My Latest Endeavors

 

WEAVING!!!!!
Baby blankets,
Scarves,
Curtains,
Dish towels.....
What else. I love it! For years I have knitted a few items each year. I have collected yarn, given yarn away, looked at yarn, longed for yarn, knowing I may not ever do anything with it...until now!

Weaving on a Rigid Heddle Loom is perfect for me. It isn't so complicated I cannot get started, there are a multitude of designs achievable on this handy loom, it takes up a small amount of space and I can use the yarn and fabric I already have and I can use it quickly. I am excited...can you tell. These are all yarns I have had on hand and I am thrilled to see them work up nicely into a useable item. Did you also catch that I said fabric? Yes FABRIC! and I have some fabric on hand too. I can't wait to see what I will weave next. Till then...tootles.

WildFlowers

March 21

April 23

This is what has been making my heart glad each morning. Simple things. I planted this little circle of wildflowers late October. The end of March brought a few delicate little flowers. I was enchanted! As you can see, by the end of April the circle was brimming over with flowers of all variety. I was enthralled! The bees and hummingbirds love my little circle of color and therefore so do I. Each morning when I sip my coffee I go outside and look at the new flowers that have opened over night and I am made glad. God is so artistic and I am thankful He has allowed me to have this little garden of delight.

Spiral Bound Garden!!!!

Here it is again!!!! I am very proud of my quilt. It won 1ST Place Improvisational at Cultural Crossroads and will hang in the Mississippi Museum of Art this summer. Happy ME!!!

If you want to read about the origin of this quilt I will try to link to a previous post...cross your fingers      Or you could just scroll down ;) http://sewingwithpaisley.blogspot.com/2012/10/spiral-bound-garden.html

Hi peeps! This beautiful sweet quilt will be at the First Presbyterian Church Kindergarten Art Auction. It quilted out very nicely I think.  The children colored the squares and I had the honor and privilege of designing and finishing the quilt.  I am excited , the children did awesome work and I hope the lucky  person who is the top bidder will be thrilled with this work of art.

I shared in the beauty of GOD's created world today. Yes, I live here everyday but I often miss the little things He has for me.  A few weeks ago I missed an opportunity to which I had genuinely looked forward, then there was regret.  I allowed something I live with everyday to block my view.  Today, as I walked the same road I travel everyday I saw this view. The same trees I see day after day season after season but today I noticed their beauty. He keeps urging me nudging me to "Taste and see that the LORD is good and His mercy endures forever".  I will stumble and fall, I will let stuff get in the way, and I will regret but morning by morning new mercies I see if only I will look.

Intersections

Another baby quilt finished this week...Intersections....

I chose that name because, while I was making the top several more tops were dancing in my head. I was thinking about the next one and the next one. I began focusing on this one and praying, thinking, smiling, about the little fella who will be here in a few days, OMG!! No really those are his initials. I thought about the intersection of heaven and earth, mom and dad, couple and family.  God blesses with this little life and there are sooooo many paths to be taken but as long as the paths all intersect at the cross, the patchwork, mosaic, pixels of life paint a beautiful picture. O My GOD, thank you.

This little quilt is for a little miracle boy. He was born January 15 to friend who thought she couldn't have a baby...GOD knew better. I finished the quilt on the day he arrived. I used Retro Geo fabric line, disappearing nine patch pattern and free hand machine quilting. I  hope they enjoy!

It is difficult to be relieved all of the CHRISTmas decorations are taken down and put away for another year. Yes, I am glad I do not still have this task hanging over me, but the hang over I have is just as heavy.  The house is quiet, the children and grandchildren have all returned to their homes.  Just a few short days ago they were all here. The evidence scattered all through the house with toys, cooking, and conversations, now they are scattered across the country.

I love the warm glow of the CHRISTmas lights in the house, Mickey, Minnie, and Snoopy standing guard outside. The nativity on the piano,stockings over the mantle, and the mistletoe at the front door. The family trickled in, games were played, and watched, meals shared, a warm fire in the fireplace, bonfires outside, and gifts exchanged. Then two by two they went home.

What a treasure to gather together.  The house is empty, but our hearts are full and nourished until next time we come together. We are a blessed family, God has truly placed His loving hand upon us, and I am thankful.

Goal Setter

I am inspired....I have been cleaning, not finished yet, in order to decorate for Christmas. I was reading a book and briefly read about an idea/concept to write down the goals you want to accomplish tomorrow. I have always had trouble with goal planning. In my life, I had goals for the day or the week but never a five or ten year plan, so I felt like a failure immediately when people discussed goals. Then this book I am reading touched on a plan or incentive given to Charles Schwab to write out 6 goals you want to accomplish tomorrow in order of importance. Heck I can do that!!! I'm in!! I am capable of this goal setting exercise. So here goes:


1.  Read my Bible

2. Walk 4 Miles

3. Yoga

4. 1 load of laundry ----washed, dried, folded, and put away

5. Go to Jackson for Christmas gift and dinner shopping.

6. Finish cleaning the living room and foyer

7. Assemble the CHRISTmas tree

I chose 7 because often in the Bible God chose the #7.....I will too...I will be blessed.
I will let you know how I did on my list and enter a new list tomorrow evening.

Sleep well my invisible friends.

CHRISTmas cleaning

When you are a mother...the things you do when the children are little can come back and kick you later. I'm talking about cleaning of course, everything else I did perfectly:)

When I was a child, Christmas and Easter were "spring cleaning" times.  Our house was always clean, picked up and tidy but twice a year we had to clean EVERY.THING..Walls, ceilings, base boards, windows. Now in and of itself this isn't a bad thing but remember the house was already clean!! and we had to do all this work before the Christmas tree or the Easter baskets could come down from the attic. When you are 6, this is really a torturous time.

Fast forward to my own little ones....no the house wasn't always clean, the dishes, laundry and bathrooms were kept up and the trash taken out. I always said I accomplished just enough to keep the Health Department from condemning. If you don't remember...look at the top of this blog, we had eight children, six of which were 2 years apart and a Daddy who kept everything he has ever owned (almost).  My aunt used to say..."I mop my floor every day! Some days with kool-aid, some days with milk..." Totally understood that one!  

Suddenly I saw the wisdom in my mother's iron resolve......I could get these little sweeties to help clean the house!! Genius!! So Christmas and Easter cleaning became a bi-yearly event. Top to bottom, inside and out, every cabinet, drawer, and toy chest cleaned, scrubbed, and de-cluttered...except Dad's stuff, it wasn't going anywhere. He would wait until Christmas Eve and  take the tools out of the house and put away his mail and magazines, but hey, he did have a real job;)

Let's fast forward again..present day. The kids are all grown and the house is a bigger mess. Well the house is bigger and I am older. I would rather do other things than clean, so I do. Still twice a year I wash windows and de-clutter (except for Dad's stuff). I have to thoroughly clean so I can decorate. What kind of mother would make the kids clean their room and not clean her's? I should have thought of that all those years ago because they haven't forgotten. They will ask me if I have the tree up yet which is code for:   Is the house clean so you can decorate? So I cleaned my sewing room...took two days, and it is still full and not organized well but here it is...I went through every.thing. I can find things I need again, that is nice. It will take a few more days to finish the house and then I can decorate but my self respect will be intact. When the children travel home for Christmas they can look about with the calm confidence that all is right with the world, Mom washed the windows, cleaned her sewing room,  and yep...there it is Dad's stuff, not going anywhere.