Works in Progress

I feel like I'm working on lots of things, but there's not much to show for it, so I guess that means it's time for a WIP Wednesday post 😊

My WISPs (works in slow progress) are progressing, though true to their name, they're both moving along slowly. As I've mentioned before, I'm joining some of the stars for Scattered Stars, and the piece is now about 18" x 10" at it's widest parts. Trying to keep the stars looking scattered, rather than in regular rows, means joining some interesting shapes together.

When I came across small scraps of this pebble fabric, I couldn't resist making a star out of it. I think this will be the next star I join in.

My Hexie Rainbow quilt is one round bigger than when I shared it last. Next up will be two rounds of black. I have a bunch of black hexies basted, but I want more, in more prints, so I can mix up the prints a bit, so I'm not ready to start those rounds yet. There's less than a month left of school, so I'm thinking once summer break gets here I'll be able to spend more time handstitching with a cup of tea in the mornings than I can manage right now. Come on, summer!

I made three of these adorable 6" churn dashes for a secret sewing project that needs to be sent out near the end of June. I love this Kona jade! I usually go for projects with lots and lots of pieces, but this one is mostly just simple patchwork, and it is coming together really quickly. The rows are sewn together already and I'll soon have a finished top.

And, of course, the quilts for the seniors are still taking up a lot of time. This week I was invited to drop in on a local sewing group who have been a huge help with joining blocks into tops for this project and I snapped this picture of them. This is just a small portion of the army of quilters near and far who have come together to make this project work.

I now have 9 finished quilts in the house and 20 tops ready to be quilted. There are also still blocks bundled together, but not yet sewn as well as tops that are being sewn by others but haven't been returned to me yet. I'm thinking a total of 50 quilts won't be a surprise!

I've gone through all of the donated batting, so I've started using donated money to buy batting. There's no shortage of backing or binding yet, though, so it's just a matter of getting things matched up and given out. This week I'm aiming to give a bunch more out to be quilted so they can move from the 'tops waiting to be quilted' pile into the 'finished quilt' pile 😊It really is amazing to watch these quilts come together!

And, on a non-sewing note, we have some moose who are hanging out around town this year. It's not exactly rare for moose to be seen in town, but they don't usually stick around for so long. These ones have been seen over and over the past couple of weeks, and they don't seem at all concerned about the people around them. While walking with the kids this morning, I was very grateful that moose are herbivores and I didn't need to worry that this guy was looking at me and the 4 littles with me as a tasty snack!

So, that's where things stand around here! What are you working on lately?

Be Still

Devotion for the Week...

Being forced to be still drives me batty. Don't get me wrong...I am very good at being lazy when I choose to be. Reading for a couple of hours, scrolling Instagram, reading quilty blog posts or hand stitching in the chair with a cup of tea are all perfect. Sitting in that same chair for two entire days because I just don't have the energy to do anything else? That makes me crazy!

Unfortunately, over the past couple of years I've had a few instances of weird colds that start off with me being stuffed up or having a scratchy throat and then just turn into sheer exhaustion that leaves me unable to do anything but sit. And the whole time I'm sitting my mind is running through all the things I had planned to be getting done that day, and getting more and more frustrated because I can't actually do any of it.

Recently I had one of those forced-to-sit-and-do-nothing weekends and I hated it. While I was sitting there, thinking about how much I hate to be still, though, I thought of the verse that says, "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). 

Being forced to be physically still doesn't guarantee that I'm going to focus on God, though, as evidenced by my to-do list running constantly through my mind as my frustration level mounted. Which is probably why the command in this verse does not necessarily mean a physical stillness, but rather a spiritual one. The original word used for "still" has the connotation of letting something go slack and of not holding it tight anymore.

 Psalm 46 as a whole is about God as our refuge, which is actually how the psalm starts: "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging" (vv. 1-3). The psalm feels to me like a study in contrasts - the trouble and upheaval in this world set opposite the steadiness and constant protection provided by God.

I think that's what God wants us to see when He tells us, "Be still, and know that I am God." It's not that we have to physically sit and do nothing, but that our minds and our spirits can step away from the craziness and upheaval of this world and remember how He provides for us. Remember how He protects us, how He is our safe haven, no matter what is going on in our lives. We can choose to still ourselves spiritually and remember that He is God. Though our world may feel like it is nothing but chaos and confusion, He is our refuge and strength, our ever-present help in whatever trouble we face.

Even while we scratch things off our to-do lists this week, let's choose to be still, spiritually, and focus on Him as our refuge and strength.

But I Want It!

Devotion for the Week...

I deal with toddlers all day long. Sometimes when they want to do something, they ask for it over and over and over and over and over..."I want colour." "I want colour." "I want colour." It doesn't matter that I've already said they have to wait until I get the lunch dishes cleared off the table so there's room to colour, they just keep asking and asking as if saying it more often will make it happen sooner.

Or maybe they want a toy someone else already has. "I want phone." "Yes, but it's Fiona's turn." "I want phone." "I heard you, but it's not your turn." "I want phone." "You still have to wait." Saying it over and over won't change the fact that they can't have it yet.

It makes me wonder how often God hears our prayers and answers with "Wait," but we keep asking and asking and asking, as if the more we ask the faster it will happen. How often does He shake His head at our incessant requests for the same thing, all the while knowing that He has answered and we just won't listen?

This question is further complicated by the fact that God wants us to come to Him with our requests, and even encourages us to come repeatedly. Luke 18:1 actually says, "Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up." The parable of the persistent widow tells the story of a widow who came to the home of "a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought" (v. 2) and pleaded with him to "Grant me justice against my adversary" (v. 3). Finally the judge granted her request, not because he wanted to do the right thing, but because the widow kept bothering him (v. 5). The point is not that we can wear God down by constantly asking for what we need, but that we should never give up in asking. 

I think the key here, though, is that the widow was asking for justice against an adversary. She was asking for something she needed. Jesus concluded that parable by saying, "And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly (vv. 7,8). 

When we are asking for something we need, then God will answer and He will do so quickly. But He's not working on our timetable and we are to be persistent in the asking until He meets our need.

But how often are we simply asking for what we want because it will make our lives easier? Never mind the plan God has for us, or how He wants to shape us through the hard times in our lives. We want everything to be easy and pleasant and good. And if it's not the way we want, we pray and pray and pray and pray that God will make it the way we want.

The toddlers I look after have to learn patience. They need to learn to take turns with the toys and they need to learn that the whole world doesn't revolve around what they want. It can be a hard lesson for them to learn. 

We may be adults, but there are times we behave like toddlers, wanting God to let us have our own way all the time. Just as that isn't what is best for toddlers, it isn't what is best for us either.

What if God is saying to us, "Wait. This has to happen first and then you can have that." Or what if He is saying, "This is not the time for you to have this thing you want. You need to learn patience. You have to wait." Or even, "No. There is a lesson for you in this." After all, God didn't remove the thorn in Paul's flesh, but left it there as a reminder that His grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:8,9). And Paul stopped asking. 

Maybe we need to stop asking for some things, too.