Friends and Family

So, the face mask making efforts have switched from donating to unknown facilities to shipping them off to friends and family, now that the CDC has suggested that everyone wear them in public settings. I've also switched patterns, added ties when elastic became impossible to find, and shifted the fabric choice for these to all batiks (at the suggestion of medical personnel) for the tighter thread count which adds an extra bit of filtration quality. I'll sew until I run through my stash of batiks. 

And sew it goes...

Adapting in an upside down🙃 world: I've gone back to the old habit that I cultivated many years ago after reading Sarah Ban Breathnach's Simple Abundance book; I'm keeping a gratitude journal again. Each day I write down five things that I am grateful for. It certainly helps with keeping everything in proper perspective. Actually, now that I've begun I wonder why I ever stopped! 

"Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving." - Colossians 4:2

Life is Good!

Up next: Handwork

RAK

 R.A.K.= Random Acts of Kindness-- they're alive and well, and they're happening all around us. It's especially heartwarming to reflect on these today. Specifically, this one pictured. A few months ago I received an email from an unknown (to me!) lady in Texas, she had seen my blog post from almost a year ago showing some thread-catchers that I made with a link in the post to the source. Apparently the source is no longer a viable link and this lady wondered if I had, by any chance, saved the directions in written form.  She was in luck; I had! We exchanged a few more emails and I was able to provide her with the directions that she needed. Fast forward to a few weeks ago... Mr. G. came in from the mailbox with a fat, padded envelope and what should be inside? Yes, this thread catcher-- FOR ME! You can imagine my surprise and delight. These are nice-- they're super lightweight, fully lined and roomy inside. I use this one, my "Texas Thread Catcher" at the longarm. It rides along on top as I quilt and is SEW handy for holding all the thread ends. I'm currently quilting a custom quilt and this has been such a joy to use as I progress. Each time that I use it my heart is warmed just thinking about how it just came-- unexpected, undeserved, but fully here. That's what grace is: an unwarranted gift received by no other means but possessing faith. I do have faith- in people, God's people; performing unexpected acts of kindness! It might be a precious gift of a  little sewing tin sent spontaneously from another stranger as a gift for my granddaughter. It might be emails received from readers thanking me for continuing to post on this humble little blog. It's all grace-- it's all kindness raining down. I am blessed and I am oh, so grateful. This morning I listened to GOOD NEWS about innovators and people taking initiative in new and unheard-of-before ways to help during this current health crisis; just look at the million mask challenge!. It's all kindness, it's pouring out; it can't be contained, people WANT and NEED to help! You've undoubtedly heard of RAKs in your own neighborhoods this past week. Thanks be to God for GOOD NEWS-- as we head into Holy Week tomorrow let's remember all of the good news and kind acts around us and focus our gratitude on those. I, for one, am deeply grateful for the kindness that dwells within, for grace and for the good that I see going on all around me; I hope to be used as an instrument, in some small way, to make a difference right here, right now.

"But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more." -Psalm 71:14

Adapting in an upside down🙃 world: I hit on this, to an extent, yesterday. Control what you can. For me, sticking to a normal routine of waking, showering, dressing, hair, make-up, my customary get-ready-for-the day drill; it keeps me on an even keel. Feeling good about myself affects every aspect of the rest of my day, even if each and every day seems exactly the same. Stay safe and healthy - wash your hands! 🧼

Life is Good!

Up next: Palm Sunday 

~Happy Thanksgiving~

Life is Good!

Bloom Where You're Planted?

A few weeks ago a friend presented me with two bags full of bare-roots Iris plants, the same plants I had admired at her home this past spring, in need of transplanting. I was grateful for the gift; but, since we were traveling that following week, I set the bags aside in a shady location to await setting in the ground upon our return back home. A few days ago, as I walked past the bags, I noticed a flash of color. Amazingly, one of the Iris was blooming! Right there, out of the bag, this bare-roots plant was not to be denied its moment of splendor! I have always embraced a "bloom where you're planted" life philosophy, but this Iris plant was doing me one better.  Rejoice in where you are, take full advantage of the gifts and opportunities that God has given you, give thanks and be grateful.

Bloom where you are, planted or not, simply bloom!

Life is Good!

Run, Run, As Fast As You Can...

November started out as a promising one, my plans for daily sequential thankfulness posts were sadly and profoundly interrupted by the death of my precious mother-in-law. Now here we are, on the last day of November. Time waits for no one, especially this blogger. I will close out the month with one, last catch-up post, one that is punctuated with moments of pure grace; as my life over the past week has been. Please accept my gratitude for all of your kind thoughts and words in response to my last post; indeed, my mother-in-law was a treasure. Last Wednesday, following her memorial service, the family gathered at Mom's home one final time to share food and reflect on her life, "the one that made all of our lives better because she was a part of them", these are my daughter-in-law's words, I couldn't ever describe Mom more appropriately. This photo, left, of Mason, was taken in Mom's back yard that afternoon. This is but one of those God-given moments of grace. For this glorious moment in time, I am grateful.

Mom was an organist. The one thing the grandchildren have always loved, over the years, and now the great-grandchildren after them, is to sit on the organ bench and play; here are three of them doing just that. One last concert, one more grace moment; and a snapshot to cherish the memory.

One more gathering in Mom's living room, the site of every holiday gathering for as long as I can remember. We remain grateful for all who could be with us last week, Mom's loving spirit blessed us and bound us together in affection and appreciation for each other. Those moments of grace kept on happening: free and undeserved gifts manifested in countless blessings, one after another. Thanksgiving happened, it remains a blur, generous amounts of food arrived here and was all skillfully prepared and served, dozens were fed. Slowly, one by one, the leave-taking of each friend and family member happened. Today it's just us again; all too suddenly, November is over. 

We won't be "just us" for very long though. It's time to make new memories: we will have all four grandchildren in two days for a cousins weekend.  I have already begun the preparations for a house building extravaganza. 

There are many activities planned for the little ones, bring on December, we're getting ready for Christmas! Time may fly but I have taken a deep breath, counted my blessings along the way, and with God's help and a grateful heart I am ready to get back in the race. "Run, run, as fast as  you can-- you can't catch me I'm the gingerbread man!"

Life is Good!

On this, the thirtieth day of November, 

I remain thankful to God for a life

punctuated with moments of pure grace.

A Grateful Heart

I am grateful today, on this sixth day of November, for my dear friend, Quiltkeemosabe, 

who shared this article with me yesterday. Go ahead and read it, you will be thankful too.

Life is Good!

Embracing November

Lynnleigh and her long-awaited
 Sanksgiving pillowcase!

It's November; that month that somehow gets the short shrift. Yeah, sure, there's Thanksgiving but that has become sort of a brief pause sandwiched in there between Halloween and Christmas. It's high time to celebrate and embrace the month of November and all that it entails; let's take our sweet time for the next thirty days and not rush the season! Lynnleigh was the one who reminded me a year ago of the importance of this "in between" time: I had made her and her brother, and their cousins, Halloween pillowcases for the month of October. Shortly after that I found some really cute Christmas fabric and was planning another set, for December. Lynnleigh asked her Mommy: "am I getting a pillowcase for Sanksgiving?" By that time it was too late to find turkeys (but I remembered). Originally, I hadn't intended for this to become a pillowcase-of-the-month club, but somehow it morphed into that; the grandchildren love their pillowcases and it's been fun for me too. Don't worry, of course there are more turkeys winging their way to the Capital City right now!

And so, on this first day of November I am going to begin a gratitude list and declare those things for which I am most thankful. Today I give thanks for improved health and appetite for my mother-in-law, she has recently been transferred to a rehabilitation facility; she has significantly improved in the past week, I am deeply grateful for the many, many prayers on her behalf. 

I am thankful, too, for Sanksgiving.

Life is Good!

 

Little Loves

Happy Valentine's Day! I hope you'll indulge me with a few of my little loves on this day. First, here's Lynnleigh... we had the privilege of spending a few hours with her yesterday morning while Mommy visited the dentist.  She went back to her room and came out with these on, her "Stompeez" slippers; a gift from Christmas. The slippers are equipped with a little pump "ball" inside the heel which, when stepped upon, will cause the ears to flip up. She doesn't weigh enough to get any ear action going, and she's oblivious.  No worries, they're pink; she's big on pink... oh, and green. In fact every color is either pink or green; that's true, just ask her!
Here's a second little love; another addition to my growing collection of 6" quilt blocks. I'm especially fond of this one because the background fabric is from my very first quilt made in 1983. I have a little bit left, only a very small amount, but just enough to  pull it out and use a bit here and there every now and then and think about that very first quilt class, my instructor (who remains a close friend to this day) and all the happiness, joy and friendships that quilting has brought over the years.

And one more little love for today... my oldest grandson, Mason.

Mason and his daddy recently treated me to a Carolina Hurricanes 

game; we had a terrific time, making memories to last a lifetime.

What are your little loves?

Wishing you a day full of them... and big ones too!

Life is Good!

A Grace-filled Life

I live a blessed life, filled to overflowing with moments of pure grace. By Christian definition grace is the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings. My constant prayer is that I remain open to these blessings and aware of the true gifts that they are; and, more importantly, from where they come... always returning thanks back to God. 

A few years back I kept a gratitude journal after reading Sarah Ben Breathnach's book: Simple Abundance. The book was a gift from my daughter and I found it to be transformative. Since then I have developed a heightened awareness of blessings and grace moments, although I have long-ago given up the practice of actually keeping the journal; every now and then I think I should go back to that habit of actually writing them down, it's a humbling experience.

On Saturday we traveled to the Capital City to watch Mason play soccer. Our oldest grandchild has developed quite a competitive spirit and is a great team player; to be there and witness his God-given athletic abilities and his cooperative nature was such a treat. I realized suddenly, standing right there on the sidelines in the warm late morning heat, how very much I had to be thankful for: our close proximity to all of our grandchildren, their good health, our own good health and for the loving family unit that binds us together... blessings bestowed. Grace comes: not always in big and monumental ways, it comes in the everyday moments. Over the last few days it has come on the sidelines of that soccer field, it came around the dinner table over a simple sandwiches shared with loved ones, it came at a quilt guild meeting in unexpected surprises received from thoughtful friends, and just today in a loving note from a kind and generous friend who is going through a grief period of her own. These grace moments are so sweet, so tender, and so pure that they touch my heart and reduce me to tears. How can I possibly be worthy? How can I ever be grateful enough for all of these blessings and this life filled with God's grace? I am assured that God is there, in the midst of each sacred instant, and that God is also working within me; to be there, to bear His grace, and to pass it along. I'll do my best. How has grace touched your life today? Look around, you'll see! It's what we do next that really counts...

Mason (front row, left) and the Defeaters

Life is Good!

Who's Caring For Who?

Lynnleigh, the delighted(!) recipient of this completed
ZigZag Baby quilt made for her by her Mama.

On Mondays and Tuesdays of each week Mr. Goodneedle and I take care of our two youngest grandchildren, or at least we think that is supposed to be the arrangement! On any given day it seems like the reverse is in effect, our grandchildren are clearly taking care of us. As you can plainly see by this photograph, Lynnleigh entertains Nana and PawPaw simply through her exuberant delight of ordinary things; at nine months of age she is one extraordinarily happy baby!

It will come as no surprise to any of you that I do not own a smart phone, I do not have access to the Internet on-the-go; but, on rare occasions, I do understand the value of that convenience. Anyway... on Tuesday we were transporting the grandchildren from our home back to theirs in the late afternoon and we decided that we would stop and pick up a pizza for dinner after we had delivered our pint-sized charges back at their place. I suddenly realized that I didn't have the phone number for Papa John's with me and I wouldn't be able to phone ahead and order the pizza to have it waiting for pick-up. I doubted that our son and daughter-in-law even owned a paper phone book for reference to said phone number and I had no idea how to access their home computer when we got to their house to look it up. I was thinking these thoughts out loud to Mr. Goodneedle when this little voice from the backseat piped up:
"Nana, you can use you 'puter..."
"No", I responded to Gregory, "Nana doesn't have a computer in the car".
Gregory: "Yes you do, you have your 'turn right, turn left' one" he exclaimed.
He was right! We did have a computer in the car, our Garmin not only offers directions but also lists restaurants but their phone numbers as well! What a smart little boy. We pre-ordered our pizza, thanks to Gregory, and our little backseat driver could barely wipe the smile off his face. He isn't even three years old yet. I am thankful, taking care of us old folks is a big job for this little guy!

I spent a few days later this week in the Capital City with my oldest two grandchildren; likewise, they take very good care of Nana as well.  They continually feed my spirit with love and joy. They are funny and bright and lovingly welcomed me with happy hearts and open arms to enter in and embrace their daily lives right along with them. Upon my arrival, Lucy Ann presented  me a brilliant fall leaf and a picture that she had colored just for me. These two simple gifts are treasured like gold by this Nana's grateful heart. She was eager to show me the clever Halloween artwork that she and Mason had on display, artwork that showcases her handprints and her brother's footprints. There simply aren't ever enough hugs and kisses to sustain me until my next visit... but that doesn't dissuade me from trying to stockpile as many as I can get!

They don't know it yet, but one day they will. 

These four precious children take care of me... each and every day.

Life is Good!

Aftermath

We were hit by a fast-moving storm on Thursday afternoon and hit hard! I had just stepped back inside the house after letting Hannes outside when the wind picked up and the power went out. I looked up and saw leaves and limbs flying past the window with a speed and intensity I had never seen or experienced before. I grabbed Hannes and ran to the basement. There was rattling and trembling outside the house follwed by a short period of torrential rain. When I dared to lookside this is what I saw. Thankfully there was no injury or damage to our home. This 100 ft. oak passed within feet of the corner of our home.The driveway cracked beneath the weight of the tree.

This root ball stands ten ft. high.
The following photos show damage and destruction alongside our driveway:

The trees that were snapped and twisted off were done so twenty five feet off the ground.

Another uprooted Oak.

My husband's car could only pull in the driveway a short distance,
the driveway closer to our home was completely impassable.

The clean up begins. Our son and his chain saw arrived and helped too; we couldn't have done this without him. We worked late into Thursday night, not calling it quits until some headlight-aided raking was done.

It was all very scary, but nothing compares to the fear and worry associated with my husband being on his way home during the storm. I didn't know where he was or how bad the conditions were on the roads where he was. I later learned  that he had to cut his way home through downed trees with a borrowed saw; the road that leads into our neighborhood looks like a war zone.  I can't remember ever being happier or more relieved to see his car pull in (or as close as he could get) to the driveway. Through all of this we remain thankful to God for our many blessings and to family, friends and neighbors for their help and concern. We've got our work cut out for us, literally, for weeks to come.
Life is Good!

Thanksgiving 2012

I am so thankful for family. We were blessed yesterday with a house full of abundant,
delicious food and happy activity all day long. Memories to cherish forever.
Life is Good!

To Every Thing...

...there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.

-Ecclesiastes 3:1

I spent the day planting on Wednesday. My pots are full of fall-festive pansies and mums; the tall and leggy annuals have been excused from their perpetual growth and what has become puny blooming by this late in the summer, they've taken their place in a compost heap. I didn't have time to give up a day for planting, I have projects upon projects screaming for attention, many with deadlines that are killing me; and yet, I didn't have time for anything but planting. Digging in the dirt was therapeutic; while I prepared soil I planned and prayed, I talked to God about my ideas and priorities. I thanked Him for a healthy mind and body and the glorious day that He had provided. I was quiet too, there was peace in His presence and it calmed me. The projects are still there but I can attack them today with a new found vigor, all while looking out at the windows at the beautiful fall flowers; thanks be to God!

Be still and know that I am God. 

-Psalm 46: 10

Life is Good!

On My Feet

I spend a LOT of time on my feet... both time standing and time tending to them.  When in the studio I'm either standing at Sundance or at the cutting table or at the ironing board; okay, there is some time sitting and sewing too! As far as tending to my feet there's the daily pumice stone ritual followed by foot cream and slippers while I blow dry my hair and put on my face, by then all the lotion is absorbed. After that I choose comfortable and supportive shoes or sandals; I have to. There have been three incidents involving my foot or toes just in the last  year and a half! There was a sprained foot (in smocking class) injury in May of 2011, a full can of spray-foam bathroom cleaner slipped out of my hand (from waist-height) and landed directly onto my baby toe back in May of this year (it's still tender to the touch), and, as recently as last Friday, I tripped up two steps while running up the stairs and bent three toes backwards on my left foot! Owwww!! I need to slow down, my feet can't take much more reckless abuse.

This picture was taken last February when I took Ami Simms' String Class at Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival, she had this photo on her blog. What I notice most (there I am... second row from front, on the right, blue sweater) in this photo is my necessary choice of shoes: comfortable tennis shoes, no dress shoes, not even cute flats!  I'm okay with that; back in the spring of 2005 emergency surgery  was performed to bypass an aneurysm that clotted off the artery to my right foot. There were no guarantees going into the operating room that I would keep my foot; but, the surgery was successful and timely, and I did.

My toes are feeling better today, nothing was broken; I was lucky... again.

I spend a lot of time on my feet, in one way or another; mine are certainly not taken for granted!

I am grateful, very grateful, that I have two to stand on, I just need to be more careful of them.

Life is Good!