Joy to the World

My heart is so heavy.  For families, children, and teachers.  Every where we turn we are reminded of how precious and fragile life is. 

We've had three porceline, fine china items break this weekend.  One of them my beloved Christmas dish.  One minute I was holding it and the next it slipped out of my hands and shattered on the floor.  There were countless tiny shards remaining.  It was impossible to fix.

It seemed poetic that so many unforeseen and un-fixable accidents occurred just after the news of precious babies and teachers losing their lives in an unthinkable manner.  Life is fragile. Life is precious. 

At church this morning, other mothers with young sobbed with me during the readings and prayers.  Our closing song was Joy to the World.  I thought it out of place and almost insulting that we could be expected to sing of JOY and the thrill of Christmas upon us.  We're hurting and frankly I want to be done with all the lofty expectations of a perfectly happy and blissful season.  There is so much pain in the world. 

But then we got to the third verse:

No more let sin and sorrow grow

Nor thorns infest the ground

He comes to make his blessings flow

Far as the curse is found

Far as the curse is found

Verse 4:

He rules the world with truth and grace

And makes the nations prove

The glories of His righteousness

And wonders of His love

And wonders of His love

Sin and evil seem to be winning the war right now.  My prayer is that others and myself will cling to what is good.  Know that the Lord is good.  He may seem distant and far away but He does indeed rule the world with truth and grace.  No more let sin and sorrow grow.

Blessings on you all, my friends

 

 

And incase you need some sewing-related things to look at for a break from all the sadness and sorrow, here are a few orders I've been working on: 

A is for Adam pillow for sale and ready to ship

A lovely rag quilt made for a dear friend who is expecting baby #2.  It is also boy #1 so he will be sure to have lots of time cuddled up in his new soft quilt this winter.  Red, navy, plaid, stripes... it's a very cool quilt.  The mama picked the fabrics and did a fabulous job of mixing the unexpectated in such a modern way.  Love how it turned out.

Pillow shams, patchwork, and cathedral window pillows to match a shabby chic quilt previously made for a client.  Ruffles, pom poms, and then super over-sized ruffles give the grouping a very romantic and shabby look.  These fabrics were mostly from Robyn Pandolph's lines. 

Finally I completed another baby bedding set which was a real joy.  The baby is expected in February.  I love the bright colors, vivid contrast, and overall happy theme my clients chose for this set.  I think it's so fun to get to know my clients through the fabric choices... the people who choose these types of color-saturated fabrics are generally super happy and become lifelong friends.   I'm completely addicted to custom orders because you really get to dig in and know your client. 

I pray for the babies that I sew for and their parents as I assemble the items.  My prayers are lifted up to the Lord that He will watch over them, bless them, and draw them to Himself as they grow.  That they will have compassionate hearts and want to serve their families and communities for the Lord. 

Keep praying for your children and those families who are missing their children this weekend.  They need a healing balm on their hearts.  Surround them with love.  Care deeply for those around you.  I know I have certainly slowed down my pace to play a little more and hug a little tighter.

Joy to the world indeed.

Hotness

Wowee it's hot in here!  I love it, though.  I am a huge fan of all four God-given seasons in this part of the world.  I really do enjoy each and every day, no matter the weather here. 

This is the first year I've planted seeds in the garden.  We usually just put my FIL's leftover tomatoes and peppers in the ground.  But this year I'm very motivated for some reason...

It's been a few weeks now and I'm happy (and surprised!) that some seeds have actually sprouted and are really and truly growing! 

These hands have also been busy in the sewing room too.  My very creative client envisioned these eclectic colors and fabrics together.  It's so super amazing to me.  Orange, fuschia, aqua... so unique and so modern.

Because I'm expecting less than 10% of my seeds to grow into food this summer (I've learned low expectations are good), we've been hitting the pick-your-own farms like crazy.  We always love those activities anyway, but this year I've ventured into the canning and preserving world.

 Strawberry jam!  Yes, it's "only" freezer jam but dagummit I made it and stacked those lovely little jars in my freezer in less than an hour.  All during baby's morning nap.   Baby steps for me.  I've never really canned before, so this was a realistic first step.  Next year I'm jumping in completely.  Probably.

My goal this year was to get outside as much as possible.  Like all the time.  We live within walking distance to a Starbucks which has been a great motivater for the girls to learn about money.  The values of each coin, paper, and when it's gone... it's gone.  My oldest got about $8 from her Easter egg hunt and has been saving it all spring.  We taught her to tithe, save, and spend. 

Her younger sister, however, has decided her currency would be a little easier to accumulate.  PomPoms seem a lot easier to come by than shiny coins, so she tries to pay for her Starbucks cake pops with fluffy round balls.  It's great.  Anyway, she asked for a change purse and I happily obliged. 

I bought the purse frame at JoAnn for about $2.  The rest of the fabric and interfacing I had on hand (scraps).  I followed a tutorial (can't remember which one now) and had it done in a couple of hours.  

It's been a few weeks and she still hasn't lost it!  It's been filled with locust skin, acorns, pebbles, and some feathers, so I take that as a good sign she likes it.

Spring and Summer mean graduation which is good for tshirt quilts!  This one was so fun to make.  I love the colors and pattern.  It was such a unique creation and made for one of the nicest girls out there.  I used a high loft batting for the first time and was amazed at the super softness of the finished quilt.  It was hard to stop touching it.  I really loved the outcome. 

Tshirt quilt #2... another twin size quilt.  My friend here had a million gajillion shirts.  So many, infact, that I had to put some on the back.  It made for a very difficult FMQing but I was able to maneuver it and coax it into submission.  I used a gray Flea Market Fancy for the back, one of my all-time favorite prints.  I think it tied in the school colors well and added a little "girliness" to all the sporty shirts.

Currently I'm working in a wonderful memory quilt for an extraordinary client.  She's more like a dear friend that I've never met in person, but just one of those that I really connect with.  Five generations of garments are going to be included.  The quilt top is done and I'm so very excited to see it come together.

The patchwork squares are 5" each.  Then I came across this 8" old patchwork square in her stack.  Hmmm... I could not take the thought of hacking into this beautifully hand-sewn treasure from the baby's great-grandmother.   So I gently unpicked the stitches and made it into 4 mini blocks with some ivory sashing to bring it to 5".  Perfect.

More on this quilt as it comes together.  I'm so pleased with the progress and know that it will be well-loved by many people.  It is such an honor to make these special heirloom quilts.  Meeting people from all over the world and getting to know their stories is always such a blessing to me. 

From college graduates to new babies and expectant mothers (and grandmothers!), it is always a joy to connect with someone who loves quilts as much as I do and feels their power to link the past to the future. 

Enjoy these summer days.  My love and I have had some great times with the kiddies and especially alone with a little wine.  We could use a little rain but we sure do enjoy the sun.

Stay cool, my friends.

Colors of Spring

I love the colors of spring...

Fuschia, lilac, yellow,

Blue and green...

Spring gives me a bag of mixed emotions.  Weather-wise it can be 80 one day and snowing the next.  But really it is the fresh air and promise of new life that is so inspiring.  Weddings, birthdays, bulbs coming up... really a lovely time of year. 

I've enjoyed my spring projects and can't wait to show you some more special projects from this spring.  Because they are bursting with color and happiness and fun!

Happy Spring!