A pillow it is...

Decided to go with the pillow option for my little tea towel. The cost of the towel was 99 cents. The red ruffled fabric was scraps from someone else's scrap bag.  The fluffy filling was left over high loft batting from a customer's quilt.  So the full cost of this project was less than a dollar.  My bed has a yellow and red quilt on it- and I have blue bedroom walls- so I look forward to seeing what it looks like in there.  

But, first, I need to make my bed.  I've heard that making your bed every morning makes you a better person.  Usually, my feet hit the floor running and I don't take the time before I jump into "Life." I'll flip the quilts up, but rarely get to the whole making the bed until later in the day- if at all.  Definitely have room for character development.

And lookee there!  I've been looking everywhere for that bobbin holder and there it is in the top left hand corner of the picture!  Eureka! 

Martha Washington Star...

Ya just can't beat a traditional quilt block.  There's all kinds new fangled ways of cutting and whacking and sewing fabric together, but sometimes you need to go back to the beginning. One of my favorite books is Judy Hopkin's Around The Block.  It has 200 blocks, each in 6 different sizes.  I've been working on a sampler from this book for years- I think at least 10.  All from my hand dyed fabric.  I'm not sure about the setting- I keep sewing and throwing them in a bin. I think it has potential to be a stunner.  I hope.

I sewed this block for my son, John.  He has a sweetheart in Georgia and is planning a visit in a couple weeks.  He made the frame for her mom, whose favorite color is red, and asked me to make a quilt block for it. Isn't that frame fantastic?  John is one of those people who can do anything.  He showed me a log and said he was going to make a picture frame from it.  I was skeptical, but as I've learned with John, he's capable of accomplishing just about everything he sets his mind to. If I had a spare inch of space on my walls I'd be hinting about a Xmas gift.  He helped me choose the colors and I left extra fabric on the quilt block so that he can trim off the excess once he gets it set in the frame like he wants. The block is 6".

So I put some beans and the end of a ham in the crockpot last night before I went to bed.  I love cooking things overnight, but there's one problem.  I never sleep well.  The smell keeps waking me up and it takes me a few seconds to distinguish exactly what it is.  Then I drift back to sleep only to be awoken shortly with the same question in my mind, "What is that?" But it's for a good cause and now that I'm awake, it smells good- not mysterious!

I bought those bins and they fit under the cutting table perfectly.  Which may not be a good thing because I now realize that if I bought more bins... they'd fit, too.       

Functional...

That's the best I can say about it.  So I sorted and compiled and collated. Threw a lot away. The floor needs swept. The windows washed. It still needs a lot of help, but at least I can sew in here if I want to.  Which I do.  You should have heard me talking to myself:  " You only need so many scraps of fabric."  "Honestly, you won't miss it." "It's for the better good."  I'm not sure that I was very convincing.  I'm still glancing at that trashcan like it's some sort of cinnamon bun. 

(The bag of batting and the trash bag beneath are a client's quilt.  I've had it for two weeks and have barely done more than glance into it.  Squares and triangles. There's a king-size batting.  I hope she just got the biggest size they had and that the quilt isn't actually that big.  There seems to be two backings... one flannel and one muslin.  I'm not sure what that means.  I really need to roll up my sleeves and dive into that. But the organizing comes first.) 

There are several stacks of fabric without a home. I bought two medium size bins, today, and I think they will fit under the cutting table.  It has diagonal bars under there that makes it tricky to store things.  We'll see.

Oh, and look at that linen towel on the table.  I bought it at a thrift store and, for some odd reason, I just love it.  I'm guessing it's from the 50's. I have no idea about what to do with it.  I don't dare use it as a towel, do I?  I can ruin a towel faster than anyone I know.  Of course, there are 6 men in the house and a couple of them are grease monkeys.  So, it's not all me. But I'd like to do something to display it.  It's folded in half so the back is the same as the front. I thought about making a tote bag out of it, but half of the picture would be lost in seam allowances. Any suggestions?  Maybe a pillow. For my bed as, again, the residents here are not necessarily appreciative of pretty things wishing to stay pretty. Still thinking.   

See? 

Is there any reason why I'm not getting a lot of sewing done these days?  Actually, I am, amazingly, sewing.  Just on the dining room table. My section of the quilting room also doubles as a guest room.  Kids came home for the weekend. Folding down the bed takes up valuable space and everything gets shuffled around with my sewing table taking the brunt of it. ("brunt" is a weird word- just sayin')  It's a problem.  So I move my sewing machines to the dining room table and proceed to make a mess out there.  Then, we need to eat and the mess moves on.  Reminds me of some episode of Star Trek where there's some sort of dark shadowy entity roaming, menacing, through the passageways of the spaceship. 

I have a hard time thinking clearly once the clutter reaches a certain level.  Don't get me wrong, living in a house with 10 other people necessitates clutter.  And I'm OK with that.  I once read that "Clutter is life lived out in the open."  That suits my personality, really.  Out in the open. But there comes a point when there is just a little too much life living out there in the house.  So, I guess what I am doing right now is talking myself into sorting and getting rid of some of my life clutter. Honestly, if you don't even know you have it, can you really miss it if it goes away?  Oh my goodness, everything becomes a metaphor in my mind these days.  But life can be like that. 

So, I'm going to tackle some clutter, today. I think I'll start at the end and work my way back. 

All of us are patched together.  Pieces from different experiences.  Different interactions with different people.  None of us are whole.  As any quilter will tell you, that's a very good thing.  

I have rarely met anyone who has a color-coordinated soul. By that, I mean, it seems like it would be a rare thing for a person to have variations of experiences in their lives that all harmonize with each other. Life is a scrap quilt type of endeavor. No one is able to, exclusively, choose what colors or patterns go into their quilt.  There is a sense where we can decide what and who we will interact with. But usually, life happens and we take what comes. Some things are inescapable.  Don't like orange?  Tough luck, some orange got in there. 

One of the really neat things about quilting and life is that we do get to choose what things we want to focus on. We get to choose how they are arranged in our lives. Don't like orange?  We can chop it up into smaller, less significant pieces and they'll hardly be noticeable.  They'll actually compliment the other colors in our quilt.  And maybe we have this one beautiful piece of fabric that we want to have as a focus piece. It's our quilt and we can arrange the pieces as we see fit.  Put that beautiful fabric in the center where we can enjoy it. We can obsess about that orange fabric- maybe negative things that have happened- or we can choose to minimize them and appreciate that beautiful fabric. 

My nephew was just handed the most hideous of all fabrics.  And it's a huge piece.  His two week old daughter died suddenly and unexpectedly.  What does one do with that?  Do we really want to chop it up and scatter it among the other pieces?  We might not have a choice about that.  I'm open to suggestions as to what is to be done with this ugly fabric.  It's center stage right now, but all of us quilters know, the seam ripper is a useful and necessary tool. At some later date we can move it away from the middle of the quilt. Her short life is represented by a beautiful piece of fabric, but it's struggling for attention. Her death is represented by a truly ugly fabric, but I hope that it will fade some with use. Become less overpowering to the overall beauty of the quilt.  

Every life and every quilt is unique. Some are fancier than others. Some have a utilitarian beauty to them.  An appreciation can be felt for them in that the maker used what he had to it's best advantage.  I've seen some quilts made from some pretty ugly fabric and I loved them.  By the same token, I've seen quilts made from lovely fabrics that have just lacked that special something to make it truly beautiful. What kind of quilt are you making?  Does it have holes where you tried to rip out the undesirable fabrics?  Experiences and people who enter our lives can't be removed once they have passed through. Maybe we can choose to not add any more of that particular pattern to the mix. But once they've made their way in, they're in.  Are we finding peace with the ugly bits? Are we just turning out the lights and refusing to look at it?  Do we find pleasure in the process?   

Abraham...

This is our youngest child and he's 14yo. He has 5 older brothers and 2 older sisters.  Spending all of his time with older siblings has made him more mature than most kids his age. He can't be rushed. But he can always be counted on to get the job done. He's kind and nonjudgmental.  He's never given me or his Dad a moment of angst. He admits to being socially awkward. Mostly because he's quiet. He loves to read- C.S. Lewis is his favorite at the moment, but he's read Harry Potter numerous times.  He's quick-witted. He's crazy smart. He learned to ride a two wheeler when he was only 2. He's a household favorite and to my knowledge no one has ever been fed up with him- and that's saying something when there are so many people living in such close quarters. For sure, he's an easy one to love.

Abe's Feast...

One thing I didn't mention is that Abe likes to play video games.  He likes to watch other people play video games. His theme for his feast was the video game "Destiny."  It just so happens to be my favorite, also.  Yes, I have a favorite video game.  A lot of his choices for the evening will mean nothing to you, but rest assured, it was nothing less than brilliant. He made paper "lanterns" out of white and red lunch bags- slitting holes in the bottoms and hanging then from twinkle lights. Strung them across the dining room so it looked like the "market."  He hung my Destiny quilt on one wall(Yes, I made a Destiny quilt.)He had tons of twinkle lights on the table, set with Destiny poster and a "Ghost."  He gave his guests fidget spinners because they are shaped like the "Destiny" symbol. He had Mountain Dew White Out (Vex milk) as his beverage. Chicken wings for his appetizer.  Fettuccine noodles with Alfredo sauce, roasted chicken and a green salad as his entree. All inspired from "The Farm."  Abe could eat his weight in salad.  For his dessert he had round cakes like the traveler.  Chocolate cake with butter cream filling, lemon pound cake and every one's favorite a fresh apple cake.  Every one had a wonderful time- we sat at the table for an hour and a half.  Not unusual for feast days, but special every time.

Bill used the last chapter of 1 Timothy as his basis for his talk.  He told the children that if it was the last thing they remember him saying, "[your name], guard your faith." That would be it. Guard your faith.  There's a battle going on and you need to be on alert to defend and guard your faith.

Three more feasts to go. Jacob and Mary, Bill's then mine. Stayed tuned.

Joe and Laurie- with Gabriel...

This is Joe and Laurie.  Joe is our oldest son and Laurie is his lovely wife.  I'll tackle describing them separately.  Joe is a rock.  Very cool and collected.  Very thoughtful. He's determined to do things the right way- whether it's making a baked potato or giving a Bible lesson. He has a wonderful smile. Great sense of humor. Too smart for his own good.  He's a problem solver.  He has single-handedly revamped our chore routine into a much more equitable situation.  In case you haven't guessed it, he's a new daddy.  He's flourishing in the role. He said, "You just never realize how much you can love another person, do you?" Laurie is a sweetheart.  She is also a very good mommy. She's made being a mommy and washing laundry a full time job and Gabriel couldn't be happier about that scenario.  She's also very smart.  Competitive in the realm of games. She's agreeable. Generous. Easy to share a space with.  They live with us in the guest quarters.  Joe keeps threatening to move out. Then I start crying and he relents.  They are such a blessing to all of us- I can't even tell you. They bring joy to everyone they know and are so very easy to love.

Dwarf feast...

Here's our sound track for the evening: 

Diggy diggy hole

You can listen to it as you're reading.  

What a total blast we all had!  Joe gave all of the guys a dwarf hat- complete with beards- kinda funny that all of the men seated at the table already have beards(except Abe, who is only 14y.)  Phil was shaking his head- sending the beard swaying from side to side and saying, "I'm livin' the dream!" The girls got helmet hats. These weren't "Hi-ho, hi-ho" kind of dwarves.  Think Tolkien. It certainly set a jolly mood.  They had black fabric hanging from the ceiling making the room look like a cave. The table clothes were earth toned with mushrooms on them- they grow in the ground.  And that was the recurring theme for the food. We had root beer and ginger ale to drink. The appetizer was stuffed mushrooms and french fries.  The main meal was baked potatoes- 'cause these also grow in the ground.  In case you think a baked potato isn't main dish fare, let me say, these were.  They were huge and you had your choice of toppings- butter, sour cream, bacon, and queso con carne. Most opted for all of the above.  Evabeth and I only had one potato and I'm pretty sure we're the only ones who cleaned our plates.  It was wonderful and everyone ate until they were as stuffed as those potatoes. Dessert was dirt cake- with gummy worms on top. They made enough to fill a turkey roaster.  Oh, it was wonderful.  


Bill read from 1 Timothy 5 About not trusting in riches but being rich in good works. Oh, we are all so rich.  Richly blessed.  Let's make sure we're using our physical and spiritual riches to glorify God.