Family Ring - Quilt Block Mania

It's time for Quilt Block Mania again! This month the theme is family 💗

I remember one year I desperately wanted a daughter's pride ring for Christmas. That's a ring that has your birthstone along with your parents' birthstones and I really, really wanted one. When we got up on Christmas morning, right at the front of the tree was a wrapped ring box and you can be sure that was the first present I opened. Inside was a bubble gum machine ring! I can't remember how many other bubble gum machine rings I opened before I actually found my daughter's pride ring, but I think there were 3 or 4 😂

Thinking about that ring led me to design my Family Ring block. It's another machine appliqued block, which seems to be a theme with my Quilt Block Mania blocks (see Starfish Dance and the basketball block). The pattern is available as a free download here. 

There are 5 of us in our family, so I used 5 hearts in the ring and chose fabrics to represent our birthstones. Of course, I chose Aurifil threads to match each colour, too! The background is from Island Batik and it's one of my favourite neutrals of all time.

Zachary's birthday is in February, so his birthstone is amethyst. I'm not sure where this batik fabric is from, but I know it's not an Island Batik one. I used Aurifil 4225 for this one.

Nathan's birthday is in March, so his birthstone is aquamarine. This is still my favourite Island Batik fabric. I'll be sad when it's all gone, but I still have a bit left for now. I used Aurifil 5005 on this one.

Aiden's birthday is in May, so his birthstone is emerald. I've had this Fairy Frost fabric forever, from a bundle Paul bought me years and years ago. There are only a few small pieces left of a few colours now. Aurifil 2890 is a slightly more mossy green than the fabric, but it still worked. My green Aurifil selection is pretty small still.

Paul's birthday is in June, so his birthstone is alexandrite. This one caused more than a little confusion, lol. Apparently alexandrite is different colours in different lighting. Who ever heard of that?? It looks blue-green in natural light and in incandescent light or candle light it looks red or pink. So crazy! I chose to go with the blue-green and used this fabric from Mister Domestic's Playroom line. I used Aurifil 5005 on this one, too.

And the last birthday each year is mine, in July. My birthstone is ruby. This is another Island Batik fabric that I love. I'm happy to still have quite a bit of it left. I used Aurifil 2770 for this heart and for the solid red heart in the center.

I love how stitching around applique shapes makes them look so much nicer. Here's unstitched...

and stitched. I stitched around each heart just the same as I would if I were free motion quilting, just with no batting or backing. I guess that makes it free motion embroidery instead of quilting.

What about if your family isn't 5 people? No problem! If it's fewer than 5, you could choose a neutral fabric for the other hearts. If you have more than 5 people, you could shrink the heart template a bit so you could make a ring with the right number of hearts.

It would also be cute to replace the small heart in the center with your family's initial in your favourite font.

Don't forget to download your free Family Ring pattern. Then go check out all of the other fun family themed blocks being shared as part of Quilt Block Mania 😊

Warming by the Fire
Paper Chain Family at Slice of Pi Quilts
Family is Love
Family Quote Pineapple Block by Blockofthemodotcom
Family Pumpkin Pickin' Day
Family Crest at Always Expect Moore
Old Rocking Chair at Duck Creek Mountain Quilting
Love@Home at Stash Bandit
Sisterhood by Michelle Renee Hiatt
Glimpse of Home at Scrapdash
We Are Family by Heidi Pridemore
Family Trees at Pretty Piney Quilts
Family is the Heart of Home by QuiltFabrication
Gathering by Blue Bear Quilts
Sister's Choice at Perkins Dry Goods
Every Family Has One at Patti's Patchwork
Orange Blossom Quilt
Wonky Nesting Hearts
Family Photo Block
Celtic Trinity Knot by Appliqués Quilts and More
Scarecrow
Family Ring at Devoted Quilter
Tartan Block at True Blue Quilts
FindSewingStuff.com
Flying Geese Family by Tacy Gray
Family Heart by Amarar Cracions

But It Makes No Sense!

 Devotion for the Week...

My father-in-law is a retired pastor. Fifteen or so years ago, there was a woman in his congregation who had cancer so pervasive she said she was "maggoty with it" (not sure if that was her doctor's words or her own interpretation). She felt that she needed a small group of believers to come to her home and take communion with her for 21 days, as a complement to the medical treatments she was receiving, so my in-laws and a few others joined her in that act of faith. I don't know how long after that her cancer was gone, but I do know that she's still alive and healthy today. I've heard her share that testimony quite a few times, always putting emphasis on how much she appreciated those who joined her and the importance she feels those 21 days had.

Taking communion makes no sense as a cancer treatment, right? Those little cups of juice and wafers have no impact on the growth of cancer cells. But obedience to God can have a big impact on whatever difficulty we face.

Take the Israelites marching around the walls of Jericho. On what planet does marching around a city, blowing trumpets and shouting make the city walls fall down? Logically speaking, none! But in Joshua 6, that's exactly what happened. God told Joshua that this was the battle plan, Joshua and the people obeyed and the walls fell down. It makes no sense, but it worked.

There's Naaman, too (see the whole story in 2 Kings 5:1-19). Naaman was the commander of the Aramean army and he had leprosy. An Israelite slave girl in his household recommended he go to the prophet Elisha, so he did and when he got to Elisha's door, "Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy" (v. 10). This made no sense to Namaan whatsoever, and having it delivered by a messenger just added to the insult, "so Naaman turned and went away in a rage" (v. 12). Fortunately for Naaman, some of his officers suggested that since he had been told to do such a simple thing, he might as well give it a try. He did and it worked.

Background quilt is Intersections

And then there's Jesus. How does it make sense that one person can take on the sins of the entire world and that believing in Him can make us righteous before God? Well, again, logically speaking, it doesn't. But God doesn't always work through human logic, does he? Paul wrote, "The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18). 

God's way doesn't always make sense to us, but that doesn't matter. What matters is whether or not we do things His way, even when we don't understand.

TGIFF - A New Slim Fit Raglan

 Welcome to Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday!! It's always fun to celebrate our finishes together 😊

I had intended to share my mini version of my Burst quilt today. You can see the top here. I got the yellow and orange burst units quilted quickly, but then I decided to do flow quilting in the background. It will look amazing...but it will take way more time than I had available to have it ready for this post, lol. I guess it will be a finish for next week.

Good thing I had a backup finish I could share for today! When I cut out the pieces for the Wee Lap Tees, I also cut the pieces for another Slim Fit Raglan for me. The pattern is from Patterns for Pirates.

These fabrics are both french terry, which is nice and soft and cozy feeling. I bought them to make my Constellation pullover last year and I just barely had enough to get a raglan out of what was left over. Once a scrap lover, always a scrap lover, whether quilting or garment sewing 😊

I had to add a seam up the back because I didn't have enough length to cut both the front and back on the fold. I decided to topstitch that seam, to help it lie flat. I was hoping that I wouldn't feel the seam down my back while wearing it and I'm happy to say I don't notice it at all.

This is the neatest looking neckband I've sewn yet. It lies nice and flat when I'm wearing it, with no ripples. Yay for seeing improvements in skills!

That's my finish, what's yours? Link up below so we can see and celebrate with you 😊 Be sure to visit some of the other links, too, to congratulate them on their finishes. As of this writing, next week's TGIFF party is still in need of a host. If you're interested, you can sign up here.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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