February 16: Does Forgiveness Mean We're Losing? Fun Fiber Projects, Literary Life and Finding Joy

Hello There,

We've spent a wonderful 10 days in San Diego with my family.  Daddy is doing well - he's gained about 5 of the 20 pounds he lost.  So far no pain.  We are grateful for every day he is pain-free.  It's hard to believe the oncologist's prognosis as Daddy is doing so good!  Of course, Mama is happy and enjoying life.  I am so looking forward to our next visit!  You will find pictures of our trip in the Finding Joy section.

Also, a quick tip for formatting pictures on Blogger.  Open your post; click on the photo and ensure it is free of links.  If, for some reason, it has links attached, remove them.  Then you'll be able to easily edit their placement.  

So, please, get comfy and please enjoy reading this blog post.

HERE'S A WORD - Faith...broken faith...faltering faith.  Here I will share a Scripture about these topics.  No judgement, only love.  

This song, Losing by Tenth Avenue North, changed so much in my life.  Seems appropriate for these times in our nation.

Here's the version with the lyrics.

Remember, when we forgive, we are not saying, "It's ok what you did," but we are extending grace to that person/entity.  According to Webster, it is "to cease to feel resentment against (an offender)" 

And the song says it is ok to feel like you're losing to forgive.  The hurt, resentment, anger, in short angst, sticks with us for a season.  In my opinion, that's normal.  God has given us the tools we need to forgive, it's a process.  It's ok to work through the process of forgiveness.  Blessings of peace to you.

FIBER FUN  

Crochet:  

Of course, I'm still crocheting hanger covers for my daughter.  Here are some "panels" that I stitched up in San Diego.  They will soon be stitched onto the hangers.  

We visited Liberty Station and, of course, I stopped by a locally owned yarn shop, Apricot Yarn where they had this knit beautiful shawl on display.  Mama and I fell in love with the two color simplicity of what she called a rebozo.

 

I picked up this yarn to crochet my own two color version.  So far, I'm about 10" into the project.  The pattern is simple:

chain to about 21" and rows of double crochets until finished!  

This yarn was on a great sale, so it jumped into my lap as well!  

Please remember to support your local quilt/yarn shops!  So many, such as the one in my town, sadly have had to close their doors.  

Hand Embroidery/Cross Stitch:  

Tada!  The Baubles Advent project is completed, framed and ready for next year!  This is so exciting.  You see, much of it was stitched on the road to San Diego, with Daddy in the VA hospital and in my sister's and brother-in-law's home.  I used pencil for some of the detail drawing as I didn't have a Frixon pen, so the poor snowman and a few other white  pieces are a bit grey.  Lesson learned:  stitch the white last, especially when traveling!  😉Something beautiful came out of a very difficult time.  I'm grateful.  

Next up?

Another Advent Stitching project!  I really enjoy them, such as this Advent Wreath I completed in 2023 by em_bea_roidery.  How did I forget to take a picture of mine?  😕I so enjoyed it, that I'm going to "back stitch" her other advent stitching projects throughout the year starting with 2020. There's no rush with this one; I'll limit myself to stitching one decoration a day.

I've also started my Christmas secret sewing projects:  my grandbabies'  Christmas ornaments!  I've stitched up Obi wan Kenobi and Darth Vader for the oldest.  This month I've chosen and set up the materials for this year's Star Wars ornament.  Now that they are older and have limited access to the Internet, this project will be under wraps until after Christmas. 

My third slow stitching project will be this Joy to the World by Mollie at Wild Olive.

English Paper Piecing:  I started this Grandmother's Flower Garden so many years ago.  It is now on my main design board and I'm looking forward to finishing it!   

I also made progress on Connecting Hearts SAL.  It was nice to work on it on the plane and in San Diego.  Melva at Melva Loves Scraps inspired me with her English Paper Piecing hexagons for Angela's Rainbow Scrap Challenge at So Scrappy.  I've so enjoyed reading about all of your progress, I just had to join in!  This will be a fun way to continue to make progress on this project.  

 

I basted and stitched together blue hearts for February.  I also prepped more fabrics for more hearts!  Perhaps by the end of the year, I'll have enough to make a huge dent in my 30's fat quarters!  

Quilting:

I've pulled another UFO out to finish.  This is another one from one of Melva Loves Scraps Sew Alongs:  Pieces of the Santa Fe Trail.  Here are the blocks I've finished.  

LITERARY LIFE 

 CURRENT READS

It has indeed been a couple of slow reading weeks as we prepared for our ten days in San Diego and enjoyed time with family.  

FINISHED

****I so enjoyed Let It Rain Coffee by Angie Cruz.  It told of the immigrant experience, lost dreams - or perhaps dreams that are redefined.  Cruz reminds us that there's no place like home.  Highly recommend.

*****I read Yagisawa's Days at the Morisaki Bookshop and loved it.  This second book in the series was sweet, mentioned several good books and flowed easily.  Highly recommend.

FINDING JOY - LeeAnna's I Like on Thursdays at Not Afraid of Color helps me consistently find the joy in every life.  She also provides a prompt for us to use.  

This week's prompt is:  Do you give yourself the same compassion and understanding that you give to your family and friends?

No, I am less generous and much more hard on myself than on family and friends. I think I've quoted my friend before, "If my friends spoke to me the way I speak to myself, I wouldn't be friends with them any more."  To be sure.  

This was a great prompt as it has stuck with me, reminding me to be gentle - and generous - with myself.  Thank you, LeeAnn!

We were in San Diego last week.  I sure enjoyed this black bean and pumpkin soup at Ortega's on University!  It was as delicious as it was lovely.

My sister and brother-in-law have this
 little table and lamp in their guest room
which I set up almost as soon as we arrive.

It was a pleasant surprise to see that my sister and I have the same tea kettle and like the same tea with local honey!

Our view from their living room - 
downtown San Diego.

This vegetable has is the perfect addition 
to tuna/salmon salad and couscous.

And this last photo of my precious parents sharing how much they love each other and expressing gratitude to each other for being their life partner.  

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You can also expect a visit from me as well!

I'll be linking up to 

Deb's Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz

Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching at  Kathy's Quilts

Melva's Sew and Tell at Melva Loves Scraps 

Kathryn's What Are You Reading at The Book Date

Carol's To Do Tuesday posts at Quilt Schmilt

LeeAnna's I Like on Thursdays at Not Afraid of Color

Alicia's Scrap Happy at So Scrappy