Fini!

Yes – it is done! Label attached and all. I am taking it down to the washer so it will be nice, soft, and cuddly when he opens it! My stitching pal from my local quilting guild gave me a tub of quilt wash – special detergent for quilts – guess I will break it open. When he opens it, I will post a picture on here!

Okay, that is it – just sharing a triumph. Now, I will go trim another quilt and put the binding and label on it. It needs to also be wrapped so it is ready for its recipient – can’t say here yet.

Also, I received a message from my son in law in Iraq. Rob received his Christmas package which included a quilt. The message is a bit garbled, but seemed like he liked it a lot. I can post a picture of that one here. Enjoy!

Another day closer

FINALLY!  All those horrid little lines around all those stars are done!  And one seam around the first border.  Then it was time to change the bobbin thread, so I gave myself a break – to eat dinner.  Yes, I know it is 11:30 p.m.  But Joe is coming home tomorrow, and it must be done.  So, after checking mail, I will eat a little goulash, yum yum, and possibly do a bit more.  I would like to finish the quilting tonight, so I can trim and bind it tomorrow. 

 

It’s a plan anyway.  Will let you know how it goes tomorrow.

Crafting away

It has been a busy time. Of course, as usual, I have tried to do more than is reasonable. But actually this year, I am doing somewhat better.

Since some on my Christmas gift lift may read this, I can not expound in detail – ha ha – but let’s see how I can get around that!

First of all, as some may know, I began quilting last September (2006). My goal at that time was to make a quilt for each of my kids for Christmas last year. Well, I learned pretty much immediately that that was not going to happen. So I quickly changed Sarah’s gift to a coat – which to me screamed, “Sarah.” That left Chana and Joe. When I began making my first quilt, I decided it would be for Chana – I wanted it bright and happy colors and warm and snuggly. That it was, and I believe she still loves it immensely. She told me this Christmas that it was the best gift she had ever received. Okay, whether true or not – I will take it.

That left Joe – well, not being too wise in the way of quilting, I let him pick out a pattern. He told me he would like it to be in red and black. Sounds fine. I gave him a book by Alex Anderson on rotary cutting. One would think that would mean those quilts would be appropriate for a beginner. Hmmmph. Not the case. This quilt had a gazillion stars, which in and of itself is not a problem, it is that the stars could not be assembled as a block. Okay for all you non-quilters – what this meant was that the stars were assembled in rows and since the stars were of different colors, you had to pay special attention to the order of the colors. Again – not a biggie – just that with 120 stars it took a LONG time and it wasn’t mindless sewing – but rather I had to be very diligent and focused.

Oh, the other thing – I started this quilt last October (2006) right after I began this odyssey and really didn’t know about needing to be so precise – which is most critical when dealing with half-square triangles (HST) and quarter-square triangles (QST). Last year I got all 480 – 2-1/2 inch blocks of HST joined to QST group done. And the focus fabric block of a square with triangles on each side. Then it became obvious this was not going to be done by Christmas ’06 and it was put away for several months.

Fast Forward to September, ‘07. I begin working on it again, going to set it all together. Not so fast there – all those 480 blocks and the 100 or so focus blocks didn’t go together too well. Oh, no, many were wopper-jawed and needed to be squared up. Yep, I had learned about that this past year. No problem, I had my handy little 2.5 inch square – guess what – they were too small. Now it came to ripping out, excuse me, unsewing. I averaged six good blocks out of every ten. I found it taking nearly 4-1/2 hours to do ONE row! What with unsewing, sewing, pressing, and so forth.

In all honesty, there was a learning curve. By the time I was down to seven rows left, I had it down to a little over two hours. I took it to Quilting on the Mountain and finished the piecing of the star rows. Woo Hoo! I came home and sewed the borders on, sandwiched it and began quilting.

If I thought the stars were a pain, the quilting was even more so! You know all those 120 stars? Yep, they now required quilting all around them. There was no way it looked right any other way. So that is where I am, three days before the boy comes home. I need to get it done, bound and wrapped. He still thinks I am “vaguely working on it.” But it will be done! And it will be the best gift I have ever given my son to.

You see, my very heart and soul has gone into each of these two quilts. No, they would not win any prizes in a quilt show, but the fabrics were selected with each of them I mind. The fabrics reflect who Joe is and his interests. Motorcycles, music, coffee, geometry (order), and the colors he chose. Someone said, forget this one, pick out a new pattern and make him a different one. Not a chance! This is Joe. Merry Christmas, son

This is a test

This is a test of the emergency blogging system.  In the event of an actual emergency, I can post an email directly to this blog.  This  is just a test.

My Christmas Wisdom

Welcome December and Christmas! I love this time of year. I decorate, go to parties, see family and friends, buy and or make gifts, and bask in the special services at church. I like to re-read and think about the Christmas story (the first one) and what it really means to me.


But I have also talked with several people who do not find the joy at this time that I do. Of course being who I am, I want everyone to be happy, it stresses me if they aren't. So I began to think about why is it that some are not thrilled with this season. Of course this led to a train thought - so you get the whole track!


First of all – Christmas itself is a celebration of Christ’s birth. We celebrate His coming and why he came – now that itself is enough to ease a bit of the turmoil. Think about it – why did He come? To make atonement, to be the sacrificial lamb for OUR sins – AND those of everyone else on this earth. Now think about all the problems we have – lots of them may be related to choices we made in the past that might have been less than wise, some relate to sins of our past.

Okay – lots aren’t though – what about those? You mean the jerks out there? The mean folks, those out for vengeance of perceived slights? What about the plain old evilness out there? What about life? Well, guess what, he came for that too! He came for those who would use their power to hurt others. For those whose selfishness hurts. He came to bring hope of change.

He also said he would send a comforter. He knew that at times there would just be no way around being hurt and feeling bad; whether physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, or even financially. Yes, He came to speak PEACE – He is the Prince of Peace. He came to be our friend – a friend that sticketh closer than a brother – He will listen when there is no one else – yes, you can tell Him anything.


He is a rock – when it feels like our very foundation is shaking – He stands firm. He is our Strong Tower – when we feel buffeted by life’s storms – we can run to Him – run in Him and be safe. He is our Everlasting Father – when we don’t know what to do, where to go, how we should act or react – He is there to advise. He wraps His arms around us and just holds us.


He is our Jehovah Jireh – our provider – He supplies all of our needs – get this, according to HIS riches in glory. Not according to our standards – but according to His!


So what does all this have to do with where you are right now? How can this help the anguish you feel? First of all, toss out all preconceptions of what Christmas has always been. There is no magic to the date December 25. I have watched for years, families fuss and fight over who actually gets the kids on Christmas morning or who is going to be at whose parents on Christmas Day? This is especially significant when families live some distance from each other.


I made a commitment that as our children grew up and left home, I would not participate in that fuss. We would find a day – any day – when everyone could be together and that will be Christmas! I am not sure we have ever had Christmas on the 25th since they have left the nest. One year it was the 20th, another it was the first Saturday of January. We had as wonderful a time as if it were on the 25th. I planned our Christmas dinner just like we have for years. We observed the same traditions. And that was Christmas in our home. We even did the scripture reading and all.

I usually ask the kids what their plans are for Christmas. When are they going to the in-laws? Other relatives? What is a good date to get together? This year my girls are planning to spend Christmas with my mother in Kentucky. One daughter will leave Christmas Eve late to go to her in-laws in Cleveland TN for Christmas Day. I believe they both plan to be here the 26th or 27th. Of course one son in law is in Iraq and will not be home, but my son has leave then so he will be. I am rejoicing for this.
It has been a very refreshing thing for us to toss out the calendar!


Fine, that is all good, it settles who will get together or not. But what if I just cannot afford any gifts? First of all we nearly always feel we need to go overboard at Christmas. I have watched for years as we overloaded our kids with "things" each Christmas. Things they may have asked for, things I thought they needed, things that were just too cute, things, things, things. Often, they were tired of opening things before they were done. As they got older, of course the price of the items increased too. I remember one year purchasing an MP3 player and a digital camcorder. One was used maybe once, the other did not work after three months. Money, I felt was down the drain. We decided at that time, no more.


Last year a friend shared a little poem they used in their family by which to give gifts.
Something to read
Something to wear
Something to play with
Something to share.


Wow - how liberating! This works for big or little folks the same. The share part of it refers to something they would do with someone else; a game, puzzle, dog, etc.
For those who have all they ever needed or wanted, we have made donations to their chosen charities. We have supported an orphanage, a fireman's toy drive, crisis pregancy center, literacy program, a missionary's effort to build a church in the Phillipines.


Then there is that ultimate gift - time. One of the traditions we have at Christmas is to work a jigsaw puzzle. Now this is a very inexpensive activity. You can buy a very nice one for under $10 new, $1-2 at Goodwill, or free if borrowed from someone else. Such enjoyable time has been spent doing this, make some hot chocolate or popcorn, or whatever you like as a snack - and spend several days "together." If you live where there is snow - make it a family outing to go sledding or build a snowman, go to look at the lights, find a live nativity. Stay away from malls and shops that try and tell you how unfit you are as a parent because you can't buy the latest $85 transformer for you kid. Oh, my don't even let me get started on that!


Whatever you do, enjoy it as a family. One thing my children remember with special fondness was having an "orange party" with their grandfather and all the neighbor kids. Grandpa Spite walked into the backyard with several oranges and announced they were going to have an orange party! With excitement over having a party, the kids gathered, "What is an orange party?" the wondered. They sat in rapt attention at Grandpa's feet as he peeled the oranges and ceremoniously handed each child a slice. They were thrilled! (don't expect this to work with older children - ha ha)


Do I feel I am a model of all things right? Not a chance! But I do believe God has gifted me with a little insight in this matter. There is a major peace and a lot of it is changing my mind set. A class I teach on anger management stresses release and refocus. That is so important with any emotion in our life.


So for this Chrismas - I wish for you peace. I believe that is the ultimate gift after salvation that anyone could possess.


Peace be with you, my peace I give to you.