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“I have given skill to all the skillful, so that they may make all that I have commanded you. “ Exodus 31:6


“O Thou who art the all pervading glory of the world, we bless Thee for the power of beauty to gladden our hearts.
We praise Thee that even the least of us may feel a thrill of the creative joy when we give form and substance to our thoughts and, beholding our handiwork, find it good and fair. “.
Walter Rauschenbusch


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"Come, and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what He has done for me.
I cried out to Him with my mouth; His praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished sin in my heart, the LORD woud not have listened and heard my voice in prayer.
Praise be to God, Who has not rejected my prayer or withheld His love from me!" Psalm 66:16-20
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Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Today is my birthday !

And it has been a very blessed day.........seriously !   It is a bit overwhelming to look upon the declarations of love and good wishes that have been showered upon me today !

But I thought that it would be a good day to do a bit of catching up here at the end of this productive couple of months.   I have neglected to journal my quilting endeavors, and hope to remedy that a bit right now.

Let's see......I think that I did mention that I was hoping to undertake the hand-quilting of a top that JoAnn made many years ago.  Gary and Jennifer sent it to me, along with some of Jodie's fabrics and things that they thought that I would enjoy.

Well, I started the quilting around the first of October, and finished it one month later.  Here are a few pictures of the finished quilt.





A close-up of the simple quilting.



 After completing that in such a hurry, I had a scare with my eyesight, and all I could think was, "what if I can no longer quilt????????????????" 

Anyway, I had developed a penetrating headache behind my left eye while pushing to get the borders quilted and the binding done.  Then that eye's sight became fuzzy.  So I donned an eyepatch that I had left from a problem that James once encountered, and I wore it for three days while requesting prayer for the situation.  After 3 days the headache was gone, the vision cleared, and I was very THANKFUL !   I no longer take my vision for granted , and I try not to push myself so hard either.

So, the next thing that I tackled was a design that I had laid out on my design wall.   I had been struggling with whether to do a diagonal setting, or a straight one.....
I wound up choosing the straight set, much to the disappointment of many on Facebook of whom I had asked an opinion.  Partly I didn't want to fool with the trouble of piecing setting triangles; but also, I just really liked the different look of it as a square.
And that's where it still stands.  It's kindof an awkward size , so I haven't moved forward, but it will most likely get quilted without adding any more size.
The geese were made in a 'sew and flip' type of construction, buiding each goose on top of the last one pieced.  I made them in lots of 6, with the idea of using them as this sashing.  The setting squares are the little Lorraine Mooney string-block variations that we shared on Facebook.

Next, I got the opportunity, just last Monday, actually, to go to Franklin with a friend and shop the JoAnn Fabrics store.  Let me just tell you that I was overwhelmed with the selection of fabric.  In my little town, we have a small fabric store (blessing there!) and Walmart.  Otherwise I have to use Hobby Lobby in the town that is 45 minutes away.
  Anyway, long story, short, I found a batting and extra-wide fabric backing that I needed, at a great pre-Black Friday price.

  Sooooooooooooo......I moved the furniture back against the walls, and I finally got to baste the quilt-top that I had pieced with James' flannel shirts.  I finished it in time (machine-quilted) to present to my daughter and her bunch this past Sunday, when we celebrated my birthday AND Thanksgiving together at my house.  She was thrilled.
 
 I made it big enough to be a generous snuggle quilt to bring comfort on cool evenings, sick days, and just "I miss Pawpaw" times.

The bright flannels are from his shirts, and the small black and grey check is new.  The backing that I bought was also flannel, and the entire quilt turned out very soft and snuggly. Obviously, it is machine-quilted.  The square grid is accidental, and I love it.  
Cat approved !
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My granddaughter was born on my 46th birthday (best birthday gift EVER !), and she turned 16 years old today.  Since they're now living in Clarksville, she's not really wild about being a new driver in that heavy traffic, so she's taking her time pursuing the getting of her full driver's license.  I think that that is a very wise decision.  

And, T.J. has grown by leaps and bounds, and played on a football team for the first time this Fall.  Look how much taller he is than Seth !  He's quickly becoming a young man.


Well, that's a pretty good wrap-up of what's been happening in my world.  Not sure what I'll get into next, but it's always fun getting there. 

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