Philippians 4:14. Tutorial: Making a Fabric Stash Notebook. To Do Tuesday.

Philippians 4:14
Scripture

Observation
Let's look at this verse in context.  Paul softens the words in Philippians 4:10.  Don't you think?  

Application
It reminds me of our current world where email and text messages are such a major part of our communication.  I have started to believe that we are best served by these tools by always - yes always - assuming the best in the tone of these communications.  I also am trying to learn not to take statements personally - but to try and receive them in love.  When this seems difficult, I go to a loved one and ask them to help me find the "best" in a message.  Life is becoming more serene as I am slowly learning to do this.

Another point I love in this verse it the entire verse - it was good for you to share in my troubles.  I get the sense Paul isn't saying this in the attitude of "misery loves company", but with joy and relief that he had prayer support, love and other support during his trials.  

I know that recently I have indeed rested behind the shield of faith of many loved ones.  I've needed to do that - 
AND IT'S OK.
Sometimes we all need to lean into His everlasting arms and into the arms of trusted loved ones.  

Thank God they are available to us!  

As I write this, I think of a precious little girl named Hazel.  She has leukemia - she's very ill.  Would you consider praying for her?  Following her mom on Instagram @veecrow?  Precious Hazel has taken my heart and I pray for her every day.  

Oh my dear readers, let's share in each other's troubles!  Let's build each other up with prayer!  Let's...love...love...love!

Prayer
Abba, You know my situation. You know Hazel's situation.  You know each person's situation who is reading this.  
You
know.
You hear our cries.
You hear our praises.
You know.
You hear.
You respond.
Thank you, Abba, for sharing in our troubles.
Hugs to You, My LORD and King.
Amen.

Tutorial:  Making a Fabric Stash Notebook
My local quilt shop, Bernina Sewing and Design, always has a fabulous year end fabric sale.  My daughter gave me the great idea of purchasing the backing fabrics I would need for the foreseeable future.  Which I did as you can see here.  

I also wanted to fill in some "holes" in my stash as well.  Hence, my fabric notebook.  In all honesty, it's not pretty at all.  But, it's oh so functional.  Here's how it came together:

Materials
manila folders
fabric scissors
2 1/2" square ruler
double sided sticky tape
book tape

I have my fabric organized by sets, color and projects.  Yes, this is my entire stash.....except for precuts, fat quarters and backings!  :)

Every evening while on the phone with my Dad (we talk every night), I would pull a stack of fabric and cut a 2 - 2.5" square from each "bolt".  

Then I would arrange them in a pleasing order. 

After that, I placed a piece of double sided sticky tape along the top of my manila folder end to end.  Then I simply placed my 2" squares on the tape!  Wala!

I continued making rows of mini squares of fabric, 

using the next page as necessary!

When I came to a new section, I simply started a new folder. 

After all my fabric was cataloged, I used the book tape to tape two folders together.  Then I added the next folder and so on.  The book tape provided a strong "spine".

I suddenly had a visual library of all my fabric.  The "holes" in my stash were quite obvious, so it was easy to make a list and stay focused during my biggest shopping spree of the year!

The entire process took about 3 hours spread over a couple of evenings - a great investment of my time.  When I add fabric, I simply add it to that section.  

Now, if you wanted to, you could add the yardage of each fabric, but that wasn't my goal.  I know that most of my fabrics are 1-3 yard cuts.  I do have some exceptions, but very few.  

Now, when I'm prepared when I go on the hunt for fabric!

To Do Tuesday
Wow!  It's been so long since I've linked up to To Do Tuesday!  I've missed you so much!  

Here is my first To Do Tuesday of 2018!  It's great to be back!
1) Finish the Tumbling Blocks prototype.
2) Finish the first 10 squares of Maria's Blue Crayon Spring Granny Afghan Crochet Along!
3) Pray my prayer and memorize Proverbs 19:23.  

Linking up to:

To Do Tuesday @ Stitch All Things.

Linky Tuesday @ Freemotion by the River

Midweek Makers @ Quilt Fabrication

Becoming Press 

Prayer for the week:

Philippians 4:8 Part 3.. Chili Contest Anyone? Covered in Love Progress. Book Date.

Philippians 4:8 Part 3
Part 1  Part 2
Scripture

Observation
This verse remains in my heart.  Paul is making some serious assumptions about what is true.  After all, we all have different truths, right?  Believing lies about ourselves have become our truth.  Aha!  But, we can find truth in God's Word.  You see, Paul is doing what he always does - pointing us to God.  We should be thinking on God's Word, HIS truth.
Application
So, I've taken some of the verses from Part 2 and went from this:

to this: 

 During a sermon, Pastor said it was easy for him to find time for Scripture memorization.  He decided that every time he looked at his Smart Phone, he would look at his verse.  Then he asked, "Do you realize how often we look at our phones?"

Here's my new lock screen:

Friends, so many times it's easier to believe those negative thoughts that have been pounded into our brains.  Let's reverse this by filling our brains with whatever is 
true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy!
Prayer
LORD, thank You for this post.  I am hoping and praying that not only will my mind be filled with these thoughts, but also healed from the negativity that can rear it's ugly head.  Let us all be filled with whatever is 
true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent or praiseworthy!  Amen.

Chili Contest Anyone?
A friend of mine needed some bibs for a chili tasting contest.  She made the pattern, cut out the fabric and I offered to sew a few up.  Here's the first two!

Thankfully, they are pretty basic and easy to sew.  Pretty cute, don't you think?

Covered in Love Progress
Kat @ Kat and Cat Quilts has a wonderful charity sewing opprotunity called Covered in Love.  She provides quilts for people who pass away in the hospital.  They are "transition items" to bring some comfort to the families.  This opportunity immediately grabbed my attention because we have the quilt that covered my mother-in-law during her last days.  Ten years later, it still brings great comfort to my husband.  


Remember this fabric pull for the August/September Covered in Love blocks?  Well, I feel like the LORD wants me to make 20 blocks.  Here's my progress thus far!

Book Date
I'm still reading/studying Own It by Michael & Hayley Di Marco.  It's quite an interesting read.  Usually I read non-fiction books rather slowly so I can really digest them.








I'm also still enjoying The Red Tent by Anita Diamant!  




I'm linking up to

It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading? @ BookDate  (This link up actually has me reading more!)

Monday Making@ Love, Laugh, Quilt

Main Crush Mondays

@ Cooking Up Quilts

MovingIt Forward Monday

@Em’s Scrapbag

Show and Tell Mondays with Bambi

I love reading and responding 
to your comments!

Comfort Food: Sopa de macarron. Passing "IT" Down. UFO Update!

Comfort Food:  Sopa de macarron

Every family has that special recipe that Grandma made, those dishes that everyone remembers.  One of ours is Sopa de macarón – basically macaroni and cheese with a twist! 

On Sundays my paternal Grandmother used to make it with her fabulous red chile enchiladas!  Yum!

I have never seen this sopa offered in restaraunts, so I’m wondering if it’s becoming a lost art? 

My daughter was elated when she mastered the recipe – and so was I!  You’re in for a treat – I’m sharing the recipe with you today!  Now, I don't follow a recipe, but thank God my daughter remembered exactly what she used!  

Ingredients

* 1 12 oz box of pasta (She used bowtie because that's what she had on hand.  I normally use "conchas" - shell pasta. Either one works.)

* 1 cup shredded cheese (She used munster and cheddar - again what she had on hand.  I use the Colby Jack mix.)

* two 8 oz cans of tomato sauce

* 2 tsp. consomate de tomate

* a generous 1/8 tsp of cumin

1.  Boil the pasta according to package directions.

2.  When finished, drain and set aside.

3.  Add the tomato sauce and the spices to the pan.

4.  Bring to a low boil, stirring.

5.  Add the pasta to the tomato mixture.

6.  Add the cheese.

7.  Stir and savor the scents!

8.  Once the cheese is melted, enjoy!

Passing It Down
My daughter is such a special young lady. She said that passing this recipe down from generation to generation is wonderful.  A more important part of our lives we can pass down, is our faith.

Most of my family, to include my Grandmother, was Catholic.  I remember her always wearing a simple chain with medallions of the saints around her neck. She had great faith.  

I am a Protestant, but her faith, as well as the faith of my other family members, was passed to me.  And I have passed it along to my children, much like a cherished recipe of comfort food.

But, let us remember that Jesus is the best "comfort food" there is!

http://www.firstcovers.com/userquotes/64441/taste+and+see+that.html

UFO Update

I added a project and completed it, so my percentage of completed UFOs is 12%!  Awesome!  

I'll be sharing that completed project soon!

Dear Reader, this is my truth!

Trouble Sleeping? DIY Alphabetical Scripture Memorization Cards. A Morning Prayer.

Trouble Sleeping?

Do you have trouble sleeping sometimes?  I do.  Sometimes it’s because my brain won’t turn off, but, lately, most of the time, it’s the pain in my feet.  At times, I despair laying there in desperate for sleep, but unable to do so due to the pain in my feet. 

In my 12 Step Program I learned to mentally go through an alphabetical Gratitude List.  I wholeheartedly believe that gratitude lists are extremely powerful, but the other night, it was not working for me.

http://www.eliteprep.com/blog/why-i-keep-a-gratitude-list.html

I sensed the LORD speaking to me in a still small voice, “Why not an alphabetical Scripture list? “  But of course!

So, I started with

A – All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

B – Be still and know I am God. Ps. 46:10 (I knew this scripture reference.)

C, D, E – I skipped because I didn’t have a Scripture offhand to remember. 

F – For I know the plans I have for you…..

Get the idea? 

I fell into a deep, peaceful sleep within minutes.  Didn’t even make it to Z.I fell asleep in the warm comfort of my Father’s arms.  Did the pain leave?

No.

But I had peace anyway.

The next morning, I woke eager for my time with God and here’s the result.

Alphabetical Scripture Cards

Just a note:  Now there are great tutorials out there for using paint sample cards for all kinds of crafty projects.  However, I do suggest that you explain your project to the employees at your local hardware store before picking up some cards.  Also, take only what you need.  Though they are free to us, they did cost the company money to produce.

So, a while ago I went to my local Lowe’s to pick up a few paint sample cards for another project and let an employee know what my intentions were.  Turns out he was a Sherwin Williams paint rep and he offered me a slew of paint chip cards!  I loved them because they were so perfectly shaped and were hole punched!

For this project, you need only a few items.

Paint sample cards, 3X5 notecards, even cardstock will do the trick.

Markers – I found that Sharpies are best for these particular cards.

Alphabetical stickers (or you can write the letters on using markers)

Washi Tape – or not!  Make it yours!

A Key ring

1.        Place the cards on the key ring in whatever order you chose  

2.        When you find a scripture, decorate a card.

3.        Label it with the letter of the alphabet the verse you’ve chosen starts with.

4.        Write your corresponding scripture on the card.

5.        Memorize it. 

6.        Recite it and the other verses you choose to yourself and fall peacefully asleep in your Father’s arms.

Now, I’m not necessarily adding Scriptures in Alphabetical order, just going where the LORD leads me.  

A Morning Prayer

I wanted a distinct cover for my cards, but wasn’t sure of how to create it.  Then I read Psalm 90:14!  What an awesome way to begin the day! 

Blessings to you!

Dear Friend, this is my truth!