Psalm 12:3, Fiber Fun and a video! Literary Life and Finding Joy

Hello There,

    Welcome!  I hope you are doing well today!  This past week was so busy! I had a couple of gatherings with friends and a few doctor appointments. The friends were fun; the doctors... not so much. Apparently, I have some unusually fast-growing polyps in my gallbladder, which resulted in my surgeon highly recommending its removal—especially given my history of breast cancer. After obtaining a second opinion and talking with my family, I've decided to part ways with my gallbladder. I've heard it's a pretty easy surgery to recover from.  

Now onto the fun stuff!  I've been wondering how we managed to learn about fiber arts without the internet. How did we find "our people"? Do you remember how you managed to learn about your craft and how you found your community? Please share your story in the comments!

I remember I would buy magazines or go to the library. I also had a good friend who taught me how to crochet. Wow—that was probably in 1984! My first project was a granny square afghan for my daughter.  Then I won a first-place for an afghan I made for my son!  At the same show, I won another ribbon for second place.  

I don't remember there being sewing, crochet, or quilting groups back then, but I would peruse the various sewing pattern catalogs and purchase crochet and embroidery books or kits that included the instructions. I still own Country Afghans!

How was your experience?  Do these look familiar?  

I hope you have a fabulous week with some time carved out for your fiber arts, books or whatever you enjoy doing!  

  

Take good care and, as Daddy used to say, 

"Make memories; it's later than you think."

HERE'S A WORD

As I prepped for this study, I simply highlight all the words that describe what God does for us in my Bible.  Then I make a list of them.  I'll follow the same format here.

The Godly Are No More

For the choirmaster. According to Sheminith.a A Psalm of David.

1 Help, O LORD, for the godly are no more;

the faithful have vanished from among men.

2They lie to one another;

they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.

3May the LORD cut off all flattering lips

and every boastful tongue.

4They say, “With our tongues we will prevail.

We own our lips—who can be our master?”

5“For the cause of the oppressed

and for the groaning of the needy,

I will now arise,” says the LORD.

“I will bring safety to him who yearns.”

6The words of the LORD are flawless,

like silver refined in a furnace,

like gold purified sevenfold.b

7You, O LORD, will keep us;

You will forever guard us from this generation.

8The wicked wander freely,

and vileness is exalted among men.

• He helps us
• the LORD cut off all flattering lips and every boastful tongues
• He sees the cause of the oppressed
• He hears the groaning of the needy
• He responds by rising up and bringing safety to him who yearns.
• He speaks flawless, refined and purified words
• He keeps us
• He guards us forever from this generation

In verse three, we see a part of our LORD, that we may not hear about as much as we do about His gentler side.  Let's take a look.

2They lie to one another;

they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.

3May the LORD cut off all flattering lips

and every boastful tongue.

4They say, “With our tongues we will prevail.

We own our lips—who can be our master?”

I admit, I read verse three repeatedly.  Then I clicked on the blue 3 and Bible Hub listed verse 3 in multiple versions of the Bible, most which used the words "cut off" or "chopped off".  I re-read the entire Psalm to include the Title:  The godly are not more.  

As I continued to study, I was reminded about flattory and being boastful.  The former is an insincere compliment, usually to manipulate the listener.  Huh.  I remembered a verse about boasting in the LORD and found it:

30It is because of Him 

that you are in Christ Jesus, 

who has become for us wisdom from God: 

our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. 

31Therefore, as it is written: 

“Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”e

We owe all to our LORD!  Let's compare and contrast the words of the wicked with those of God.

THE UNGODLY

2They lie to one another;

they speak with flattering lips and a double heart.

3May the LORD cut off all flattering lips

and every boastful tongue.

4They say, “With our tongues we will prevail.

We own our lips—who can be our master?”

with God's words:  

6The words of the LORD are flawless,

like silver refined in a furnace,

like gold purified sevenfold.b

The difference is obvious. How can God, whose words are flawless, refined, and purified, tolerate lies, flattery, and the like?

Will the LORD actually cut off lips and tongues? Every commentary I read stated this verse means the people who speak so sinfully should be cut off from congregations, but even worse, from God's protection, blessing, and love.  I pray my words are indeed approved by God with every post.  I pray our words will be God-inspired.  

Oh LORD, please help us to speak with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, using words that are flawless, refined like silver, and purified like gold. And when we miss the mark, I pray for Your forgiveness and help in maintaining our speech to be as You would desire.  Amen!

Please know this:  

You are loved.  You are not alone.  You are being lovingly prayed for.

In Jesus' Name Katy Nichole

The story behind the song

FIBER FUN

I broke down my "To Dos" into three categories:  Finish, Focus, Prep/make a kit, and Be Kind = Soft Deadlines.  FoF represents the Fields of Fancy BOM, which I'm doing with Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabrics.  FBF represents the Flower Box Friends BOM

Last Week's Goals

1.  Finish

- disappearing 9 patch projects. Done! Well, I still have to put the binding on the hot pad, but I’m gonna call it done! From this fabric pull, I made a quilt, a table topper, one hot pad, and four small coasters (which I forgot to take pictures of). Very few scraps ended up in my scrap container!

- sewing room. Everything for the most part, is put away. Now my goal is to have all of my fabric in the closet. To achieve this, I am refraining from buying more fabric, with two exceptions: 1) The beautiful '30s fabrics are my favorite! These would be nearly impossible to resist, right? 2) If I need “go-with” fabric to complete a project.

These goals just might require superhuman resistance power! 

On my last visit to my local quilt shop, I was so tempted to buy a charm pack, but I remembered my goal of clear spaces in my sewing room, as well as the 10+ charm packs I already have. That clinched it for me, and I walked right past that charm pack. For now. 😊

Here is what my sewing room looks like.  I'm debaating about adding decor.  I'm really liking the clean look of bare walls.  

   

2.  Focus

- I'm stitching up my granddaughter's ornament using this pattern from 

Halyna Levytska's Ideal Hand Embroidery from Ukraine.  

- Fof blocks Done!  I saw a post on using machine embroidery stabilizer instead of paper for EPP.  It worked well for these shapes.  Unfortunately, I forgot to save the website, but if it was you or you know who posted it, please let me know!    

This week a lot of time was spent re-prepping the pieces.  

3.  Prepare/make a kit

- I purchased the top three fabric to make placemats, but my DH likes them so much that he suggested a table topper instead!  So, after finding this Spiderweb table topper pattern and adding some more fabrics from my stash, we'll have a new table topper!

4. Be kind = Soft Deadlines - which are good for my mental health!

This Week's goals

Finish  

- Maybe finish my granddaughter's ornament 

Focus 

- FoF applique

  

Prepare/make a kit

- My Christmas gifts for my physicians' and their staff will be crocheted cowls.  I'm hoping to pick up some more yarn and keep these going.  

4. Be kind = Soft Deadlines - which are good for my mental health! 

15 MINUTES TO STICH

I’m joining the "15 Minutes to Stitch" challenge at Kate's  Life in Pieces to  build the habit of machine sewing every day.  It's easy to find time for prep work or hand stitching, but making it to the machine consistently is where I need the extra push. 

This week my machines were quiet 3/7, but I did handwork every day!  7/7

LITERARY LIFE   

MAILBOX MONDAY - is a gathering place for readers to share books that they added to their shelves or eBook readers the previous week.  Some of these books were recommended by you!  Do you see your reads below?  Thank all of you for sharing!

Here's what I've picked up this week.

ereaderiq.com I'm starting to post these titles on Instagram on the day I acquire them as the deals are short-term.  Hinds' Feet on High Places was a mere $.39!  

REVIEW

**** Charlie English's The CIA Book Club took me completely by surprise! I thought it would be about books CIA agents read. Was I ever mistaken! By the time I read the synopsis, I was completely hooked.

English describes in great detail how the CIA got banned books into the hands of the Polish people during the Cold War. At times I did get a bit lost with specific names, but that did not detract from the storyline too much. Never in my wildest dreams did I think such a covert operation was happening. This was a well-written book on an incredibly interesting topic. 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:  As a young child did you wear plastic sandals? bonus if you also had on ankle socks!  No, I didn't wear plastic sandals, but I did wear ankle socks for sure!  Remember the penny loafers?  LOL!  

Have you all heard of the blog Elefantz written by Jenny?  Her blog has such a gentle tone and is filled with details of her life, wonderfulky deep Bible Studies, lots of free patterns and her shop is filled with inspiring ideas.  

Last week she shared her study of Abigail.  I've downloaded it and am learning and enjoying it so much.  Here is the link to her Bible Study.  

I thought you might like these posts off of Instagram and the Bible App!  

Your comments are so appreciated! 

I read each one and will respond by email.

 🎶Here is a list of many of the songs🎶

I've shared on this blog.

Here are the parties I sometimes link up with:  

Sundays

Slow Sunday Stitching @ Kathy's Quilts

Sunday Salon at Readerbuzz

Mondays

Mailbox Monday @ I'd Rather Be At the Beach

Sew and Tell at Melva Loves Scraps

What Are You Reading at The Book Date

Tuesdays

To Do Tuesday posts at Quilt Schmilt

Thursdays

I Like on Thursdays at Not Afraid of Color