November 20 – Photo of the Day = Gratitude

I’m grateful for creativity and those who encourage me in this endeavor. Colette is the encourager in this case. She graciously had me over and showed me how to use a cricut & cuddlebug. Look closely at the envelope. It is embossed “Thank you.”

I had an awesome time learning and visiting. Thanks, Colette, for your generous and fun personality.

One class I took at Western Seminary was “Loving God and Others.” We learned that we need to be emotionally, spiritually, and physically sound in order to love well.

Under spiritually I have the following sentences in my notes:

“In what areas are you creative? Are you taking time to express your creativity? You need 2-4 hours of this weekly!!!  Are you using your creativity for immoral or destructive purposes?”

In some mysterious way using our creativity connects us to God. That is true for me. But I have been sadly negligent in allowing myself to create on a weekly basis. Since my schedule is more sane now, I will regularly engage in this activity that rejuvenates me and connects me with God.

What creative project(s) are you working on? How does using your creativity make you feel?

Previous Photos from November’s Photo-a Day.

• Day 1 Photo: Christmas Tree with Broken, Tangled Lights
• Day 2 Photo: Birthday Boy
• Day 3 Photo: Mums at the Church Entrance
• Day 4 Photo: Simple Technology
• Day 5 Photo: Mystery Ice Cream Gift
• Day 6 Photo: Rocking Godson
•  Day 7 Photo: Spontaneous Friends
• Day 8 Photo: Children’s Influence
• Day 9 Photo: Shoebox Gifts
• Day 10 Photo: Changing the Woman in the Mirror 
• Day 11 Photo: Devoted Sisters
• Day 12 Photo: Prayer Calmed Me 4 This
• Day 13 Photo: Gratitude on the Internet
• Day 14 Photo: Chip’s Sweater
• Day 15 Photo: Stop
• Day 16 Photo: Faithful Workers
• Day 17 Photo: Necessary Books
• Day 18 Photo: Friends & No-Knead Bread
• Day 19 Photo: Beauty & Those Who Create It

Other Related Posts:

• 20 Things I’m Grateful For
• Turn Up The Music Song Inspires Thankful List of 20
• 2 Ways I Fed My Creative Side & What I Learned (January)
• 2 Ways I Fed My Creative Side (February)
• Hostess Gift for Tea Party
• Two More Tea Wallets
• 14 Crafty Things I Wish I Could Do This Weekend
• What’s the Name of This Quilt Block?
• Choosing 2 Express Gratitude During November
• Feeling Full On Gratitude
• We Cannot Be Grateful Without Being Thoughtful

P.S. Ann Tatum is hosting 30 Days of Thanksgiving. She encourages us to daily share our gratitude. Click here and be sure to scroll to the bottom of the post and click on Mister Linky. Then you’ll be able  to read other participants on this thankful journey.

Two More Tea Wallets

I made three more tea wallets last weekend. I’ll show two of them here.

Like these? They aren’t hard to make. Go here  for instructions to sew your own.

. The third is a pressie. After its been given I’ll show it off. Go here to see pictures of others I’ve made.

14 Things I Wish I Could Do This Weekend

Wouldn’t it be awesome to spend the whole 3 day weekend crafting? What follows is a list of 14 things I’d do if my to-do list was empty. Let me know if you want to make any of these too. Let’s make a date and craft a while.

1. Cut out squares for a blue jeans quilt for my son. Brooke Reynolds from inchmark made a quilt for her son out of his father’s old work shirts. I love that idea too. Go here to see her post which includes pictures and tips.
2. Make a trash bag for my car. This one  hangs from the headrest. Chica and Jo have step-by-step directions on their blog.  Go here  for the directions. Do you think this could be a good bed treat for retreat some year? Or maybe I’ll make these as Christmas pressies.
3. Sew a snuggly for one (all) of the babies at church. Both my kiddos slept better when they were swaddled nice and tight. Lotta Jansdotter created this pattern. Go here to download it. 
4. Reinforce my tissue patterns so they’ll keep longer. Go here to Christine Sews to find the directions.
5. Sew a Bitty Bug Pincushion. I have a tomato pincushion which is functional but NOT cute. This idea is functional and CUTE. And I want one. Here are the directions at Goody Goody by Lauren.
6. Lauren also has a pattern and directions for a matyroshka tooth fairy pillow. Let me know when you make one. I just printed out the pattern and I am sooo tempted, but I must focus on what’s already on the to-do list.
7. This might be my request for virtual quilting bee , a block o’ string pattern. Rachel Griffith from p.s. i quilt gives step-by-step instructions here.  She says this is a super easy method!
8. Make a fabric corsage for me. These would be cute to give out at Mother’s Day. Leigh Ann describes her idea here. Check out the rest of her blog, the object project for lots of ideas.
9. Brew a better cup of coffee. McAuliflower at Brownie Points gives 7 tricks on how to enhance the flavor of coffee. I don’t drink/make a lot of coffee so my coffee -making skills are negligible. These tips just might make me a popular barista in my crowd.
10. Quilt a fabric tic-tac-toe game. Amy from During Quiet Time fashioned this nine patch pattern into a cool game. Go here for the directions.
11. Improve my health. One habit at a time. Dr. Nicole at Kitchen Table Medicine writes many of the articles at this site. On one post she lists 14 habits that when followed will make a big difference in our health. I’m checking into the flaxseed idea.
12. Take an online knitting class to make socks. Go here for the instructions.
13. Scrapbook. Go here for 12 ideas presented by Shimelle.
14. Create sparkle strawberries. These would make a  wonderful snack or addition to a breakfast meal. Be Different…Act Normal give the details and picture here.

So, what’s on your list of things you’d do this weekend if you could?

What’s the Name of This Quilt Block?

 I came across 49 quilt blocks while going through some stuff in the garage. I hand sewed these when we lived in England (about 1988-1993). Every year all the mums of the local playgroup would sew up these blocks. One talented quilting mum put them all together and then quilted it. The finished quilt was raffled off to earn funds for the playgroup.

Do you know the name of the block?

 

 

 

 

 

 

The scottie dog material is leftover from a dress I made for my daughter when she was about 7. I even made a little doggie pin from the material. The red velvet middle is from a Christmas dress for my daughter I found at a thrift store when she was a toddler.

How should I put this quilt together? Like the below picture? Or should I outline each flower with a solid color?

I had forgotten all about these blocks. I enjoyed basting the material to the paper octogon pattern. Then deciding which pieces to put together to make a complete flower was a challenge. When I look at some of the blocks now, I wonder what I was thinking! Evidently my taste has changed.

It was hard for me to just sit and watch TV. I liked to have a project in hand like this one or cross stitch.

I’ve never put a quilt together before, so any information is welcome.

Hostess Gift for Tea Party

Several weeks ago I attended a Ladies Tea at another church. 3 of the 7 guests at my table were friends from the college group at Sunrise Baptist Church which we attended in the early 80’s. In fact, we haven’t seen each other for at least 20 years! Catching up was fun, bittersweet, and sad. Mainly because those are adjectives that describe life.

I had an encouraging, fun, pampered time. So of course I wanted to send a thank you to the hostesses, Connie and her daughter Chandra. I am also sending 2 tea wallets to go with the thank you note.

I enjoyed sewing the wallets so much, I made 5 of them. I keep thinking about who else NEEDS one. I even covered the buttons with matching fabric on 2 wallets.

Go here (Christy’s Creations) for for the tea wallet instructions.  Go here (Instructables) for the directions to cover buttons without using a kit.

Be sure to let me know if you make one (or 5) too.

2 Ways I Fed My Creative Side (February)

 In February I fed my creative side. I read out loud (with my daughter) & crafted.

Our read aloud book for February was The Hidden Diary of Marie Antoinette: A Novel. 

• Since neither my daughter or I speak French, it was difficult to pronounce (and thus keep straight) the many, many French names of people and places.
• I was also disappointed with the story line. Even though it was a work of fiction, it was touted as an historical work. So, I expected that the author, Carolly Erickson, would use her previous research (she wrote a biography of Marie Antoinette) for this book too. Instead Erickson left out historical people and episodes and made up others. Why do authors/screenwriters do that? The real life story is exciting enough!

We read 224 of the 341 pages of the book. Many days would pass between readings. This was not our norm.

One day while driving home from the grocery store, I asked dd, “Shall we give up on Marie?”

“Yes. Yes, I think we should.” So we did.

Go here for 10 Tips to make reading out loud more enjoyable for adults.

Crafting has been a blast this month. I made 2 types of tea favours for my table at the annual missionary tea. First, I took a small candle in a pretty, round tin, glued ribbon around the lid and glued a flower on top.

Second, I made flower pens. Until I gave them to my table guests I arranged them in a vase and used it as a centerpiece.            

I made 2 dozen pies, berry and lemon meringue; they were made from Sculpey clay.  What we don’t sell at our bake sale, we’ll sell through etsy, an online shop. (The Women’s Ministry team and I made 5 kinds of pies for our tea magnets. See here for pix of other years’ magnets.)

Even though I am a busy woman, I see that I NEED to exercise my creativity on a regular basis. This keeps me sane and happy. Plus, it is so much fun. Life is too short to not have fun. I notice that all my crafting projects have been for others. So this is a win-win for everyone. 

My January creativity is recorded here.