Philippians 1:28 Part 2. Sewing News: A Gift a Day. Pinwheel Coasters

Philippians 1:27b-28

SCRIPTURE

OBSERVATION

“without being frightened

in any way…”

As they endured attacks on their church, their faith, and their very way of life, Paul is saying that by them standing in unity and without fear they will have the victory!  Furthermore, this will be a sign to their opposition that they – instead of the Philippians will be destroyed.  God will save the Philippians.

APPLICATION

In today’s current societal climate,

these verses are so encouraging.

The divisiveness in our country is sad.

So much hate.

So much ignorance.

Almost everyone is under attack by one group or another. 

Most of us fall into one of the

“undesirable” groups. 

But you know what?

I truly believe these verses:

My dear friends,

sometimes no response

is a response.

Sometimes our no response,

frees our God to respond

on our behalf.

The battle is not ours,

but God’s.

We need simply to march

in unity and faith,

pushing forward to the prize.

We need to prayerfully

take our positions, stand firm,

and see what God will do!

Meanwhile, we can be courageous and encouraged

as we face our tomorrow’s knowing

God is with us and for us.

PRAYER

LORD, how many times have I picked up the battle and futilely fought it on my own strength?  This led to defeat, frustration and, surprisingly enough, weakened faith.  Help me to recognize that

the battle is Yours and the victory is ours,

there is power in numbers and unity,

that you are my warrior, my strength, my shield!

I praise You for this! 

Thank You, LORD,

for this amazing gift of

safety,

peace

and

victory!

Amen.

Sewing News:  A Gift a Day

You know, in January I always say to myself that I will take time every month for Christmas sewing and I don't.  Then, I'm in such a last minute rush that I'm too tired to truly enjoy the season - much less the reason for this wonderful season!  

So this year, I lowered my expectations of myself and I did start early.  But, then there's that one perfect gift I can make for so and so!  

I still don't want to pressure myself, so I decided to make a Gift a Day.  I want these gifts to be meaningful, personal and something that can be finished in an hour or so.  Every day I will be posting a gift a day on my Instagram account @miaismine22 under #agiftaday!  

A couple of posts are already on Instagram, but I'll sharing about them more in detail here.  So, without further ado, here's the first one!

Day 1, Gift 1:  Pinwheel Coasters

These Pinwheel Coasters went up really quickly because

1) I used some scrappy HSTs left over from another project

and 

2) I used a self-binding method.

I am over the moon because my daughter loved them and asked me to write a tutorial!

So, I will be making another set for the tutorial to be published very soon!

Blessings to all!

I'm linking up to:

Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River 

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication 

Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts!

Philippians 1:27b – 28 Part 1. Sewing News: Setting Up A Quilty 365 Center

Philippians 1:27b – 28

SCRIPTURE

OBSERVATION

As we discussed previously here and here Paul is asking for a united front in verse 1:27.  To be sure there are disputes over details in the Philippine church, but overall, they can agree on the Gospel of Christ.  As previously discussed, this point is so vital, that Paul mentions it three times in verse 27b!

After discussing “striving together as one for the Gospel”, he tells them they can achieve this without being frightened in any way by those who oppose them.

APPLICATION

This reminds me of the saying, “There is power in numbers.”  Amen!

I also recall how my love for my sister-in-law grew tremendously as I nursed her through breast cancer – twice. 

Yup, she's my hero!

And then how she flew from the east coast to New Mexico during her own chemotherapy treatment to go with me to my own first chemotherapy treatment.

Now, like all sisters,

we love each other deeply

and

we can definitely drive each other nuts!  J

I remember telling my kiddos, “I can complain about her, but not you!”

So contradictory,

but it made so much sense to me! 

Oh, and my husband?

He would just smile.

Together, my sister-in-law and I  encouraged each other

via telephone

to beat cancer. 

And we did.

That’s the power of unity.

That’s the ability

to be fearless

in the face

of our enemy.

That’s unity.

PRAYER

You know how I hate hypocrisy and “fronts”!  Therefore, this set of verses really had me struggling to make peace with and write about because that is exactly what I felt Paul was asking the Philippians to do!

http://www.lovethispic.com/image/145583/thank-you-god

Holy Father, thank you for helping me as I grappled with these verses over the last week!  Now I understand why You’ve been calling me all morning to study and read, and 

I now understand “united front” on a deeper level – and I appreciate it. 

Thank you, Abba Father! 


Sewing News

How I Set Up My Quilty 365 Center

First, I must mention that I use this tutorial to make this quilt.  In short, I cut out circles of fabric and light interfacing, sew them right sides together, cut the interfacing, turn them inside out and iron them to my background fabric.  But seriously, check out her link.  :)

1)    My granddaughter helped me run my light interfacing through the Accuquilt to make a mountain of 5” circles – which quickly turned into a little mountain!  J

2)    Then I spent an afternoon cutting out a 5” strip from each “bolt” of my fabric.  Using my I Accuquilt made short work of creating the 5” circles. 

3)    Next, I sew the circles onto the interfacing to the circles and pin them to the squares. 

4)    Finally, I will press them and blanket stitch them on.  I’m using a mix of hand sewing and machine sewing.  I had started out using embroidery floss, but then I read that was not the best idea.  That saddens me as it looks so very pretty!

appreciated!

5)    I store them all in this pretty handmade basket. 

6)    At times, I follow the mood blanket mode and pick a color that reflects my mood using this chart.  At times I pick a fabric that reminds me of that day.  It’s all very loosey goosey!  J

Oh my dear readers, 

thank you for visiting!  

See you again soon!

I'm linking up to:

Kathleen's Sharing Sundays

Monday Making at Love,Laugh, Quilt

Main Crush Mondays 

at Cooking Up Quilts

Moving It Forward Monday 

at Em’s Scrapbag.

Please stop and pay them a visit!

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend! A Jump to Philippians 3:12 - 14. Slow Sunday Stitching

Hello there!  I hope your Thanksgiving was filled with love, warmth, gratitude and laughter!

Philippians 3:12 – 14

My husband and I spent some time remembering his mother – and all the silly things she did to make us laugh – her dichos (sayings), her actions – simply her!  We also talked about the week I was diagnosed.

Then we put it away and enjoyed life!  I certainly can’t forget – but I can strain forward to what is ahead – always remember from where the LORD has brought me. 

In light of that, I added a twist to our Thanksgiving Gratitude Sharing!  I asked everyone to share their happiest memory as well.  Our table was filled with, “Ah, Mom, you should have given us more notice!”  Hogwash!  J  And then came the laughter.  It was so beautiful! 

Life is like that,

filled with hardship to be sure,

but also filled with

victory,

reflection,

gratitude,

joy,

laughter,

love….

Life is good.

Dear Friends, this is my truth!

Slow Sunday Stitching
I've been crocheting a lot this weekend. Here is a butterfly crocheted scarf I made for my granddaughter!  Here is where I found the pattern!

I've decided to start a scrapghan from the yarn left over from projects.  Here's the beginning of my 2016-2017 Scrapghan!  

I'm linking up to Can I Get a Whoop!Whoop! at Confessions of a Fabric Addict , Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts and Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching.  

Update of Mind Map. To Do Tuesday. Giving Time, Time.

Hello There!

Thank you for visiting!  I'm so glad you're here! Whether this is your first visit or you're a regular reader, "Welcome!"

Update of Mind Map.

With the completion of Baby M2's hat,my percentages went up to 33%!  I'm a third way through my list!  Yea!

To Do Tuesday.
Here's my list from last week.  A lot got accomplished!

11/15/16

DONE!  Hand Sewing

Wool jubilee leave mat

-   Continue stitching

I used beads instead of buttons,

plus.....

there's a surprise twist to this one!

Oh Oh!  Quilting

Continue to hand quilt the Advent tree

DONE!  Christmas Sewing:

Add borders

Purchase batting and backing

Make backing

Hopefully, find a long arm quilter who can finish it by Christmas

Oh Oh!  Regular Sewing

Grey Hand warmers (make 5 more ) 

alter blouses

DONE! Crochet 

Baby M2’s afghan crochet 21 more green dots

DONE! BOM’s & QAL’s 

Dot Quilt – appliqué dots to foundation fabric

Quilty 365 – appliqué circles to foundation fabric

This week's list will be much shorter because I really want to meet my OMG goal of finishing the Advent tree for my son! 😍

To Do List for 11/22/16

Hand Sewing

Wool jubilee leave mat

-   Join back to front

Quilting - Advent Tree

Continue to hand quilt the Advent tree

Bind

Wash

Attach ribbons for the 25 decorations for Advent tree

Present to my son

I'm linking up to Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River and To Do Tuesday at Stitch All Things.  

Giving Time, Time
This week is a fabulous opportunity to be filled with gratitude and thanksgiving to our LORD and Savior!  

To be sure, since 2014, it's a difficult week as well.  Because of this, I am a bit more emotional - to be honest - a lot more emotional.  

On Monday 

of Thanksgiving week 2014, 

I had a mammogram.  

On Tuesday 

of Thanksgiving week 2014, 

my doctor called in the early afternoon

to let me know that I had an 

abnormal mammogram.

I told my husband, 

sister-in-law 

and my sister.

On Wednesday

of Thanksgiving week 2014, 

we noted that it was 7 years since my mother-in-law's passing.

She passed the day before Thanksgiving.

Also

On Wednesday

of Thanksgiving week 2014, 

I had a diagnostic mammogram.

The radiologist told me

there was no doubt that I had a tumor

located right next to the chest wall,

deep inside my left breast.

Because of the location,

he highly recommended that we go to 

MD Anderson ASAP.

His kind technician 

prepared the CD's that I would need.

Late in the evening, 

on Wednesday 

of Thanksgiving week 2014,

my husband and I left his office broken. 

But, we had a Thanksgiving dinner 
to prepare as we welcomed 

our family into our home.
And then

for our journey ahead.

So, my dear reader, you may understand that this week I will taking a break from our Bible study of Philippians.  

I'll still blog about sewing and such, 

but our study will continue later.  

I need time 

to reflect,

to heal,

to praise God,

to give thanks.

And I know you understand.

And I love you for that.

Dear Friend, this is my truth.

Be Blessed!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Philippians 1:27a. Slow Stitching Sunday & A Hat or Two! :)

Philippians 1:27a continued

Before moving on, I must share a summary of the last post as well as this morning’s events. 

I started this verse here and it has continued here and here. I realized how Paul talked about unity three times in one sentence!

Interestingly enough, this daily email from 1 Minute Bible Love Notes devotional hit the nail on the head!  I highly recommend you read it and follow through with the Bite Size Bible Study! 

In my last post, I ended with the many reasons we lose unity and how I wished I had heard of this slogan earlier. 

We agree on many of the basic principles of our faith, but we get bogged down on details. 

I’m preaching to myself, too, my dear readers! 

I cringe when my own errors come to mind.  However, I’m grateful for the redeeming love and forgiveness of my Savior. 

Perhaps, in this current environment of judgement and rejection we can ask ourselves the all-important question:

PRAYER

Oh LORD, my heart breaks for the times I’ve contributed to an atmosphere of discord as a teacher, mother, wife and child of God.  But, I am so grateful for Your forgiveness and the opportunity to grow!  

Sometimes this blog is so hard to write,

yet somehow You always come through

and helped me to realize that

it’s all ok – it will all be ok….

Transparency is hard.

Writing these words can be hard.

But I know I –

my family,

my friends,

and

my readers

have a great opportunity to grow.

Please bring

unity, healing and Your love

to us,

our families,

our friends,

our churches,

our country!

Let Your will overcome all obstacles in these areas that You may have the victory!

Amen and Amen.

Slow Stitching Baby M²’s Hat

 

I picked up a "Caron Critters" Baby Knit or Crochet Blue Bear Hat Kit to crochet

this hat at Michael’s.  I found it on clearance and one of the best purchases I’ve made.

There is enough yarn to make the baby (3-6 months) hat as well as a hat for Baby C., who is two years old.    I’ll make the ears, eyes and nose myself.  Isn’t it precious? 

I also prepped all my Quilty 365 circles with light interfacing.  They are now ready to be blanket stitched on and joined!  I’m all up to date! 

 As you may have noticed by the huge stack, I am having trouble keeping up.  Part of the reason is simply that I forget to choose a fabric.   Another is lack of organization for my befuddled chemo brain!  J

But, after investing an afternoon of setting up a center and a routine, I’m so excited to continue this project! 

I’ll share about that tomorrow! 

Take care everybody!  Many blessings to all!

I'm linking up to Kathleen's Sharing Sundays, Kathy's SlowSunday Stitching,

Monday Making at Love, Laugh, Quilt, and  Main Crush Mondays!