Prayer Request

My daughter is having back surgery on Wednesday morning. Three years ago they put in titanium rods and screws for a broken place. I know place is not a good explanation but part of her spine was broken and I don't know the correct term. :) Anyway, the break has healed but the metal pieces have caused her a lot of pain ever since they put them in and they have to come out. She has been on major pain meds for three years now and uses a cane to walk. She's had to use a wheelchair this last year if she had to go any distance or stand any length of time. As you can well imagine we are praying for her surgery to go well, her recovery to be complete and her pain to be gone. If you would join me in this prayer I would be so grateful.

Hmmmmm

There's a wonderfully wise woman in my Bible Study class - I'll call her Mrs. M. She's older, probably in her mid 80s and in her professional life was a counselor. She doesn't talk a lot but when she does we listen carefully because what she says is usually something we want to hold in our hearts and think about for a long time. This week we were studying in the Songs of Solomon and she told us that when she was counseling couples she always made this recommendation to them for a lasting marriage: Every man should treat his wife as if she were the most important thing in the world to him because women want to know they are loved and valued and Every woman should treat her husband with great respect because men want to be respected.

What are your thoughts?

Christmas Is Coming!

I never know if this cactus is a Thanksgiving one or a Christmas one - and it doesn't either. Sometimes it blooms for Thanksgiving, sometimes for Christmas. I don't care when it blooms - I just care that it blooms. And isn't that exactly how God feels about us?

Really Good Post

If ya'll haven't seen this post yet you should go read it - a wonderful lesson from a child. It's from a blog called The Journey.

November Goals

I didn't get all my November goals finished - I never do - but here are a few things I did this month.

I carpool to my quilt guild meeting with four other ladies. We're doing a Christmas block exchange for our Christmas present to each other. I know this doesn't look like much now but....it will eventually! This is a machine appliqued Santa from the "I Believe" book by Art To Heart. I have him all fused on five blocks (I did one for myself) and am ready for the machine blanket stitching. He's going to be so cute. :)

These redwork letters are from a pattern called "Alphabet in Bloom" that I borrowed from a friend. Eventually I'm going to do the whole alphabet but these four are the initials of my four granddaughters. I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to use these but in a Christmas present of some kind - maybe a sachet bag?

These are old-fashioned white tea towels that I found at Maggie Mae's Quilt Shop in Estes Park, Colorado. I loved the quality of the towel and they are huge...maybe even too big! I embroidered a different fruit on all eight of them and these will be Christmas gifts for friends.

This was a Christmas panel I bought from our local quilt shop. I added borders, machine appliqued an extra bird on the top, and machine quilted it. It's already been mailed to a blog friend.

And as promised, this is Winter Wonderland completed and hanging. This is the last time you will see it hanging because I learned a huge lesson from this quilt. I'm not a good piecer, let me make that clear up front. I can never seem to get that really good consistent quarter inch. Therefore, I cut off points or leave them floating all too often. I'm good at other things so I live with the piecing problems. When I want a quilt done on the longarm with a pantogram I take it to a local quilter. She's reasonably priced, does a good job with pantograms and I want to support the local quilt shop. She's done a lot of quilts for me. When I got this quilt back from her she had trimmed it to where she cut off some of the blocks...just a little. Normally she trims to just beyond the where the quilt ends. That, combined with my poor piecing, meant the outside edges weren't good. In fact, I couldn't square up the quilt which had somehow become "warped" in the quilting. When I put the sleeve on and tried to hang it, oh my goodness, it was lopsided. At first I was really upset - I put a lot of work in this quilt. And then I thought ok I'll take the binding off, put on a wide red border that I quilted prior to putting it on - sort of a quilt-as-you-go concept, and then square it. And I may still do that someday. But for now I'll lay it on my bed where it's imperfections won't show. What's the lesson I learned? I'm not perfect. No one is. This quilt isn't perfect....but it's beautiful just like it is. And so is the friend who quilted it. Life isn't about perfect, it's about love. I love my friend and I love my quilt. I want to always remember to look beyond imperfections and just see the love.

A New Tradition

My grandchildren asked for S'Mores for Thanksgiving. Not turkey. Not dressing. Not sweet potatoes. And, of course, if grandchildren ask....grandmothers provide. It was lots of fun and just may have become a new tradition for our family!