Update on UFO's. A New Project! Philippians 1:2

Update on UFO's.  

I finished my 750 quilt top!  Yea!  I took it to Stephanie at Bernina Sewing and Design for quilting and wow!  What an experience it was to plan.  I was overwhelmed with everyone's positive response!  The ladies there are amazingly sweet and supportive.  Their knowledge and eye for color is so helpful!

It will be a custom quilt job with feathers in the setting corners, a floral design in the blocks and leaves in the sashing!  Wow!  

I'm calling this one done until I get it back from Stephanie.  :)

Another finish, but can you believe I forgot to take a picture of it completely finished with binding and all?!  This is my niece's wedding quilt.  

I wanted to make it when she first got marries, but at the time was too sick, so my daughter generously offered to pieced it.  She used the Take Five pattern on point.  I made the backing and sewed on the binding.  It was signed, sealed and delivered!  

So my completion percentage has jumped from the original 4% to a whopping 15%!  Yea!  

http://www.probono.net/celebrateprobono/

A New Project!
Well, my niece has been married about two years now.  Yup, the quilt was a bit late, but still sent with love and affection. 

She has had a her beautiful baby girl and I have yet to make her a baby quilt.   She's seven months so a quilt is also overdue!   So, I was thinking why not make her baby quilt from the fabric from her mama's wedding quilt?  Isn't that a great idea?

So, here is the beginnings of Baby P's baby quilt.  

I'm using that beautiful minky for backing. I used Allison's tutorial from Cluck Cluck Sew.  My plan is to add borders - probably from dark to light. 
UPDATE:  I forgot to mention that I'm linking up to Love Laugh Quilt's Monday Makings!  

Philippians 1:2
My grandbabies last week of freedom was last week, hence my lack of posts.  I enjoyed spending time with them, but whew!  Was I exhausted!  :)

Today's verse from Philippians is a true blessing to me.  
As I read it, 
my mouth dropped open as 
I realized 
that God's timing 
is always perfect.  
Yup.
It is.

I've been really blue, as I shared here. Today has been tough.  I admit I'm sad. Frustated.  And never more than today do I wish that 

https://imgflip.com/meme/Blank-Yellow-Sign?sort=latest&page=2

And then I read Philippians 1:2.  

God, my Father, 

and 

my big brother, 

the Lord Jesus Christ 

send me grace and peace.  

I don't have it on my own.  

My heart remains in pieces.  

I just need to accept the 

grace and peace offered.

I will.

In time.

In His time.

For now, 

I will mourn.

I will grieve.

I will move past.

Because there is life after cancer.

However, 

I WILL NOT FORGET
the ones who've gone before me,
the ones who are just beginning their own terrible journey,
the ones who are still fighting,
the ones who are trying to build a life after cancer,
the ones who've danced their last dance.

Again, I know this post is not the cheerful uplifting post one is accustomed to reading.  
It's real life.
It's real.
As is my Lord and Savior.
And, together, we will have the victory.  

In honor of my friends - both online and in person - here is "I Can Only Imagine".  

Dear Friends, this is my truth.

Heartbroken. I'm Not There. Slow Stitching.

Heartbroken
I went to the clinic where I recieved chemotherapy and radiation.  There was a kind young lady there who was my angel....you know the ones.....

they are encouraging,

they are indignant for you,

they tell you look great when you know you don't,

they smile,

they see you as you not as Cancer Girl.

She is a seven year ovarian cancer survivor.  Her journey was painful for many reasons that I cannot share here. But believe me, it was horrifically painful on the physical, emotional and spiritual fronts.

Yet, I never saw her falter in her deep rooted joy.

You know something's coming, don't you....

Yes it is.

I found out 
she has breast cancer.  

She has a different type of breast cancer in each breast.  

She is suffering from the side effects of chemo that the 1-2% suffer from.  

Yet she encouraged me.


Yet she finds joy in her circumstances.  She smiles still.

I weep.

Something else happened.
I blogger I follow, Jill at Dancing With Cancer  "danced her last dance" (as stated on her blog) Thursday.  

Please pray for these ladies and their families.  Please.

I'm Not There
As I wrote about these ladies, this scripture came to mind.  

The words "in any and every situation" really stand out to me tonight.  I'm afraid I have not reached this stage of contentment.  I'm in mourning.  

And that's ok.

You know, I try set an uplifting and joyful tone for this blog, but I just can't today. And it's ok. At the end of most posts, I write "Dear Friend, this is my truth."

And today, this is my truth, my reality.
I hate cancer.
I really do.

Slow Stitching

I made a bit of progress on my Embroidery Around the House Club from Mollie Johanson.  I also got Baby C's label sewn back on his quilt.  Someone commented to try Gutermann's hand quilting thread so I did. Thank you!

Take care you all!
Please take a moment to 
1) love each other fully
2) visit Sunday Slow Stitching and Sharing Sundays!  

Dear Friends, this is my truth!  

The Creative Side

Blessings from a Bug. Slow Stitching Sunday and (UPDATE) Sharing Sundays

Blessings from a Bug.

http://www.rd.com/home/cleaning-organizing/stomach-flu-prevention/

I was sad to miss last week's Slow Stitching Sunday, but it was a wonderful day.  My son, daughter, my son-in-law and four grandchildren all came over to celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday!  It was so much fun and I enjoyed having a full house!  As my Grandmother would say, "We had a parri!"

Near the end my two-year-old Baby C., got real quiet.  Then he refused ice cream.
Oh oh.

Yup.  You guessed it.  Shortly thereafter he threw up - a lot - a really lot.

I kept the oldest kiddos while my daughter and her husband took Baby C. and newborn Baby M. home.  They came for the older two later on that night.  

Monday came and I got bit by the same bug.  Then on Thursday, my daughter got bit.  My son-in-law was the final victim.  

Thankfully all is well and we are all back to normal.  And there was a HUGE blessing in the mix.

Because I was so terribly sick, I chose to go off my medications - even my pain meds.  I knew my tummy couldn't handle them.  I take 100 mg tablets of Gabapentin three times a day as well as a newly added Meloxicam.  I decided to begin with the Meloxicam because one pill seemed more tolerable than three.

And guess what?  Since going off Gabapentin I have had almost no pain! The worse it gets is maybe a 1 or 2 after I iron or if I'm on my feet a lot.  

But, 
I can go out all day with my husband and be fine.
I can spend the afternoon in the neighboring town with my parents and sister and be fine.
I can do stuff.
Fun Stuff.
I can live my life.

I don't know how long this will last.  I do have an appointment with my doctors and rest as needed.  But it's wonderful to be pain free - or at least relatively so.  

God is good - 
in pain or without pain - 
God is good.

Slow Stitching Sunday
And now for Kathy's Slow Stitching Sundays!  Today we traveled to the neighboring town to spend a lovely afternoon with my parents, my sister and her finacee.  It was wonderful!  Mom and I had a great talk.  She said I'm looking better, healthier.  We were able to have one on one time which I throughougly enjoyed!  We had good food, jokes, and laughter!

My Slow Stitching projects were fun!  I joined Wild Olives's Embroider Around the House Stitching Club and finished the first two motifs.  I highly recommend this fun project!  

Poor little roll of paper!  I finished his mouth and eye today!

Then I finished up Baby C's new quilt label.  I'm not sure what's going on.  The bindings off two quilts that I made him came undone.......I used the silk thread recommended by my quilting teacher, but they didn't work.  So, I machine bound his quilt and remade his label.  I'll hand stitch it back on with quilting thread and stick to that for bindings as well.  

After finishing up those two projects, I worked on my yo yo quilt for a bit.  

A nap on the way home finished up my Slow Stitching Sunday!  

UPDATE

Sharing Sundays

I just learned about Kathleen at The Creative Side.  She has a linky party called Sharing Sundays!  I encourage you to linkup and join the party!

Dear Friends, this is my truth.  

The Creative Side

Scrappy Sewing, Hand Sewing Projects, Philippians 1:1b

Scrappy Sewing

Of course, scraps are resulting from my

Drunkards Path blocks - 

is there a quilt project that 

doesn't lend itself to scraps?  :)  

So, I decided to begin a project 

that's long overdue!  

Hence, I finally began a long awaited quilt inspired by 

Dot Your i's Quilt 

by Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts!  

Yea!  I've wanted to begin one 

since I first saw it and now?  

Tada!  

I used this fabulously easy tutorial by
Kim Kesti from Think Fast 

to attach my circles with interfacing.

(According to her website, 

she has now moved.)

Mine is a bit different from
Amanda Jean's,
but I love it.
I started off hand appliqueing the "i's",
but have realized that
I have two major hand sewing projects
as well as several crocheting projects going on.

So, I decided to begin
machine stitching them on with a blanket stitch.  

I do have these four little guys

that don't seem to fit in 

with my Dia de los muertos fabric....

ya' think?  :)

Perhaps
a pillow these will be....
or an inside pocket for this tote?

Hand Sewing Projects

Here are the hand sewing projects I mentioned above.
My Grandmother's Flower Garden 

and my Yo-Yo Quilt. 

By the way, I'm excited to say 

I've added three more yo yo flowers 

for a grand total of nine!  

Yea!

Philippians 1:1b

Paul was in prison when he wrote this

letter to the Philippians - 

the members of 

the first church he founded.  

As I wrote in my Scripture Journal,

this letter is also addressed to me - 

and to you

because the entire Bible is

the inspired Word of God.

His love letter to me - 

and to you.

As part of God's people that means you.

Yup, you.

"all God's holy people"

"Not me," you say.

My sins are too great.

Nope.

Wrong.

Nothing can separate from the love of Christ Jesus.

http://www.qualitychurchmedia.com/stills/free-nothing-can-separate-us-bible-verse-slide/

Did you see the part 

where His Word says, 

...NOR ANYTHING IN CREATION

CAN SEPARATE US FROM 

THE LOVE OF GOD..."

NOTHING in all creation

NOTHING.

I am constantly blown away 

by His love for me.

I hope you are as well.  

Dear Friend,

this is my truth 

and, much more importantly,

His truth for you.

$7.50 Club, Slow Stitching,God Wink, Philippians 1:1a

$7.50 Club

Here  is where I described and 

showed you my sample block 

from the new $7.50 Club at my local Bernina Fabric Shop.  

Now, my friends....ta da!  

Here are my first two blocks!  

This is my first attempt at patchwork with curves and I loved it!

My daughter loaned me these Marti Mitchel templates and they are amazingly easy to work with!

Slow Stitching

I was disappointed 

not to be able to link up to 

Kathy's Quilts:  Slow Stitching Sunday

yesterday.  

But, alas, things happen.

I HIGHLY recommend you 

give her blog a visit and 

begin linking up to her 

Slow Stitching Sundays.

It's really given me the boost

I needed to make progress on this quilt!

I'm making new friends,

being encouraged by their kind and thoughtful remarks,

and enjoying their own blogs!

It's a win-win!

I did a tiny bit of Slow Stitching 

on my 

Grandmother's Flower Garden.

These two hexagons got attached 

to Hello Kitty!

Then, I realized, as I neared 

the end of the first row,

that I had no plan.  

The flowers had just been placed 

haphazardly on the design board.  

So, I decided to come up with a layout - 

that I'm sure will change over time!

My dear friend, Victoria Culberston, 

is giving me classes in color value.

She suggested I follow this process.

First, I removed all the colored flower's

that weren't already attached and 

here's what was left:

I then stacked them by values.

After playing with my handy, dandy

Picture Perfect "3 in 1 Plus" View Finder

(now that's a mouthful!), 

this was the result!

It makes me smile just to look at it!  

I'll miss it once it's off my design board, but I'm also looking forward to 

snuggling underneath it.  

It's all 100% hand stitched.  

And it's a precious gift to me.  

You see, my daughter - 

a working mother of two at the time - 

generously decided to help 

with this lovely quilt.  

So, it's a blend of 

old fabric from a dear friend of mine, scraps from some of my projects, 

and scraps from some of her projects.

And, 

completely without trying, 

we each have made about 50% of the circles!  

How lovely!  

How perfectly lovely!

Now that's a God Wink!

Philippians 1:1a

As I begin,

to share my thoughts on Philippians,

I must let you know,

I'm certainly not a Bible scholar. 

I've never been to Bible college.

I'm just a woman of faith,

being led by the Holy Spirit to share.

Yup.

That's it.

That's all.

That said, let's begin.

Ok.  I nervously, but courageously 
present my first attempt at 
Bible Journaling.  
First, I'm using a Scripture Journal.  
Then, after I finish the page/chapter/section,
I plan to create a design for 
the specific Bible page.

What first struck me about this verse 

were the first seven words.  
I was shocked.
How many times had I read them
and not seen
Paul considered himself 
a servant?

This great man of God
described himself as a servant.

I was amazed.

To be honest,
I have proclaimed my Christian belief 
with joy and confidence 
in 
my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

But 
I have never proclaimed to be His servant.

But I am.

I am but Christ's servant, 
longing to do His will.
I hope to be 
His joyful servant,
His willing servant,
His trusting servant,
His.
Period.

Dear Friend, 
this is my truth.