Friday, December 23, 2011

The Ultimate Gift

I have been thinking about my sign off message about being kind to someone else and about being grateful for something each day and I thought that I should share what I am grateful for and turn it into a thanksgiving. I heard a saying, I don't know now who it was that said it but it is none the less true. Gratitude is not thanksgiving until it is expressed. I realized that I was not expressing my gratitude here even though I was encouraging you to. So I am thankful for my family. This holiday season not all of our children will be able to come home from their respective homes so I am grateful for those who are able to make it home. I am especially thankful for having a baby in the house this Christmas. It seems that celebrating Jesus's birth is all the sweeter when there is a baby around to draw the point home. With out the birth of Jesus we would not have this holiday to celebrate. The ultimate gift was a baby, born to be with us and to die for us. I am most thankful for this gift.

This brings me to share with you a wonderful movie that I watched last evening with my family. It is called "The Ultimate Gift". It is not a Christmas movie even though it occurs over Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it is a movie that has become one of my favorites very quickly and I hope will be able to watch every Christmas season. If you have a chance to watch it please do.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Christmas meaning

A trip to the airport is in the works for today. DD and baby come in this morning from Tx. I hope that we get a white Christmas for them. The house is in order. The sheets are drying so I can make up a pretty clean fresh bed for her. She is so excited about coming home and we are equally excited.

My prayer this holiday season is that you find the true gift of Christmas and open it with care. Jesus is that gift. He came to this earth as a baby over 2000 years ago. Imagine Mary wrapping up her beautiful newborn and laying him in that manger trough. It wasn't because they were poor that they had to stay in the stable with the animals. It was simply because there wasn't any room in the inn. Don't let that happen again. Don't keep Him outside in the cold because there isn't any room in your heart and home for Him. He created the entire world and then He came to us as a baby in order to redeem the world that He lovingly created from the effects of sin that was never to be a part of this world ever. The work has been completed, the gift purchased, paid for in blood, and it is waiting to unwrapped, opened and accepted. Don't let another Christmas go by without opening up the most precious gift of all.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16.

May your Christmas be filled with the love of a baby born.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Christmas wrap up part 2

Yesterday, I managed to get most of the laundry done, one load still in the dryer. I got the grocery shopping done. I delivered 2 "love baskets" that the church ladies put together for shut-ins or the ill.
I finished a window seat cushion, so all my Christmas presents are done. I went and picked up the Pack and Play that DH bought. So now today I will be cleaning up a storm getting the house in tip top shape for DD and baby.

So much to do today. I made my list and I am checking it twice but not to find out who has been naughty or nice but to make sure that I get everything done that I need to do. My brain is not functioning as well as it once did so these lists are very useful. They help me to stay on track with what I am doing and also helps me not to forget something that is important. New strategies are being employed to help me stay focused and organized. It is not that they are "new" strategies as they have been used by many people for centuries. I am just finding that I am needing to employ them myself now at this stage of my life. So the lesson learned is don't be afraid to change the way you do things and try out some of the tried and true strategies that you have heard of like forever to help you get the job done what ever that job may be.

Christmas day is just a few days away but we need to keep the message of Christmas, the birth of a baby who would save the world from sin, in our hearts all year long. May love, peace, and joy fill your hearts and homes this holiday season and through out the new year to come.

Be grateful for all you have and do one kind deed today to make some one else's day a little merrier.
Have a great day.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Christmas wrap up

Today I will be wrapping up my Christmas projects, and when I say wrapping up I don't mean putting them in a box or gift bag and getting them ready to present as beautiful presents. See my word plays there. It seems to be too early in the morning for such cleverness to emerge but there it is and perhaps it will be a good day after all. I woke up early in the morning and my body ached in every joint I had it seemed. So I got up and took some good old Advil and went back to bed. I slept right through turning my alarm off and didn't wake up until DH was leaving for work. So since I am getting such a late start to my day, I think I will be kind to myself and just putter around until my body wakes up and ease it into the day slowly. Once I make it downstairs to my studio I will put the finishing touches on some of the quilted items that I plan on giving as gifts. Once that is done I just might get them wrapped up in pretty packages after all.

Tomorrow will be dedicated to cleaning the house in anticipation of DD and baby arriving. That will include doing laundry that I might start in on today also. I do have to run an errand to Meadville today to pick up an item that DH has purchased on the local Facebook For Sale site. That will also give me a chance to run over to my brother's apartment and drop off a love box that the church ladies put together for him for Christmas. So today and tomorrow will be rather busy days in preparation, but it will be well worth it as we get to celebrate Christmas once again with a baby in the house. So much fun.

I don't have any photos to share today but there will be more soon. So remeber to be grateful for this season and the meaning behind Christmas and do something kind for some one else. It will help you take your mind off of yourself and bring joy to you in the process. Have a great day.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Small wallhangings finished

At our quilt groups Christmas party, we each received a small box with a pattern and fabrics to make one of the small wallhanging in the pattern. They measure about 12-13". So I got at and made up a few. My friend Tina, had her Stitch and Bitch get together on Saturday and so I took these little beauties to show and tell and to work on some more. Here is what I managed to get done so far.

This is the first one that I got done. These were the fabrics that were in the little kit, except for the letters that spell out Joy, that was from my stash. One thing that I did that I changed in subsequent pieces was that I quiled the background before I stitched down the letters and they started to come loose a little and shift when I did stitch them down. So in the rest of them, I did a loose satin stitch around the letters and then quilted them.

Here is the Noel block.

I love the non traditional color scheme of this little block. It still says Christmas without being strictly red and green.

This little one is so cute. It is a snow globe. You chose a fabric that you can fussy cut for the scene in the circle, fuse it to your background, cover it with vinyl, satin stitch around it and leave an opening at the bottom and fill it will some fine beads or confetti, finish stitching it shut and cut away the excess vinyl. So cute. I will make more of these. These would be so fun to make with a photo of someone inside and put confetti in it and give as birtday prestents.
These little pieces only took about one hour start to finish to make. So fun.
What projects are you finishing up before Christmas? These could be done quickly if you needed some last minute gifts.

I hope that you enjoyed seeing the work I finished over the weekend. Be kind to someone else today and be thankful for what you have. Have a wonderful day.