Lent....And Africa

I would like to share with you all some things God shared with me this morning in the Lenten devotionals I am using this season.  The prayer and benediction especially.

Prayer

Loving God, the places you ask me to go are sometimes scary.  I fear I’ll be alone, or that my needs won’t be met.  Assure me with

your love.  Amen.

Benediction

We have been told in the letter to the Hebrews that Jesus has journeyed to this unfamiliar place before us as a forerunner on our behalf.

Wherever you are, Jesus waits for you as the “sure and steadfast anchor” of your soul.  Trust Him!

As I read these words I was reminded of our trip to Uganda in 2009.  We were leaving Llolwe Island late in the day to go to Bavuma Island. Just as in the story in Luke 8:22-25, “a squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped.”  I’m not sure we were in great danger, as the scripture goes on to say, but we felt we were.  We eventually(after almost an hour) turned back to Llolwe for the night and, the next morning, made it safely to Bavuma.  What we didn’t know at the time was that as we stopped on the lake for the leaders to confer, or so we thought, the motor had actually fallen off the boat.  We had no idea!!  Praise God, they had tied a rope around the motor and were able to pull it back up and re-attach it to our boat.

As I read the above benediction God brought this all to mind.  He is so faithful to remind us that He truly is a “sure and steadfast anchor”.  He cannot be lost in the depths of turmoil as the storms of life swamp my little life.  He is my ever present help in times of trouble(Psalms 46:1). I only need to “Be still and know that He is God(Psalms 46:10).  I only need to Trust Him for He is God!!

The boat is the one we rode in (all 20 of us and our luggage and supplies) and that is the motor which we (almost) lost.  The sunset is what we experienced upon returning to Llolwe.  The squall had died down and God showed Himself in all His glory!!

Finish #1

As the month draws to an end, I have one finish to show from my UFO list. 

My husband teaches 3rd - 5th grade Sunday School at our church.  One week they were studying the gifts that each of us has been given by God.  As an activity for the lesson he had them draw a picture of one of the gifts they studied.  He feels sure the kids think he just got rid of their artwork but instead he came home and asked me to make the squares into a quilted wallhanging.  

The quilting is a little wonky.  Hey, I'm a beginner with a new machine.  What can I say?  I don't think his kids will mind the wonky cornerstones.  They will just be excited that their artwork has been saved.  I'm excited that there is actually one UFO finished and marked off my list.  

Our New Year Started off with a Bang!!!

The announcements have all been mailed so we can now make it public....I'M A MOTHER-IN-LAW!!!!!

That's right!!

They Eloped!!

Michael & Veronica

January 1, 2011

Key West, Florida

"It's with joy that we announce

We had a change in plans

We snuck away at New Year's 

To exchange vows in the sand.

So now we share our happy news

We've started our new life

Michael is her husband

And Veronica is his wife."

The announcements were so cute.  Here are the pictures included on the announcement.  I'm sure I'll have more to share later.

They surprised us on January 3rd with a call saying they had gotten married.  It was just the two of them on a beach in Key West.  It suits them.  We are so very happy for them and so very proud to have Veronica as a member of our family.  I'm not sure where I read this(on one of the MANY blogs I read)but instead of a daughter-in-law, she will be our daughter-in-heart!!

Congratulations Michael and Veronica!!

Always Playing Catch-Up

It seems I am always playing catch up when it comes to my quilting projects.  I see soooo many cute designs and opportunities to join in a sew along while I am reading my favorite blogs.  I already told you that I am a joiner.  So here I go again, I'm joining Rachel's Postage Stamp Quilt Along.  You know Rachel, from p.s. I quilt.

Yep, I'm three weeks behind but no fear.  Since the holiday season has ended my work schedule has gone back to the normal part-time status which means I only work 3-4 days a week.  YEAH!!!  I have had the past four days off so I have been sewing, sewing, sewing.  Here is my progress.  To stay true to my resolution to use up what I have, I chose a jelly roll I bought back in 2008 at the NQA convention I attended.  It is Daydreams by Deb Strain by Moda. (I told you I have been hoarding fabric for a long time).

I love all the pre-cuts offered out there.  I have fat quarter bundles, honey buns, jelly rolls, layer cakes and charm packs.  I'm addicted!!  I buy them and then never know how to use them.  So when Rachel started this project I just knew this fabric line would be great.  The contrast fabric I'm using is just a white solid.
So I sewed and sewed and sewed and ended up with all the strips sewn together.

Lots and lots of strips!!  So, then I went back to sewing and sewing and sewing!  Whew, I'm finally catching up!!

Here are four of the forty-eight(yes, 48!!) blocks that I have finished and now I'm all caught up and can stay up with each step as they come.  These colors are out of my comfort zone but I thought the fabrics were so fun.  I guess that's why I bought it in the first place.  DUH!!

Now onto another of my WIP's.  Thanks for stopping by!!

More Thoughts on 2011

2011 started off with a bang!!  Not literally because I went to bed around 10pm on New Year's Eve.  I know, how boring can you get???  Anyway, I can't tell you what kind of bang we had around here YET but I promise I will tell you all about it real soon.

Anyway, I have decided that 2011 is going to be my year to Finish It Up and Slash my Stash.  I have so many projects that are in progress.  I know all quilters do but I'm tired of having far more unfinished projects than finished ones.  So, since I got my Janome this past year

I am determined to finish up as many of my unfinished projects as possible.  I am also going to attempt to not buy any fabric except what is needed to finish up those projects.  Now I'm not saying that I might not start some new projects but I will use what I have to do them.  I have so many kits and patterns that I have bought that I just have to get to these or I'm going to drown in my sewing room.  Besides, that way I can buy more fabric and patterns without feeling guilty, right????  I thought so!!

So the first step was to clean up my sewing room.  That started last fall when our daughter went off to college and my sweet hubby took over her room for his art studio.  I took over the formal living room.  We definitely are not formal people here!!  Here are a couple of pictures taken during that process.  Beware, it's a mess!!

I told you it was a mess.  You can't even see my sewing machine in any of those pictures.  Anyway, here is the start of the re-do.  There is still much more to be done but it is in good enough shape that I can get to everything easily so I've been sewing instead of re-doing.

That's better but not done.  The bookshelves hold only my craft paraphernalia.  The cutting table has been moved but still needs a skirt to hide all the junk under it.  I still need more of the storage bins to hold my fabric and scraps.  Well, maybe not once I get finished stash-busting, huh?  So, we'll see if I can finish up the room re-do and stay the course for my project finishes and stash busting.   I'm signed up for a machine quilting class on February 14th so that should REALLY help.  I have so many quilt tops that need to be quilted.

Thanks for stopping by,

How Do You Like My Vue?

No, not my "view", my Saturn Vue.  This is my new ride.  And yes, it is sitting out in the icy driveway.  Welcome to northwestern Ohio weather in January!

Isn't is great?!!!  One of our vehicles died week before last.  After looking at all the options, we decided that we didn't want to put any more money into an old car so we headed out in the snow(of course) to look at what was out there.  After driving seven different SUV's this was our choice(well,mostly my choice...my sweet hubby wanted the Jeep).  I LOVE IT!!

Thanks for stopping by.

2010/2011

I just love a new year.  Getting out that new American Patchwork & Quilting calendar and writing all the birthdays in it is one of my favorite things to do during the week between Christmas and New Year's Day.  There is just nothing like the feeling I get when I hang that calendar on January 1st.  If you are a golfer, it's like a mulligan.  It's a do-over.  My favorite scripture is in the book of Lamentations, chapter 3, verses 22-23.
  "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail.  They are
   new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."
I guess that's why a new year excites me so MUCH.  If God's compassion and mercy is new every MORNING, how much greater is it in a new YEAR?

2010 was a good year but full of changes for me.

January started out poorly with lots of snow to add to my grief over the loss of my precious Grandmother.
 
February, March and most of April were spent looking for a part-time job.  I began working for a popular retail store April 22 and have a new appreciation for people working minimum wage jobs.  I won't bore you with my soap-box speeches on that subject!!

May was spent planting our VERY prolific garden.

The first week of June was spent in Myrtle Beach with friends but I received bad news while there that our sweet Scout had died.

In July I received my new Janome sewing machine and I wish I could say it has made a BIG difference in my quilting output but it hasn't yet.  I spent a great deal of time canning strawberry jam, jalapeños, tomatoes and salsa.  We were also getting our baby girl ready to go off to college.  She left us on July 22 to attend school in Washington state.  Talk about change!!  It took me almost a month to be able to talk about her without crying.  We had become so close these past 3 years since moving to Ohio.  My, oh my, was that van loaded!!

August was spent working almost 30 hrs. a week and canning.  Did I tell you our garden was VERY prolific?  We ended up with 22 half pints of strawberry jam, 55 pints of salsa, 44 pints of tomatoes, 27 pints of jalapeños, and 4 quarts of green beans.  Whew!!!

September was spent working with a short trip back to Illinois to visit friends.

October started out with a trip for me to visit our baby girl.  It was great seeing all the places she talked about and meeting all her friends.  Then after a week home I went with my sweet hubby on his business trip to Washington DC.  What a week that was!!  While he was sitting in meetings, I toured the Capitol, the White House, went to the top of the Washington Memorial, toured several of the Smithsonian's, several of the Art Galleries, the National Archives, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Wall, the Korean Memorial, the WWII memorial, Arlington Cemetery.  I was so proud of myself for figuring out the Metro system.  There is so much to see that even though I was going, going, going all day long for 5 days I feel like I missed so much.  The architecture alone was amazing.  I fell in love with DC and am looking forward to another visit soon, I hope!! Then after a week home we left AGAIN!!  We took a long weekend and went to Florida to visit our oldest son and his fiancee.  That was a quick trip but fun, fun, fun.

November and December are a blur.  Working retail during the holiday season was crazy!  My part-time job became as close to full-time as they could get without having to give me benefits.  Needless to say, I was exhausted  so the New Year rang itself in without me.  I went to bed and slept 2010 out!!  I did get some sewing done for Christmas.

These little goodie bags are a pattern from Better Homes & Gardens Quilts and More, Fall 2010 edition.  Monica from Happy Zombie created them and as with everything she does, they are too cute for words!!  I made 22 of them as gifts mostly for our baby girl's house-mates and friends at college.  I filled each one with some shower gel, hand sanitizer, kleenex, and some sweets.  They were a hit with the girls.  

Excuse the picture, it's just the quilt top.  I forgot to get a picture of the finished quilt.  It was cut out, pieced, quilted and binding sewn on in less than 10 days while I worked 59 hours during that same 10 day period.  I wrapped it on the 22nd and gave it to our middle son's girlfriend for Christmas.  She was leaving to go home the next day.  Nothing like getting it done at the last moment.  But it was done!  As you can guess, purple is her favorite color and I think she really liked it.  I'll try to get her to get me some shots of it finished.  

I even read 84 books in 2010.  (Maybe that's part of the reason I didn't get too much sewing done.)

I'm really looking forward to what 2011 holds.  I see many adventures coming in these next few months and hope to share those adventures with you on a more regular basis.  

Thanks for stopping by!!

Happy Quilting!!

What can I say.....I'm a joiner!

We have a break in the regularly scheduled travel updates.  Okay, I know I've only posted one and I'm about to leave on my third trip of the month but this is a completely different subject matter.

So, I wanted to announce that I'm joining up with some pretty amazing bloggers for a Sew Scrap Along.





Jodi Nelson from Pleasant Home blog fame is hosting a scrappy sew along and I have joined up.  I just know I have told you more than once that scrappy quilts are my ALL-TIME FAVORITES of any quilts out there.  So this is right up my alley!!

Now we all know that Christmas (sorry Anna, I used the "C" word) is right around the corner so I really don't have time to start 4 or 5 new projects but how can I refuse when I LOVE scrappy quilts?  I Can't!!  So we are off.  If you are a quilter I would invite you to join us and join in all the scrappy fun we will be having over the next few weeks.  If you aren't then you can just watch as we sew up some scrappy goodness, or at least start a few more UFO's to feel guilty about.

Thanks for stopping by.  Now we return to our regularly scheduled travel blogging(maybe).

October

I am so excited about October.  Not only is it probably my favorite month of the year due to all the beautiful changes God brings to pass with the onset of autumn but this October is going to be a month of travel for me.  As I have mentioned before, I LOVE to travel.  The excitement of making a list of all I will need for the upcoming trip and preparing everything then actually getting in the car to drive, drive, drive or even driving to the airport and hopping on a plane is almost as exciting as the trip itself.  ALMOST.  For the past couple of months I have been planning four, yes you heard me right, FOUR trips, three of which will take place this month.

I have, in fact, just returned from a long weekend trip to Spokane, WA to visit our baby girl who is attending Moody Bible Institute there.  It was my first trip to the state of Washington.  What I saw of it was really great.  We had beautiful weather all but one day and even then it wasn't that bad.  I was able to spend lots of time catching up with our sweet girl and also meeting and getting to know her house mates and other friends.  I was able to tour her school(and attend Friday chapel), which is really just a church that shares it's space with the college since there are less than 500 total students at this campus.  Many of the students are aviation students who meet for many of their classes at another location called "The Hanger".  I didn't see that facility.  The photo below is the church/school as seen from her front yard.  I love that she can walk to school!!!

Spokane has a really amazing downtown area.  The river runs right through the middle of town with the falls providing much of their energy.  The park downtown is great with so many different areas to explore.  The photos below are of Hannah with the Clock Tower in the background(and, yes, she did "steal" the flower from one of the many beautiful planters downtown); the falls, the wagon, and the runners sculptures.  I didn't make it over by the wagon and was really disappointed but we passed it several times in the car on our way to the parking area for the park.

What a great, great time I had!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Oh, you want to know about the other THREE trips I am planning.   Well, you will just have to come back by later.  This post is long enough.  HeHeHe!!

Donna

Free to a Good Home!!

REASON:
Caught eating a dead bird on the cutting table in my sewing room!!

Eeeeewwwwww!!!

Speaking Out about Loss

Wow!!  Here it is September 1st.  I love fall!!!  Not that it feels too much like fall yet but I love the changing colors of the leaves and the cool, crisp fall temperatures where you can turn off the a/c and enjoy the fresh air blowing through the open windows; having to add an extra blanket to the bed because you won't close the windows at night; having to switch out wardrobes because now you need sweaters and long-sleeves.  I just love fall!!!

So much has been going on around here this past "silent" six weeks.  A dear friend reminded me recently that I still have a blog that needs updating (Hey, Lynn.  Love ya and miss you guys bunches!) so I thought I would try jumping back in.  I have encountered a great deal of loss this past nine months.  I guess I'm not dealing with it all very well.  

December 17th, 2009 my sweet grandmother left this world to join my grandfather in heaven.  They both hold such a special  place in my heart.  Some of you longtime readers may remember the quilt I made commemorating her 90th birthday.  I'm so glad I finally got it finished and to her.  She was so proud of that quilt and the fact that I had made it.  She was one of my greatest cheerleaders!!  
Each block on the quilt held a signature of friends who attended her 90th birthday party.  What a sweet time that was.  I'm so glad I got to spend so much time with her the last couple of months of her life.  I miss her terribly.

In June, I was so excited to be able to join dear friends from our time living in Illinois at Myrtle Beach for a week.  What a great time that was just relaxing on the beach, at the pool or at the many of the wonderful restaurants in Myrtle Beach.  During my trip, though, our sweet dog Scout, who had been sick for a while, took a turn for the worse and died.  Now I know many would say that he was just a dog but that's not the way we see things at our house.  The pets we have (the MANY pets we have) are really members of our family.  We take them quite seriously here.  It was a real heartbreak not to be able to say goodbye to him.  We "rescued" Scout in December, 2003 and he was such a good dog.  He is missed.

July 22 brought not quite so permanent a loss but a loss, nonetheless.  Our baby girl left to go off to college.  The problem is that she is clear over on the other side of the country in Spokane, WA.  It's not like I can just jump in my little car and go see her on the spur of the moment or that she can even come home for a weekend visit!!  Her leaving brings us an empty nest.  We are so proud of her and are cheering her on whole-heartedly but, man, what an adjustment this is.  So many have told me that when we do finally adjust, we will love it but at this point I'm still not so sure about that.  I have kids spread out all over this country and, just so you know, this mama isn't so happy about that!  I REALLY miss my kids!!

So sorry this post has been such a downer.  I'm just keeping it real and letting you see what's been going on inside and why, I think, I have been so quiet on the blogging.  I do hope to get back to it on a regular basis(Lynn!!) so that you can keep up with my boring little life.  HaHa!!  Excitement I don't need.  Calm would be nice!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Summer Squash and a Murder Mystery

What do you get when you cross two prolific summer squash plants with a murder mystery?  Here at my house we got cookies!!  Let me explain......

I just finished reading Apple Turnover Murder by JoAnna Fluke.  It is a cozy mystery whose main character Hannah Swenson owns a cookie shop in Small Town, MN.  I love cozy mysteries - no sex, foul language, or blood and guts!  The author always includes recipes used by Hannah in her shop.  They always sounded so mouth watering but until yesterday I had not tried any of the recipes.

Here's where my yellow squash plants enter into the story.  In this book there is a recipe for Rose's Zucchini Cookies.  Now, we didn't grow any zucchini because we couldn't find any to plant last spring but our two little yellow squash plants have given us MORE than enough squash.  I thought, What could it hurt?  We have eaten squash almost every way you can imagine so why not in cookies? 

They are delicious!  Granted, it doesn't hurt that they include pecans and chocolate chips in the recipe.  They are so soft and chewy.  Who knew I could get in my 5 fruits and vegetables each day by eating cookies!!  Yummy!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!