Progress

I am linking up with Amy today for her One Thing, One Week Challenge.  I have several projects percolating and it seems as though I just can't get any one of them completed, so my goal this past week was to get at least one of the quilt tops I have been working on finished.

I am happy to report that not only did I finish two, I also prepared the backs and they are now ready to be quilted and I finished a small wall hanging.

This quilt was made using a Mary Engelbreit layer cake that I've had in my stash for several years and the Twister ruler and pattern by CS Designs.  I am pleased with how it turned out.

This quilt is last years block of the month club at one of our local quilt shops.  The setting and layout are my own design.

To be fair I only had to add the final border to both quilts.  The wall hanging was a little more work, I hand quilted it very simply added a hanging sleeve and binding and now its ready for next christmas.

What have you been working on lately?

Blessed

I suppose if I had to sum up the past year in one word, it would be that one, blessed.  Not because it was a stellar year full of hopes and dreams fulfilled with financial and worldly successes, but because it wasn't and yet in spite of all the turmoil we were truly blessed beyond measure in each and every day.  Blessed by a neighbor, a friend, a relative, a stranger, someone who wasn't afraid to reach out and lend a helping hand when needed, despite not being asked.  And looking back and even in the midst of it all I can and did see God's provision for us and I am truly humbled by it all.

Thanks.

I could list all our troubles and woes and our continued frustration with the situation at hand, but I'm not going to.  We all have our troubles and in the moment we all think that it couldn't get any worse for us.  But the truth is, it could and only when we compare our troubles to others can we see how really insignificant they are in the big picture, we aren't faced with starvation or in danger of human trafficking or sitting under the cloud of political oppression.  I don't mean to make light of anyones woes, I only want to encourage a new perspective, one seen through the lens of hope and grace.  Embrace the ordinary work of today, working for the reward of a smile, a kind word, a heartfelt thank you, it is in those things we find the extraordinary blessings of grace and forgiveness.

My goal this year if I had to make one would be this, to pay it forward, wholeheartedly.

I'm going to support my local church, the boring christians.

I'm going to cheer for the runners.

And I'm going to feed the hungry.

Won't you join me?

He has show you, O mortal, what is good.

And what does the Lord require of you?

To ACT justly and to LOVE mercy

and to WALK humbly with your God

Micah 6:8

December in Review

Well the month is almost over and so is this year.  I'll not be sad to see it go, not because it was an especially bad month or year but because it is better to look forward than to wallow in the past.

Anyway . . .

It has been a busy month.  The week before Christmas being the busiest of all as I'm sure many of you can attest too.  All in all it was a good Christmas, a good month.

The boys had fun running all over the christmas tree lot, "helping" us pick out the perfect tree.  HT  really wanted one like Charlie Brown's.

I found these two cars in the fridge one morning.

 Then I found this one the following day hiding in the stable.  Even Italian race cars worship the King.

HT had his Winter Program at pre-school.  Lasted a whole 7 minutes.  I know, right?!

 He sure was cute though and did his Mama proud.

 We came home and decorated Snoopy's doghouse . . . 4 times, thank you very much.

 Some of us are having fun.

Do I look like I'm having fun, or does that face say, "If you ever buy these again Auntie, you are doing the decorating, NOT me!"?

I've mentioned here before how this boy does love a bucket.  They do make the most fashionable head gear . . . for a two year old.

 

The Christmas eve service at church with the "impromptu" live nativity was really enjoyable and the kids had fun acting out the parts.

HT could hardly wait to dive into the presents on Christmas morning.

The boys got everything they could have asked for and more.  The only specific request made was for a treasure map.  So Papa sat down and drew one for HT and he had fun following it and finding where X marked the spot.  His treasure was a boxed set of Roald Dahl books and we have been reading James and the Giant Peach and he is loving it.

EM was content to play with his "marmol machine" as he calls it. For those of you who don't speak toddler, "marmol" means marble.  He also got several dump trucks or "dumb frucks" as he calls them, which can be quite amusing, unless you are walking into the store as he sees one and he starts telling you all about it in the loudest possible voice. "Wook mama, dumb fruck!"

And finally we feasted on roast lamb for Christmas dinner with my brother and his family.

Merry belated Christmas to you all and I pray that God will bless you and yours in the coming New Year!

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. 

Amen."

Revelations 22:21

Tissue Holder Tutorial

I was going to link up this post with Sew and Tell Friday over at Amy's, but it's not friday, so you can decide if I'm really early for next friday or late for last friday.

Anyhoo. . .

Some of you may have noticed that I haven't written much of anything lately.  I've kinda been in a fog.  My house is a mess, we've eaten lots of junk food and I sometimes find myself wishing for the day to end.

Usually I find solace when I can be creative.  But even that has been hampered due to my limitations since the surgery.  I did however make these.

They were super simple and I have made more than a dozen and have sold some and given some away.  I wrote a pattern and made up over 60 kits to sell at one of our local quilt shops and was very pleased that all of the kits sold in less then a week.  They did so well in fact that they sold my samples too.

For all you fabric aficionados I used Hometown by Sweetwater for Moda, the denim weight cotton for the exterior and regular for the lining.

And for all you who would like to make one . . .

cut 1  6" x 7 1/2" denim weight cotton for exterior
cut 1  6" x 7 1/2" for lining
cut 2  6" pieces of decorative trim

1.  Lay fabric pieces right sides together and using 1/4" seam allowance stitch together short sides, remembering to back stitch at beginning and ending point.

2.  Turn right sides out, then press.

3.  Using matching thread, add decorative trim along sewn pressed edge.

4.  Mark the center of long sides.

5.  With lining face down, fold sewn edges toward center point, meeting in the middle.

6.  With a 1/4" seam allowance stitch in place, remembering to backstitch and beginning and ending point.

7.  Zig zag raw edges to finish.

8.  Turn right side out, insert tissues.

This makes a great little gift for a mom, a grandmother, an aunt, a sister, a friend or anyone else you can think of who might like one.

If you don't sew and would like to have one e-mail me and we can work something out.

Have a God blessed day!

A Thankful Hodgepodge

I'm thankful for the hodgepodge today if for no other reason it gives me something to blog about since I have nothing else to blog about, so as long as you're here you might as well sit back, relax and read on.  You'll thank me later.

1.  Let's start with something controversial . . . dressing or stuffing?  What is it called at your house and what's included in your recipe . . . cornbread? oyster? sausage? chestnuts?

I won't be dressing the turkey with any stuffing this year, my sister is doing the cooking.  The only stuffed dressing I have made is the kind where I try to stuff my oversized self into my dressing every day.  I don't think you want my recipe for that.  And stuffing made with cornbread is just so wrong, so, so, wrong people.

2.  Who do you sometimes compare yourself to?

I try not to make comparisons, they always seem to come out badly with me on the short end of the stick.  And since we are being thankful today, I'm thankful for who I am.  Others  have told me that I am a lot like my mother and I'm okay with that.

3.  When were you last inside an airport?

August.  Visited the in-laws and had a wonderful time.  I am thankful to have such loving, accepting in-laws.

4.  What is one side dish that must absolutely be included in a turkey dinner?

Mashed potatoes and gravy.

5.  What Christmas song do you dread hearing?

The one with the dogs barking jingle bells.  I'm not really a dog person but am thankful that other people are, let them listen to them barking on the radio.

6.  If someone approaches you and asks for money do you give it to them?  Do you drop money "in a tin cup" that belongs to a person on the street?  Do you have a specific charity you support during the holiday season and/or year round?

Rarely, but my husband generally will.  Although I did give someone bus fare the other day.  I have been known to buy someone a sandwich or put gas in someones car tank and besides our regular giving to the church we have anonymously left presents on the door step of those in need during the holiday season.  We have been given so much and I am very grateful for what has been given.  I'm a big believer in paying it forward.

7.  Share a favorite Thanksgiving memory.  If you live in a country that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving share a favorite memory associated with food.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and not because every so often it falls on my birthday as it does this year, but because it is about nothing more than giving thanks and I remember one such occasion when everyone was home.  I don't remember the gifts or the food or if there was cake in addition to the other desserts what I remember is the fellowship and the camaraderie between family and friends as we celebrated our blessings.

8.  Insert your own random thought here.

I read this today and was inspired to remember what I already have.  I won't repeat Sara's list here but wanted to add my thanks for/to my family and friends.

Your ever grateful servant,
Charming's Mama

 ". . . O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever."

Psalm 30:12

PHFR - Kids Say the Darnedest Things

Over at Like Mother, Like Daughter they do a weekly link up party called, Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real.  The intent is to capture in words and/or pictures "the context of everyday life" or is it "contentment" anyway I have linked up with them once before and thought I would do so again today.

{Pretty}

We had our first snow fall of the season two weeks ago, before the trees dropped all their leaves and it was really pretty.  Especially when the sun peeked through the clouds and made it all sparkly.  I was glad that it didn't last very long.  

But the boys took full advantage.

{Happy}

Sometimes it really is the simplest little things that make you happy, like finding a love note in post-it note form stuck the the computer screen yesterday morning.

A surprise play date with a friend.

A visit from your nephew before he moves to a foreign country.

{Funny} 

So, funny story . . .  the other night we were sitting down to supper and HT asked about the menu when I put some chicken crispers in front of him, he inquired if they had bones in them.  His Auntie quickly assured him that they did not, then she asked him if he had bones in him, he assured her that he did and she continued with, "Are you sure?  Do you have bones here (pointing to his arm) and here (pointing to his hands) and what about here (grabbing his little finger)?"  

He felt each body part and assured her again that he did.  

Then in all seriousness he said, "I know somewhere that doesn't have any bones."  

"Really?" was her reply, "Where?"

That's when he told her his p***s,  didn't have any bones.  I am not going to spell out the word for you because I don't want any undesirables googling that word and landing on my blog but I will tell you that he was referring to his "daddy parts".

If those chicken crispers had had bones in them we would have all choked on them, trying to stifle our laughter.

Smart boy.  I felt it necessary as his mother to point out that his nose and his outer ears also do not have any bones in them.

{Real}

This boy does love a bucket and it makes him very happy to dump the contents and run up and down the hallway with it on his head.

Even if it does make it difficult to get to ones nose.  He also has caused me more grey hair in his two short years, than his brother has in five.  He's the reason it has taken me all day to get this post written.

And I love him still.

Say Cheese

I took the boys into Kiddie Kandids to get their pictures taken last month, (perhaps you noticed the new header) and they turned out fabulous, I just might be partial though but I think I have two of the handsomest boys on the planet and by far the most charming . . .

Anyhoo.

That's not the point of this post, well sort of . . .

I have bemoaned my struggles with making a photo collage with my severely lacking computer and software and can't really afford any fancy upgrades of photo editing software so I have had to make do with its limitations, which left me frustrated and discontent.

That was until one of my blogging buddies clued me in.

Have you heard about picnik.com?

It's free and easy to use.

So I have been making collages, lots of them, maybe you've noticed on a few of the last several posts.

See I told you they were handsome.

The free service is a little bit limiting as you can only upload 5 pictures at a time and there are only 12 basic collage layout to choose from but you can increase or decrease the spacing between your photos, change the shadow color, add rounded corners among other options, but once you are done you can save the collage to your hard drive, where you can then upload it to your blog or anyplace else you desire.

So yeah, give it a shot.

You too could make fabulous collages like these.

And just so you know picknik has no idea who I am or that I wrote this review,  I just like their service and thought I would share.  It's too good of a good thing not to share.

And before you holler at me about copyright infringement I bought the CD and the rights to publish the pictures.