TGIFF - Formal Garden Baby Quilt

It's time for Thank Goodness It's Finally Finished (TGIFF), a linky party to celebrate those projects that have moved out of the WIP pile and into the finished pile. Today I'm sharing a fun Formal Garden baby quilt made using Sunshine and Dewdrops fabrics, by Sandy Gervais for Riley Blake. The Formal Garden pattern is available in my shop as a PDF or a printed pattern (with free shipping).

I was so excited when this shed at the town marina caught my eye a few days before I finished this quilt. I just knew that brilliant yellow would set off the yellows and blues perfectly! The quilt really didn't want to stay stuck to the rough boards, though, so I didn't take as many pictures as I would have if it had cooperated better. 

I love this print that reminds me of knitted stitches. I would love to take up knitting, but I keep reminding myself that I already don't have time to make all the things I want to make, so I don't need to add a whole new hobby!

The Formal Garden pattern includes notes to help you keep directional fabrics properly aligned, which would have been really helpful had I slowed down enough to even notice that this print was directional before I cut it. It wasn't until I was putting the blocks together that I noticed what I had done. The funniest part is that, when the fabrics first arrived, I did check the print at the left in that picture to be sure it wasn't directional before I cut it (it's not, for the record), I just didn't look closely enough at the one that actually is directional. It definitely wasn't my brightest quilting moment, but I'm hoping that whatever child eventually owns this quilt won't mind too much.

The hand-drawn look of the scattered flowers on some of the prints made it easy to choose a quilting design. This loopy flower meander is one of my favourites to stitch and my flowers usually have 5 or 6 petals. I find I like the look of the flowers with 5 petals more, but the 6 petal ones were easier to stitch so there are a lot more of them. I chose the yellow Aurifil (1135) after debating between that and a couple of blues and greys. I really like the contrast of the yellow on the grey sashing.

I have quite a collection of baby quilts these days. For a while I thought maybe I'd list them in my Etsy shop, but I finally admitted to myself that I really have no interest in doing that, so I asked in a Newfoundland quilters FB group where people donate baby quilts in the province. I got a couple of great suggestions and they're both in the city where Aiden is going to school, so I'll take the quilts with me when we go to bring all of his stuff home in July. Unfortunately for us, we won't be bringing him home then as he will be heading out to sea for the start of a 14 month work term. Exciting for him...a little nervous-making for us, but such is parenting.

I used Riley Blake's Confetti Cotton solid in Iron for the sashing, binding and backing of this one. I love the drama a dark background adds.

Head to my pattern shop to get your Formal Garden pattern to make your own baby, throw or queen size quilt.

And now it's your turn! What have you finished this week? Link it up below so we can celebrate with you!

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Strength From the Crowd

Yesterday was Palm Sunday, a commemoration of the day Jesus entered Jerusalem to the cheers and adoration of the crowd. I imagine there were people who heard the commotion and ran to find out what was going on, then joined in the celebration themselves. It must have been like a modern day parade.

“Many in the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others spread leafy branches they had cut in the fields. Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting,

‘Praise God!
    Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Blessings on the coming Kingdom of our ancestor David!
    Praise God in highest heaven!’” (Mark 11:8-10)

Up to this moment, He had drawn crowds when He taught, but there had been nothing like this. This crowd recognized Him as worthy of praise and honour and they bestowed both on Him lavishly. 
I’ve always wondered what Jesus thought as He rode that donkey into town, with the crowd shouting around Him. Did He know how quickly they would turn against Him? Did their cheers and praise at that moment help to strengthen Him for what would come at the end of the week?

He knew what He was going to Jerusalem to face; He had already told His disciples that He was going to die. He knew...and He went anyway. He went because He knew it was the only way to save the people cheering for Him along the sides of the road that day, and the ones who would call for His crucifixion later in the week. Amazingly, He was just as willing to save the latter group as He was to save the former.

Ready to Get to Work

Devotion for the Week...

I was sick all last week, starting out with absolute exhaustion Friday and Saturday, so that I actually spent most of Saturday asleep. Sunday I started being able to stay awake for long stretches, but I still had no energy. As the week went on, I was able to do a little more each day, though still always in short sessions before I had to rest again. I was amused to find myself feeling extremely happy Friday morning because I was doing laundry which, while not as onerous as cleaning bathrooms, isn't something I particularly enjoy. It just felt so good to be doing my normal chores that I didn't really care what I had to do. That reminded me of a devotion I wrote back in 2016, so I'm sharing that here again today 😊

*****

Over the past couple of years, I've had a handful of times when I was sick over the weekend. Usually my weekends are jam-packed with things I need to do (house cleaning, groceries, etc.) and things I want to do (sewing, usually!), but on those weekends I've been sick I end up just sitting in a chair and accomplishing nothing. It drives me crazy! I feel like I have this huge list of things I should be or want to be doing and I can't do any of it. It feels like such a huge waste of time.

There's a brief story in the gospels about Jesus healing Peter's mother-in-law...well, at this point Peter was still called Simon, so that's what he's called in these verses, but I'll be referring to him as Peter. Luke records it this way: "Jesus left the synagogue and went to the home of Simon. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever, and they asked Jesus to help her. So he bent over her and rebuked the fever, and it left her. She got up at once and began to wait on them" (Luke 4:38-39). 

That last sentence used to annoy me a bit. It felt like they only want her healed so she could get them something to eat. Isn't it funny how our minds interpret things, sometimes? Now that I'm older, I read that last sentence through the lens of those sick, unproductive weekends.

This poor woman had been sick with a high fever for who knows how long. She was stuck in bed, unable to do anything. Like me, she probably had a list in her head of things that needed to be done to keep her household running smoothly, and it was likely a lot longer than mine since she didn't have all the modern conveniences that I have. When I finally get over a cold, the last thing I want to do is just sit and relax. There is stuff that needs to be done and I can't wait to get at it. I imagine Peter's mother-in-law felt the same way as she got out of that bed.

Of course, when she was healed of her fever, she had company. What's the first thing we do when we have company? Offer food and a drink, right? That's exactly what she did, and I think she was relieved to be finally well enough to serve Jesus and her other visitors. She had been set free of the fever to finally get stuff done again!

So what about us? Whether or not we have been physically sick lately, we were all spiritually sick at one point and Jesus healed us by offering us forgiveness of our sins. By faith in Jesus, we have been healed and set free from sin. I think that, like Peter's mother-in-law, the best response to that healing is to get to work and serve Jesus.

Which begs the question, how do we serve Jesus? Is it only when we're doing church things? I don't think that's right at all. God made each one of us differently, with different talents and abilities. Read 1 Corinthians 12, where Paul compares the church to a body, where every part is needed because all of the parts are different. Not all of us can be preachers. Not all of us can be musicians (which you would know for sure if you ever heard me sing!). And not all of us can be children's church teachers. Some people are excellent business people, or good cooks, or good quilters! God can use all of those skills if we decide in our hearts that we are working for Him. 

Colossians 3:17 says, "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." 'Whatever'. That's a big word, isn't it? It means everything we do can be done in service to God, if we have the right attitude while we're doing it. And the right attitude is even described in the verse for us...'giving thanks to God the Father through him (Jesus)'. So, because of what Jesus has done for us (offering us spiritual healing and forgiveness of our sins), we are to be thankful to God, and we show that thankfulness by serving Him with everything that we do.

We have been set free to serve Him, just as Peter's mother-in-law was. She served him with food and drink. We serve him with everything we do.