Happy New Year! Welcome to the first TGIFF of 2021! Have we ever been so collectively happy to switch to a new calendar?? Here's hoping that 2021 brings new levels of peace, stability and justice for everyone 😊
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December 31, 2020
TGIFF - The Last Finish of 2020!
December 29, 2020
Let's Get to Know...HollyAnne Knight of String and Story
December 28, 2020
A Prayer for 2021
Devotion for the Week...
Once again, I'm going to let the apostle Paul have the last devotion of the year. Here is my prayer for all of you for 2021.
"I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
December 26, 2020
Goal Planning for 2021
1. Guitar quilts
3. More patterns, in more shops
4. Teach a class
5. Tame the UFO situation
6. Make more little quilts
7. More garment sewing
8. Make a sewing machine cover
1. Finish my 2020 temperature quilt
2. Make a sewing machine cover
3. Finish three UFOs
- My dragon cross stitch. I can't even remember when I started this, but it was many, many, many years ago. I love dragons and would love to have this on my wall. It's not even all that far from finished!
- My Indecisive quilt. I made this as a free pattern back in 2018 to celebrate my 5th blogging anniversary. I started quilting it, but then set it aside for something else. It's way past time to get it finished! When I took it out to take this picture, I discovered I have 10 of the 30 blocks quilted.
- My Let it Snow wall hanging. I made two of these last year as part of an Island Batik ambassador challenge. One I finished and gave to Mom for Christmas. The other is still sitting, basted and waiting for quilting. Strangely, I couldn't find it to take a picture, but I know it's around here somewhere.
4. 8 more printed patterns
5. My Easter project
December 21, 2020
Advent 2020 - Gift Giving
Devotion for the Week...
It's the fourth week of Advent! I get daily updates now from Nathan about how many days are left to Christmas 😊 We have started our Christmas break and it feels wonderful to know I don't have to set the alarm for two weeks. Not that I'm capable of sleeping in anymore, but at least I don't wake to the sound of the alarm.
For the Advent devotions this year, we've been looking at some of our Christmas symbols/traditions and so far we've focused on Christmas music, angels and stars. Today we'll turn our attention to gift giving. Oh, what a tangled web this one turned out to be! When I started researching the history of gift giving, I found everything from 'it's to remind us of the gifts the Wise Men gave Jesus' to 'it's a creation of society's elites who were protecting their own interests."
As far as I can make out, giving gifts was common for centuries, but those gifts were mostly handmade and/or edible. It wasn't until sometime in the 1800s that it started to become more common to buy Christmas gifts, especially for children. Marketing departments quickly realized how beneficial this could become and their efforts gradually led to the shopping season we know today.
There is a biblical basis for giving gifts, though, of course. Speaking of the Wise Men, Matthew wrote, "They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh" (Matthew 2:11). Why gold, frankincense and myrrh? Well, that's a source of speculation, too. There are scholars who believe the gifts were symbolic, with gold representing Jesus' kingship, frankincense His role as priest and myrrh either His role as prophet or His death.
On a deeper level, the whole of Christmas is the giving of a gift. "For a child is born to us, a son is given to us," it says in Isaiah 9:6. Jesus Himself is the ultimate gift, the Son given to all humanity to offer salvation from our sins. Shop all we like, we'll never find a gift to top the news that "The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!" (Luke 2:11).
December 16, 2020
A Christmas Surprise! - Holiday Tales and Traditions
December 14, 2020
Advent 2020 - Stars
Devotion for the Week...
It's the third week of Advent! This year for our Advent devotions we're looking at four of our Christmas symbols/traditions and today we're going to take a look at the stars that are so prevalent in out decorations. In this Advent series, we've already looked at Christmas music and angels, so you can go read those if you've missed any.
The star in our decorations comes from the story of the wise men who came from the East and asked King Herod, "Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him" (Matthew 2:2). Later, as they continue their journey, "the star they had seen in the east guided them to Bethlehem. It went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was" (v. 9). From these verses, we have created a picture in our minds of this massive star that would have been as big and as bright as the full moon, if not bigger and brighter. After all, it was enough to lead these men on the journey to find Jesus!
In reality, though, the star wasn't so obvious. For the ordinary person, looking into the sky at night, it would have blended in with all the other stars. The wise men, on the other hand, were astrologers and made their living out of studying the night sky. They would have noticed any new light, no matter how small.
As educated men, they would also have known prophecies about the coming Messiah from when the people of Israel had been captives in Babylonia hundreds of years earlier. Something about this particular new star brought those stories to mind and sent them on their journey to find the baby who would be king.
A tiny speck of a new star doesn't lend itself to artistic renderings very well, which explains why the Christmas star is always so big and showy. I think we lose something important from the story, though, when we make the star impossible to miss. The sign the wise men followed to find Jesus was miniscule. Anyone who was not watching intently would never have seen it and wouldn't realize the miracle it pointed to.
December 11, 2020
Rahab and the Ram - Jesse Tree Blocks
I'm still picking away at the Jesse Tree blocks, designed by Jen at Faith and Fabric. There's no chance I'll have them all finished before Christmas this year, but maybe if I keep at it I'll have them finished before Christmas 2021. It's something to aim for anyway!
December 09, 2020
Guess Who!
December 07, 2020
More Garment Sewing Fun - with Riley Blake Designer Knits
This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on a link. It doesn't affect the price you pay.
I have three new additions to my wardrobe to share today, all made with Designer Knits from Riley Blake. Thank you, Riley Blake for providing the fabric for this post!
Advent 2020 - Angels
Devotion for the Week...
It's the second week of Advent and here in Newfoundland we still don't have any snow. It's so weird! As I'm typing this it's pouring rain, actually. There is the possibility of snow in the forecast for this week, but I'm the only one in the family who would be happy about that. Do you have snow where you are? Or do you ever have snow?
For this year's Advent devotions, we're looking at four of our Christmas traditions/symbols and their origins in the Bible. Last week I shared some thoughts about Christmas music and today I'm going to look at angels. Angels top Christmas trees, adorn cards and gift wrap, keep watch over manger scenes and look adorable in Christmas concerts and plays (or at least they do most years, not so much in 2020).
There are certainly angels in the Christmas story. There's Gabriel, who appeared to Mary to tell her about the child she would bear (Luke 1:28-38), the angel who appeared to Joseph in a dream, telling him to go ahead and marry Mary (Matthew 1:20-21), the angel who spoke to the shepherds and the "vast host of others—the armies of heaven" who joined him (Luke 2:8-14).
Have you ever noticed that the Bible never tells us what angels look like? The only indication we ever get is that they appear as men and the two angels who are named have male names - Gabriel and Michael. But in terms of their actual appearance, there's nothing. Your guess is as good as mine, and as likely to be right as any artist's representation.
I find it interesting that when an angel appears, they usually immediately tell the person they're visiting not to be afraid, as Gabriel did with Mary and the angel who appeared to the shepherds did as well. I've always wondered if they look that frightening or so obviously otherworldly, or if it's just that their sudden appearance would be frightening. I mean, if some being suddenly appeared next to me as I'm going about my business, I'd probably be scared and need a little reassurance, too, no matter what he looked like!
Representations of angels are more prevalent at Christmas, but real angels are around all year long.
December 06, 2020
Bloom - Love and Kisses blog hop
This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a commission if you make a purchase after clicking on a link. This does not affect the price you pay.
Welcome to my stop on the Love and Kisses blog hop! The Love and Kisses line from Island Batik is designed by Kathy Engle for Sherry Shish of Powered by Quilting and it was impossible to resist these colours.
December 01, 2020
Combination Star - Quilt Block Mania
It's time for Quilt Block Mania again and the theme this month is Stars. I loooooove star quilt blocks! I've used stars in a bunch of my patterns - see Between the Stars, Medallion Magic, Reach for the Stars, Friendship Galaxy and Night Sky.
There are plenty of other Star blocks available from the Quilt Block Mania designers, so hop around and collect them all!
Stargazing Sue
Starburst at Slice of Pi Quilts
Massachusetts Star with blockofthmo.com
Nova Star at Always Expect Moore
Nativity Star
Star Bright - Cotton Street Commons
Five Pointed Star at Duck Creek Mountain Quilting
New Year Star at Stash Bandit
Poinsettia Star
Wish Upon a Satar by Heidi Pridemore
Falling Star at Pretty Piney Quilts
Star Splash at QuiltFabrication
Seward Star at Blue Bear Quilts
Moon Star at Perkins Dry Goods
Starburst at Patti's Patchwork
Cherokee Star
Christmas Tree Star
Christmas Star by Oh Kaye Quilting
Starfish by Appliques Quilts and More
Snowy Star by Seams To Be Sew
Combination Star by Devoted Quilter
Ablaze by True Blue Quilts
November 30, 2020
Advent 2020 - Christmas Music
Devotion for the Week...
It's the first week of Advent! Is your tree up yet? Ours isn't, that will be our task next weekend, but I have been listening to lots of Christmas music 😊
This year for our Advent devotions, I'm going to look at four of our Christmas traditions and their origins in the Bible. Today I'm starting with all that Christmas music I've been enjoying. It's usually one of the first signs of Christmas approaching, but in the biblical accounts of Jesus' birth there are no mentions of anyone singing or playing any music. We almost always associate the host of angels who visited the shepherds with singing, but that's not what Luke records. "Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased'" (Luke 2:13-14).
But just because there's no biblical record of music around Jesus' birth doesn't mean we shouldn't have music to celebrate it today! There are plenty of times in the Bible that we are told to sing. These are just a few examples:
Ephesians 5:18-19: "be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts."
Psalm 100:1-2 says, "Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy."
Psalm 147:1 says, "Praise the Lord! How good to sing praises to our God! How delightful and how fitting."
And Psalm 95:1-2 says, "Come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come to him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to him." That's in the New Living Translation, which is what I usually use. In the King James Version, though, those verses say, "O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms." That is very appropriate for me since my singing is definitely more on the level of joyful noise than actual music!
This Advent season, I'll be making my joyful noise to Him. There's plenty of Christmas music to sing along with, after all, and He doesn't mind that I can't sing worth beans 😊
What are your favourite Christmas songs? Mary's Boy Child, by Boney M, has been my favourite ever since I was a little girl.
November 26, 2020
Sneak Peeks
Being a quilt blogger is hard when you've signed up for a bunch of fun things that mean you're sewing, but you can't share it yet! I have three projects coming up the first week of December, so I thought I'd share some sneak peeks today.
Aside from all the sewing I've been doing, I'm also thinking a lot about next year and what goals I want to set. I've been designing more quilts, too. I've added at least two to my to-make list the past week or so, which explains why that list never gets any shorter 😊
How many things are you working on right now? And how many are you dreaming about??