No Jealousy

 Devotion for the Week...

I'm part of a Facebook group for quilt pattern designers and every Friday we are encouraged to share whatever wins we have had that week. It is so much fun to read those stories each week! Sometimes it's a new pattern that has been released or a quilt chosen to be on a magazine cover, other times it's a new product launched or a big bump in sales. I tell my husband about some of them, especially the ones that are so beyond where I am in my business that they amaze me. One day, after I had read something out to him, he worried that reading those stories might make me feel bad, if they made me compare myself with these other designers. I assured him, though, that the stories are fun to read. First, just because it's fun to celebrate what someone else has achieved and then also because they show me what is possible in the quilting industry. In fact, I find the stories energizing!

I remembered that conversation recently when I read Proverbs 12:12, which says, "Thieves are jealous of each other’s loot, but the godly are well rooted and bear their own fruit." That brings to mind such a vivid picture of two thieves sitting across a room from each other, both with their own pile of loot, both staring jealously at what the other has, resenting that the other person has this or that. It made me remember the designer's FB group because the vibe there is so different. Instead of jealousy and resentment, the comments on those weekly posts are full of celebration and joy for the other person.

Another thing that struck me about the thieves is that it didn't matter how much, or even what, they had; they wanted more. No matter how much more they get, they still won't be satisfied with what they have. That sounds like an awful way to live, doesn't it? 

Contrast that with the godly, who 'are well rooted and bear their own fruit.' Well rooted, to me, sounds like they know who they are and are satisfied with what they have. As for bearing their own fruit, they are focused on their own work and they don't waste time feeling sorry for themselves because of what someone else has. 

This attitude may not come easily, even Jesus' disciples struggled with wanting positions of importance, but it can be learned. Paul wrote, "I have learned how to be content with whatever I have" (Philippians 4:11), followed by "For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength" (v. 13). 

That is the secret - in Christ we know who we are and learn to be content with what we have.

Stand Out Starburst Pattern Release

I am excited that today is pattern release day for Stand Out Starburst! You can get the pattern now in my shop.

Stand Out Starburst was first published last year in Make Modern magazine as a baby quilt and I have now added throw and queen size instructions for its debut as an individual pattern. The baby quilt finishes at 48" square, the throw at 60" x 72" and the queen at 96" square.

I love digging into my scraps and stash to make a quilt, and that's exactly what I did for my baby size Stand Out Starburst. Even the black was leftovers from other projects! While I probably can't manage the background of a queen size version from my stash, I definitely have enough scraps for everything else! 

Stand Out Starburst uses paper piecing for the starbursts and I used the freezer paper method for mine. If you want to never again need to rip out the paper at the end of a paper piecing project, check out my Paper Piecing with Freezer Paper workshop, happening this Saturday. There are still spaces left, so register now to learn the magic of freezer paper.

Do you prefer PDF patterns or printed ones? Either way I've got you covered 😊 The PDF pattern is available right away and the printed pattern is a preorder for now, until they arrive from the printer. To celebrate the pattern release, Stand Out Starburst is available at the introductory price now through Monday.

Buy the Stand Out Starburst PDF

Preorder the printed Stand Out Starburst pattern

If you're on Pinterest, would you pin this image, to help other quilters find the Stand Out Starburst pattern? Thanks for your support of my pattern business!

Linking up with NTT.

Toddler Praise

 Devotion for the Week...

I can't sing; this is a simple fact. However, when I'm with the kids I babysit, I often sing while we're having our dance parties or we sing the alphabet or some other little songs. A couple of weeks ago I was very amused when one of them looked at me in perfect sincerity and said, "You're a great singer!"

Toddlers offer the sweetest praise because they haven't learned to judge yet. They don't really know that bad singers exist, so they figure if you're singing then you're a good singer. The same goes for making art or running or whatever else they might decide to praise someone (or themselves!) for. Their praise is extra sweet because we know that they believe what they say to be true, even though we also know they don't know what they're talking about!

Sometimes I wonder if God gets amused when we praise Him, too, not because what we say isn't true, but because we can't possibly understand the magnitude of how true it is. We praise Him for His holiness, His love, His mercy, His goodness, His sustaining power, His healing and the list goes on and on. 

But we can't really understand His holiness. We are sinful people, after all. Forgiven, yes, but still dealing with a sinful nature and unable to be holy as He is holy. Our idea of holiness likely falls so incredibly short that it's laughable.

We can't properly understand His love, either. Honestly, I'd have a hard time coming up with something about God that I think we can fully understand from our human vantage point. After all, God Himself says, 'My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts...And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55: 8-9).

Not that I think we should stop praising God! Psalm 145 starts out, "I will exalt you, my God and King, and praise your name forever and ever. I will praise you every day; yes, I will praise you forever. Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! No one can measure his greatness" (Psalm 145:1-3). Praising Him helps us remember how worthy He is and it helps us focus on Him rather than on our circumstances.

Sure, we may not fully understand what we're talking about, but someday we will. Someday we will see Him in all His glory. We will know the full depth of His love for us and how much more vast it is than we ever realized. And then, like now, our best response will be praise.