WIPs Be Gone and a Giveaway

Here's the quilt I'm working on now for the two UFO challenges I'm participating in this year.  This is my rendition of Karen's Soupçon Quilt Along (second one down at her site). Was started in 2014. Have to add the last round which is paper pieced. I'm more confident about doing paper piecing after all the blocks done by that method in the Splendid Sampler.

One side done:

Center of the next baby quilt. Pattern from a book titled Quilting for Joy by Barbara Brandenburg and Teri Christopherson.  I'm hand stitching that applique block I was working on last Sunday.  Getting more done as I finished my ancient one from 1987 - yes, 30 years ago in Sept I started my 2nd quilt of the 280+ quilts I've made in that time span.

Made all the mistakes a beginning quilter makes - chose a queen size quilt, pattern had set in seams,  didn't know how to quilt, etc. I took a hand quilting class, but that was too slow, too.  I made the blocks in no time, but the hand quilting took forever. Then I discover big stitch hand quilting and really started to make considerable progress.  Back then, I bought seven spools of hand quilting thread having no clue how much I would need.  Turns out I had just a few inches left on the one spool I had to use.  Anybody want six spools of hand quilting thread - LOL.

I've always wanted a whole cloth quilt.  Here's the back and the closest I'll ever come to a WCQ:

She's bound and on my bed at last:

I chose to bind it in the light green leftover from the blocks and border.

Lastly, I made a large bag for our Riverside Area Rape Crisis Center.  They are given to victims when they report the crime.  Everything they have on is kept as evidence, so they need a lot of things, IE: sweat pantsuit, flip-flops, underwear, toiletries, socks, etc.

I lined it with the black of the print:







Think I'm caught up on sewing news.  Now for the giveaway!  Since it's been a while here's the scoop:   What have you been working on?  Link up and show me.  You can win a mystery book.  I'll be sending the winner a list of three titles from which to pick of her/his technique preference. So link up for one chance. Follow me for another chance.  Leave a comment for a third chance.  And for a fourth chance, visit Michele here.  Let me know which of her quilts you like best. And for a fifth chance - follow Michele, and let me know for a total of six chances to win! Remember if you don't have a blog, you can always post a photo from a photo stream.  Please be sure there is some way for me to contact you.  The linky is below.  I'll be linking to several parties - Tab above.

Blessings as we approach the end of the First Week of Eastertide - when Jesus walked among us. We rejoice in His Resurrection and 
remember the joy of the life to come because of our Lord.

Design Wall Monday

This is the first Monday of Eastertide - the 50 days after the Resurrection.  It is a joyful time! Hallelujah!

Today I'm celebrating Design Wall Monday. All that meditating produced a lot of sewing since housework was out, laundry was out, even cooking was low key. We did feast on Easter Sunday, but a friend had invited us over.

Coming off my wall is one of my UFOs for the 17 UFOs for 2017 - the top is done!  I had to redo 4 of them from the stack I won (think it was in 2009). Those four were very well made. Unfortunately, they were 1/2" too small.  Maybe I'll make a table runner from them.    It's now sandwiched and ready to quilt.

40"square

Also ready to quilt (a St. Anne's baby top) is my rolling nine-patch top. These are 15" square and are perfect to highlight a large print. I call it a rolling nine patch because that's the block I started with, but I changed it up a bit.  Actually, it is a 25 patch with a nine patch in the middle.  I've seen them as 6", 10", and 12" blocks.  But that was too many pieces for me, so I figured out how to have only nine. Did it by making flying geese instead of a square and two half square triangles. Much easier - you can see the pattern under my free patterns tab.  I used the triangles I cut off from stitch/flipping to make those flying geese in the border. No scraps left - yeah!

36" square

Next was a square for the Fall Festival QAL that Lori at Humble Quilts is hosting.  I'm not doing the one everyone else is doing - just a similar one that happens to be a WIP for me. They were suppose to make a house block.  Mine has a house block, too, so that's what I made.

12" square.

As I watched Father Brown, this evening, I did some hand stitching on an applique block, too. There's more, but I'll save those for another day.  Since we're celebrating Eastertide,  maybe I'll have a giveaway this Friday.

Linking up to some parties.  See the tab above.  Blessings, and thank you for walking with me during the past Holy Week.

Alleluia! Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

Holy Saturday

and a reflection.

Good Friday

Holy Thursday

,..And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me. And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.…"

                                                                                   Luke 22: 19-20

Silent Wednesday

 On the Wednesday (in the Orthodox Church) before his death, Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the Leper. As they sat at the supper table, a woman named Mary anointed Jesus' head and feet with costly oil of spikenard.

But otherwise scriptupre is silent of what Jesus did on this day... Lord I am preparing in the silence of listening for what is to come.

This Coming Week

As well as my meditative sewing, this is what I'll be doing this coming week before the Easter Triduum:


Destashing:  .65 yd (bindings) - 0.0 + 1.0 yd = 1.65 yds destashed. YTD: 40.05 yds  

Quilted.

The fish motif came from the backing enlarged 300%

Not attic window this time - Aquarium view.

Will be delivered Sunday.

And in the garden - the Cecil Brunner is gloriously in bloom:

Blessings to all.

5th Sunday of Lent

A hymn from today's mass that reflects our Lenten Journey:


Destashing:  ..47 yd  - 0.0 + 1.0 yd = 1.47 yds destashed. YTD: 38.40 yds

This week's meditative work:

Above is  my project #5 for Judy's UFO challenge and 17 UFOs in 2017 project for March.  I got this far with it:

Now to add borders and start quilting.

Next Nearly Insane quilt - this is 30 1/2" square.

15 1/2" block for a St. Anne's quilt - need four.

A center for another St. Anne's quilt.

I finished the hand quilting on the Ancient One.  Now to bind it.  So, maybe I'll get back to my Bliss hexagon quilt.  I've started to FMQ the Laurel Burch wall hanging.  

Blessings to all my readers.  May this be a restful and uplifting, spiritual week for you.

4th Sunday of Lent

Somehow, I lost it midweek. What happened?  Little by little I am coming back onto the Lenten track, but it is hard.  This has helped.

And so has meditating as I sew:

a RSC block

This block had me pulling out applique supplies. While they were out I finished prepping an Anna's Garden block I had started in February:

All I'd done before was the greenery.

Finished quilting

Bound

 

 Delivered.












Started the next Nearly Insane block enlargement:

+.95 yds -0.0 yds + 0.0 = .95 yds  de-stashed.  YTD: 36.93 yds

Blessings as we begin a new week of Lent.

The Hum of Angels

source: Natl Catholic Register

With a first name of Maria de los Angeles, a book about angels catches my attention.  That's what happened when I discovered The Hum of Angels by Scott McKnight while browsing a list of new releases in February.  This isn't a book proving that there are angels.  He takes that as a given since the Bible alone includes some three hundred references or allusions to angels (p. 15).  His subtitle, Listening for the Messengers of God Around Us, summarizes the topic well because Scott sets to help us become aware of them, what to look for, and how to look.

They are still among us today as God uses them to affect our lives.  I'll share with you one true incident (not mine) that a friend told me about when I mentioned I was reading this thoughtful and absorbing book.  Her aunt was going to Tennessee to visit a very sick relative, and out in the middle of the Southwestern desert her car broke down.  It was getting on toward evening and there was nothing around for miles. Traffic was nil.  She got out of her car, walking around it, and started to pray to God for help.  After a while she spotted the lights of a car approaching from the East.  The car stopped and a man got out of the car and asked if she needed help.  Once she told him, they opened the hood and he checked to see what the problem was. After tinkering under the hood for some mintes, he closed it and told her to try the engine.  She got in the car and did so, and it started.  She went to get out of the car to thank him. But no one was there, nor even the other car, not even a sign anyone had been there or on the highway as she looked both ways.

Scot McKnight is the author of more than fifty books, including The Jesus Creed and The Heaven Promise. A popular speaker at events such as Catalyst and Q Conference, Scot is professor of New Testament at Northern Seminary in Lombard, Illinois. His blog, Jesus Creed, experiences three million page views annually. He and his wife, Kris, live in the Chicago suburbs. @ScotMcKnight

I received this book (published by WaterBrook, a division of  Penguin Random House)  from Blogging for Books for this review. 

3rd Sunday of Lent

  Friends, today we read the magnificent story from John’s Gospel about the woman at the well. The image of thirst is used throughout the Bible to speak of the human longing for God. At the height of the heat of the day, Jesus asks a Samaritan woman for a drink of water. We are on very holy ground for the whole of salvation is summed up here: our thirst for God meets God’s even more dramatic thirst for us. Augustine picked up on this in his commentary on the passage: “Jesus was thirsty for the woman’s faith.” At first, of course, the woman is put off. How could this Jewish man be asking me for a drink? Translate this into spiritual language: how could almighty God be thirsty for my faith and my attention? Jesus’ answer is magnificent: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst.” We are built for union with God, and therefore we thirst for God with an infinite desire. What Jesus offers her is the life of grace, the divine life, God’s own self. That’s the only energy that can ever satisfy our infinite longing.  -- Bishop Barron

I'm just home from a silent retreat.  From Friday afternoon to Sunday noon we shared silence at the El Carmelo Retreat house in nearby Redlands.  It was a moving and deep experience.  Being silent for all those hours brought Jesus closer, and He wrapped us in a stillness and comfort that we all needed.  There were 37 of us all seeking solace from our busy lives for a little while.  It was very refreshing.  I was going to show you photos but my cell phone is acting up. Here's a view from their website out from the patio near the cafeteria -those orange trees in the forefront are in full bloom so we were immersed in the wonderful citrus perfume:


On the sewing front:  +3.89 destashed  YTD: 35.98 yds
The cats are back to one piece again.


I was going to add another border, but finally decided any I picked would detract from the cute kitties.  I'm thinking of  quilting motifs right now, and the spontaneous construction is calling to me again.

Just before I went on retreat I sandwiched the cats and Nearly Insane #2 for a baby.  I even started quilting it.

 I chose a motif from the fabric and added leaves to use in the large triangles.

Doing the last of the flowers now.  Then I'll meander the border.

I feel energized to continue my Lenten practices for the remaining half of the season.  Until next Sunday, blessings to all my readers and commentators.

2nd Sunday of Lent

I have been asked, "what is Lent?"  Here's a two minute answer.



I continue to pray for you my readers and commentators.

As I reflected and prayed last week I also sewed;

 -3.44 + 0.00 - .75 = -4.19    4.19 + 27.90= 32.09   YTD destash 3/12/17
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quilted, bound and delivered to St. Anne's:

Treadle baby quilt 

In the City baby Quilt

Used FMQ, walking foot and freezer paper quilting.

RSC Challenge block

Signs of Spring

Linking to Lyn's BOMs Away and other linky parties under my tab by same name.

1st Sunday of Lent

I thank you for your good wishes on my journey. I'm praying for you Irene, Rosa, Chantal, Margaret, Lady of the Manor, Muv, Miaismine, Kate, Susan, the Paz family, Libby, and Chris.  Blessing to you each day.  Any more?  The list is open.

Source

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 -.81 +2.00- 4.75 = -3.56    3.56 + 24.34 = 27.90   3/5/17 YTD destash

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2/24/2017  Yanicka won the fat quarter
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3/1/17 - the blocks are made

17 UFOs in 2017

-4 blocks + 4 blocks

Added a border. 

Blooming since before Christmas. Taken 3/2/17

See you next Sunday.

On This Day

For Lent I've decided not to give up anything, but instead to give more time to meditation, reflection and prayer - a kind of silent retreat. That will mean less time on the computer. I may post once in a while on a Sunday -we do not fast on the Lord's Day, most likely a silent message. Feel free to leave your own silent message or your prayer requests.  I'll add them and you to my prayers.  I'll be back Easter Monday.

"...for dust you are and to dust you will return." --Genesis 3:19