Quick links around the blog!
Monday, December 11, 2023
Free Christmas pattern number 4...
Saturday, December 9, 2023
Free Christmas gift pattern number 3...
I finished this blue one last night. It only takes an hour and keeps my hands occupied while we listen to a sermon, or teaching on various subjects like gardening in the tropics or health related seminars.
Saturday, November 25, 2023
The subtle slide into laziness and a free pattern...
November has been a real challenge with migraines most days due to our weather. The cloud cover is almost constant, but though just a few kilometres up the road rain has fallen on nearby suburbs, or further north, the clouds refuse to drop the water from heaven on our area.
Barometric migraines are the worst ones for me because I cannot control them by eliminating the food, light or weariness triggers of my other migraines. That blanket of cloud feels like a vice I am trapped in, and the only relief is when they burst forth with rain - and when that happens the pain just disappears in minutes. So we are praying for rain even more than usual. This time of year in our tropics is the wet season, but so far it's started around us but not on us. Never mind, all challenges teach us something, and this recent challenge has taught me to examine how easily a bad habit can be formed during these longer than usual seasons of migraine. What is that habit you ask? Laziness.
After seven babies (with migraine through all of them) my pain tolerance is quite high, so I am still able to function at a slower, quieter pace around the home when the pain is severe. During this current bout of migraine I began crochet edging, firstly on runners for the home, and then on to new tea towels for Christmas gifts and to restock my own supply in the New Year as is my custom.
It is such a calming, simple pastime, and as I crocheted I would listen to sermons, watch episodes of The Waltons, or historical documentaries on YouTube. I did still need to water the gardens but resorted to the sprinkler most afternoons as being outside just made my head worse. I still did the washing, prepared meals (especially a very healthy breakfast for my husband and I) and did a general tidy...but the regular afternoon rest time I've always adhered to became longer and longer. On days when I was free of pain you'd think that I would get in and do a jolly good scrub around the home, but I found myself having fallen into the distraction of spending long hours at crochet each afternoon just as on the days of pain, until it was time to begin our evening meal and fold the washing.
Well, that new 'habit' continued for about twelve days, and then I listened to a young mother of six in her mid-30's, and she spoke straight out of God's Word and into my heart. Older ladies, never turn your ears from listening to younger homemakers, for often they will point out things we may have missed or have 'slipped' away from.
Obviously I'm not proud of my subtle slide into laziness, but I felt impressed to share it with you because so often, especially in times of illness or prolonged pain, we can slide into routines and habits that are not productive in the long term. On my really bad days I shall still sit quietly, but on the not so bad ones and the days when I am pain free, it's back to living my wonderfully gentle domestic life, embracing all the Lord has put before me, for they are great blessings!
Once I had woken up to the subtleness of my slide into long lazy afternoons, I wrote down a list of things which needed to be done around home, and depending on how I felt each day, I completed those tasks over the course of this past week. The linen cupboard was a dreadful mess. It's not on my list of important tasks, but on the seasonal list - and being that we are about to welcome summer in a few days, this big seasonal task had to be tackled. I thoroughly enjoyed bringing everything out in to the living room and going through it! I was able to donate about one quarter of what was in there, mostly items kept for the grandchildren, but which they no longer use or had grown out of. We do not have much storage in our modest home so their spare clothes, toys and games are kept there, you see. Plus there were old ratty towels and similar items which my husband can use for rags in his workshop out back.
Grain was milled, fresh flour baked into delicious bread. Before and after...
Nutritious evening meals, like this yummy lentil curry with brown rice, were made...
Treats were baked for the grandchildren...
...and both fridges were given a thorough clean out. I also rearranged the living/dining area and scrubbed everything there as well.
Wednesday, November 1, 2023
Final two blocks in the Virtuous Wife free BOM...
…and he praises her. “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.” Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates. Proverbs 31: 29b - 31
I decided to share the final two
blocks in our Virtuous Wife quilt project this month, instead of now and in December, so that those ladies who
have been stitching the blocks each month have time to complete the full quilt
before the year ends.
I love these final few verses, and
as I was studying them, discovered a number of simply beautiful meanings which
help to expand our understanding of the written words. So, shall we explore
them?
Verse 30:
(a) Charm is deceitful…
Charm (chen) - can mean physical beauty, but translated from the original Hebrew it also means graciousness or kindness. Deceitful (sheqer) - describes a sham, a falsehood, like putting on an act. So, when we read it with this understanding, we can see that it’s not all about physical beauty which can be made to look more than it actually is with makeup and hair styles etc…it’s also about pretending to be gracious and kind in order to gain favour – a sham.
(b)…and beauty is vain:
Vain (hebel) - means empty. Physical beauty is empty. There’s no real substance to it. We shall see why further on.
(c)…but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Fear
(yare’) - means to be morally reverent. It’s not about being scared of God as
you might a criminal, but to fully revere Him in His divine authorative nature,
to bow your will to His, abiding by His Word and living out that obedience for
all to see.
‘To be praised’ (halal) - means to shine! Isn’t this beautiful? When we
fear God (as described above) we will shine. It instantly reminded me of Jesus’
words in Matthew 5:16 “…let your light shine
before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in
heaven.” Ladies, let us shine forth for the Lord by how we live our lives, and
allowing the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to refine our character.
Verse 31:
(a) Give her of the fruit of her hands:”
Give (nathan) her of the fruit (priy) of her hands; describes the bough of tree, and means to render or reward.
(b) And let her own works…
(Ma’aseh) is the one word to express this section of the verse, and you may be surprised to know that it has many meanings. “Her own works” can be baking, creating a product, doing deeds, needlework, having handy skills, writing…her works can be many and varied.
(c)…praise her in the gates.
Praise
(hahal) – again, this means to shine. In the gates (sha’ar) relates to having
her character, deeds, and inner beauty displayed openly for all to see. When
you take this back to the Biblical era when Proverbs 31 was written, it’s easy
to see why her husband praised her openly when he sat with the city leaders in
the town gates.
And
finally…a little bit of information about the Proverbs 31:10-31 woman today.
Did
you know it is traditionally believed that Abraham used to recite this to
Sarah, and it is now recited or read by Jewish husbands to their wives on the
eve of Sabbath? I think that is so lovely, and any wife would be honoured to
have her husband consider her to be an example of the wife we have been
studying all year.
For
my part, I am not perfect, and God still has rough corners to round off in my
character, but after almost 32 years of marriage I can honestly say that I am
a much better wife than I once was, and intend on allowing the Lord to keep
refining me through whatever years I have left. To HIM be all glory and honour
and praise!
I
hope you have enjoyed this free Virtuous Wife block of the month, which we
began on November 1st, 2022. A year later and I am the better for
it, not because of what I have stitched or sewn, but because of what I have
learned through deepening my personal study of each verse, and almost every
word.
Use
the link below to download the final double pattern set, which includes the
quilt assembly instructions.
DOWNLOAD
blocks 15 and 16
If
you missed any of the sixteen blocks in this BOM go HERE.
I
have pieced all my blocks together and cut the quilt wadding, but am still
deciding how I’ll quilt it, and whether or not I’m going to attempt something a
little different. More about that another day.
God
bless you!! May you grow in the favour and blessing of the Lord all the days of
your life.
Wednesday, October 4, 2023
Penny rug tutorial with perfect circles...
I have received a lot of requests to share my technique for making perfectly round applique circles, the kind used in the two Penny Rugs I recently made from the newest Tilda fabric line, Hibernation, and from my Tilda scrap box of older fabrics.
Needle-turn applique was something I rarely did in years past, but over these last twelve months I've indulged quite a bit in it, honing my skills by trying different techniques until I found one that works for me (and it could be very different to what works for you). But anyhow, the perfect circles on my penny rugs have certainly created interest so I decided to do a detailed tutorial which (hopefully) is easy to follow, and I'm including a second tutorial for making the little buntings which sit along each end of my penny rug table toppers.
First of all, we'll make the circle. I begin with some thin cardboard, and a circle template. The cardboard needs to be thin and I'll show you why later, but it must be thicker than your everyday 80gsm printer paper. If you have some heavier weight 250gsm printer paper that will work well, as does a cardboard cereal box.
Choose what size you want your circles to be. In my two penny rugs I made circles in two sizes - 3" and 3.25" as I liked the shuffling around of the slightly different sizes on the completed table topper. The circles don't need to be a precise size for the penny rug, as long as they sit nicely inside a 4" square.
To make a Penny Rug like mine you will need-
* sixteen, 4.5" squares of assorted fabric
* eight, 5" squares of solid cream fabric (I used linen) for the bunting tongues
* eight, 5" squares of backing fabric for the bunting tongues
* twenty-four, 4" squares of assorted quilting fabrics in your preferred design
* one, 16.5" square of fusible light-weight Pellon, quilt wadding, or Parlan
* Perle 12 thread in cream
* eight, 4.5" squares of thin fusible fabric stabiliser (I use Staflex 3045)
* Aluminium foil
* thin cardboard
I have a lot of pre-prepared circles in my templates box because I use them quite often these days.
Trace around a glass tumbler, a jar, a bangle, or use a pre-made plastic circle or compass on to your cardboard, just making sure the circle is no larger than 3.25" if you're going to make the Penny Rug table topper. I don't have a 4" circle in my collection yet, so I decided to make a couple today as I show you how I make my templates.
Once you have cut our your circle, write in the centre what size it is. Lay it onto a piece of aluminium foil and cut a circle of foil about a half inch bigger than your cardboard template. Fold the foil around the circle. The foil assists in giving a very crisp edge when you press the completed circle.
These are so easy to make that I tend to have around six or eight of each size on hand for projects. I suggest for the Penny Rug table topper you make eight 3.25" diameter, and eight 3" diameter (or all sixteen in one size). Use a template to trace a circle onto the centre of a 4" square of fabric.
I love the little field mouse print, and it's perfect for this type of project! I have loads of 2.5" circle templates so that's what I'll use for today's photos...
Sew a line of running stitch just inside the outer edge of the fabric circle. Place the template inside and pull the threads to gather the fabric around the template. Tie a double knot in the threads, and press the fabric circle with a hot iron on the dry setting.
Once cool, peel the gather over one edge of the circle and remove the template. (this is why the cardboard needs to be thin)
Press the circle again. Perfect. You will need to make twenty-four of the circles for the topper and the bunting tongues.
If you're making the Penny Rug table topper you will need to make the background next. Sew the sixteen 4.5" squares of fabric together in four rows of four. Fuse the Pellon/wadding/Parlan behind the background, and then stitch one of your completed circles into the centre of each square. Your topper will now measure 16.5" square.
Now we need to make the bunting ends.
For this part of the tutorial I'm using completely different fabrics from Tilda because I really want to make a third Penny Rug when I have a spare few days, and this was my way of auditioning the fabrics I intend using. They looked perfect so when I have a chance this will become part of my next topper.
Using the steps above, you will have already made the extra eight circles we need for the bunting tongues. I chose to make this version in subdued creams, blues and pink (there's a wee bit of old Tilda which came to the party after all!).
I'll write the following steps for one bunting tongue, but you will need to make eight in total.
Using the template from the DOWNLOAD SHEET I have for you, trace the bunting tongue shape onto the centre of a 5" square.












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