Prayer For A Sweet Heart

I want to start this post by asking you to pray for a sweet little boy named Eli.  Eli has attended our church since the day he was born.  He has two brothers, a little sister and parents who love him dearly.  Eli was born with Congenital Heart Disease or CHD.


I want to share a few facts about CHD
Congnital Heart Disease (CHD) is a birth defect of the heart muscle.
2 million Americans are living with CHD.
Each year 40,000 more US babies will be born with CHD, 8,000 of them won't live to see their first birthday.
CHD is the MOST common and MOST lethal birth defect, not just in the USA but world wide.
One out of 100 babies has a heart defect.  CHD is as common as autism but receives less research funding.

Eli's sweet mommy Angela gave me this little card with the sweet little bracelet attatched and asked if I would share this on my blog.  The card shares about a book called "Heart Warriors" by Amanda Rose Adams.  Amanda and Jim Adams' son Liam was born with half a heart.  This book, which tells what it is like being a Heart Mom, can be found here.   We don't always know what to do or say when people we love deal with such trials.  We could donate to the Children's Heart Foundation to help make a difference.  I think the hardest thing is knowing what to do on an everyday basis when we don't know what to say or how to encourage?  My answer to this difficult question is just be there as much as possible and daily prayer.  My prayer for those who deal with the most difficult situations in life, those concerning our children, is that they would have the peace of God each day as they walk through this trial.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, who's mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee.

Isaiah 26:3

Quilt Blocks Update

I have done some work on some quilt blocks recently

First I completed the latest Fat Quarter Stars block, called Fractured Star, designed by Nancy Miller

I made the next block from a design in the magazine pictured below.

I bought the magazine after reading a blog post by Jacquelynne Steves mentioning that she had a block in this issue.  With 100 blocks to choose from there are so many great designs I would like to try sometime.

I made Jacquelynne's block using her Sewing Room Social fabric line, I think I would like to make enough of these to make a quilt.  It was a fun block to put together.

The next project I am a little behind on but hope to catch up soon.  I am working on my Scrappy Plate Club quilt .

I gathered my fabrics, cut the prints out using my new Dresden Quilt tool, a total of 240 print pieces.

Each piece was folded and stitched across the wider end.

I stitched all 240 together without cutting the thread more than a few times.

Here they are ready for clipping the corner and pressing.

4 done, 236 to go.

I think I am going to like this quilt with the 1930's type prints.

Names, Names and More Names

The projects below are some that I have been working on for several months.  I completed the embroidery using three strands of variegated floss and stitching them in chain stitch.  The names have been sitting on a table in my sewing room for a long time.  Now that I have rested for several days after a surgical procedure I was determined to be a little creative and complete a project or two.  Well here are four projects that I completed this week.

The glass in the frames causes a little reflection and makes the embroidery harder to see in the picture but each of these are going to little boys rooms and the protection should keep them clean longer.

Linking to Air Your Laundry Friday at Freckled Laundry

and Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life

Simple Changes

It has been quite some time since my last before and after blog post.  We have been working to make some changes in our living room.  It all started when I found some great fabric on clearance, $5.00 per yard, while browsing at a fabric store.  I bought all they had and made plans to make curtains for our living room.  It took me some time to get them done but they are now hanging.  The curtain change made a slight paint color change necessary.  Then you know how that goes, one thing follows the other.

This is the fabric that started it all.

Below are pictures of our living room before I changed the curtains.

I can see the toys peaking out from the end of the couch.

Once the curtains were complete, we made a slight change in the paint color, it feels a little "softer".

Lyndie and I painted the mirrors and many things were not hung back up on the walls.  It will take a while to figure out what should go back up.

New area rug but still have the same very necessary toy box for the grandkids.

This is my favorite reading or sewing space.  The bright light makes it work great for my aging eyes.

A temporary "slip cover" helps bring things together.  I plan to sew a fitted cover someday soon, I must say that it is not at the top of my "to do" list though.   

I like the simple changes that started when I found a beautiful length of fabric on the clearance rack.

Linking with

 Show Off Your Cottage Monday at The House in the Roses

Metamorphasis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day!  I am spending the day resting after a surgical procedure and have been spoiled by my Sweet Valentine of over 40 years.  We started dating in the summer of 1970, which must seem like a long time ago to many of you.  I know that our marriage has been blessed by the Lord. 

The picture below is of a pillow I made using a design from Shadow Redwork by Alex Anderson.

 

There is a phrase about love in the "shadow"

True Love

Is the Joy of Life

I believe that the only True Love we can ever know is the love of God.

Oh Love of God how rich and pure

How measureless and strong

It shall forevermore endure

The saints and angels song.

This is the chorus from a song my husband sings at church, The Love of God.  It has always been a favorite of ours.

This Valentine and the one below belonged to my grandmother.

Tell someone you love them!

Happy Valentines Day!

I am linking with Pat Sloan's Valentine Link Party.

Valentine Swap

I participated in a fun swap sponsored by Luanne at Nanalulu's Linens.  My swap partner was Kay who lives in the San Diego area.  Pat and I lived in San Diego for the first four years of our marriage and we loved living in such a beautiful place.  Our first son Nathan was born there. 

There were some guidelines for the swap, we were to send our partner something new, something vintage and something handmade.  These items were to be Valentine related.  We were to try to get to know each other a little through email, facebook or our blogs.   It is always fun to make a new friend and also to send and receive a fun package.

                                                These are the items Kay sent to me.

A beautiful scarf, valentine socks, bracelet, "be mine cupcake", metal heart, pillow kit and vintage tea towel.

She sent me more than three items as you can see.  I wore the scarf to our Valentine Dinner at church and received several compliments.

Thank you Kay!

I am looking forward to working on the pillow kit while I am off work for the next two weeks.

Below are pictures of the items I sent to Kay.

I enjoyed this swap and thank you again to Kay for the great gifts and to Luanne for organizing this.