Just Takes Two

My mom and I have been talking about the idea of doing a quilt along together----you know, same pattern, each person doing their own quilt type thing----for awhile. I have also wanted to do a sampler quilt for a long, long time.
So, when my mom told me about the Just Takes Two sampler quilt, I jumped on board without even taking a peek at the quilt. I choose my fabrics and mom gave me the patterns needed for the first 6 blocks.
It wasn't until quite a while later that I found out just what this quilt entails. There are SO MANY blocks and I got a little overwhelmed.
Especially after I made the first block, which required a little bit of hand applique and I discovered I HATE doing hand applique. It came as a surprise....I love quilting and crochet and embroidery, how could I NOT like hand applique???? But, I found it tedious and annoying.
So, I was even more worried that my mom had bought me a ton of fabric for nothing.
I resolved to figure out how to get it all done because I love the colors and the quilt itself and I knew I'd learn a lot. But all those applique blocks had me worried...
Enter the In Your Words blog hop and as my vision for my project evolved, I decided to use some of the fabric from my Just Takes Two quilt. The original idea was to have a wall-hanging that would match the quilt I would *some day* finish, a little incentive to want to finish the quilt. (ended up making it a pillow which will someday sit on top of the quilt on my bed!!!)
And then, I decided to do some fusible applique on the project and I discovered how easy fusing makes applique! Even if I had hand-stitched around the flowers (which I did not do, I machine-stitched), it would have been fine.
So, I have new incentive to do my quilt! I worked on it the other day, when I had a Craft Day that sadly no one came to, getting 3 blocks finished before I stopped to make dinner and burned my hand and couldn't keep piecing that night...but I am excited to keep working on it and the applique blocks no longer intimidate me!
Here's the blocks I have done so far, the three from last night and the two I had finished awhile ago:

Puppets

We bought a puppet for Jon almost a year ago (was it our anniversary???? I really can't remember)
and David has been gaga over him ever since and begging for his own "Herb". We obliged for Christmas.......having no idea that he meant to actually NAME his "Herb". Ha ha ha. So, now we have "Big Herb" and "Little Herb". The last picture in the collage is the Herbs meeting each other.

Little Girl Hair

.....hopefully she'll change her mind soon, because it's fun to "do"

FMF: Again

It's friday and that means it's time for Five Minute Fridays!

Here's my five minutes on "Again".

A mother's life is full of agains. Doing the laundry. Again. Loading the dishwasher. Again. Changing a diaper. Again. Having to give the 7-year-old a talking to. About the same exact thing. For the hundreth time today.
Again. Again. Again.
Sometimes, I feel like all the "agains" will drive me crazy.
But, then there are the agains that make up for all the crazy ones.
My daughter gives me a kiss when I ask her to. Again. And again.
My boys surprise me with their creativity and imaginations. Again.
My husband compliments the meal I made. Again.
God gives me grace and love. Again and again and again.
Looking at the word, pulling it apart and what do I see? A GAIN.
And, whether it's something that is threatening to drive me crazy or it's something that fills my heart to overflowing, it's a GAIN.
A Gain in clean clothes to wear.
A Gain in clean dishes to eat off of.
A Gain in LOVE so completely given that it takes my breath away
A Gain. God, let me always see the word "again" as "a-gain".


See what others have to say about AGAIN at the Five Minute Fridays Community.

Stitch Me Up

So, I had thought I would try to do ONE blog hop a month, no more. But, then I didn't do any of the February hops, and when I saw what the second March hop was going to be, I just HAD to jump on board! It's an EMBROIDERY hop!
So, I figure I am okay because I have all of February free.....right? And, really, I couldn't resist an embroidery hop, could I?
So, I am super excited. Nancy Drew and embroidery all in one month! March is gonna be fun!

FMF: cherished

this week's Five Minute Friday word is Cherished.


Cherished. That is one of those words that pulls at my mommy-heart. I want my kids to feel cherished. Special. Looking back, I know I felt cherished. I know I was cherished. And I want my kids to feel the same way. 
Sometimes and more often than not, I know I do not show my kids that I cherish them. I give into impatience and selfishness and they are the ones who pay for it. But, I see it in their eyes, when I apologize and give them a hug...forgiveness, and that it's still there...that little sparkle that shows they still feel cherished and they still know I love them. Kids are so easy to forgive, so easy to look beyond a frazzled mommy to see her heart. I think that is why Jesus said that you had to be child-like to be in the kingdom of heaven. Because children are amazing forgivers. And they accept the people they love, even when they are not being loveable. Kids rock. And, even when I don't deserve it, they cherish me. Children are such an amazing reflection of our loving heavenly Father.

To catch up with the rest of the Five Minute Friday group, go here.

FMF: Dive

Whew, today is a big day for me. It was my day for the In Your Words blog hop, which has been SO MUCH FUN....not only working on my project, and getting all the fun comments and being featured on Madame Samm's post, but also seeing everyone else's projects and the creativity and personality in each project has been great. I've gotten some fun inspiration for future projects too!

And, it's also time for Five Minute Fridays! Like I said, it's a big day!

Five Minute Fridays is such a fun group of writers around the internet and world, who come together each week to write their thoughts about a word. In five minutes. This week's word is Dive...

Dive.
If you think about it, to dive usually means to have an incredible amount of courage. Jumping head-first anywhere is not for the faint of heart.
I've never been able to dive......like, the water kind. For that matter, I can't do a cartwheel either. I think the two are possibly related.
But, there are plenty of ways in which I dive. I dove into MOPS leadership this year and it has been a huge blessing. I dove into this Blog Hop thing and it has been so much fun. I have dove into friendships and other things that can be scary and each time, I find myself surfacing with a huge feeling of thankfulness and elation.
Thankfulness for the courage to make the dive in the first place. Elation at what I have gained.
It doesn't take much to throw oneself off the cliff of comfort, but that doesn't mean it's easy. There are things even now that have been on my heart and mind, things I feel I should do, but I haven't made the move, I haven't dived. I should. 
Is there something in your life you need to dive into too? Shall we do this thing together? It is always easier to do it with someone beside you!

Read more of today's Five Minute Fridays here.

In Your Words Blog Hop----My Day Has Come!

It's my day in our In Your Words blog hop and I am so incredibly excited! This is my first time participating with all you lovely people for a hop and I could not have chosen a better hop to be a part of! All the creativity and personal touches I've seen so far and anticipate seeing as the hop continues are so much fun!
A huge thank you to Madame Samm and Linda for putting this hop together!

Here's today's schedule:
Jane's Fabrics (Jane R.)
Jane's Quilting (Jane C.)
Nuts 4 Redwork (Heide W.)
Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studio (Cherry G.)
Bits and Pieces (Martha R.) 
*ME*Life in Every Breath (Jennifer B.)
Quilting Lines (Patricia L.)
Travel Thru Greece (Mara)
Meadowbrook (Kristen K.)
Count It All Joy! (Denise P.)
Sophie Junction (Sophie W.)

Okay, so now on to my project. It took awhile for me to come up with just the right combination of words. I knew I wanted something that was an encouragement of things to strive for in life.....especially this next year. There have been some phrases said by my pastors at church that have stuck with me and I thought of using some of them.....or Bible verses......or a simple word by itself....but nothing really felt right. I pondered for quite awhile, lost some sleep over the decision and finally came up with the right set of words for myself: Faith, hope, joy, peace and love. Then I lost some more sleep over how to lay them out. Finally one night it was like a light bulb went off in my head and I knew what I wanted to do. I included the words "Fill today with" since all the words are things I want to fill my life and days with and then made them into a circle....added an embroidered middle, and worked my way out, adding some borders and fused applique.

At the end, I was going to make the piece into a wall hanging, but first I didn't like it in the frame I had, then the more I thought about it, the more it really didn't seem to work as a wall hanging at all.

Thankfully, a couple of hoppers made pillows on Wednesday and then I KNEW how I was going to finish my project! (thanks for the inspiration!)

Here's a close up of the circle of words:

And, lastly, a second view of the pillow:

I found a lovely Bible verse that goes so well with my project:
"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit!" Romans 15:13

Thank you so much for visiting and hopping along with us!

In Your Words Blog Hop Schedule

I thought maybe you'd like a post in which you can find each day's schedule of the WHOLE hop, so here it is! We're going to have some fun in the next couple of weeks! Just a remind, my day is the 11th! I am finishing up my project and so excited to share it with everyone!

Monday, January 7

Stitch, Stitch, Stitch, Stitch (Cyndi H.)

Kwilty Pleasures (Kathy G.)

Debby Kratovil Quilts (Debby K.))

Sew Darn Quilt (Carolyn R.)

Mary On Lake Pulaski (Mary K.)

Traveling Quilter (Debbie A.)

Just Let Me Quilt (Carol S.)

Vroomans Quilts (Sharon V.)

Cate's Linens (Catherine R.)

Nini and the Sea (Denise)

Sew Much 2 Luv (Karen)

Tuesday, January 8

Piece Peace (Patricia G.)

A Stitch in Time (Patty D.)

krislovesfabric (Kris T.)

Marjorie's Busy Corner (Marjorie)

Grandmamas Stories (Jane H.)

Mrs. Pickles Garden (Hayley)

Patchouli moon Studio (Daryl P.)

Till We Quilt Again (Helen E.)

The Slow Quilter (Felicia F.)

Quilting With Terry and the Cats (Terry S.)

Wednesday, January 9

Kathy's Quilts (Kathy W.)

Sunshine Quilting (Martina S.)

Sew Incredibly Crazy (Amy)

Quilt Doodle Doodles (Cindy S.)

Doodling in My Mind (Darla R.)

I Like to Quiltblog (Bente)

Michelle's Romantic Tangle (Michelle M.)

Grammie Q's (Charlotte M.)

Dancing Moon (Carla B.)

(Betty V.) at “that other blog”

The Fuzzy Hat Quilter (Laura Ann)

Thursday, January 10

Life in the Scrapatch (Pat B.)

Just Sew Sue (Sue B.)

Nati's Little Things (Nati)

Amy's Crafty Shenanigans (Amy)

Pig Tales and Quilts (Thearica)

Scrappy 'n Happy (Jess R.)

Little Mushroom Cap (Amira A.)

Kwilty Pleasures (Kathy)

Moosestash Quilting (Joan K.)

Sowing Stitches (Beulah aka. Carol)

Just Quilt It (Kathy G.)

Friday, January 11

Jane's Fabrics (Jane R.)

Jane's Quilting (Jane C.)

Nuts 4 Redwork (Heide W.)

Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studio (Cherry G.)

Bits and Pieces (Martha R.)

Life in Every Breath (Jennifer B.)

Quilting Lines (Patricia L.)

Travel Thru Greece (Mara)

Meadowbrook (Kristen K.)

Count It All Joy! (Denise P.)

Sophie Junction (Sophie W.)

Monday, January 14

Gracie Oliver Arts (Jeanie)

Clothes and Crafts (Maria K.)

Cherrys Prairie Primitives (Cherry E.)

Simple Sew (Shirley T.)

Woolie Mammoth (Anna B.)

RocknQuilts (Mary Ann)

Celynn's Sunflower Patch (Celynn)

A Quilting Sheep (Amy)

Sane and Crazy Quilting (Cathy L.)

Quiltsmiles (Jane E.)

Feathered Nest Studio(Jennet)

Tuesday, January 15

BQuiltin Studio (Beverly K.)

Hill Valley Quilter (Britt-Inger)

Bumbleberry Stitches (Theresa K.)

Buzzing and Bumbling (Linda W.)

In Stitches and Seams (Annette S.)

Englating (Marica from Sweden)

Stitchin by the Lake (Marlene B.)

Selina Quilts (Selina)

Sheila's Quilt World (Sheila M.)

Words & Stitches (Beth S.)

Sew Mollie Sue, Quilt Much? (Pamela A.)

Wednesday, January 16

My Collection of Things (Jeni K.)

Quiltin' Jenny (Jenny)

Shade Tree Quilting (Judy C.)

(Rosemary B.) at “that other blog”

Pat Sloan, The Voice of Quilting (Pat. S.)

Dachsies With Moxie (Agnes B.)

Sew Many Yarns (Lyndsey M.)

Tomorrows Treasures Today (Denise D.)

The German Mom (Tina S.)

Christa Quilts (Christa W.)

Read, Quilt, Cook, Pray (Aletta)

Sew We Quilt (Mdm. Samm)

FMF: Opportunity

Five Minute Fridays took a break over Christmas, and I think my break from it was longer....but it's back and I'm going to try to keep up with it, because it's such a wonderful way to look inside and look outside and write about how I feel, what I see and what God is speaking to me.

I look back on my previous FMF posts, and I see God's words to me, Him whispering and life and love and taking chances and seeing Him work. I don't want to give that up.

Today's word is Opportunity. Lets go:

Opportunity.

I feel like that is a good word for this coming year. In my journal the other day, I equated the future to a "delta golden with promise". It wasn't until the next day that I really thought about what I had written. A delta is a river with many outlets and pathways. Someone traveling down the main river would have to make a choice and not just one, but many.
Isn't life just like that? A delta full of choices and each one leads in a different direction. Some intersect, or run parallel with each other and so join together. Others are a crossroads, and once a choice is made, it leaves the other behind forever.
There is so much opportunity for choices and change in the next year. So many decisions to be made and life keeps flowing. Sometimes that flow makes the decisions for us, for better or for worse. But through it all, God is there as our strength and our song and our salvation. Through the rapids or through the calm waters, He is with us. That promise makes life beautiful. And gives hope that the best is yet to come.


Five Minute Friday is a group of bloggers writing their thoughts about a single word, different each week. Look here to see the list and read what others have to say this week about Opportunity.