To My Best Friend...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Today is my husband's 28th birthday... he is a wonderful husband and definitely my best friend! I love him very much and am thankful that God has allowed us to be together. Just a week and a half ago we celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary (while we were at camp) and it has been a GOOD 8 years!

We spent the whole weekend together at home...it was very nice, even if we were working on some papers for his class almost the whole time - him writing and me proof reading :)  I loved just being with him!

So, again, Happy Birthday Chad... and Happy Anniversary, Love you!

And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, 

or return from following after thee: 

for wither thou goest, I will go;

 and where thou lodgest, I will lodge:

 thy people shall be my people, 

and thy God my God:

Ruth 1:16

Picnic Quilt...

With the beautiful weather we had over the past two week, I had a thought, that a non-time consuming, big blocked quilt would be great for picnics and for snuggling in (on) on the back porch...

So, this quilt came into existence over a period of two days! 

On Thursday morning, I had this pile of different material gathered from around the house :)
- some are old dresses/skirts...
- some are left over flannel pieces...
- some are scraps...
- the back is an old sheet...
- and the batting is an old blanket...the big yellow thing at the bottom of this pile:

I decided that a quick turn quilt would make this an even faster finish...but that caused a few issues and I now think that I'd rather stick to binding!
However, that would have taken more time and we wouldn't have been able to take the Picnic Quilt out on the picnic we had on Friday....which was the last really nice day we've had!

The issue came after I turned the quilt and sewed around the outside...see the pucker at the bottom (in the green plaid)... I'm not sure if is the way I sewed it or if it's because the batting is so thick. I also started to quilt down one section, but stopped before I got all the way across because it was puckering very bad. I decided to stop ...and if it needs tacked together I'll just do some simple x's where the boxes meet.

But, we had a picnic to go on...
so, it was left 'unquilted'... I still really like the it!
It turned out how I wanted [well, except the puckers :)]...big and thick!
Also, it is made for outdoor use so I won't feel so horrified if it gets dirty or stained...well, actually, it was made with stains already there! The backing sheet had a couple and a couple of the clothing pieces....

and We had a great picnic...

And if you look behind the monstrous quilt and playground equipment, you'll see a brick building that was my elementary school [one class room per grade and we had a gym-cafe-atorium :)]...
I played on this play ground from Kindergarten through sixth grade. Well, it was not this particular equipment...the slides and jungle gym were updated after I left. However, a few years ago the school was closed and has recently been sold....so we'll see what happens - it does have to remain a school... from what I've heard throughout my life :)

So the beautiful weather on Friday, turned to rain and cold on Saturday...but we went out to two of the local Maple Syrup farms with our church to give Liz a small idea about maple syrup (we also read the chapter on making maple sugar in Little House in the Big Woods on Friday...)

At Hurry Hill Farms, they have a great museum, where the girls did a couple of crafts...and Liz got to 'tap' a tree. She was being shy about it, so the guy helping her did most of it :)

How was your weekend?

I'll be sharing my quick Picnic Quilt about at some linky parties...be sure to check a few out from my right side bar :)

Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, 

and fear Him, and keep His commandments,

 and obey his voice, and ye shall serve Him, 

and cleave unto Him.

Deuteronomy 13:4

I've been saved since I was 5, yet this year is the first time that I am doing a 'read-thru-the-Bible' in a year program. I'll admit that right now, trying to get through Lev., Num., and Deut., was kind of hard, but I am reading some things that remind me that as a child of God, I have responsibilities in serving the Lord...with all my heart - in everything I do!

Amanda

Scrappy Color Wheel Quilt...

This was a great quilt to make...just seemed to take more weeks to finish than I thought it would, but, yes, sometimes life gets in the way of sewing :)

I just LOVE the way my Scrappy Color Wheel Quilt turned out!

Scrappy Color Wheel Quilt for my sewing room wall!

It was made using Rachel's (from Sitiched in Color) Wheel Quilt pattern given to those enrolled in her Curves Class...but here's a link to the pattern if you'd like to buy it and make one for yourself.

My quilt was made almost entirely of scraps...I only cut into a few new FQ's to get the blacks and dark purples I needed..so, I will also be adding this to her Scrap Attack Festival next week! 

My finished quilt is 33" x 33"...the pattern would finish about 40" x 40", but I wanted mine a little smaller for the space where I was hanging it. I did go by the pattern, then just cut it down around the outsides. I also curved the corners, rather than keep them square, to kind of echo the wheel...

My oldest beautiful daughter just turned 4 on Sunday and was excited to get outside and help mommy take pictures...it's a perfect size for her to hold up!

(Liz on her birthday...Amber & Liz on Friday...Amber 'coloring' at Pizza Hut on Friday)

And we got some nice pictures on this beautiful day!

 Love this one! It turned out a great size for a baby play mat :)

 It was a gorgeous day outside!

I like the wheel echo of the quilting on the back. The wheel was just stitch in the ditch on the spokes and then a stippling in the big solid areas to really make the wheel 'pop-out'...and it worked! Also, I kind of combined the patterns...every other spoke was pieced from small scraps, while the other ones were cut in one piece from bigger scraps.

The bottom one of this mosaic is it in it's new home, just above my computer, in my sewing area. I put two eyelets in the upper two corners and hung it on two screws.

** I'll be adding this post to the linky parties as the open for the weekend! Including Amanda Jeans Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts...I wanted to share this LAST Friday...but wasn't able to get it done till this week! I've also included this over at Sew Modern Monday @ Canoe Ridge Creations...Have fun hopping around the different linky parties! **

Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ,

and stewards of the mysteries of God.

Moreover it is required in stewards,

that a man be found faithful.

1 Corinthians 4:1-2

We need to be stewards of the things the Lord has blessed us with. I've noticed that things are going more smoothly around the house with a schedule we have recently started to try and follow...my only problem is that I haven't yet easily transitioned blog post time into it, but I don't want this space that I have been stewarded with to go by the wayside...so I will be trying to find where to fit it in :) I always feel a tug at my heart when I read about being found faithful to the ministry of God.

Amanda

Ten Bibs...

and they're not for Amber :)

These 10 bibs were made throughout this week to be sent with the Love Without Boundaries 2012 Cleft Exchange Trip to Kaifeng, Henan, China from April 15th through 20th. They will be doing restoration surgeries on babies with cleft lips.


I first learned of this need from Kristy at Hopeful Threads...she's always sharing great charities to sew for! I just really felt like this one was for me to participate in!


Here are the 5 Toddler sized bibs...all the same. Pink-Yellow floral flannel with a thin poka-dot terry cloth backing...

And 5 Infant sized bibs of various flannel prints...

End of last week I began cutting these out...

on Tuesday, I was able to sew the two pieces together and get them turned right side out...

on Wednesday, I began sewing around the outside and figuring out how to put the snaps on...

(took a few tries for the snaps, but I'm glad I used them...so much nicer than Velcro)

on Thursday, I finished sewing around the outsides and packaged them up to be mailed out today!

On the outside stitching I experimented with some of the new stitches on my new machine...here is a close up of some of the fun ones...

I'm really liking the scallop stitch on the middle bib! The top thread was a light yellow, the bobbin thread was the green...worked well!

On a more personal note, we are also experiencing the beautiful weather that everyone else seems to be getting [at least in the States :) ] and so we spent a couple hours outside Thursday evening...

I like a nice walk or a good hike every now and then..... 

even some outdoor activities (occasional camping) are ok, 

but most of the time I would much rather be inside! 

For some reason bugs are drawn to me... mosquitoes mostly. And this time in the great outdoors was no exception...I was covered with clothing, except my hands and face...well, they found my hand - I even felt when the mosquito actually bit me - it hurt :( 

However, the girls just seem to love it outside...I already KNOW Liz does...

Amber seems to be enjoying it quite a bit too...

It was a nice evening!

While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest,

and cold and heat, and summer and winter,

and day and night shall not cease.

Genesis 8:22

While fall/autumn is my favorite time of the year...I do enjoy the changing between seasons. The change of many things occur between seasons...but we can be sure and comforted by the fact that God never changes and has created the awesome beauty experienced throughout the changing of the seasons He has ordained...even from the beginning!

Marvel at His terrific handiwork that is nature...

Amanda

***I'll be adding this blog post to Finish It Up Friday with Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts

 once the link is provided. Just love seeing something get accomplished each Friday!

 Also, I'll be stopping in on some of the other linky parties listed on the right side bar.***

Finished by Friday...

So today's Finish it up Friday was a real push for me to get a project done that I first spotted and decided to make on Monday. It took all week to make these :)

On Monday I saw this pin...

and I decided that they would be really nice to make for the girls. However, I chose to make a fewer number of squares and made the squares slightly bigger...yet they still took all week :) even though once worked on, they weren't hard and didn't take a long time...it was just a thing of finding the time!

Tonight, I finally finished this puzzle game thing...still not exactly sure what it is, but I figure that I should make something fun for the girls, they can make up their own games, and I can always use the squares to help in teaching them to count :)

So, I made 20. They were cut at 5" (4.75") from the material...then once finished, they are 3 3/4" square. (Also, different from the tutorial, I sewed up the opening on my machine with a small zigzag stitch...not much for sewing things shut by hand!)

I like the size they turned out and I think that 20 will be plenty to have to try and find throughout the house! The back of five received fun animals...

I think the girls will enjoy :) 

Thanks Amanda Jean for pushing me to get these done! I should be able to link up with a few minutes to spare... I'll also be adding these to some of the other linky parties listed on the right side bar.

Today's fun picture...

She's adorable and getting over her cold, yeah! She loves helping with the laundry and dished...and she's only one! Now, for her to just keep liking to help :)

And let us not be weary in well doing: 

for in due season we shall reap, 

if we faint not.

Galatians 6:9

Some days it doesn't take much for me to get weary and tired, but these are those kind of words that need to be said and repeated. I have known this, probably all my life, but it still need to be refreshed in me that the things we do have a consequence, either good or bad...and even the small things... so sometime we just need to take time to consider the things we do and what we may reap from them.

Amanda

A Full Wednesday Report...

It's that time in the week to gauge our progress in our sewing...WIP Wednesday with Lee from Freshly Pieced. Although I haven't been blogging this past week, I have been sewing...and we were also away for the weekend :)

Last week was the first sewing week for our Curves Class with Rachel from Stitched in Color. I chose the bib project so Amber would have a few new bibs for the weekend...they turned out cute!

 

The other project from last week that I wanted to work on did not get very far...due to our going away and having a major migraine on Thursday...
So, this is all the farther my clamshell project is...

Planning on working on this some today.

Yesterday, Valentine's Day, Liz and I worked on a few yarn hearts.

And I did yesterday's class work, Improv Notecards...

 

For most Valentine's days, Chad and I go to our church's Valentine's Banquet. Well, this year before going to the restaurant, we stopped at the LQS so I could pick out a free FQ I received for participating in the contest they had on FB. Well, Chad also purchased one for me...

So, I got these two beautiful pieces of material for Valentine's Day :) [I told Chad when we first got married to never buy me flowers...they are a waste of money because they just die in a week - he has bought me a few plants, but I tend to kill those!] Fabric with flowers on it much more useful to me :) !!!!

Last week I also decide Amber need a new diaper bag to take on our weekend trip.

I like the way it looks, but I made it a little to long and narrow...but it serves it's purpose. I'd probably just LOVE it if I had made it have a bigger bottom area and shorter side...now I know :)

Week Review...

New Projects: 1 [Scallop project]
Completed Projects: a bunch of little ones covered in this post

Continuing Projects: 4 [Scallop project, Liz's Sashed Postage Stamp Quilt, the Table Topper, and 'the lost' Quiet book]

We had a wonderful weekend trip from NW PA to Rochester, NY. It took about 3 hours to get there, the roads were bare (rare for this time of year in this part of the country...but this whole winter has been rare!) and we stayed at a lovely hotel - Holiday Inn Express in Webster, NY. It was close to the church we were visiting for the weekend. However, the trip home on Saturday was about 2 hours longer due to snow [mostly in PA :)].

It wasn't a site-seeing type trip... We went to Family School! It's a conference held by Southeast Bible Baptist Church. (this is also Commonground Baptist Ministries - see this post for more info)

We had a wonderful time and even received a free family portrait from a photographer at the church. She is the photographer at Cobblestone Photography and gave us a small free print while we were there...and we can order more (professionally printed copies) from her site if we want.

This is a scan of the copy we received...so the quality is a little grainy [and I added the writing for various reasons ;0)], but the picture is great!

Hope you and your family had a great weekend...and beginning of this week!

For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you

some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established.

Romans 1:11

Paul wrote Romans to impart some great truths to us, to learn and grow in our Christian lives. I enjoy being able to share some of the things I get when I read the Bible. My prayer is that they in some part help you, encourage you!

Amanda



Give Thanks...

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, one of the major holidays celebrated here in the United States. So, today I decided that Liz and I should make one of the felt turkeys as shared at Sewing.org. It's one of those projects that I'd rather not do, but knew I should to have some crafting fun with Liz...however, once I got started reading the instructions, it didn't allow a whole lot of room for Liz to help.

Also, I didn't follow the directions exactly...I used the felt I had on hand...which wasn't enough to go directly with their instructions...

But he still turned out cute...

I machine sewed it also, trying to make it go a little faster. I did all sewing... no hot gluing :) I sewed all the embellishments on, then layered the pieces and sewed them together using a zig-zag stitch, leaving openings at the bottom to stuff (which Liz did get to help with). Doing it this way also meant only cutting one small feathers piece, one body, and two wings...compared to their two (four) of those pieces.

Here's a comparison photo, both cute!

(Sewing.org picture source)

Maybe he should have the bow tie? What do you think? I forgot about it until I posted it on here :) !



Adding this fun Thanksgiving project to some of the weekly linky parties...see the right side bar for the listing.

Let the words of my mouth,

and the meditation of my heart,

be acceptable in thy sight,

O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Psalm 19:14

Though this verse does not have the word thanksgiving, thanks, thankful, etc. in it...I saw it there while I was starting to look for one of the typical thanksgiving verses. We need to remember to always have a word of thanks on our lips and thankfulness in our heart to God who has blessed all more than we deserve!

I am thankful for...
The salvation of my soul...
Having the Bible to guide...
A wonderful husband...
Never being able to lose my salvation...
Kids that are healthy...
Sewing time...
Going to a great church...
Inspiration and creativity...
Valor and sacrifice of the servicemembers of the US Armed Forces...
Initative of the forefathers to give us a free country...
New horizons to be crossed...
God's grace and mercy given daily!

My adorable girls this morning...

God is so good!
Amanda