or patchwork...I'm "instant in season!"  I hope I am also always ready to "give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have," (1 Peter 3:15) to tell them about the God Who gave His only begotton Son, so that we might have everlasting life!!

So Jeff has my (mostly!) undivided attention.  The UFO for February, Moon and Stars Whimsy, is languishing; perhaps March will be more productive for all those projects I'm delaying while I spend time with Jeff and accomplish some things he wants to see done while he's home.  For now, I have Tumbling Blocks for ballgames and doctor's offices, with old and new friends.  Connections abound!!

It's always good to be a quilter!!

Blessings!

Our Time

I sometimes wonder if I was born in the right age! Just this past month I FINALLY succumbed to the dreaded cell-phone plan! With a daughter at college and two boys involved in Boy Scouts and athletics and youth group activities, it's probably long overdue.  I'm being dragged kicking and screaming into the modern age.

Ironic, since I'm (clearly) online. :-) That's different. :-D  LOL

But I daydream of earlier times.  I've been listening to audio books while I applique and quilt by hand, and  I'm currently in the 5th of the series of The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig.  The books are a little bit mystery, a little bit spy novel, a little bit romance, cool history stuff from the early 1800's.  I love 'em!

I'm fascinated by the stories of those long-ago days.  Maybe that's why I'm drawn to reproduction fabrics.  I'm working on an English paper pieced tumbling blocks because of an antique quilt top I purchased on Ebay (would you believe I got it for $30, shipping and all!). 

Karen Witt from Reproduction Quilts took a look at the top when she was at our quilt show a couple of years ago.  She dated some of the fabrics as early as the 1830's.  Cool.  There are still bits of paper inside some of the blocks with a script from an earlier age.  I feel like I'm in the presense of that erstwhile quilter of long ago! :-)

Another ebay find was this antique broken dishes quilt top.  I'm saving half-square triangles as I "quick piece" blocks so I can do a quilt like this one.

And finally, there's this beauty, also from the 19th century.  The hand quilting is exquisite! and while I'm not (yet) inspired to make all those little Lemoyne Stars :-D -- they finish at 3 1/2 inches! --  I think the quilt is beautiful and I wonder about the maker.

All this fascination with the past and its quilters, though, is just that.  Would I give up my rotary cutter, or my immeasurable choice of fabric, or my sewing machines? or my internet, or my ELECTRICITY!!?? Probably not.

Mordecai, uncle to Queen Esther in Persia of old, told her "And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14b)

We are all, invariably, in the here and now because that is where we are supposed to be! When Paul preached at Antioch he told them, "David had served God in his own generation."  (Acts 13:36a) Likewise, we are here to serve God in our own generation.

In this age of internet and cell phones and instant communication, you have to wonder if handmade (even if we use a machine! :-D) quilts have a point.  Of course they do! We are preserving what has gone before us, and continuing traditions that matter.  We are forging new ways to create and express and dream.  We are passing along art and beauty and faith for "such a time as this."

Aren't you glad this is your time!?
Blessings!

A Different Drummer

"Why do you quilt?"
As I sit in dentist's or doctor's offices, or wait on my boys for their Boot Camps and races and what not, I usually bring something to work on  -- right now it's either Circuit Rider applique blocks or my English Paper Piecing Tumbling Blocks.  People are always admiring and say they "could never..."  It gets me thinking.  Why do I quilt?

Sam with his drumming practice pads!

I was asking myself this question as I waited on Sam to finish his drum lessons. Sam has wanted to drum since he was knee-high to a grasshopper! :-D  Finally we are able to get him going, and it's part of his curriculum as we homeschool.  A class in some kind of performance/arts is a requirement for graduation in our state, so we can follow Sam's muse. 

Listening to my 16 year old son blather on  (!so cool when kids are excited about something and want to tell you every single infinitesimal detail, huh!? :-D) about his lessons and their difficulty and his excitement about overcoming the challenges, it occurred to me that I quilt for the same reasons that I homeschool.

I want to pour my life into something that lasts beyond me.

Deciding on curriculum,  and tutors (where needed  -- Sam is learning drums and Spanish and chemistry from better equipped teachers than I!), and activities (youth group at church, Boot Camp, athletics, music) are all part of the fabric and design of my children's educations. 

And they are unique just as each quilt I make is unique.  Each requires different colors or patterns or skills.  Each is its own work of art.  Each brings me joy beyond just the making. 

 

Homeschooling is an investment in something -- in someone(s), my daughter and my sons as they become caring, responsible individuals, critical thinkers, patriots, statesmen and women, followers of Christ --  that has potential to impact the world. And my quilts (beyond preserving my sanity!)? -- if only to make the world a little prettier, a little more comfortable, a little more comforting -- they have an impact, too.

Ephesians 5:15-16 says "Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil." (Amplified Version)

Investing in my children (and, yes, I think, in my quilts, too! :-D) is a way for me to "live purposefully" and "buy up each opportunity"  in these evil days. It's not particularly dramatic or noteworthy, but in our way we are making a difference.  When I am long gone, my kids will continue to change the world (and my quilts will be there to bless and comfort them and, hopefully, any generations that follow!) because I invested in them now.

And only Heaven will reveal how wide and how far their impact will be felt.  I can't wait to see!

Blessings,

Mary Lou