Tuesday' Thoughts: Psalm 15. To Do Tuesday. "I Like". Quilting Projects, Crocheting, New Recipes, Social Media Posts

Tuesday's Thoughts

When I read Psalms 15:1, my heart began to beat a little faster as my anxiety rose.  Would I be accepted in our LORD's sacred tent, welcomed to live with Him?

As I read the following requirements, my heart fell as I saw a list of my failings.....until Jesus Christ spoke to me.  We can choose to see the following list as list of our failings or a list of our accomplishments (for lack of a better word).  Perhaps it is even a combination of both!  

Read it.  

Go ahead.  

What do you see?

The Blessing of a Quilt.

Philippians
My husband is sick right now, so my time has been devoted to him.  I'll continue this study as he improves.  It's not serious, praise God!  He just needs some TLC.  😊


Perhaps you are so tired of seeing this quilt, but I have one more story to share and it will be illustrated with the various blocks of my Victory Quilt.  

Grab of cup of coffee, relax, and enjoy!

By the way, if you just found me, you can read the entire story about this special quilt here and here.  

The Blessing of a Quilt
I have always felt in my heart that when I give an afghan/quilt to someone, I'm blessing them because I've prayed for them as I create. Not the entire time I'm creating, but I do pray for them.  




While my husband and I were in the Emergency Room yesterday, God was raising up prayer warriors.  One of them was Rebekkah Guider (heaven_on_art). Other than liking and commenting on posts, we really don't even know each other!   Do me a favor and check her out - she's amazing!

She gave me permission to share our conversation, so I go forward with joy and confidence.  


She gave me a new

perspective on quilt the quilt I made my husband:

"He (my husband) was and is your covering...but, 

the intricate quilt you made him

is from Jesus.  

It represents that you cover him as well.

That you hold his heart

and care for him...

that you cover him with prayers."

-Rebekkah Guider 3/2017

I needed those words for a few reasons.

I tend to see how others give to me, but I don't always see how I give to others.

My dear reader, 

be encouraged!

Know that whatever 

quilt, afghan, even a charity quilt block 

you give 

is a covering of your love and 

blessing on the recipient.  

It doesn't matter if 

they truly appreciate your gift 

because they are already covered by love.

Quilters, 

crocheters, 

knitters, 

weavers, 

creators of coverings,

our gifts are 

covering the world

with love.

By the way,

all you bloggers out there

who so generously share your tutorials,

are contributing to this!

Thank you!

Thank you, LORD, 

for this revelation

and encouragement.

I pray I never doubt and 

always remain humble

by the opportunities You give me

to cover Your children with love - 

Your love and mine.

Amen!

Dear Friend, this is my truth!

I hope you have enjoyed

reading this installment 

about my 

Victory Quilt!

I'm linking up to

Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Needle and Thread Thursday at 

My QuiltInfatuation

Philippians 2:14 Part 3. To Do Tuesday. Kudos to My Longarm Quilter!

Philippians 2:14 Part 3
I began this study here and continued it here!  :)
Scripture
Observation
Do everything without grumbling

or arguing?  

Yup.  
Paul clearly states:  
Do
everything
without
grumbling or arguing.
Application
To be clear about what we're talking about, let's see how Webster defines grumbling and arguing.  

grumbling:  to complain quietly about something : to talk in an unhappy way
arguing:  1.  to give reasons for or against something  2. to contend or disagree in words 

Well, Philippians 2 speaks at length about unity, especially in the church. If there is much grumbling and arguing going on, who would want to be a part of that?  

At a Bible Study last week, a man shared this story.  
"I was involved in prison ministry.  There was a prisoner who was completely closed off from everybody. He would watch us carefully, but would not participate.  Somehow, he began to change.  He slowly opened up and came to the LORD.  He also began participating.

I asked him what caused the change.  He told me, "Many groups have come and gone while I've been here.  Your group was different.  I watched you carefully and I liked how you treated each other."

What had he seen with the other groups?  How was this group different? Does how I treat my family, friends and loved ones really affect someone else's decision to accept Christ.

Apparently so.

LORD, help me - 
here's yet another reason 
for me to do 
EVERYTHING 
without grumbling or arguing.  

Prayer
LORD, this seems like an impossible task, 
but all things are possible with You!
Help me to live 
as You would have me live, in a manner that would encourage people to come to You.

I'm such a stubborn one, LORD!
But, You brought this verse to mind, 
so I know You are encouraging me today!  Thank you, my LORD!
Amen.



Dear Friend, this is my truth!

To Do Tuesday.
For some reason, I am not making my sewing goals!  So, this week I'm kissing them - Keeping it simple, Sweetie!
1) Begin and finish my RSC 2017 blocks.
2) Add those 30 hexagons to my Hexagon Afghan.
3) Cut out fabric for my $7.50 Drunkard's Path Block!

Fingers crossed on achieving these goals!

Focus on the Quilting.
How many of you are checkbook quilters? I am and I love, absolutely love, my longarm quilter.  

Not only is Stephanie extraordinarily  talented, she has a heart the size of Texas, a strength I can only dream about and hugs that are worth a million bucks!

In my last post, I showed you my Victory Quilt and told you the story behind it.  Today, I would like to highlight Stephanie's beautiful quilting!

(Please remember that I'm just an average sewist, 

so the piecing is not perfect.  Chemo didn't help.)

Each block had this beautiful
flower centered
right smack dab in the middle.

Then, she shrunk it and 

stitched it in EACH cornerstone!

Please note the quilting 

on the brown fabric.

She quilted each block's border.

I really  played with the colors so maybe the stitching would show up more....

Here's the corner of my quilt.

Can you see the mini flowers 

in the cornerstones?

Gorgeous quilting from the back.

And the completed quilt again!

My husband and son are braving the cold winds to hold it up....

Sammy Whammy...gotta love him!

Stephanie's quilting makes the back just beautiful.

I'm linking up to

Linky Tuesday at 

Freemotion by the River

To Do Tuesday at Stitch All Things

Join the party - 

they are so much fun!  

Philippians 2:13 Leader Ender Quilt UPDATED 2/17/2017

Philippians 2:13 
Scripture

Observation
Isn't this awesome!  It is God who works in each of us to want to act in order to fulfill His good purposes!  

And His main purpose is 

for us to be His child.  

Application
Therefore, His precious one, remember, your salvation and relationship with God doesn't come solely from acts of goodness for our world.  

It comes via many factors.
The ones that come immediately to mind are, for me, the most important:
1) by faith in Him, 
2) by listening and obeying His voice 
as He guides us on this wonderful journey of creating and developing a loving, trusting relationship with Him. 

Prayer
LORD, to be honest, it was hard for me to build a loving, trusting relationship with You.   As You well know, life had handed me plenty of lemons via many forms of abuse and diseases.  But, as I sought You with a heart that was 
hurt,
angry,
sad,
confused at Your will, 
confused at free will You have given us, 
I realized You never abandoned me.

YOU WERE RIGHT THERE AT MY SIDE.

Sometimes You were weeping.

Sometimes You were rejoicing with me.

Sometimes You held me.

Sometimes You held my hand.

Sometimes You were quiet,

waiting to see how 

I would react.

And even when I reacted poorly,

You never abandoned me.

You loved me 

through it all.

I had to work hard

at my own salvation

with

fear,

trembling

and trust.

And

FINALLY

I have learned to forgive.

You persistently brought this song 

into my life

until I really heard it.

You played it on the radio
every single time I started my car.
You made sure I heard it
over and over.
Thank you.
Today,

I am peaceful.

I am serene.

I have forgiven.

I am free.
I am grateful.

Amen.

Leader Ender Quilt

Ok...So I was all excited because I thought I had finished my leader/ender blocks.....No, I hadn't.  I simply misplaced them......Grrrrrr!

But...I have gone from this

a mere six blocks

to this!
UPDATE:  Thank you, Nancy, for your comment!  I randomly placed these blocks on my current comforter to see how they would fit on my bed.  I'm planning on using a beige on beige background fabric!  :)

35 blocks!

And I need to piece 21 more!

I should have enough for a 

queen bed

and maybe a throw!

Yea!

Yea for Bonnie Hunter's idea!

Yea for leader/ender projects!

They go up so quickly!

I'm linking up to

Linky Tuesday at Freemotion by the River 

Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts

Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Needle and Thread Thursday at 

My QuiltInfatuation

Philippians 2:12 Part 3/4. More Mason Jar Meals! Hexagon Afghan

Scripture

Observation

Working out our salvation is a continual , lifelong process. But, looking at the King James Version, I can see this is also an individual process as well. 

Application

In my last post, I wrote about detaching
 from our loved ones
regarding their salvation.  
It is only as individuals

that we can make the decision to

accept,

serve

and

grow in Christ.

This is a very

individual and personal process.

In realizing this, my prayer life has become almost “without ceasing” for my love ones.

I guess the King James Version

really hit home for me:

“…work out your own salvation…”

Philippians 2:13b KJV

I’d always heard this quoted,

but now the word “own”

stands out to me. 

Our own salvation.

This does not mean

giving up telling others about Christ,

or being silent when it comes

to my loved one’s relationship with God,

Though their relationship with Christ is

very much out of our hands,

prayer, faithful and gentle sharing

when invited

is powerful my dear friend!

Other than that,

our lifestyles speak for themselves. 

When we fall,

and we will because we are human,

those around us will have the opportunity

to see the grace and mercy

of what a great God we serve!

Prayer

Lord,

How I appreciate the gift of salvation!

I also am so grateful for Your guidance

throughout my life.

Help me to gently introduce You,

and to live in way

that would let people see You in me.

Amen.

Dear Friend,

This is my truth!

Mason Jar Meals

There was quite a bit of interest about Mason Jar Meals from this post.  I want to state up front that I have no idea where this idea originated, but I will send hugs to the wonderfully intelligent and creative person who did!

I will try to provide three sources of info for you each time I post about Mason Jar Meals.  

1) My posts will will have a link to my Pinterest Board, Mason Jar Recipes.  Here you will find  all the resources I have implemented.  

2) You can also click on the "Mason Jar Meals", label on my blog sidebar to read past and future posts about this new (to me) healthier way of eating!

3) A couple of ladies had great questions which I answered in the comments section as well as emailing them.  

Now, moving forward, here is the picture I first posted:

I totally cleared out the shelf for
1) the picture 
and 
2) to make room for the jars!

On the far left of the picture is the Overnight Oatmeal which my daughter loved instantly.
Since then, my son and husband are also loving them.  The recipe I used is in this post.  

In the middle of the picture are the vegetable salads we made - totally delicious!  The feta cheese held up well!  As I said before, the greens were about four days in my fridge before we made the salads.  They still tasted fresh after four days in jars.

On the far right of the picture are the fruit salads made from a mix of frozen/fresh fruits.

This is the veggie salad on day four.  As you can see, just a tiny piece of lettuce was a bit wilted, but remember, it had been living in my fridge for four days as well.

Here is it after adding some left over pork tenderloin cooked with balsamic dressing.

Here is my fruit/nut salad.  It's a great snack that satisfies my sweet tooth!

It's been so much fun to 

open your emails 

and answer your questions!

Loving the process!

Next?

Mason Jar Soups!

Yum!

Crafty News

I've been busy this week with grandbabies, the Super Bowl and taking friends to doctor appointments.  Thankfully, on friend is doing well.  The other....well, she is preparing for chemo....

But she is a fighter and we laughed a lot today!  :)

Here is what I've been working on.

My Hexagon Afghan has grown.  I realized I would need more hexies.  Thankfully, Jo Ann's still had the same yarn or a suitable sub.  Now, I have no idea what the final shape will be....I call it my Hexagon Afghan because it's made from hexagons!

Now that I'm looking at, 

it sure is a strange shape!  

But it's ok.  

One great thing about crocheting 

is that it's very flexible!

UPDATE:  The pattern can be found here.  

The only change I made was 

crocheting a single crochet border 

around each hexagon.  :)

I'm linking up to

Moving It Forward Monday 

at Em’s Scrapbag

Needle and Thread Thursday 

at My QuiltInfatuation

A Quilter's Reading Garden

Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Philippians 2:11. Origami Bento Bag

Philippians 2:11

Scripture

Observation
Because of Jesus' obedience to the Father, even unto death, eventually EVERY tongue will acknowledge him as LORD!

Furthermore, this acknowledgement is to the glory of God, our Father!

Application
Woohoo! Hallelujah! 
I just love to praise my Jesus!  I do - even if sometimes it's through tears!  I remember when the nursing home called to tell me my mother had passed away.  Now, mind you, she and I were not close at all.  However, for the last year and a half I took care of her.  Just the same, when I got the call, I held Baby B. in my arms and sang a quietly sang praise song as I wept.



The other day, Baby M., who is now seven, asked me, "Ama, why are you so loud?"

I am.
I truly am. 
Not obnoxiously loud in social situation, but when a favorite song comes out on KLOVE I sing - loudly!

Here's how I responded:

"You know, I know your mama is quiet and you really love that quietness don't you?"

"Yes I do!"

"Well, sometimes the joy of the LORD so fills my own heart that it bubbles right out of my mouth and I have to sing and dance!"

"Hmmm."

I must admit, I have a terrible singing voice, but thank God that the Word says He loves our praise - and doesn't mention that a requirement is to have a lovely singing voice!

Prayer
LORD, You are amazing!  Thank you for the gift of praising You!  I just love to praise you - even with my voice!  :)

You are good, all the time,
all the time, You are good!
Amen!
Dear Friend, 
Turn up the speakers on your electronic device and dance your heart out as you listen to this song!  
Come on!
I dare you!
Double dog dare you!
You'll feel so much better!  :)


Dear Friend, this is my truth!

Origami Bento Bag

A friend of mine crochets.  

She loves yarn. 

We both buy too much yarn.

It's partially my fault.

Another friend and I

taught her how to crochet!

She loves crocheting scarves 

for her loved ones.  

Her cat ate one that was almost finished!

I said, "Bad cat!"

She said, "Playful cat!  :)"

I loved my friend's attitude.

I made her this bag from Very Shannon! 

I highly recommend this tutorial.  

Don't worry about 

the folding part of the tutorial - 

just follow the pictures!  :)

  

If slouchy bags are not your style, 

add a bit of interfacing and line it.  

Or 

use a heavier fabric, like duck or denim. 

But give this bag a try!  

I did add a snap to it 

so that naughty cat can't get into it without exerting more effort!

Oh, by the way, 

I gave my friend 

 a new skein of nice yarn as well!  :)



I'm linking up to

Finishedor Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts

Main Crush Mondays

Monday Making at Love, Laugh, Quilt

MovingIt Forward Monday at Em’s Scrapbag

Kathleen's Sharing Sundays