John's feast...

This is that precocious kid in the movies that you don't think really exists. Yes, he does exist and his name is John. John is constantly inventing things- wooden bikes, every gadget imaginable and duct tape is his favorite medium. The kid can make anything with duct tape. He is a very pleasant child that needs no entertaining- he is perfectly capable of doing that for himself. He loves to sew and seconds only myself at time spent at the machine. He is getting ready to quilt his first quilt- all he needs is a sheet for the backing. He is constantly, and I do mean constantly, smiling.

His feast, well... it had a theme. "Alien Invasion." Only John. That's a flying saucer up there, hanging from the ceiling- complete with lights. Made from a hula hoop, aluminam foil and, of course, duct tape. He had some flashing white lights trailing behind it. He had me play with the dimmer switch to the lights as he invited his guests in. They were impressed. His appetizer was chocolate stuffed crescent rolls, and blue jello with fruit in it, in stemware. Then he served fetticini alfredo that was colored a lovely shade of kelly green...made perfect sense as it was alien food. Bread sticks were in their natural state. Blue punch. Ice cream with your choice of candy bar topping. His gifts were tiny kaliedescopes. Bill read Colosians 3, putting on the new man and putting aside the old one. Despite the odd color of the food, everyone ate their fill and we have leftovers galore- I guess I was still fixing food for two other men... two young men that I miss a whole lot at our special meals. But I am blessed to have the six healthy children home with us. And I know those two boys of mine are happy and healthy and enjoying the blessings God is giving them.

Feast Days!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, it's that time of the year, again! Didn't the year just fly by? But I must admit that I am very thankful to be here on this side of it! Most of my blog readers have been waiting patiently for this day, but for the newbies here~

Explanation of Feast Days:

• Quite a few years ago, I decided that the holiday season was just too full of thoughts and energy surrounding the "stuff we get." (As the parent of 8 children, I just didn't see any way around the holidays being a disappointment because of tight finiancial circumstances.) Children are naturally generous, but we can really ruin that by making the holidays about material things- which, let's face it, they won't remember a month from now, much less as they grow into adults.


• So I decided to use, loosely, the lesson of Esther and create a month of meditation on the "service we give." Let's just try to do something simple in the service of others. Acts of kindness. Memories of time spent with family that will last them a lifetime. Not about stuff that money can buy, but about service that can be freely given.


• Hence, Feast Days! On the first day of December, the children draw numbers to set up the sequence of Feast days- all fitting within the month of December, but may overflow into January. After the numbers have been drawn they all meet with me, individually, in my room and make out their menu for their Feast. It's all a grand secret. It becomes obvious that they have been putting a lot of thought into their menus for several months- and keeping it a secret- amazing! They try their best to choose dishes that are family favorites- ones they know their brothers and sisters will love. They also plan how they are going to decorate the kitchen and what small gift they hope to give their siblings- there is a $5 limit on all 6 gifts and decorations, so you can imagine they are quite simple- like a pretty sparkly pencil, a holiday cup or a fancy bit of candy. The decorations can be gleaned from the attic and with a bit of tinsel thrown in, it usually is quite festive!


• I usually take each child to lunch before their feast and then we go shopping for their ingredients. They have to heft all the food into the house while the other children are hiding upstairs. The kitchen is curtained off from prying eyes and we begin to cook. What fun this is for me to have the company of each child as they excitedly giggle and whisper about who is going to be the most surprised and who is going to like which dish the most!


• Then, my favorite part. The child opens the curtain and very ceremoniously invites his guests to the feast. The children are so sweet and encouraging about the decoations and the good smells. We sit around the table and Bill reads a scripture then we each say what we are thankful for and after the prayer, the feasting begins. The server is the child who prepared the feast and they always wait until last to serve their own plate. The food is usually stashed away in the oven to stay warm and so it is a lot of fun to see what comes out next!


• Finally the dishes are done by me and the host. More time together and the feast ends.

Boo's feast...

This is Boo and she's a doll. Just a doll. She is one of those children that is very easily pleased and has no trouble making up her mind about what she likes and doesn't like. Take her to the candy store and she see what she wants right away! No dithering around, worrying about making the right/wrong choice. She's not crazy about big rambunctious dogs- which puts our dog on the list. She is silly and fun- as you can probably tell by the sparkle in her eyes. She loves to dress up and she put on her best frock for the occasion. Her feast was so uniquely Boo. She had all the bacon you can eat- a rarity in a big family. And sausages and then she served pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream. She made little kabobs of fruit and marshmallows. For dessert she made chocolate cupcakes with chocolate icing and sprinkles- the girl loves her chocolate. Oh, and she had chocolate milk. Her gifts were little penny mazes- you know the ones with a tiny ball that you have to get to the center of the maze. Jacob won first with his maze. I John 4:6-11 was our reading- about loving others as God loved us and gave his son. We had a grand time, but now I need to be rolled to bed!

Speaking of sampler quilts...

Karen said I could make a sampler quilt if I kept making hexagons... Well, funny she should mention that. This is the new back for my "Bones" quilt. Interesting, huh? I call all of my leftover blocks, practice blocks, failure blocks, "don't know what to do with it" blocks, my bones- you know they rattle around in your closet and make you feel guilty. So I made a top out of bones and black Kona. Even added some improvisational bones to drive the point home. A couple years after I had the top finished, guess what? Yep, the bones were rattling around in there again. So I dragged them out of there- some of them kicking and screaming- and whipped them up into a back for the bones quilt. I plan on bordering it in black Kona, too. But how cool is that? A quilt made entirely of throw aways- I bet some of you are saying I should have stuck to throwing them away, but I like the idea of making something from nothing. I even have saved all of my little bits of binding and have plenty to bind it with. I am going to also use the remainder of thread that is too little to use on a quilt. Waste not, want not.

Quilted but not bound...

but they look much better this way. The binding will only improve them, too. Frame them out so to speak. So many steps to quilting. As my Dad says, "No such thing as a little job."

I'm loving the green one. Used up some batting scraps with these smaller projects. I need to get some bigger batts at the local quilt shop this weekend- she is having an early bird special and I plan on being there when the doors open. I am completely out of batting and how can one quilt without it? Does make for interesting times when you are splicing little bits together- trying to make sure you are using all the same loft... I could just say that I meant for there to be mountains and valleys in the quilt. Yeah, I'd buy that.

Looks like the pinks won...

But really, there was a compromise as I added green coping strips to the center block. Don't you wish there were coping strips for people? Things that would help us fit in? I digress. So I sewed this one together and went...eh... not for me. And then I found a pattern for an easy pineapple block and sewed that up- like that much more. I just left off the last two rows of strips on the corners. I could see me making a few of those at a time and eventually having enough for a quilt. My friend just wants a little something to put under some hand painted china. The pineapple block is 17 inches and the other(monstrosity) is 28 inches. Think the smaller will suit her better, but ya never know, so I'll quilt them both up. The chevron one isn't as bad as it looks... I hope.

Friday kicks off our Feast Season, for those of you that have been popping in to see when it starts. You didn't think we cancelled do you? Never! And we love sharing it with you. It's going to be a blast!

And Sarah, my "new" look is NOT orange. It's nutmeg. And you call yourself a quilter...sad sad sad.

Decisions, decisions...

What think you? Green or Pink? Just can't make up my mind... I tried mixing them, but the chevrons don't show up that way. It is for a friend and all she said was pink and green- which there are tons of shades of both, so... decisions, decisions.

How do I do it?

How, oh how, do I function in this mess? I did clean it up before the holiday, but still... I suppose it would go against the grain for me to take a picture of the straightened room, now wouldn't it? I have project on top of project- stacked to the ceiling- literally. And yet I wander around out there like I have nothing to do! Probably have too much to do and am simply overwhelmed. Or maybe underwhelmed. That's why there are so many options of what to do- I get bored rather quickly and starting projects seem to be my favorite thing. And hey! I like finishing, it's just the middle part that sometimes bores me. Time to make a list and start some finishing. Honestly, when projects have been stowed long enough, they regain their interesting qualities. Sometimes.