Officially a Quilter

So it is official! I am a quilter - I know and can make a quilt - from the beginning to the end!

So this is just a little bit of what I have been working on over the last week.

 

So once you get a quilt top put together - that is when you layer it with a backing and batting. There is some cool new spray baste stuff that is awesome and makes this step so much easier than using pins. Thankfully I learned about this awesome stuff before I began quilting!

 

So in this first photo you can see that it has been quilted and the batting is poking out. That is how you quilt- you start off with your backing fabric and your batting about 3 inches bigger than the quilt on each side.

So once I finished quilting the quilt - which took about 4-5 hours. You sew a seam around the edge of the quilt - a little less than 1/4 of an inch seam. And you cut off the excess backing and batting.

That is what stage this photo is showing:

Next you prepare your binding- so the pieces together and then onto the quilt with the machine. Then you iron and then fold the binding fabric around to the back - and then you will work by sewing the binding down by hand. Maybe it's called a blind stitch. You just do your best to sew it down good without a lot of what you are doing showing.

 

This is the quilt after I washed it!  

I can't wait till I find my camera and am able to take photo from it to better show the color of the quilt. This last one might be the best representation of the colors.

And actually I have totally finished another quilt - but since it is a quilt that I was asked to make for someone else - I feel it is only right to not share photos of the quilt until after the quilt makes it to the lady it was made for. Which by the way - needs prayers ~ as does her whole family. She was just diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer stage 4 - just about a week ago. So I am helping her daughter get these quilts made up for her mother- and I knew that there was no guarantee of how long her Momma would be around. So I actually have the first of the two that I am going to help her with. I will post photos of those quilts when I am able to do so.

**********
We are getting a down pour of rain right now! And although I know that we need the rain - I was sure hoping to be able to get my yard mowed before the rain hit. Friday night we got about 3 inches of rain. And then on Sunday night we got about 1 inch of rain. And now it is raining again. And my yard REALLY needs to get mowed. 

Well I hope you all are doing well. I have a couple of posts that I would really like to get written up and I am hoping to be able to do so soon. :O)

 

 

Allowing God to build our characters along the route to heaven

I have been so very busy this week - so I decided to share this great quote from the book that I finished reading this week. The book is called "Spiritfruit~ God's Buffet of Christian Graces" by Cecilia M. Watson. It was a great book. If anyone has any problems reading this - I can and will type it out if you will let me know. Just really busy right now. Well I just don't have a lot of time right now.

Hoping to be able to share why I have been so busy lately - it involves quilting. Talk with you soon. Have a great week end! :O)

I Finally Did it!

This week end I attempted something for the very first time. For the last 8 years or so I have been quilting- as in putting quilt tops together. And I have enjoyed it. But I had never really done the quilting of a quilt before this past week end.

As many of you know that back in March I got a quilting machine/frame. And since them, when time permitted I practiced quilting on some provided materials. I had been hesitant to get one of my quilts that I had put a lot of hard work into and put it on the frame and quilt it. What if I made a mistake? I mean, I am a recovering perfectionist. I really am. In fact, I have another post that I am going to be working on this week about another area of my life in which I am seeing progress in over coming perfectionism, which I am very thankful for.

So I this week end I knew I was finally ready to take my first try at quilting. I ironed the quilt top and the backing. I prepared my bed by covering it with an old sheet. Then laid the batting down on the sheet and we laid the backing on top - folded 1/2 of it over and sprayed that half - then unfolded it and laid it on the batting - smoothing it out. Then we folded the other half of the backing over - sprayed it and then unfolded and smoothed it out. Then we flipped that whole piece over- so that the batting was facing upward. Then we repeated the above process with the quilt top. And we smoothed it all out. We had to pin the leader cloth to the top of the quilt and then we were read to take the quilt to the quilting frame. And after getting everything situated and set up correctly - I was able to begin quilting.

This is the quilt top before we put it together with the batting and backing: 

Here it is completed! 

 

During this whole process I learned a lot. That is normal - many times it takes actually doing something in order to learn to do it better. I realized I was going to need a lot more bobbins than what I prepared at the beginning. And had to stop and make more and then again. So I am taking notes of this size quilt and the number of bobbins - at least - to have prepared. And also to make sure that I have more than one spool of the thread I had - because my main spool of thread that I was using - is almost totally gone. Thankfully it lasted through this whole process.
I already have a quilting booklet to keep track of the quilts I do, so I will be writing notes in it to help me in the future when quilting other quilts.

All in all I am happy with the finished product. It was defiantly a learning process and mistakes were made. And I know as I continue to make quilts - I should be able to do a better and better job. As you know, I have 3 more quilts to work on now. So I will plenty of practice. Oh actually I have 4 more to do. It looks like I have an important project that I will be working on the next week or so.

 

As I finish projects I will be sharing with you all. I will need to get the batting for two of the quilts that I have to quilt. And then I need to get a backing for the other quilt that I have to quilt. So there is no jumping right into the next project. My new project will actually involve putting a quilt together and then quilting it. Please be praying that it will be something that I can do - and can do a good job it is a special project and I want to do a really good job- and it is time sensitive - so I need to get it done asap. Thank you so much.

The Twenty-Third Psalm For Today... Guidance

...He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Guidance

The steps of a good Man are

ordered by the Lord; and he

 delighteth in his way.

Psalm 37:23

 

I will instruct thee and teach

thee in the way which thou shalt

go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

Psalm 32:8

 

They word is a lamp unto my

feet, and a light unto my path.

Psalm 119:105

 

Then sake Jesus...saying, I

am the light of the world; he that

followeth me shall not walk in

darkness, but shall have the light of life.

John 8:12

 

And thine ears shall hear a word

behind thee, saying, This is the

way, walk ye in it, when ye turn

to the right hand, and when ye

turn to the left.

Isaiah 30:21

Heart Gifts ....series

Daily Prayers Dissolve Your Cares

 

I meet God in the morning

And go with Him through the day,

Then in the stillness of the night

Before sleep comes I pray

That god will just "take over"

All the problems I could solve

And in the peacefulness of sleep

My cares will all dissolve,

SO when I open up my eyes

To greet another day

I'll find myself renewed in strength

And there'll open up a way

To meet what seemed impossible

For me to solve alone

And once again I'll be assured

I am never "on my own"...

For if we try to stand alone

We are weak and we will fall,

For God is always Greatest

When we're helpless, lost and small,

And no day is unmeetable

If on rising our first thought

Is to thank God for the blessings

That His loving care has brought...

For there can be no failures

Or hopeless, unsaved sinners

If we enlist the help of God

Who makes all losers winners...

SO meet Him in the morning

And go with Him through the day

And thank Him for His guidance

Each evening when you pray,

And if you follow faithfully

This daily way to pray

You will never in your lifetime

Face another "hopeless day."  

~ Helen Steiner Rice

 



Safe Disposal

Do you know that their are dangers if you do not dispose of batteries properly? Well the biggest danger can come when you don't dispose of a 9V battery properly. I will share a little story of something that happened at my husband's workplace just to give you an idea of what can happen if 9V batteries are not disposed safely.

In the last couple of weeks - there was a small trash can fire because a battery was not disposed properly. They are suppose to wrap the battery up in tape. That way if there is a bit of juice left in the battery and it comes in contact with a metal object - a fire does not start.

So if you have 9V batteries that you are getting rid of - you, too, might want to wrap it up with tape first - just to be safe.

The reason I heard this story is because our smoke detector needed a new battery and I saw my husband wrapping our old battery up with tape and asked him about it. And I figured if that was not something that I knew before - that I should share it here with you all. Now I know that not too many of us have lots of metal or what ever properties of things that could ignite a fire in our trashcans - but it truly is best to be safe than to be sorry.

Exactly 2 Years...

Just a quick post this evening to let you all know that I made it through my Dr appointment. Thankfully my sister went with me for moral support. It will be a few days before we get the blood work results back but the Dr said everything else seems great - so it'll be 6 months before my next appointment.

To be honest - it was a little difficult for me to go past that first 3 month check up - without a check up. When you first find out that you are going to have to go every 3 months for a couple of years- your like ...ugh.... but once you go several times and you realize that by touching base with your Dr and them checking everything out - and getting the ok -is very reassuring. So passing that 3 month visit was difficult that first time. I am thinking that it will be easier to go the 6 months between visits this time.

Oh and by the way - Today is exactly 2 years since the end of my last chemo! Praising God for His watch care and all of the blessings and all of the things that I have learned about Him during this whole process. Sometimes you have to go through difficult things in order to really realize how faith God truly is!!

It's That Time Again...

Ok - This morning I will going to see my oncologist for my check up. It has been 6 months since I have been there. And I am not gonna lie - yesterday evening I was feeling pretty anxious about it. Anyway I would sure appreciate any and all the prayers that I can get. Thank you so much! :O)

Death and Resurrection

This is a daily devotional type of book. What I appreciate about this book is that each day builds on the day before. A new concept is introduced and then slowly the author elaborate more and more in order for us to come away from the book with a better understanding of each topic. This is just one of the books that I have been reading lately.

 

******Today I will be sharing an entry called " Death and Resurrection"******

 

After Adam and Eve fell and lost their home in heaven, they knew that future generations would point to them and say, "You're the cause of all of this pain and heartache and sorrow and death." For over nine hundred years they had to live with this! Can you imagine? Most of us can't take much more than our threescore and ten!

 

So, for nine hundred thirty years, Adam's heart continued to beat. I suppose the enemy beat him over the head unmercifully with guilt and remorse and the temptation to curse God and give up on the whole thing. (Maybe Eve did this. We never hear about her again.) Painful as it was, his life ended one day, and the obituary read: " Adam, father of mankind, dead at the age of 930."

 

Where is Adam now? What do we know about death and the resurrection? Well, according to Scripture, w hen we di we merely go to sleep. "The living know that they will die. But the dead know nothing"(Ecclesiastes 9:5). We're unconscious. There's no knowledge of the passing of time in the grave. So the years since those nine hundred and thirty long years will be only a short time for Adam. From the time he went to sleep until the time of the resurrection will seem like only a moment. I often thing of this when I'm in a cemetery. Just a moment from now (to them) and they'll wake up again! As far as Adam is concerned, he's not in the grave any longer than someone who falls asleep fifteen minutes before Jesus comes.

 

"By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return." ~ Genesis 3:19

I Scored!

 Last week - I went to a favorite little thrift store and I found some awesome books!! As you can tell I found several of Morris Venden book's. He had twenty something books - and I would love to find them all! When I am able to get them for 50 cents for soft cover and 1.00 for hard back - it makes it something that I can do and it won't break the bank! In fact this pile of books cost me about 4.00! 

So since God has been trying to teach me the importance of surrendering my life and my will to Him - made it a logical choice for me to start with this book:

"Salvation By Faith and Your Will" 

 

Plus this little "Welcome" yard art - was only 1.50. 

 

I see London...France...

Isn't this the funniest things?

Just a public service announcement. Leggings are NOT pants. And you should find a nice long tunic to wear with them. Something that covers your rear end. I have seen people wear them as pants - and you may not be able to see the view that others see - but trust me when I say many times your underwear show through. Not only that many time - many of your creases and folds of you - show up clearly. So please remember - they are not pants to wear alone- find a great shirt that is long enough or a short dress to cover up your private parts. No one really wants to see - what shows through...

I figure none of my reader do this - but I couldn't pass up sharing such a cute funny from Maxine - and at least give you a laugh! LOL :O)

The Twenty-Third Psalm For Today.... Strength

He restoreth my soul...

Strength

 

"The Lord is my strenght and my shield; my

 heart trusted in him,

And I am helped; therefor my

heart greatly rejoiceth; and with

 my song will I praise Him."

Psalm 28:7

 

"...in quietness and in confidence

 shall be your strength:..."  

Isaiah 30:15

 

"...be strong in the Lord and in

the power of his might. Put on

the whole armour of God, that

ye may be able to stand against

 the wiles of the devil."

Ephesians 6:10,11

 

"...for the joy of the Lord is your strength."

Nehemiah 8:10

 

"Now I know that the Lord saveth

 His anointed; He will hear him

 from His holy heavens with the

saving strength of His right hand."

Psalm 20:6

 

"But they that wait upon the Lord

 shall renew their strength; they

 shall mount up with winds as

 eagles; they shall run, and not be

 weary; and they shall walk, and

 not faint."

Isaiah 40:31

 

Heart Gifts ....series

God Knows Best


Our Father knows what's best for us,
So why should we complain--
We always want the sunshine,
But He knows there must be rain--
We love the sound of laughter
And the merriment of cheer,
But our hearts would lose their tenderness
If we never shed a tear...
Our Father tests us often
With suffering and with sorrow,
He tests us, not to punish us,
But to help us meet tomorrow...
For growing trees are strengthened
When they withstand the storm,
And the sharp cut of a chisel
Gives the marble grace and form...
God never hurts us needlessly,
And He never wastes our pain
For every loss He send to us
Is followed by rich gain...
And when we count the blessings
That God has so freely sent,
We will find no cause for murmuring
And no time to lament...
For our Father loves His children,
And to Him all things are plain,
So He never sends us pleasure
When the soul's deep need is pain...
So whenever we are troubled,
And when everything goes wrong,
It is just God working in us
To make our spirit strong.
~ by Helen Steiner Rice

Sweetness

I just had to share with you all some sweetness. This is the best photo of the little kittens that I have been able to get. They are hidden under my husband's work bench out in our garage an there is all sorts of stuff in front of where they are. So most of the time I can't see hardly any part of them -let along their little tiny faces.

There was another picture perfect scene that I saw - that I wish I could have captured with my phone but didn't get a chance. Momma was laying down and baby kittens little face was right there between her front legs like Momma was holding it close. So Sweet. Such sweetness.

Still praying that God will help thing work out that we will be able to tame them and make sure that they find a good home - and I would love to have a couple of them myself. Like this one for sure. I might have to call it Sweetness if I get to keep it! But I am not holding my breath. God knows what is best and I am trusting Him.

Day 4...part 2

So a little over an hour later- we arrived in La Grange. We had several stops here- there was just one problem. Because we cut our vacation down a day - we ended up getting to La Grange the day before the museums that we wanted to check out would be open. But we had to at last stop and check them out. Because there was at least some parts of them that could be check out - even when museums were closed.

First stop: Texas Quilt Museum. As I mentioned earlier - it was closed but they have this awesome mural painted on the wall of the museum and a cute little garden to the side of the museum so we stopped and walked through it.

 

 I enjoy gardens, I seem to love them more and more the older I get.

I enjoy seeing the beauty of nature and it always amazes me what God's love

by all the wonderful things He created for our pleasure.

Next on our list was something that meant a lot to my husband to see. His Father had worked for MKT for many years and so when I had read about a Train Depot that they had in La Grange - it just had to be on our list of things to check out.

 

La Grange Railroad Museum

Click on the above to read more about this awesome Depot.

 As you can see there are railroad cars behind the train station. There were two of them.
We got lucky! A real blessing from God. There was a man there restoring the wooden train car- and he let us go into the side that he was working in. And if that wasn't cool enough- he had a key to the museum and he opened it up and let us look around. That is the reason we were able to get some cool photos of the inside as well!

 

 

After taking some time to eat lunch at a Mexican restaurant. We headed to Waco Texas next.

 

 

We went to Magnolia Market! For those of you who have seen the show - Fixer Upper - with Chip and Joanna Gaines know exactly what I am talking about here. This is their shop and property. It is more than just a store- I would suggest that you go to the link above to check it all out - you get a lot of awesome photos - and can see how cool this place really is.

 I was greatly inspired by these next four photos!

 

 Aren't they the cutest little things?! I loved them! And came home wanting to make my own!

Now the problem is that the galvanized bowl that they used to make these - sell at their shop for like $40.00 and to me, that is high. We have been looking and have not found anything that I want to use to make myself one of these - but we continue to look. Be watching for a post about my - not it is a gnome garden - because I found a kit for a gnome garden and loved it so much - you should see the little tiny bird bath that it has!! Anyway - that's another post.

This is what we bought while we were at the Magnolia Market. And to be honest - they are not very practical at all. I love the look of them - but if you try to use them - way TOO much salt/pepper come out - they needed 1/2 the amount of holes. Anyway I was disappointed for sure because I had really wanted to be able to use them.

 

And did you by any chance notice the blue sky in this photo - along with many of my other photos?
Well that big chance of rain that we saw before we left home for our vacation - well we only had to drive through 2 rain showers- one was a bit heavy and I had to slow down to about 40 miles an hour on a 70 mph zone - because I couldn't see good enough to go faster.

And then the one night that we got storms and hail. I think God in heaven that we were able to have a nice vacation with very little rain. It sure was an answer to prayer.

 

I hope you have enjoyed reading about our vacation. We had a nice time - but as always was happy when we finally made it home. We love being at home- we have believed that notion that I seen going around Facebook - create a life that you don't have to take a vacation to get away from. :O)  

Day 4 or/and Mooned Again....

So Wednesday morning we had a great breakfast. I was very happy with how nice this place was - I had been impressed with it the first time around - but after where we stayed at SPI - I was even more impressed. We packed up our things. But before we left Victoria we had one more stop.

We went to The Texas Zoo in Victoria Texas you can click and go to their website to find out more.

Anyway we had a nice time - even though 3 or 4 bus loads of children got there right before we did. We were able to get inside and head a direction a bit differently than they were going and have a nice visit to the zoo.

We walked into a building that houses their snakes and reptiles and were amazed at the fact that we could hear the mad rattle snake as he shook his tail. He was all coiled up and ready to strike. In fact, he stuck towards me - even though there was a nice thick glass between him and I - it still scared me and I went to the other side of my husband who then took some photos of him. That snake keep his eyes on Jason - if Jason moved to one side - the snake was ready to strike in that direction- if Jason moved to the other side- the snake recoiled himself enough to be able to strike again. That was one mad snake!

Have you ever been Mooned by a peacock?

Well now you have! lol :O)

 Here he is showing off his beautiful feathers!

Here you have a male, female and oh yeah -I hadn't noticed when I took the photo - but another male peacock.

 

Here is something amazing that I captured in photos- and did not realize I had captured it until after I had taken the photos and my husband pointed it out to me.

I was taking the photos of the lizard in order to capture a photo of him with his orange/pink balloon thing at this throat that he would puff out ever so often.

 What I captured was the lizard changing his color in order to blend in with his surroundings.

Until he had gone from green to brown.

Oh and that is when I captured the photo I was wanting!  

Some of the animals were watching us:

Some of the animals were resting: 

Some were down right sleeping

 

And some where hanging around eating:

That is just a handful of what we saw at The Texas Zoo! If you are ever in that area be sure and check it out. It is not a very big zoo - when compared to big town zoos but it was a very nice zoo. And I am glad we took our time to visit it.

Once we were finished at the zoo - we were on the road again - this time we were headed to La Grange Texas. And since I have so many photos for this post already and blogger was giving me a bit of trouble downloading them - I will continue this day of the trip tomorrow. Come back by to check it out. See you then. :O)

 

 

Getting Mooned....

I am so sorry that it seems as though I have been dragging my feet at posting photos and such from our vacation. What actually happened is that when we got back we had a lot of stuff to get done to get caught up with - because we had been gone. And it seems like every week has been like that. Each week I am making my normal list of things I want to get done - but I try to add a few extras just so I can stay caught up on things. So last week - I put cleaning carpets, cleaning bird cage, cleaning fish tank, and mowing the yard as priority. Well I got every thing done except for I needed to push mow a couple of places in the yard that I just cant get the riding lawn mower to do the job. I also needed to mow the chicken yard. Well yesterday thankfully my husband helped me get that stuff done. And then we also got some branches cut off of some trees that were hanging down too far- and they were making it hard to mow around those areas. So thankfully all of my list got done.

This week I have decided that I need to make a priority to get the rest of the vacation posts ready and posted. I also have a few other things that I have taken note of that I want to share. SO getting these posts done will be a priority. I also really need to see if I can find some youtube videos about my new quilting machine- and watch a few to give me a bit more information of the how to's before I start quilting - for real. I have been practicing the last few weeks - but I am wanting to get on with it- I have 4 quilts to quilt, thankfully they were all either lap quilt size or twin sized quilts. I am very happy for that since I really would like to learn on the smaller size before I even attempt a bigger sized quilt. So hopefully this week I can watch some videos and then I am hoping to actually get one of the quilts - quilted! That right there will be a challenge for me - because sometimes I am  little intimidated to do things I have never done before. Anyway I am working on the courage to get one done.

Courage - well that is something I have felt like has kind of went down lately. The reason - well I have a dime sized knot just under the skin it is to the outer side of the bend at my elbow- you know where you get blood drawn - well out towards the outer bend- is where this knot is. I have had it for 2-3 months. I have probably already mentioned it here. Anyway when I go see my oncologist next week - I will be asking her what she things I should do. There is a consensus of those I have talked to about it - that I need to have it checked out, which will more than likely lead to having it removed - another surgery...  And to be honest that scares me. I am really not wanting another procedure but if that is what is suggested - then I know it is the best thing to do. So that is why has lead me to move forward with quilting - even though it has been intimidating to me. I don't want to allow fear to stop me from moving forward.

So anyway that is what is going on here. Oh and I have a funny little photo to share with you all today.

"Happy" was a Mother's Day gift from my son and his fiancé. And the gnome - the mooning gnome - well that is something my husband had said he wanted and I found the cutest one I could find and got it for him. So it was sitting on the table when I got my "Happy" and I had set him down. Well then we noticed how funny it looked that "Happy" had those shocked eyes- yeah its with a big smile - but it you pay attention to just the eyes you can see the shock on his face at getting mooned! I thought it was so cute - I couldn't pass up sharing it! I hope it gave you a smile for the day!!

The Twenty-Third Psalm For Today ~ Peace

...he leadeth me beside the still waters.

Peace

Thou wilt keep him in perfect

peace, whose mind is stayed on

thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Isaiah 26:3

 

Come unto me, all ye that labour

and are heavy laden, and I will

give you rest.

Matthew 11:28

 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love,

joy, peace,...

Galatians 5:22

 

Be careful for nothing; but in

everything by prayer and

supplication with thanksgiving

let your requests be made known

unto God. And the peace of God,

which passeth all understanding, shall

keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6,7

 

Now the God of hope fill you

with all joy and peace in

 believing, that ye may abound

 in hope, through the power

 of the Holy Ghost.

Romans 15:13

 

 

Heart Gifts.....series

Everywhere Across the Land You See God's Face and Touch His Hand

Each time you look up in the sky

Or watch the fluffy clouds drift by,

Or feel the sunshine warm and bright,

Or watch the dark night turn to light,

Or hear a bluebird gayly sing,

Or see the winter turn to spring,

Or stop to pick daffodil,

Or gather violets on some hill...

Or touch a leaf or see a tree,

It's all God whispering, "This Is Me...

And I am Father and I am Light

And in Me there shall be no night."



~ Helen Steiner Rice

 

The rest of Day 3

Alright when I left off of telling about our third day of vacation - it was a little after noon. And we were off to Victoria Texas. We had a bit of excitement on this part of the trip. During a section of this trip - I could not believe the amount of bugs that we hit- a WHOLE bunch of black bugs. When we got gas - I was trying to clean the windows and I could not get enough elbow grease to get the bugs off- thankfully my husband was able to do a better job. I know, I know...that really isn't excitement is it? Well here is the excitement. So we are driving down the road minding our own business. We had noticed quite a few Border Patrol vehicles - both on our way South and now on our way back. But we were still surprised when we drove around a curve in the road - and came to orange cones the ushered us through and Border Patrol check point. Several officers along with at least one drug sniffing dog. As we got to the office - we were asked if we were citizens - as the dog sniffed our car- seconds later- we were back on the road. It all happened so fast that I did not get any photos. Certainly a new experience for us!

Well a couple of hours later - we made it to Victoria Texas. I had looked at things to do in this town and had picked my top several things that I wanted to do. And we decided since it was already 4:30pm - we would pick the garden to check out first, since it was opened until dusk. It ended up being a favorite thing that we did on this trip for me anyway.

This was just a sneak peak into how beautiful this garden was!

After spending an hour or so at the garden - we were getting hungry and went to find something to eat. Jason's Deli was where we chose to eat. My husband was so disappointed! They have a lot of BBQ places in Victoria Texas and we had planned to eat at one. We just did not realize that most of them close early. So by the time we were going to eat most were closed. Thankfully our meal at Jason's Deli was pretty good. I had a half sandwich with a bowl of broccoli soup. It was very yummy - and an ice cream to finish it off.