Quilting and other stuff

After being away from it for almost a year and a half, I’m finally back in the quilting game. I did a wall hanging for our daughter-in-law Jodie but neglected to take a picture of it. Our daughter-in -law, Kortney, recently had a baby, the cutie Konnor, so that called for a baby quilt. I just finished it, and it will go in the mail this weekend or early next week. It’s a disappearing nine-patch, one of the easy patterns for beginners to start with. I did use Minky for the backing and because he lives in Florida, there is no need for batting as the Minky is warm enough. Then Amanda asked for bowl cozies – great use for orphan blocks I have laying around. I hope to start them this week. A few of the blocks need some extra borders to make them big enough, but they should go together easily. I’ll post pictures of them when I finish. 

 A while ago, Amanda challenged me to make wall hangings and matching table runners – one for each month. I already have a few that go well together, but that’s a challenge that I can easily take on! Table runners and wall hangings go together fairly easily, so I should be able to accomplish it. 

 I took a couple of days to work on organizing scraps. I made decent progress, but still have a lot of them to go. Maybe I’ll start a lenders/enders quilt. For those of you who are not familiar with them, Bonnie Hunter, a quilt teacher, author, and designer, first introduced me to them through her blog at Quiltville.com. You take two pieces of whatever you want, use them to start and finish whatever pieces you are working on for your main quilt. They help prevent nests and thread jams, and in the process, you end up with enough pieces that you have a scrap quilt ready to go. I did make two quilts that way, not scrappy but using pieces that were cut for one quilt while working on another. 

 Another project that I discovered I need to start is sorting pictures and putting together photo albums/scrapbooks for the kids. I have so many pictures. Ones that I took and some that Mom took and sent me. I did do one for Amanda for her high school graduation; I need to as her if I can look at them and see if I have other pictures that would warrant another one for her. But first, I’m going to start with Chuck and get his done. That will likely be a very long-term project – making multiple albums for all four of the kids, and probably even one for Andrew, Tom’s son, as I have a lot of pictures of him as well. 

 Today, as I’m writing this, it’s Sunday. We have a football game on, but neither of us is really watching it. Our internet has been giving us fits lately – the past two days we are lucky to have an uninterrupted hour. I honestly don’t know how Cox is staying in business with this. It probably explains why their cable prices have gone through the roof. It was a rough day for my sister, who is struggling with her own personal demons. I won’t publicize what her struggle is, suffice it to say, she is in deep need of a filling of the Spirit and a full surrender to the Lord. I came home from church and needed to listen to praise music, so I put Spotify on (for the hour or so that the internet actually worked!). I usually listen to Keith and Kristen Getty, as I really like their worship songs. One of the songs that came on over their channel was by Bobbie Mason, Trust His Heart. I remember when I was going through my divorce, in the very early days. We were attending Mt. Ararat Baptist in Stafford, Virginia. Every year they did a “living Christmas tree” with drama and music. This particular year, that song was the major focal point of the musical. I went to practice on one of the lowest days, and, unbeknownst to me, that was the song we were practicing. I hadn’t listened to the tracks yet, so when we started singing it, and I let the words sink in, I could barely finish. Several people noticed and offered me comfort, for which I am still grateful. The lyrics still mean so much to me today: 

All things work for our good 

Though sometimes we don't see 

 How they could 

Struggles that break our hearts in two 

Sometimes blind us to the truth 

Our Father knows what's best for us 

His ways are not our own 

So when your pathway grows dim 

And you just don't see Him, 

Remember you're never alone 

 God is too wise to be mistaken 

God is too good to be unkind 

So when you don't understand 

When don't see His plan 

When you can't trace His hand 

Trust His Heart 

Trust His Heart 

 He sees the master plan 

And he holds our future in His hand, 

So don't live as those who have no hope, 

All our hope is found in Him 

We see the present clearly 

But He sees the first and the last 

And like a tapestry 

He's weaving you and me, 

To someday be just like Him 

God is too wise to be mistaken 

God is too good to be unkind 

So when you don't understand 

When don't see His plan 

When you can't trace His hand 

Trust His Heart 

He alone is faithful and true 

He alone knows what is best for you 

God is too wise to be mistaken 

God is too good to be unkind 

So when you don't understand 

When don't see His plan 

When you can't trace His hand 

Trust His Heart When you don't understand 

When you don't see His plan 

When you can't trace His hand 

Trust His Heart 

Trust His Heart 

 Source: LyricFind Songwriters: Babbie Y. Mason / Eddie Carswell