Autumn Only Lasts So Long

My Little Missy

Oh, today has been such a nice day. For a number of different reasons I suppose. I don't know. I woke-up extra early and decided to sneak downstairs and linger over a cup of coffee while reading from The Valley of Vision. Do you have this little book in your library? If not, you really should. This devotional contains prayers from the largely forgotten deposit of Puritan spiritual exercises, meditations and aspirations. The beauty of the language stirs my heart and helps me see through eyes which are not my own. I could never speak so eloquently, but my heart feels each word as if it originated there.

GOD ALL-SUFFICIENT

O Lord of Grace,

The world is before me this day,
and I am weak and fearful,
but I look to thee for strength;
If I venture forth alone I stumble and fall,
but on the Beloved's arms I am firm
as the eternal hills;
If left to the treachery of my heart
I shall shame thy Name,
but if enlightened, guided, upheld by thy Spirit,
I shall bring thee glory.
Be though my arm to support,
my strength to stand,
my light to see,
my feet to run,
my shield to protect,
my sword to repel,
my sun to warm.
To enrich me will not diminish thy fullness;
All thy lovingkindness is in thy Son,
I bring him to thee in the arms of faith,
I urge his saving Name as the One who died for me.
I plead his blood to pay my debts of wrong.
Accept his worthiness for my unworthiness,
his sinlessness for my transgressions,
his purity for my uncleanness,
his sincerity for my guile,
his truth for my deceits,
his meekness for my pride,
his constancy for my backslidings,
his love for my enmity,
his fullness for my emptiness,
his faithfulness for my treachery,
his obedience for my lawlessness,
his glory for my shame,
his devotedness for my waywardness,
his holy life for my unchaste ways,
his righteousness for my dead works,
his death for my life.

Some of those lines--I just have to pause and really think about them. Amazing love! How can it be, that thou my God shouldst die for me?

This afternoon I am home alone with my sweet little missy. It's unusual that we're home on a Wednesday afternoon. So, do you know what we did? We decided to get a little brave and pull out ... drum roll please ... our sewing projects! Rachel is finishing an embroidery project she started earlier this summer. And me, well, do you remember this post? How about this post? I must confess that since cutting out all the squares for my quilt back in July, everything has been tucked away. I guess with the weather changing, it seems like the perfect time to pull it all back out again.

But I'm scared!

Rachel and I took everything upstairs and used the bed to create a grid so that all the pieces were correctly placed (the finished quilt will be 6' x 5'). Then she carefully wrote labels for each square (column 1, row 1, etc.) and I pinned them in place. I don't know if that's what you're suppose to do, but I feel like I need to know exactly what is what and to know where what goes! Then we carefully stacked up each row and placed them into plastic bags in order to keep them from getting mixed-up.

Rachel asked, "So, are you going to sew now?"
"Uh, no. I'm too scared!"

So, we're headed in the right direction, but have much to consider. This is my first big quilt (big for me!) and I really want to do a good job.

I'll keep you posted!

By the way, I hope you like the new blog background and colors. I'll probably still make some little adjustments here and there. I must say it was quite fun choosing something new and my little missy was right there helping every step of the way. Since autumn only lasts so long, I'll be able to do it all again in another couple of months!

Happy Wednesday!

Unexpected Blessings

Last week held a few wonderful little surprises for me. One of them was a last minute get together with my sister-in-love, Julie, and her two younglings, Evan and Allison (aka Ally-Bug). We all witnessed with our very own eyes little Ally-Bug crawl for the first time. And if that wasn't enough, this little six-month old mozied on over to the step which goes from our great room to the kitchen. She had her eyes on Jesse puppy who was asleep under the kitchen table. That little stinker went from crawling to climbing in a matter of minutes! Of course we couldn't help ourselves and cheered her on, giving her a wild round of applause. I'm afraid for you, my dear sister-in-love!

After spending the afternoon together, we hopped into our cars and headed over to a nearby DQ for a cold treat on such a hot and humid day. So imagine my surprise when we arrived home to hear Caleb say, "Mama, have you been in the bathroom?" Drawing out my answer in a very concerned way, I say, "Noooooo." "Well, I think you need to go into the bathroom." My mind is imagining something terrible like an overflowing toilet or a creepy creature of some sort. But he quickly added, "Don't worry, everything's OK." So picture this--the entire family walks together and slowly enters the bathroom. And this is what we find...


Do you see it?


Oh, look! It's a present for Yours Truly! My sister-in-love, as sweet as anyone could ever be, left behind this beautiful card and precious angel. Honestly, it made my day. No, it made my week.

So, my friends, here's a wonderful idea for you to encourage someone special. Be sure to leave your little blessing in an unexpected place.

Last Monday night I called my dear friend, Mrs. Nagy, and invited her to join Rachel and me for an impromptu trip to Amish Country. Tuesday morning we headed out with something very specific in mind. I was on a quest, you know. I think I might have mentioned it a few posts back. I want to make a quilt just for me.

Here's what I came home with...


Beautiful, don't you think? Yes, I know it will be a very long time before this quilt is finished, but I just couldn't wait to show off the gorgeous fabric we found. It was so much fun shopping for fabric. Who knew? The colors will look beautiful with the furniture in our great room. Oh, I cannot wait! Can you even believe it? I can't.

And here's one last little tidbit, completely unrelated except by the title of this post, I thought I'd share with you. I was reminded of it last night while we were at church. I heard this many, many years ago and included it in a Bible study Rachel and I went through together. Post it on your refrigerator. Teach it to your children. Have them memorize it.

Sow a thought, reap an act.

Sow an act, reap a habit.

Sow a habit, reap a character.

Sow a character, reap a destiny.

We were reminded once again last evening that following Jesus is very serious business. Watch your life and your doctrine carefully.

Your friend,

Dreams Do Come True

I know it's been a while, but do you remember Big Dreamin? Or perhaps you remember this very disturbing post? While it would seem that I haven't spoken on this subject for a while, I have been very busy. Just last week, I spent eight hours with my favorite sewing teacher and mentor, Mrs. Nagy. It was just the two of us and we were on a mission. Let me just say this again, I just love that woman. I feel like she was hand-picked by the Lord, just for me, when I needed her most.

If you remember, I started a crib-size quilt that was going to be just for me. It was a practice quilt. The more I worked on it, however, the lovelier it became. I decided I wanted to give it to Rachel. I also decided I wanted to do something special for her since she's going to camp and will be away from home for the very first time. So, I made a special quilt pocket embroidered with her name. The pocket is meant for me to tuck inside love letters to Rachel. The quilt was suppose to be a surprise on the day she arrived at camp (you know, she opens her luggage and finds it stashed away), but circumstances forced me to give-up all the secrecy and present it to her a little early. Actually, I was relieved. It's hard keeping a secret around here! The pocket isn't quite finished, but it will be very soon. And I can't wait to tuck inside that pocket the very first quilt love letter.

One steamy afternoon we all went to Hobby Lobby to walk around and do some sight seeing. Out of the blue, Caleb tells me he knows what I can get him for his birthday. A quilt! Little did he know I had planned on making him a quilt since he's going to camp too. He will be away from home for the first time and will be gone for two full weeks. That's fourteen days. Please pray for me. His request made things a little easier on me. No more sneaking around and he picked out the fabric he wanted. Well, it just so happens Mrs. Nagy walked into Hobby Lobby while we were there looking around. Caleb was convinced we had planned it, but it was absolutely coincidental (divine meeting is what I like to call it). Mrs. Nagy helped us with some of the decision making and thought Caleb's selection was quite lovely. His quilt was much easier since it's not actually quilted like Rachel's. I finished it in five days!

Drum roll please... Michelle's very first quilts!


The circles were fun to stitch and we all love that satin border


Mrs. Nagy was kind enough to machine sew the satin border


My very first embroidered stitches...not bad, eh?


Sleeping Beauty slumbering with her quilt for the very first time


Caleb's quilt is cotton twill on the front and flannel on the back


I used black cotton yarn to create the quilting


I lazy-daisy stitched Caleb's name on the front of the quilt before basting it together


Prince Charming sleeping with his quilt for the very first time

Oh, did I ever love making something so special to present to both of my kids. I absolutely loved seeing them snuggling with their quilts early the next morning.

With the kids heading out for camp soon, I think the next person who will need a quilt, a big squishy comfy quilt, is Yours Truly. I am already looking forward to going back to Hobby Lobby and lingering in the fabric department.

Let me say this for the record: I love quilting

And just in case you're wondering, dreams do come true!

Sew Amazing!

Notice the basting... Notice the quilted heart and square...
Notice the crooked pins... Mrs. Nagy told me that's a no-no


Finished! You have to look closely to see the quilted squares and hearts


Notice the bottom edge and the tiny little blind hem stitch

Michelle's Magnum Opus

Do you remember Big Dreamin'? I posted it only a week ago. Mrs. Nagy started to teach me how to hand quilt. And I've been a busy girl. During our get together yesterday, she taught me how to finish the edges and create mitered corners. I must say, it's a beautiful thing...quilting.

Drum roll please...

I finished my little hand quilting

project this afternoon!

Can I say that I am so proud of myself? You know, me, the one who can't spell sew and can hardly sew a button on a shirt! I made a mini-quilt. I stitched every single stitch with my own two hands.

I believe this is big enough news that perhaps this very night you'll see me featured on the Evening News. The news feed will say something like, "Sew Amazing--It's a Miracle!"

Me sew?

Me sew and stick with it?

Me sew and like it?

Me sew and love it?

Me sew and finish a project?

Me sew and finish a project in seven days?

Yippee!

I have learned, finally, that there's something to be said about creating a thing of beauty with my own two hands. Something that will last. Something I can pass down to my children. My Big Dreamin' is a little closer to reality.

I absolutely love quilting!

Can't wait to start the next one...something a little bigger perhaps. Perhaps!

Your humble blogger,