Look to the stars

 Recently my one of my grandsons has said he wants to be an astronaut. Lofty goal for a 7 year old.  So I thought I would make a quilt to keep his dream alive.

Quilting the quilt.

Making it happen.

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Such a friend

 "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21

These very profound words hold such an impact. One Sunday, as our Pastor was preaching from this text, he began to cry. He said as he studied this passage, the realization of his mortality grabbed him. He wrestled with the fact that he really wanted to see his children grow up. He wanted to be here with his family. And yet, the scripture teaches that to die is gain.

Day by day, as we each walk the pathway we are to go, life just seems to keep going. Until we are stopped in our tracks with the loss of a loved one or friend. It's then that we start thinking of the "other side".

21 years ago, on a Sunday morning, during the middle of a raging hurricane, my BFF lost her battle with cancer and walked into the arms of Jesus. I have missed my sweet friend all these years, but on that Sunday, the Pastor's message brought a sense of peace to my heart. Diana was such a special friend. We were friends for almost 20 years. She always encouraged me, with unconditional love and always with a smile. It is selfish of me to want her to be here, when she has gained so much more. As she reached out her hand that Sunday morning, she left behind her tired body to walk with Jesus. I can almost picture her, in my minds eye, looking back at all of us and saying, "It's all right, I'm whole now."

Mark 8:35 states: “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's, will save it” (ESV).

Jesus Christ offers you the greatest freedom - in learning how to die, we learn how to live.

Mr. Darcy?

 

Not Exactly Mr. Darcy by Carolyn Miller was a delightful read.

When Olivia Bennett loses her job as a History teacher she has the opportunity to travel to England to care for her grandmother recovering from hip surgery. A journey where she meets grumpy Liam Brown, the caretaker of Hartbury Hall. One of England's great houses. The house was used in one of the productions of Pride and Prejudice. However the caretaker is hardly anything but gentlemanly.

First impressions are often not what they seem. When Liv becomes involved in the resurrection of Hartbury Hall, she finds all kinds of ways to promote the Hall. Liam's tragic story tugs at Liv's heart until she discovers Liam's real identity.

This was a great story. Full of wonderful characters and good dialogue. A sweet clean romance that blooms in a Jane Austen kind of way.

I received a complimentary ebook copy from the publisher, through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

 

Autmun Nights pumpkins

 Ok So this is the third installment of the Autumn Nights Mystery Quiltalong. 

I did have a wee bit of problem with this block. The first being you needed to fold the strips and match them up to sew. So I ended up marking them on the back side of the fabric because that was the only way I could match them up to sew on an angle.

The second being trimming them to 7 1/2" using a 7 1/5" ruler. Well I don't have a ruler that size so I needed to improvise by using my 12" square. 

It worked but was a challenge for my pee brain.  I watched the video and Kimberly is SO cute and makes it looks so easy.

But in the end it all worked out.

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Yummy Apple Dip

Fall! It's that time of year. So lets make the perfect Apple Dip.

(1) 8 oz package Cream Cheese (soften at room temp)
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/3 cup 10x Powdered Sugar
(2) Tablespoons Vanilla
1/3 cup crushed Salted Peanuts

Blend first 4 ingredients together until smooth.  Add peanuts. Serve with sliced apples.

Simple recipe.

Simply delicious!

Saturday Sparks

Love Your Creativity

Who has the thread

 I am not a thread purist, although I have quite a LOT of thread in my sewing room.

However, I have come to love Superior's The Bottom Line bobbin thread for my machine quilting.

Every time I use this thread in my bobbin, I feel like the Energizer Bunny! It just goes, and goes.

When I use regular thread, I always run out of bobbin thread before I am finished quilting.  Which means I have to take my quilt out of my machine, change the bobbin and find the place to start quilting again. I kind of lose my momentum. 

I'm sure the newer threads are very nice, but they are quite pricey, and you see, one of my biggest challenges in sewing with this expensive thread is a lot of times it ends up in the trash.

Autumn Nights Leaf

 Block two of Autumn Nights Mystery quilt was a leaf pattern. 

Fun and easy to put together. Still one more block to go. Can't wait to see how this will all come together.

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It Shouldn't Be You

 

It Shouldn't Be You by Jessica Wakefield is a well written captivating story about two people who should hate each other. 

Watching Declan and Addey fall in love was so sweet. The demise of the Community Center and the strained relationships with their parents, was a bond waiting to happen. Addey's involvement with senior residents and Declan's mother with early stage Alzheimer’s draws them together. Tensions rise and emotions deepen as they find resolution in the spark that happens between them.

This was a fun clean wholesome romance. 

I received a complimentary copy from the author and voluntarily chose to review it. All opinions are my own.

Great rulers

 I have a lot of rulers. When I first started quilting, I bought a long ruler to use for any occasion. But since then I have acquired many many more.

But today I want to tell you about a little ruler that has been such a help for me.

These Creative Grid rulers are so perfect for accurate trimming.

The smaller one is great for trimming 2 1/2"x 2 1/2".

This is the larger one, which also features the 1/2" markings. But what I love about these rulers is the whole and half size markings.  Takes a lot of the guess work out. There are lots of different sizes to choose from.  And they have the little grips on the back so they stay in place when I am trimming. I believe I got them from Fat Quarter Shop.

Autumn Nights

 The Fat Quarter Shop is hosting another Mystery quilt. This time it is Autumn Nights quilt along.  I downloaded the first two blocks.

Here's my first ones.

I've never made wonky stars before but these were really easy.  

Going to work on block 2 next.

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Quilting the quilts

 It's time for me to finish quilting the Christmas Charity quilts.  

It may take me a while to work on them. The part that takes the longest for me is the binding. My daughter always said "one bite at a time."

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National Sewing Month

 

Do you have big sewing projects in mind? Where will you start? 

Follow along with the Fat Quarter Shop for some fun projects.

• Thursday, September 4th – New Notions To Upgrade Your Sewing Room Blog Post
• Thursday, September 11th – 5 Cute Kitchen Projects You Can Sew in a Weekend Blog Post
• Thursday, September 25th – Kimberly’s Sewing Room Organization Blog Post
• Saturday, September 27th – All The Trimmings Tissue Box Cover Tutorial Blog Post

Welcome September

 

Hoping for cooler days ahead.