WIPS-B-GONE 2024!

It's time to turn some WIPs into finishes! The WIPS-B-GONE challenge is back for another year and I can't wait to see the finished projects start to pile up 😊 You can click here to join the challenge.

In case you're not familiar with WIPS-B-GONE, this is my annual challenge to help us finish up lingering works-in-progress so we can free up space (physical and mental) for new things. Those newly finished projects can then be used, displayed, gifted, donated, or sold - any of which is better than sitting unfinished in a cupboard or closet.

There's no set rule for what counts as a WIP - you decide if you're only going to count things that have been started, or if you'll include the projects you've pulled fabric for or even the ones that are only a vague idea right now.

For October and November, work on your WIPs each day and you'll be amazed how much you can accomplish, just like I am every year! To help keep us on track, I have daily trackers you can download once you sign up for the challenge. It is so satisfying to colour in the icon for each day after working on my projects! This year there are 5 daily trackers to choose from, some the same as last year and some different. These daily tracking sheets are probably the most popular part of the challenge, aside from the actual finished projects, of course.

Throughout the challenge, you'll also receive Monday Motivation emails to help, well, motivate you to stick to it and keep making progress. It's easy to lose steam in a challenge that lasts 61 days, so I aim to make the Monday Motivation emails a little boost to keep us in the game and having fun 😊

If you have projects stashed in a cupboard, closet, bag, or drawer and you'd love to see them finished, join us for WIPS-B-GONE 2024!

Join the WIPS-B-GONE challenge here

Joy BOM

July was very Christmassy in my sewing room, between the Merry Mini QAL (I still haven't put the bindings on my minis!) and the Stash Artists BOM sample I was making that I'm finally taking the time to blog. Meet Joy 😊

The letters and the holly are each made up of a different classic quilt block, pieced in one colour (mostly) so the piecing stayed subtle. Designing this one took a long time because at first I tried to use a phrase, but it would have made a really big and oddly proportioned quilt. I tried a bunch of different variations before giving up on that version and switching to using joy instead.

If you look closely at the background, you may notice some of those squares are pieced, too. I love how the pieced squares add a little extra interest to the background, but that part is totally optional. I did some of each of the blocks in my white and cream scraps, but there was no rhyme or reason to how many I did of each block. It was honestly just however many pieces I felt like cutting at the time. 

Stash Artists members received the fabric requirements and instructions for the J in August, then the O at the beginning of September. The Y will be October's block, then the holly in November, and then assembly of the whole quilt top in December. So it's possible Stash Artists could have completed Joy quilts in time to display for Christmas this year. Will I have my own quilted by then? Only time will tell 😆

At The Right Time

Devotion for the week...

It's time to get back into the devotion-writing groove 😊 Over the summer there were a few times I thought I might need to extend the break past the beginning of September because there were just no devotion ideas coming. Usually I read something in my Bible that sparks an idea fairly often, or something happens during the day that brings a Bible verse to mind, but for weeks there was just nothing. I'll be honest, it made me wonder if it was time to give up writing devotions altogether, or at least if it was time to plan an extended, open-ended break.

Then one day in late August, I looked through a list of devotion ideas on my phone and one of them jumped right out at me, ready to be written (I used it for the September Stash Artists devotion). A day or two later, during my morning Bible reading, a verse stood out to me and I thought about it for the rest of the day, considering how I could write about what it had made me think.

After that happened a second time, I remembered a story Corrie Ten Boom tells in her book, The Hiding Place. It has been a while since I read the book, so I'm paraphrasing here: Corrie was a young girl when she talked to her father about being worried she wouldn't have the courage to face trials. 

He asked her, "When do I give you money for a train ticket?" 

Corrie replied, "When I'm ready to go on the train."

Her father then told her, "It's the same way with God giving us what we need in life. When the time comes for you to face a trial, He will give you the courage you need."

That made me think of Moses, who argued with God when God told him to return to Egypt to set the Israelites free from their slavery. Moses kept asking, "But what if this happens? What if that happens?" when really all his objections came down to, "What if I can't do it?" Then, in Exodus 4:10, he says, "Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue." In other words, he was saying, 'I don't know what to say or how to say it. I don't have the words for what you're asking me to do.'

God wasn't worried about whether or not Moses knew what to say. "Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say" (vv. 11-12).

Jesus also reassured His disciples that they didn't need to worry about having the right words to say. "On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you' (Matthew 10:18-20).

Writing devotions isn't a trial for which I need courage, and I'm not intimidated by the thought of standing before Pharoah, governors or kings, but I do need inspiration for the things I write here, and I've always known that comes from Him. Over those few days in August, I felt like He was reminding me that He will provide the thoughts and ideas when I need them. I don't have to worry if there don't seem to be any ideas when I'm taking a break from writing, the well won't run dry, and He will provide what I need at the right time.

What do you need from Him? Whether it's courage, ideas, strength, or anything else, you can be assured that He will provide it at the right time.