Third Sunday of Advent.. Mary a young women in her last week of pregnancy was most likely uncomfortable and could have even been a bit quick to confront Joseph as to where they would stay and where their baby would be born…born with out midwife? Without the women of her family? In reality we do not know the details of who would be with her as she went into labor, as she cried out in the pangs of birth pains, as she first heard the baby’s cry…the cry of Jesus, a child’s cry, an infant breaking into a world to bring God into the world; joy to the world. It is hard with the events of the week to think there can ever be joy in the world as suffering and evil take it from us, but Mary waits, one more week for her time, our time. We wait one more week. Come, come Lord Jesus we are in desperate need of Joy. Give us this week hope, peace and comfort. Come, come Lord Jesus we are in desperate need of Joy.

Quick Gifts for Christmas

I love using what I have and not doing a lot of fuss or work.  I find sting piecing a perfect way to use what I have and it is not fussy or a lot of work.  Sewing straight and trimming is as easy as it gets.  I had a lot of scrapes from a Christmas quilt I did last year.   I can say for sure the fabric line that gave away the free pattern for the tree quilt made sure you had to buy a lot of material and then you wasted a lot of it in the cutting.  The quilt was extra cute, but golly the fabric left behind.  So, hot pads were perfect and string piecing perfect....a marriage in the making.  I used muslin for the base for the string piecing, cutting 4 1/2" squares.  Using the squares to make a four patch; using insulated batting between and simple quilting together with a fast binding on the machine.  Christmas Hot Pad!

I have to admit that Christmas is coming and I really have not gotten my head around it yet.  I know, I know, what is there to get around?  It comes every year at the exact same time/date, but this year just seems to be a bit slow mo in my mind.  My mind has it coming in slow mo and I know then it will speed up lightening fast.  I am still in slow mo with only hope I can get lightening fast.  My  Advent Thoughts:

First Sunday Advent ...Awaiting the birth. As a mother I can certainly understand the "count down" to the coming of a child. I know Mary as she rode a donkey to a land that was not her home must have been counting down the days before she gave birth. Praise you God for Mary's faith and trust, not only in You Lord, but a man named Joseph.

Come, Lord Jesus! Come and visit your people. We await your coming. Come, O Lord.

Second Sunday Advent...still waiting; still counting the days till her child is born Mary still holds faith with God and the man called Joseph. Mary can feel the life within her, feel her baby move, kick, hiccup, sleep...all those things women feel as they wait the birth. Men can put their hand on the stomach and feel it move as it grabs their heart with longing to see the baby. God has us waiting for the birth as we are asked to "feel" it coming in our body and our mind and our soul. Come, come Lord Jesus; we await.



Getting to the Good Part - Easy Street Mystery

I am trying to keep up with this mystery and I have to say it is really challenging.  I have other Christmas sewing that I have to sneak in with the mystery.  I have now completed all the four patches and flying geese, cut the rectangles of black and white, and am working on the shaded four patch.  I was struggling to get my mind around these shaded four patches not sure why.  Made 3 trial patches and they would not square up to the needed 3 1/2 ".  Cutting was off?  I took a break to clear the mind and remember what my Mother would have done.  My mom was the best sewist I have every known and I miss being able to call her to just whine.  She would have said, "clean up your work area, take one step at a time and just focus on it, nothing else and remember this only gets you to the good part....the sewing".  Breath well, give total focus to the cutting and don't think ahead or about the end product."  I did what my Mom said to do, I cleaned up my cutting table, read the instructions again, worked on the simple process of cutting one cut at a time AND in just that long all the pieces were laid out, ready to sew.  Sometimes it takes us to clear our minds and focus on the now that get us to the good part.  Clink here to see all the fun :  Link up Monday see the progress

WHAT DAY IS IT?

Yes, I like totally feel this as Christmas comes faster and faster and I quite frankly think I will be looking at my Christmas tree and saying this on December 25.  I have the following sewing projects to finish and I am not prepared to even know if I can get them done. 

1.  finish machine quilting Alaska Round Quilt and bind it. 

2.  Finish flying geese as the next clue comes out tomorrow and I had promised to be caught up each week

3.  Hot pads for office people gifts and cookie mix in jars

4.  pillow cases for Christmas gifts for 7 people

5.  Make a pin cushion for gift exchange for guild party

6. AND there is probably something I have not even remembered to put on this list~

Must get off this computer as that is one way I do not get sewing done, but I do love my tech time. 

Merry Christmas and off I go dashing through the house, up to the sewing studio to get my Santa on. 





Easy Street Mystery continues

The Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt Easy Street

the links will get you to the link-up for week 2 and week 1 incase you missed it.  FUN, FUN
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2012/12/mystery-monday-link-up-part-2.html
 http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2012/11/easy-street-monday-link-up-1.html
is underway and I am sewing.  I have all the first week four patches done and 5 of the flying geese.  I only have 5 geese at this time because I am not one who has much fun making flying geese, I have in fact not ever enjoyed the piecing of flying geese.  So, I decided to wipe the brain free of all the ways to do geese and follow the one described by Bonnie Hunter using the strips I had cut.  It had been forever that I had done this method as the new methods out there have become so popular.  I loved going back to the cutting of the triangles and the piecing process of speed piecing.  I think I will enjoy making these now and putting aside my old negative reaction to making geese will certainly be freeing.

EASY STREET MYSTERY QUILT with BONNIE HUNTER

I have started to follow Bonnie Hunter on the new mystery Easy Street.  Easy Street Mystery Quilt
I have chosen my fabrics that I have for now in the colors of purples, teals, limey greens, back/white, and grey for the constant.  These are not colors I would normally use but I really do like them together and using the paint "chips" from Lowe's was the perfect way to focus material choices.  I will make this process a part of my routine in taking color needs with me as I shop.  I can now get ready for the first installment to get cutting and working.

Boneyard Off the Needles

The Stephen West workshop I attended and cast on the Boneyard Shawl challenged me to a new type of cast on.  Getting past that then it was all about getting the rhythm of the shawl.  Two skeins of Malabrigo DK weight in .......... it was done.  Now the issue I have  it seems it is very "small" and I am not sure what to do with it.  If it were really cold here and one needed a great coat neck scarf it would work.  It is really nice and very pretty, but once again I am not sure I would wear it much.  I have not blocked it and I think that will help for it to lay flatter and be more pliable and possibly I could extend it more.  I am going to do that and then see what it brings.  I really did enjoy knitting it and it is  fun knit and easy to do while visiting with my knit sibs.  A few pics of how it is now. Stephen West

MODERN QUILTS GUILD

I like the new trend for modern quilts.  When I was growing up and was about 10 or so the Contemporary Arts Museum was opening in our town.  My parents were invited to all those kinds of openings and of course was expected to attend.  So my Dad and Mom took me with them I think because they could not find a baby sitter BUT I was taken in by all the color and movement in the art, all the different kinds of impressions and I remember thinking how it was so fabulous.  My Dad on the other hand thought it was certainly not "art" and while he smiled and made nice sounds I knew he was thinking...are you kidding me?  Art?  There was sculpture and one was of a chair...Dad turns to Mom and says, "That's a chair".  Mom says to Dad, "Well, one might think that, but it's artfully done."  Dad says to Mom, "OK, so that is an artfully done chair, but it is still just a chair."  and with that said it was time to go.  I loved the chair art and thought it was perfect, just as an artfully chair should be.  I have loved modern art since that day and could only dream of putting together color and movement in such splendor.  This is my first attempt at a modern quilt.  I like that it is simple lines and the quilting I did in hand dyed wool yarn.

I am going to join the Fort Worth Modern Quilt Guild  http://fortworthmodernquiltguild.blogspot.com/  this week and see where this takes me in this contemporary adventure.  If nothing else I will love seeing those quilts others make.

STEPHEN WEST SHAWL WORKSHOP

OH, what fun the  Stephen West workshop was.  I was so out of my league with most that were there but really that has never bothered me because I know it is just knits and purls!  Stephen jumped right in and I was holding on by the skin of my fingers.  I had no idea what he was saying and all those around me were off and running.  Then -- I just sat back, took a breath, put my yoga focus into the breath and  picked up the pattern that was on the table, read it, started again and again and again till I get it.  As I was doing my thing to get it, everyone else was sailing along and he was going a million miles an hour with it all.  I just kept breathing, stayed in my zone and worked to understand the pattern.  I know that I do not really care that others are sailing along because I will get my wind in my sails too....and I did.  Stephen then gave a lecture on the math of his pattern(s) and I was in my element and many around me were struggling to keep up.  I love the math of his designs and the creative repetition of pattern that creates genius of flow of motion to a flat surface.  I knew then that I would love to do his looks.  I have now on my needles the Boneyard Shawl that was the workshop and I can say I can now hold my own with anyone that was at the workshop.