All on a Sunday Afternoon

 I love Sundays. Not only was today the first day of a new week, but the first of a new month. I smiled as the DJ on the local Christian radio station said "where has the year gone!"  My sentiments exactly, I found my thoughts agreeing as I drove to worship this morning. Yes, I love Sundays. A day of worship and rest. Rest, or cease from labor. Oh not in the strict sense of the word, but cease from "have to's"...you know. nothing that has to be done, just a afternoon to relax and piddle, an afternoon with no restrictions or to do list.

Sometimes that means ignoring the customer quilts, the dishes, the laundry, and just doing something I enjoy. Like playing around with fabric (grin) - now that's relaxing! A little quilt therapy to the rescue!

Why not make something little? A "quilt in a day" so to speak. Why not indeed. I had stumbled across a pattern on the internet this past week (Moda Bakeshop) and decided that would do well to occupy my thoughts today. The example was 15 inches, mine turned out to be 18...their's was scrappy, surprisingly mine wasn't. No restrictions!

Piecing was a breeze and I quickly found myself at the longarm, quilting away with the most delightful yellow thread creating texture on the background. I had fully planned on "matching thread" in the hot pink but hate to admit was a tad lazy and didn't want to get up to change thread...once committed....sigh...I can't help but wonder if it would have looked better with hot pink thread on the stars. At least the back had the texture I desired.

The afternoon has past by most pleasantly as I pieced, quilted, and then prepared the bias binding. Oh what was I thinking? One more personal project that needs the binding hand sewn on the back! At least it's small, and doable...

 I think this little quilt matches my bright mood of the day! A day of singing and rejoicing. I love Sundays. Times of corporate worship with fellow believers and times of quiet worship as I delight in the work my hands find to do.

"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.  Zephaniah 3:17

Up!

"It's 'bout as bad as it could be

Seems everybody's buggin' me

Like nothing wants to go my way -- Yeah, it just ain't been my day

Nothin's comin' easily.

Even my skin is acting weird

I wish that I could grow a beard

Then I could cover up my spots

not play connect the dots

I just wanna disappear

Up--up--up--

Can only go up from here

Up-up-up-Up

where the clouds gonna clear

Up-up-up

There's no way but up from here...."

Shania Twain lyrics.

I really like that song as there are a lot of days I can echo the sentiments. 2011 has been a whirlwind of a year (and we're only 3/4 of the way done!) Many times I've had to hold on to hope just to make it through the day. My best laid plans didn't always materialize ....

For example, this little quilt that I now call "Up!" was suppose to be called "Class of '37"

I designed it back in January using AccuQuilt's Block of the Month patterns and with the setting design inspired from Circle of Nine, a book I picked up at the Houston International Quilt Festival last year. The idea was two-fold. One to teach a piecing class using the Go!Cutter and two, to teach longarm design elements.

Okay? You still don't understand the Class of '37 do you? See, I was going to divide up the outer borders into quadrants as well as the inner borders...if you counted all the opportunities for designs (sashings, blocks, borders) it added up to 37...I see said the blind man.

Teachable moments!

But sometimes the best laid plans just don't work out as intended. Due to my studio redo and being displaced for so long the quilt top didn't get pieced until my birthday in July.

But that was okay, because it then doubled as my annual birthday quilt. Since 2004 I've made a quilt on or near my birthday. With the exception of my 47th year, that one carried over into my 49th year and is still waiting to be quilted. But! I made two last year for my 50th, so I still can say I've made 8 birthday quilts (grin).

The fun thing about procrastination is that I learned something new prior to piecing and quilting this little fun quilt. The Rose of Sharon block was cut out my with Go!Cutter (as was the entire quilt) and based on a block from Sharon Pederson's book The Rose of Sharon Block Book.

I'm not an appliquer so this was a bit of a challenge. It was made easier by putting double sided fusible on the back of the fabric prior to cutting and then I simply ironed it on my background fabric.

That's as far as I had gotten. Had no idea how to go around it. Would I do it on my domestic sewing machine? Clueless.

Well, on my birthday the Island Quilter's Guild holds an annual sew in - they don't just do it for me on my birthday (grin) but it always falls then because my birthday is in the third week of July and that's the time of the event! No better place to learn something new than at a guild sew in. With a little help of my friends I learned a new term "appli-quilt" and I decided to be brave and do it on the longarm because I am much more comfortable with my longarm than my home sewing machine. So instead of going around the parts and pieces during the piecing process I simply waited and did it all when it was on the frame - thereby securing the parts as well as quilting them all in one process!

Okay, so back to my original intent...to use this quilt as a teaching sample. The pressure was on. I'd been displaced so long out of my studio that I was guilt ridden to do this sampler when I knew I had customer quilts to do.... but my A1 reunion was fast approaching and I'd promised my A1 family a "class of '37"

Quilting is hard on the body, let me tell you. I've got multiple chiropractor receipts to prove it! There's been years that I have totally blown out parts of my body that have shut me down from quilting...some is due to the repetitive motion and some is due to stress....sad to say, stress has hit me big time this year (many many contractor woes that I haven't shared) and I've been physically suffering (trying to do it silently, but lately I've been a whiner).

So between physically hurting and my deadline fast approaching, parts of the quilt didn't get finished...namely the inner borders. So much for 37 design elements. Sigh. But the reunion went on and the quilt has sat unfinished for over a month.

Opportunity knocks sometimes at the most inconvenient times. My guild holds an annual show in conjunction with the Galveston Historical Foundation. I've always tried to have a quilt in the show but for the past couple of years haven't....I wanted this little quilt finished and hanging in this years show - well, it's an exhibit actually...runs from Oct 10-Jan 6 in the 1861 US Custom House on 20th Street.

Problem....crippling pain in the neck and left shoulder that radiates pain all the way down to my finger tips. Multiple chiropractor visits (wish I could trade quilting for their services! Ouch! in more ways than one). Instructions to take it easy, no heavy lifting, light quilting (or no quilting) while things heal...UGH!

But the quilt needed to be finished! All I had was the inner borders, 4 sets of 3 little parts....alas, my brain was somehow fried too and I couldn't come up with a dozen new border designs...

Instead I did what I love to do best, and that's feathers....and I repeated them instead of multiple designs. Fire me.

It's almost finished. I still need to do the binding and a hanging sleeve before the deadline in October. A little here, a little there. It will get done. I work a few hours a day playing catch up on my customer quilts and one of those days I'll work for me. Recovery is slow from injuries and I'm not the most patient of women. I've tried not to whine, at least publicly, my closest friends are probably VERY tired of my comments...can I help it if I have a low pain tolerance (grin)

As I was gathering the photos to put on webshots of all the close ups I noticed this close up....my favorite feathers and notice -- they are pointing UP!

Shania's song is fun and upbeat, but my true "upness" comes from the love of my friends and family and the promise that no matter what my Jesus is always faithful to me even when my faith isn't strong....He is my healer, and even though this seems like the long way home He is faithful and I'm trusting Him to work things for my good.

So here's all the close ups of UP! or "Class of '37 minus 9" (grin).

UP!

by quiltsnkaboodle

Life is Short, Eat Dessert First!

Believe it or not, that's the name of this little quilt.

I began this quilt top at my "49 and holding" birthday retreat in July 2009. It's a pattern called Nickel Bricks from my friend LeAnn Weaver's book Loose Change.

...you'd of thought I'd put into practice what I preach (grin) - and quickly quilted this little delectable delight - but this little quilt has been in the "quilts in waiting" pile for quite a while. So much for the urgency...

I thought it would be fun to throw in some jelly beans with all the fruit and veggies, thought the fabric on the back was just perfect too. Oh, and did I mention that I used Soy batting? I thought that appropriate!

Well, the quilt top was started in 07/09 and the border added 03/10 and there she sat.....until this weekend. 09/11, when I needed a little selfish quilt therapy.

See, sometimes life throws curve balls. Kinda like having to "frog" out a quilt when there are puckers in the back...or feeling like you are missing out on all the fun when everyone else seems to be having a holiday...or being discouraged because there was more month than money... its easy to focus on the rough parts - the ole devil likes it when you do that - getting all full of self-pity and all...

But that's not reality! Life is good! The blessings always outweigh the disappointments. Trials only make you stronger, and more appreciative for the things you do have. And bottom line, it's about the people in your life more than the stuff that clutters it. Yes, life can get serious sometimes for all of us, in many different ways - perhaps that's when it's time to give yourself permission to eat the dessert first!

Lighten up and have a little fun. Laughter is the best medicine to chase away the mullie-grubs. And this little fun lap quilt is going to be my reminder to enjoy each and every day!

Life IS short, but as long as He gives me breath, I will try not to waste my time on the distasteful but to enjoy each sunrise and sunset that I've been given. And the only shadows I want to experience are the ones I find under the safety of His wings!

Psalm 34:8

Taste and see that the LORD is good;

blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

This is the First Day of the Rest of Your Life

Time marches on. Every day is a new adventure. Some days I feel like mountain climbing, other days I want to climb back into bed!

When I started this blog several years ago it was with the commitment that I'd ramble once a week....last year it was more like once a month (sigh). I'm repenting.

Typically between Christmas and New Year's I take time to quilt my own quilt. This year was a tad different....our Christmas came late, celebrating with our sons and their lovely ladies on 12/30 due to conflicting work schedules...the following morning we headed to west Texas and on New Year's set up a new quilter with her A1 Quilting Machine.

Our return trip was to include a stop over at a cousin's in San Antonio for a little relaxing time. That was cut short as we drove straight from San Antonio back to Houston, without going home but straight to the ER. My husband's father was being admitted for double pneumonia, fluid on both lungs, and a blood clot in one lung.

Prior to our belated Christmas celebration I had loaded a personal quilt, thinking it would just take a day or two to complete....that quilt became my therapy during the 8 day hospital stay....in the evenings I'd try to quilt for 20 or 30 minutes just to unwind. Needless to say, the quilt was on the frame much longer than my previous "between the holidays" intentions. But quite honestly, it would have been difficult to try to focus on a customer quilt, so I continued to quilt it a little at a time. I took a lot of close ups as this was the first time I tried out this new border design

Personal Projects 2011

Here's a link if the slide show doesn't work.

Sometimes boo-boos make for creative flow. I had originally planned on curly Amish feathers in the outer border, quilted in the circle spines and then discovered I had the wrong ratio - no way would I rip out seams...so I decided to use the circles for my feather puffs - if I messed up, oh well, it's only fabric and it's my quilt!

Finally things appeared to be normal again, my father in law came home to recover, my personal quit was finished and I quickly loaded up a customer quilt to try to redeem the time....but who am I fooling?!?!?

My youngest son is getting married! They have been engaged since the fall and are having what I call a "planned elopement" - they are going to the justice of the peace (by themselves) and having a wedding reception afterwards to celebrate with friends and family. Did I mention that this is happening next week?!?!?! Somewhere between now and then I will find time to alter her wedding dress. What a privilege to be included in this special time of their lives!

Yep, now you know my excuse for being AWOL from my ramblings. As soon as I catch my breath and get caught up on customer quilts I'll return to my chatty little self, at least that's the plan!

I'm excited as I look forward to a new year - lots of beautiful customer quilts already lined up, some personal quilts that I hope to squeeze in, especially before the next show (will have an A1 booth at the Dallas Celebration in March), along with sprinkling in some fun classes this year (my favorite tote bag, piecing a quilt using the AccuQuilt Go Cutter, design ideas on the longarm)....oh, and I am soooo looking forward to warmer days so I can enjoy my hammock again!

But right now, it's time to reflect and be thankful for all that God has given me - a wonderful family, a future daughter-in-law, supportive friends, and just the joy of living. Today IS the first day of the rest of my life, and I will rejoice in every breath!

Taking time to enjoy the journey!

karen

Remembering Ike - Quilter Style

Hurricane Ike 2008 was the third costliest hurricane ever to make landfall in the United

States, according to Wikipedia, behind Hurricane Andrew of 1992 and Hurricane Katrina of 2005. It was the most intense Atlantic storm of 2008 – when it made its final landfall near Galveston Texas on September 13, 2008 it was a strong Category 2 hurricane with a Category 5 equivalent storm surge. Ike was blamed for 195 deaths, 112 in the US with 23 still listed as missing. Damages from Ike in the U.S. were estimated at $29.6 billion, with an estimated $3 billion in Galveston alone. This hurricane also resulted in the largest evacuation of Texans in our state’s history and became the largest search-and-rescue

operation in U.S. history.

Today marks the 2 year Anniversary of Hurricane Ike. Many of you were a part of my blogger support team, lifting my family up in prayer during those eventful days of struggling to know if we should evacuate, then the aftermath of returning to see many of our neighbors in total devastation. You faithfully followed my blog through the healing and participated in the Quilts of Hope campaign. You may remember my special little gift from God two months after the storm reminding me that sometimes He calms the storm and other times He calms the child...this story is part two of Reminder of God's Beauty in Creation posted November 13, 2008....

The little parrot that graced my window sill so many months ago left a lasting impression and I knew that one day I wanted to play tribute to God for sending that little visitor my way..I asked my youngest son to take one of my photos from that day and translate it into a painting for me in hopes that I could then translate his art into a quilt...he never totally finished the painting and the quilt was put on the back burner..

Until a week or so ago... It was time.

With Son #2's painting and my original photo I attempted to make a translation to fabric using my blue washout marker...

Several hours later I had a 20 x 20 mini tribute quilt...if any of you have ever done a wholecloth (which is a quilt where the fabric is all one piece and the design is made with thread) then you know this is the scary part - hoping that all the blue marker actually washes out like it is suppose to!

It did, and I blocked it to dry. Now comes the fun part!

I've been intrigued by Irena Bluhms coloring on wholeclothes for quite a time now and have been eager to give it a try. Instead of using colored pencils or even crayons I decided to play with Tsukneko Fabrico pens - pens I used in a workshop last summer with Jamie Wallen.

Have to admit, this is another scary part! All those long hours of marking, quilting, waiting for it to dry - what if I messed up with the coloring!

Well, what if I did? It's only fabric right? Grin.

I kept trying to get the colors right based on the painting and the original photo. I was very pleased and pleasantly surprised that the coloring was very relaxing. I put on the iPod and listened to an audible book and was lost for hours!

One negative of working with these pens is the limit of colors. I really wanted a more intense blue for his back feathers. I'm sure if I knew more about using this product that there's probably a way I can achieve the look I want by the way I layer the colors...so this is my homework for the next project, to learn as much about this technique as possible!

These corner feathers are one of Irena's designs : IBBS26 Floating Corner Swag. Many of her designs are digitized but I don't have a computer so mine were hand guided.

The other negative about these pens is that they run out! I went on a search today to purchase more purple pens and had to resign to ordering over the internet...so there went my goal of finishing this tribute quilt on the anniversary of Ike...

No matter, it's not the date that's important, it's the enjoyment of the process and the meaning of the quilt. My beautiful reminder that God indeed is in control, has always been in control, and always will be! He uses simple creations such as this parrot to remind me that He is Creator God and He uses things like Hurricanes as an opportunity for communities to be united during difficult times and learn to rely on Him.

PS when the quilt is finished I'll post the results - stay tuned!

The Little Quilt That Grew

I find it interesting that some days aren't according to the "to do list" - you know what I mean...you have certain things planned and think you have it all figured out and it's anything but!

That's not always a bad thing. Unless you are some what of a control freak (grin).

Take this past weekend for example. One thing that went according to plan were my plans to attend a women's conference at my church, Calvary Houston, Friday night and all day Saturday with the theme Abounding. What didn't go as planned was this quilt...mainly because there wasn't a plan!

Well, that's not the absolute truth, there was a goal at least...a goal to try to use some left-over parts and fabric from a previous project(s). Ya'see, several years ago I decided to re-do my living room moving from blue to these colors. I don't even know what color family to call this because it's so foreign to my color pallet of brights and more brights...but it fits my living room nicely. I'd made curtains, pieced a borders quilt wallhanging from a class sometime back in 2008 (it's still waiting to be quilted) and even covered one of two rocking chairs (the other is a UFO)...and oh me oh my, there's still fabric from this beautiful collection! What to do, what to do?

Therefore my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

I Corinthians 15:58

Abounding. Means overflow, over doing it, abundance. Yep, I had an abundance of fabric that for sure, so Sunday afternoon while mulling over some of the topics from the conference I decided to work on turning my parts and pieces into something useful.

I wish I'd of thought to take pictures of the process, but didn't think of it until the little parts had grown....

I started out with the diamond in the center that has the rose, added the flying geese next to it and then just went about playing on the design wall - The diamonds in the rectangles were previously pieced as were the flying geese and the half square triangles and tri-triangles used for the pinwheels. The interesting part was piecing them all together.

One of the Abounding themes was Abounding in Service with the key verse the one quoted above. Our speaker was Kym Hindt, pastor's wife from Calvary Houston and founder of our women's ministry. She shared that what we are doing will matter now and in eternity, that we should work hard doing things God's way and not just being busy and burdened. That we should live our Christian life with future vision, to see needs and move to meet those needs. She also stated that to have vision for the future you must be strategizing during the present, preparing and planning...

In a way, that's how I approached this little quilt. Trying not to make it a burden by just being busy working in the fabrics, instead envisioning something useful. As each part was added I'd plan for the next...hum, if I add squares to the pinwheels that should be about the same width as the diamonds and flying geese...gee, I think it needs a little something to separate the design elements and that stripe will work nicely...oh and then why not add the scrappy collection of leftovers...now what about a long strip on the side to give your eyes a place to rest before adding the diamonds...and so the process went as I reflected....

Kym went on to share that abounding in service also included a sense of flexibility, being willing to shift our plans to His plans, in other words, live with the attitude of "if the Lord permits" or "God's will" and recognize that living in Him means to give Him permission to change my plans, and then exercising the choice to be flexible, to just keep moving - allowing God to lead, accepting His opening or closing of doors as He sees fit. When He says move, be flexible and move.

Abounding in service also means doing a job to the best of your ability until its done, commitment to follow through to completeness as well as being faithful in the present. In other words don't quit what you are doing now or become discontent because you look at everything as a stepping stone to what you want to do in the future. Just be faithful in the little things. Keep working.

As my Sunday afternoon of sewing and thinking was coming to an end I reflected on my work... I'd added the half square triangles top and bottom, figured the math for the floating strips to be able to add the drunkard's path blocks (quarter circles for my non-quilting audience) and was ready to pronounce it good. I'd managed to use up a lot of fabric. Loved using the Go cutter for the drunkard's path blocks, the accuracy in the cut made sewing the "pie" to the "L" so much easier. Yep. I'd used up a lot of scraps, actually running out of the green/yellow combo and having to improvise with the pinks to complete the border. Yes, there was still fabric left over, but there's always scraps, right? time to call it quits.

Kym admonished us to not waste time mourning over closed doors (the what if's of life) but instead recognize God as authority - when God closes a door you are at a crossroad - the choice is to go towards the open door or sit and fret over the closed door (which is truly just a waste of time). We should learn to look for the open door with eagerness, not ignoring it - because it may not always be open. What opportunities await? What you do today in service is preparing you for the service of the future, preparing for good work... so be committed to the present and seeing things through to completion.

An opportunity arose today, a window of time was provided....I chose to walk through this open door and embraced the challenge of working towards completing the work I'd begun....

Still reflecting on things gleaned from Kym's session on Abounding in Service...we should have forbearance with people patiently allowing God's spirit to work in their lives - this reminded me of song lyrics "I'm not who I was" - we all grow at different rates, learning things at different times, being patient with others as they too are working through things...and how we should have fruitful fellowship by being a team player, serving together, a co-laborer not trying to do everything in isolation....serving together, getting along...profound simple truths to pattern our lives after. As we all know, life is not always a picnic in the park.. but that facing opposition with challenge is not a reason for retreat. That adventure in ministry (life) is to get in the battle and face it with courage. The greater the challenge, the greater the victory!

Part of my challenge with growing this little quilt was what to do next... and then realizing that there wasn't enough fabric for my final border!...the solution to this challenge was a green corner stone (grin)...and you just thought I did that on purpose!

I certainly have enjoyed the process of this quilt. I had absolutely no idea what I would end up with as I began with parts, scraps, and a little knowledge of how to do a borders quilt. It was a challenge to think of the next part, to "do the math" to make it all fit. But I kept moving forward, committed to finish what I'd begun. Just like we sometimes encounter difficult people in our paths I encountered a few difficult blocks that weren't perfectly square or didn't want to lay flat (grin), but I knew the quilt needed those parts to be successful so we worked it out. All about growth isn't it? Either personal, spiritual, or yes, even functional as in quilting...

The Little Quilt That Grew....may it be a reminder of the need for growth in my own life...

There is so much more to ponder concerning the Abounding Women's conference... Abounding in Faith, Abounding in Hope, Abounding in Love, and Abounding in Grace...if you are interested you may want to visit the Pillar's of the Word website - CD's of the conference are available.

Focusing ...

Ever feel like things are a little fuzzy? out of focus? not sure of direction? discouraged? confused?out of control? anxious? fearful?

Fear. It's a funny little thing. Creeps up sometimes out of no where. I'm not talking about the good fear - the fight or flight fear that gets the adrenaline flowing that can possibly save your life, I'm thinking more about the fear that cripples your action.

Remember as a kid how you were sometimes afraid of the dark? The twilight hours are breathtaking but the fear of the approaching night would take your breath away in a negative way. Most of us have out grown that fear, unless you are caught out in the dark in a dangerous place, but then the good fear kicks in and you realize you need to get out of that situation.

No, I'm talking about the fear that sneaks in camouflaged and catches you unaware. Say for example the fear of failure, thoughts that can leave you afraid to try something new because you don't know if it will be successful or not - what will others think if you goof? Or on the flip side, the fear of success and that causes you subconsciously to sabotage yourself perhaps by not trying, not giving it your best, or just procrastinating long enough that the opportunity pasts because the potential resulting change scares you.

What about the fear of being hurt? for example earlier this week my shoulder and arm started hurting very similar to several years ago when it froze up on me... I became fearful of the potential pain to the point of not wanting to exercise for fear I would make it worst and lose my ability to use my arm in my chosen profession of quilting, I allowed my negative thinking of being hurt physically to keep me from a workout that potentially would strengthen this area ... or the fear of being hurt emotionally - relationships are risky business, but if you guard your heart to the point of not letting anyone in then you miss out on some of the beautiful moments in life...Fear can be so isolating.

Fears of growing older, fears of being alone, fears of losing a job or other material possessions. Fear of not being able to "make it" or pay the bills. That's usually when fear turns to worry. Fear has lots of second cousins like worry, stress, giving up, being defeated, downcast, depressed...

In pondering these thoughts I turned to my Bible for my comfort . "The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid" Psalm 27:1 The verse could have just as easily said "of WHAT shall I be afraid" - fear is a lack of focus. Focusing on God to work things out in His timing.

I was also reminded of something my dad always said "Can't never could, I'll try always would"

So why not try something new? Why not risk a little? If you fall, then just get up again. What's the worst thing that can happen? They can't take your birthday away from you!

Speaking of birthday... (grin)...Don't you just love my birthday cake? My youngest son's girlfriend spent literally days making this, and it tasted ever'bit as good as it looks!

Okay, so I decided that I wasn't going to be afraid to try something different in my quilting. I've always loved bright bold colors and I dearly love scrap quilts...yet sometimes they seem to flop. I'm trying to get over that fear of 'what if I make an ugly quilt' Well, I've made some! I'm sure we all have at one point or another if we're honest. But it's only fabric right? and the quilt police can talk all they want but they can't take my birthday away!!

So I played in my stash. I pulled out my new AccuQuilt Go! cutter and started cutting out parts and pieces. I was inspired by two fabulous books, Collaborative Quilting by Freddie Moran & Gwen Marston and Adventures with Leaders & Enders by Bonnie Hunter. The first one helped me overcome some fear of color combining and the second one showed me how to maximize my time and sneak in a little piecing of my own personal quilts while working on customer quilts.

Here's the result of my fearless attempts - I call it Bodacious Birthday Kaboodle

And the fun thing, I quilted it ON my birthday! In fact, if you double click on the photo below to make it larger you can see some of my doodles in the quilting to document this. July 23 in the sunrise fabric, 50 in the fireworks fabric, and in the binding it says "today is the first day of the rest of my life"
I had complete freedom in the piecing, didn't matter to me what fabrics were next to the others, I figured they'd lived together long enough in my stash that they knew how to play nice (grin)

So I took that same freedom in my quilting. Butterfly logo here and there, feather puffs, swirls, whatevers

and little hearts to represent loved ones and the joy in my heart that today was my birthday!

Birthday's are a time of family celebration. And this was the big one! I celebrated with a backyard cookout! I've always thought that we had these birthday celebrations backwards, we should be giving gifts to our mothers for actually birthing us as well as all their love and sacrifice in raising us...

That's my side of the family above and hubby's side of the family below (with the nephews and niece missing - 3 out of 4 were either out of state or out of country)

And here's our sons with their lovely ladies. And Pixxie (grin)

Yep, family is a good thing to focus on. I John 4:18 says There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.

Below is one of the quilts I was working on as I practiced the Leaders and Enders technique for the pieces of my birthday quilt - this t-shirt quilt is for one of my nephews, it's a belated graduation gift. I made another one for a customer in the past weeks also - so between the two of them I had all my parts and pieces for my bodaciously bold creation (grin)

I've worked on a few other personal projects recently. I've always liked the hunter star pattern and found a ruler to assist with the process, Rapid Fire Hunter's Star On a Sunday afternoon I whipped out this little quilt, it's really easy the ruler and pattern - but Pixxie has convinced me that it's just not big enough. I have enough fabric to make it larger so it's going in the UFO pile until I can get a round to it. Hard to tell but those are purple butterflies in the darker fabric...

I've also finally added the bottom row and border treatment to the lone stars class project I started this past spring...now it's waiting to be quilted! I think I'm overcoming my fears of color (grin)

Yep, I've done a lot of thinkin' as I've been quiltin' And I think my focus has gotten a little better concerning not letting fear cripple me...no matter what this life will throw at'cha, whether it be things out of your control like illness, loss of a job or things in your thinking - the solution is to realize that God is the one in control ...

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8

Looks a little better focused doesn't it? Living surely is an adventure! Embrace the journey my friend!