News Travels

Devotion for the Week...

I recently came across a phrase that has been part of newspaper culture for generations: "If it bleeds, it leads." Morbid as it sounds, it describes the philosophy that the bloodier the news, the more prominence it should have in the paper because that is the sort of story that sells the most newspapers. No wonder the news is always full of doom and gloom.

With the pandemic offering plenty of fodder for this 'doom and gloom' type of news, I have really been enjoying John Krasinski's Some Good News on Mondays. Have you watched it yet? Every single episode so far has brought tears to my eyes at least once. Krasinski shares stories like the cab driver who was honoured by his local hospital's staff for bringing patients to and from the hospital for free, and a girl who finished cancer treatments and was welcomed home by family and friends who lined the road in their vehicles so they could celebrate with her safely, and entire cities turning out to clap and cheer for their frontline workers every evening. It is refreshing to hear about things that are beautiful and sweet and good.

The apostle Paul was delighted to hear good news about one of the churches he started. He wrote to the church in Thessalonica about what he was hearing: "And now the word of the Lord is ringing out from you to people everywhere, even beyond Macedonia and Achaia, for wherever we go we find people telling us about your faith in God. We don’t need to tell them about it, for they keep talking about the wonderful welcome you gave us and how you turned away from idols to serve the living and true God. And they speak of how you are looking forward to the coming of God’s Son from heaven—Jesus, whom God raised from the dead" (1 Thessalonions 1:8-10).

Put yourself in Paul's place for a moment. Wouldn't it feel wonderful to hear reports, wherever you go, telling you about the faith of these people you had introduced to Jesus? Wouldn't that bring tears to your eyes in a good way? That must have been so reassuring for him, to know that people were continuing to live and share their faith even after he moved on to teach about Jesus somewhere else.

Not only that, but it sounds like it was also making people more receptive to his message. Have you ever heard the term 'social proof'? According to WhatIs.com, "Social proof is the influence that the actions and attitudes of the people around us (either in real life or online) have on our own behavior. The "proof" element is the idea that if other people are doing it (or saying it), it must be correct." This is why companies have testimonials on their products or their website and why books have blurbs from popular authors. It's also why businesses want you to like their FB pages, because the more likes they have, the more social proof that gives them and the more appealing they look to new potential customers.

Paul says that when he traveled to new places, the people there were already talking about how the people of Thessalonica had changed their lives after accepting Paul's message. I would imagine that meant people were already interested in what Paul had to say and intrigued by the possibility that his message could be true. After all, the Thessalonians hadn't changed their lives so dramatically for nothing, and it had to have been a dramatic change for word to be spreading like it was.

Background quilt is Sparkler

When people talk about us, would our faith in God be part of the conversation? Is it a noticeable part of our lives, something significant enough that people are even aware of it? That Jesus came to offer salvation to everyone is the ultimate good news. Do our lives help that good news to travel?

Pinwheel Bookmarks

When I shared the Black Eyed Susan blocks I made for Darlene in the True North Bee, I said that I made a lot of bonus HSTs while doing all the stitch-and-flip units. I turned the HSTs into 2" unfinished pinwheels, using them as my leaders and enders while working on a few little projects.

Then I wasn't quite sure what to do with them. There were 10 pinwheels, all in coordinating colours, but in kind of random combinations. I tried arranging them into a pleasing layout so I could make a mini quilt or mug rug out of them, but I just wasn't feeling it.

Then I hit on the idea of making bookmarks and I loved that idea so much I did the entire project without thinking to take a single picture of the process. Ooops! Oh well...here are the finished bookmarks 😊

Five pinwheels in a row felt like it would make the bookmark too long, so I chose to add two 2" squares to the mix so I could make three bookmarks that are 1½" x 6". I had a strip of the same white print that is in some of the pinwheels, so that's what I used for the backs. I chose not to use batting, in the interest of keeping the bookmark as thin as possible. Even without batting, they have a nice heft because of all the seams in the pinwheels.

I always save bits of ribbon, so I had a length of orange ribbon that worked nicely. I stitched it to one end of each bookmark, then stitched the fronts and backs together, leaving a gap for turning.  Folded the seam allowances under after turning, pressed, then top stitched all the way around and they were done.

Quick and simple, oh-so-cute and made entirely from scraps 😊

I've listed them in my Etsy shop, if you're looking for some new bookmarks, for yourself or for a gift.

TNB Blocks - Catching Up

I've fallen behind in sharing my True North Bee blocks, so here's a quick catch up post 😊

Conni asked for scrappy patchwork hearts back in February, using this tutorial. These were super quick and simple to make.

At 18", the blocks feel huge!

In March we made blocks for two people. Darlene requested these beautiful flower blocks, which feel like the height of summer to me. Maybe it's the oranges and yellows that make me think of sunflowers.

These look more complicated than they are, though there was a lot of cutting involved. The pattern for the blocks is here. It requires a lot of stitch-and-flip units, which would normally mean a lot of wasted fabric. I made bonus HSTs instead, then turned them into pinwheels. Tiny little pinwheels that are 2" unfinished, to be exact. Isn't it cute??

Sherry asked for Raspberry Kiss blocks with bright colours for the X and low volume for the outsides, using the tutorial from Wooden Spoon Quilts. I've made RK blocks a few times now and I always love them. I might need to make a whole quilt of them for myself!

For April, Janice said she loved the Modern Maples block that we made back in September for Rhonda so much that she wanted the same thing for her own blocks. So, maple leaf blocks in fall colours with a white background. Simple and beautiful 😊

Phew, now I've finally shared all the blocks I've made 😊 It's fun getting to root through my fabrics to choose the blocks to make for each person and seeing what block everyone chooses. There are three months left to this round of the True North Bee, so there are more blocks still to come.

I have a big pile of the blocks that have been sent to me, as well, but I haven't laid them out to take a picture yet. I asked everyone to make the Path the Friendship block that I designed and I'm looking forward to getting my quilt put together one of these days.