Intentional Breaks

A very good friend of mine is taking an intentional break from blogging. 

I really admire her for this. It is so hard to walk away, even for a short period of time.

Honestly, I think we should. Intentionally. With a plan.

These are stressful times. Lots of uncertainty.
I usually head into things without much of a plan. A vague sketch, maybe. Never anything concrete. This approach works sometimes, not always.

To that end, without a sewing machine for the time being, a plan might just work for me :)

Honey Do and I have been discussing and shopping the real estate market. Talk about stressful !!!

We walk daily. It has been amazing the conversations we have had over the last month about houses, what we want, where we want, what we can live with and without. What price range. How many bedrooms. Acreage.

We have finally agreed that we would rather not have a mortgage. 
We would like a minimum of two bedrooms, preferably three (that's my preference). We would like a basement, but not required. We would like a minimum of one acre, preferably more. He would like us to live within an hour's drive of work (not unreasonable). I would like to live closer to my mom and sister (40 minutes away now). 

We would like to not have to do anything much beyond new paint.

We thought we had something, it looked very promising. There was only one obstacle. It ended up being immovable and consequently everything fell apart over the weekend.

It's painful, but I'm trusting my Lord and Savior to provide as He promises. I have faith in Him. For now, it's not the right time. Mom's is safe and secure in her home and we talk at least once a day. My sister and I have a refreshed and renewed relationship. It's been strained at times, but I was blessed by her endless generosity over the past week. Her loyalty to Mom and I. How much I enjoy just sitting and talking to her and sharing her garden and front porch.

Hurt and disappointed, I know that I/we need to move on and past this. God will provide the perfect home for us, just when we least expect it.

In the meantime, purge, clean, reorganize, and stitch :)

(Image from Elefantz)

Hope you all have a good, productive month.

Stay safe and healthy.

Thanks for stopping by.

Don't worry about anything; 

instead, pray about everything.

Tell God what you need, thank him for all he has  done.

Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. He will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Phillipians 4: 6-7

A Break

I am going to take a break from sewing for the next week. It's time for the annual cleaning and maintenance. I'm going to miss my machine tremendously, but in order to keep moving forward, I need to take this time.

So what will I be doing?

Lots of embroidery. There are lots of stitching projects on my monthly goals and hopefully this week away from the machine will allow me to do some much needed catching up.

Hope you all have a good, productive week.

Stay safe and healthy.

Thanks for stopping by.

Don't worry about anything; 

instead, pray about everything.

Tell God what you need, thank him for all he has  done.

Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. He will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Phillipians 4: 6-7

HQAL - July

It's Hands Quilt Along time again.

Here's the link to see what everyone else is doing. 

Kathy, thank you for being such a gracious hostess.

💖💖💖

Stitch 52 - April blocks.

 

Sunday Stitching Journal

The bullion stitch took me forever !!!

By the time I finished this page I learned to, not  only like the end result (which I do, very much), but I also enjoyed the process of making it. It's time consuming and often frustrating, but so worth the beautiful scene once complete.

Another page - Psalm 23

I did more stitching, just didn't get the photos done. They will show up on the blog eventually.

Hope you all have a good, productive week.

Stay safe and healthy.

Thanks for stopping by.

Don't worry about anything; 

instead, pray about everything.

Tell God what you need, thank him for all he has  done.

Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. He will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Phillipians 4: 6-7

July - Goals

Here are my goals for July:

1 - OMG/Number Draw #6

Believe

This was a block of the month through Fat Quarter Shop, 2019

2 - 12 Things - #6

Psalm 23

I have been working on this, but I'm behind. I will take this month to do some catching up.

 3 - Baby Quilt 

4 - Doll Quilt 

5 - Doll Gown 

6 - Susan's BOM - sadly, no progress

March, April, May, June and July blocks

I'm horribly behind on this one. I need and want to get caught up. 

7 - PLQS BOM #6 and #7

Block 6 was ordered and paid for a couple of weeks ago, but hasn't arrived yet. so shipping is still an issue. Block 7, needs to be ordered and paid for. It's strange how the program is set up.

8 - Bird Song Block 5

9 - F2F Blocks - need three 

 pull fabric, make and mail

10 - Sunday Stitch - last two pages

drawn off, need to stitch

Hope you all have a good, productive month.

Stay safe and healthy.

Thanks for stopping by.

Don't worry about anything; 

instead, pray about everything.

Tell God what you need, thank him for all he has  done.

Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. He will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Phillipians 4: 6-7

June - End of Month Progress Report

June has been a fairly productive month. Here are the goals I accomplished:

1 - OMG/Number Draw #9 DONE

Gingerbread Village from Days Filled With Joy, 2019

All the parts were completed, needed assembled.

2 - 12 Things - #9

Busy Bee Quilt, 2018 DONE

I was making such good progress on this one and then I wanted to finish another quilt and it got set aside. The center of the quilt is mostly assembled, just one more border of white. It actually was meant to be a wall hanging (47x47 inches) and I decided I wanted it bigger (at least 90x90 inches). So it's going to grow to queen size this month. The goal is to assemble the top.

And it's done !!!

 

I am absolutely thrilled with the finish. I'm putting it away again to quilt later. The top is done !!

 3 - Baby Quilt DONE

4 - Doll Quilt DONE

5 - Doll Gown DONE

6 - Susan's BOM - sadly, no progress

March, April, May and June blocks

I'm horribly behind on this one. I need and want to get caught up. 

7 - PLQS BOM #5 DONE, #6

Block 5 has been received. Block six will come in a couple of weeks. Shipping on these was delayed due to a large number of orders, a small staff and the usual postal delays.

Block 5 - done.

Block 6 - still hasn't arrived.

8 - Bird Song Block 4  DONE

Love, Love, Love :)

9 - F2F Blocks - need three DONE

 pull fabric and make

 

Under the wire, but it's still June. I'm happy with them.

10 - Sunday Stitch - page 7 DONE

drawn off, need to stitch

page 7

page 9 is also done. This one took a lot of time, but I love how it turned out. Starting to feel loke I'm in the home stretch on this project.

Hope you all have a good, productive week.

Stay safe and healthy.

Thanks for stopping by.

Don't worry about anything; 

instead, pray about everything.

Tell God what you need, thank him for all he has  done.

Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. He will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Phillipians 4: 6-7

HQAL - June 28, 2020

June is the halfway mark o 2020 being over. Can you believe it? So much has happened in such a short space of time. I really hope and pray that you are all doing well, staying safe and healthy. These are strange times indeed.

Here's the link to see what everyone else is doing. 

Kathy, thank you for being such a gracious hostess.

💖💖💖

Busy Bee Block of the Month, 2018

 

Applique blocks on the border. I had to finishing sewing the border, then hand applique because I had done all the blocks this way. These are just a couple of the cute motifs in the kit.

 

The blocks were completed in 2018, when I put everything  away to focus on another project.

I finished the next page of Psalm 23 from Jenny of  Elelantz.

Block 4 - Birdsong BOM

Sunday Stitch Journal

I had hoped to have this page completed, and I am so close, but it's not. Still, I'm very happy with my progress on it. I only have a couple of pages left and I can put it together.

Hope you all have a good, productive week.

Stay safe and healthy.

Thanks for stopping by.

Don't worry about anything; 

instead, pray about everything.

Tell God what you need, thank him for all he has  done.

Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. He will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Phillipians 4: 6-7

It's been a week !!

First, the fun stuff.

We purchased a new sofa that as delivered this week. Honey Do thought it needed cushions, so I set about making them.

This first set were deemed too small, but they are so cute !!

I found the fabric at Hobby Lobby several years ago. Originally, it as meant for my kitchen, but I decided my kitchen is too small for too much chachki. But they are just a fun addition to the living room.

The next attempt is the right size, but needs to be firmer. This is leftover fabric from the motorcycle quilt I made Honey Do a couple o years ago.

Gingerbread Village from Days filled with Joy

I finished one of my monthly goals. I am very pleased with the outcome.

Another goal, the PLQS BOM #5 from May.

I can't say I love this block. I like the block and my piecing is getting so much better. It's the ombre color I'm not crazy about. That center just turned out too light. It's a mystery quilt along, so I don't see colors until they arrive. The quilt is supposed to be jewel toned, but I think the mark as missed on this one.

Weatherwise, it's been all over the place.

Most of the week has been gorgeous, even though there were a few days of 90s and lots of humidity.

Then Cristobel came whipping through. It as a pretty intense storm and fortunately we didn't suffer any power outage.

The storm passed early enough that we could still get in our daily walk.

We were blessed with a double rainbow.

The colors were amazing !!!

And the icing on the cake . . . 

cushy mail from some very good friends who know me very well :)

Hope you all have a good, productive week.

Stay safe and healthy.

Thanks for stopping by.

Don't worry about anything; 

instead, pray about everything.

Tell God what you need, thank him for all he has  done.

Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. He will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Phillipians 4: 6-7

HQAL -June

Some ho I missed posting this. So I'm doing it no even though it's late.

 Since we last posted, Covid 19 has pretty much ruled our lives. Things have been steadily opening up. Not sure I feel all that good about it, but I continue to stay home as much as possible and that doesn't bother me in the least. I love being home. It's a rare occasion for anyone to be able to get me to budge from my nest.

 I continue to be amazingly busy working on various projects. I'm not so amazed how quickly three weeks have flown by. Here's the link to see what everyone else is doing. Our group is growing :)

Kathy, thank you for being such a gracious hostess.

💖💖💖

 

The most recent Stitch 52. Three more done. A total of seven have been completed so far.

Sunday Stitching Journal

The pages get more involved as we move along and are taking longer. I have several that are not completed yet and the instructions for making and assembling the book have arrived. I have six pages completed.

Psalm 23

This is the first page and was my 12 Things goal for May. I'm behind since the fifth page has been published. I'm not going to rush this project. I am enjoying the stitching. Jenny used tiny scraps of fabric to applique things like the bird, but I've decided I would rather stitch and I love the way my bird turned out. Other changes I made were to satin stitch LORD and I used the fly stitch on the leaves. Like the fabric applique, these fill-in stitches add beautiful pops of color and texture.

Bird Song block 3

Like Psalm 23, I'm using stitches I haven't played with in a long time or techniques I've never used before. on this flower, it called for 12 strands of floss, I used six but I like the bold effect. The leaves are stitched down with "veins" and not the blanket stitch all around them, like I did for the stems.

I did blanket stitch the wings because they are bigger pieces, but I added the feather stitch for detail. I think it's pretty.

Hope you all have a good, productive week.

Stay safe and healthy.

Thanks for stopping by.

Don't worry about anything; 

instead, pray about everything.

Tell God what you need, thank him for all he has  done.

Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. He will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Phillipians 4: 6-7