Weekly Word: Beauty From Ashes Or An Ugly Quilt + Books, Stitches and Gratitude!

 

 Hello There, 

Thank you so much for stopping by!  It has been a week, let me tell you!  But God is powerful and loves us more than we can comprehend.  My heart was open to His touch and wow!  Did He ever move!  It sounds strange, but He used an ugly quilt to bring me His joy!  More about that in The Weekly Word!  

The most exciting news is that I have been invited to participate in my first every Blog Hop!  Melva at Melva Loves Scraps invited me to participate in the Get On Board with Sewing Blog Hop which is happening from September 1-2 and September 5-7!  How fun is that?  I have my project chosen and, God willing, will be stitching it up this week!  Here's a hint, I've made two of them as gifts, but his one will be mine!  This year I'm learning to start sewing for myself.  And you know what?  It's kinda fun!  😁

I've done a small reorganization of my sewing room, which I share in the Stash Report.  

Well, onto this week's post!  Happy reading!

Here's is an index should you have a special interest you like to read first!  

The Weekly Word - is a short devotional that sometimes becomes a Bible Study series.  

My Reading Life - is filled with current, completed and upcoming reads as well as an occasional short review.      

Stash Report and To Do Tuesday is where I'll share share stats regarding my fiber usage and acquisitions, goals met/lack thereof and photos of my projects. 

Gratitude Journal - Sometimes I get lost in my own stinky thinking.  This digital journal reminds me to count my blessings!    

The Weekly Word

Have you ever made something that turned out, to your eye, truly ugly, but still you loved it?  I did.  It was this quilt, which to my eye, is messy, even ugly.  But, oh, my sweet reader, to me it's my most precious quilt.  I'll tell you why.  

The pattern is lovely, but the fabrics I chose didn’t work. my choices didn't work out - at all.  

Sometimes that’s how life is, right?  

Things don’t work out. 

They get messy…ugly...painful...devasting.  

Sometimes it's not even our choice, but simply life in this world.  

BUT God is bigger than any ugliness we face. If we seek Him, we will find Him!  This is a promise from God Himself!  Seek Him, I implore you!  Seek Him with all your heart!

Have you heard this song by Toby Mack?   It's a chain breaker, a beauty from ashes song - and this week it was "randomly" playing on the radio when I started my car.  God began breaking the chains.  

Later, I was in my sewing room.

I played Toby Mac's CD.  

I started singing along.

Oh. Oh.

My feet started moving as I was pressing fabric.  

Yup.

The iron stopped moving over the fabric as I began dancing in the Spirit!

God started breaking the chains the defeated one was trying to use to destroy!

This went on for a while - pressing blocks, praising, dancing, breaking chains.

Then came peace.  

And guess what?

Not one piece of fabric was scorched!  

So, my ugly quilt is with my beloved longarm quilter who will add the frosting to my now beloved quilt that has become my most precious quilt - a reminder that when I seek Him with all my heart, He will be found,

that He is the chain breaker,

that He will create beauty from ashes.

Is your life in ashes?  Seek Him!  Not sure how?  No problem.  I've created a playlist of my favorite songs here.  Maybe that will be a first step to your search for God and freedom.

What do you have to lose?   

My Reading Life

Currently Reading

Once Upon A Wardrobe by Pattie Callahan

Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik BAckman

Finished

★★★★Jerusalem's Queen:  A Novel of Salome Alexandra by Angela Elwell Hunt is another winner by Angela Hunt - but then again, I'm biased!  I have enjoyed books by this fabulous author for almost 20 years!  If you're curious about The Silent Years between the OT and NT, this series is for you!  

★★★The Wish by Nicholas Sparks - After reading about a third of this book, I pretty much guessed what would happen. It did offer a strong lesson:  May we all learn that love is greater than fear.

Next Up

The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande

Esperanza's Box of Saints by Maria Ampara Escadón

Stash Report

Yarny Numbers

My friend donated a nice collection of yarn.  I resisted much of it, but kept these sets for a donation afghan to Project Linus and to finish a couple of scarves that she had started.   

One reason I link up to Donna's Stash Report is that it keeps my buying in check.  My yarn numbers are in the negative by 53 ounces - which means no buying yarn until something gets finished.  My wallet is singing with joy!  😄  

Fabric Numbers and a Small Reorganization

After helping a friend begin a major overhaul of her sewing room and meeting the sweet local coordinator from Project Linus, I was inspired to look at my own stash with an objective eye.  

I will probably never sew up these fabric books, maps or flannel baby fabrics so I donated 29.05 yards of fabric.  

My new graphic separates donation fabrics from fabrics actually used.  

Now for the sewing studio reorganization.  These are natural photos, mess and all - except for my newly reorganized fabric stash shelves.  

Starting from the top right corner of the picture, you can see that I was able to clear a shelf of fabric, so now my Featherweight has a new home off the floor!  The second and third shelves are corralling precuts, fat quarters and scraps.  The fourth and fifth shelves contain wool, the QAYG hexies bag, and WIPs.  With those in one place, I spend more time sewing and less time searching for projects! 

This half of my sewing room is my workplace.  In the far left corner you can see a bit of my embroidery floss in its display case. My current project, machines, and, in the corner are rolled up quilts that need binding/labels.  The "goals" 3 tier rolling card is filled with projects that are on my radar.   

I'm slowly working through UFOs, which are in my project bags in the closet and achieving goals.

To Do Tuesday

Last Week's List

1.  Slow Stitching

a.  Stitch up one hexie a day Done AND I'm so close to my goal of 365 hexies in a year - which ends on the 25th! 

b.  Prep my Colcha piece for stitching the background.  Partially Done! This project will be on hold until I can acquire more stitching wool.     

2. Machine Sewing: 

a.  Turn these prepped pieces of fabric into a flimsy and maybe even make the backing.  Done, but oh oh!  It was such a busy quilt....I took it to my precious longarm quilter and she said she can save it....we'll see.  If you refer to the Weekly Word above, you'll see the finished project and understand its name:  Beauty for Ashes.  

3. Make my blocks for the $15 Mystery Sampler quilt. Not done.

This Week's List

1.  Slow Stitching

a.  Stitch up one hexie a day.  

b.  Finish prepping the Colcha piece.       

2. Machine Sewing: 

a. Get on Board with Sewing Blog Hop - (Sept. 1-2 & 5-7).  As mentioned in the intro, I am participating in my first ever Blog Hop!  My day is September 7!  I'll be publishing an "Extra Edition" blog post where you'll see....well...that you'll see on the 7th!  

3. Make my blocks for the $15 Mystery Sampler quilt and Pieces in the Garden before surgery. 

On The Radar...

1.  Choose new fabrics for and stitch the second Xmas quilt.

2.  Stitching up the baby quilt.

Gratitude Journal

I'm enjoying, though mixing up, our group's (I Like @ Not AFraid of Color) choice of "likes", but I have them straight now (I hope) and will add two genres:  salads and sandals!    

This week is our favorite salads.   I made these this summer and posted them on my Instagram account with the ingredients.  My favorite salads have at least 10 different ingredients and a homemade salad dressing.  Yum!  

I never really had a favorite brand of sandals until this summer.  The home health care nurse recommended Okabashi flip flop sandals which I found at Walgreens for a buy 1 get 1 free sale.  I love them and wear them almost daily.  They offer great support as I heal from my first knee surgery.  I tried their criss cross sandals which must be in "narrow" as they didn't work for my wider feet.  

This week I've enjoyed sewing with a charm pack.   Pre-cuts are pretty wonderful! 

This week my grandsons showed off the tanks they made!

My granddaughter showed me her 3D art project.  

She taught me how to make one, so now I have an art project to work on as I recover from surgery.

Faith, Trust and Breast Cancer

Surgery was postponed, so it will be this week.  I was grateful for the extra week as I had some down time to sew, spend with family and, next week I will have an opportunity for a special visit with a friend.  I am actually grateful for the reprieve.  

I have a ton of sewing to accomplish this week, but will try to post next Sunday. 

Take good care everyone and happy stitching!  

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You can also expect a visit from me as well!

Here are some blogs I sometimes link up to!

Sunday Salon @ Readerbuzz

Slow Sunday Stitching @ Kathy's Quilts

Sunday Post at the Caffeinated Reviewer

Sunday Stash @ Quilt, Paint, Create

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? @ Book Date

To Do Tuesday @ Texas Quilt Gal

Pictorial Tuesday @ Peabea's Photos & Scribbles

I Like @ Not Afraid of Color (Thursday)

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop? @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Friday)