Good Friday

The above quilt is called "Glory". It sums up our Good Friday. I leave this up all year. In the past, I think I've made 5 of these as gifts. Last year I finally made one for us. It's a watercolor quilt. I had intentions of making some to sell this year, but Easter sneaked up on me. I quilted it so that it looks like rays are coming out of the center cross. One of my favorite quilts. I know I say that about a lot of them, but this one REALLY IS. It's the reason for Easter.

And, as promised, here is a picture of our cross with the black sashing. Can hardly wait to put the royal purple one on there on Sunday morning.

I did some sewing this morning. Finished a patriotic wall hanging from the same pattern as the one in my foyer. Remember how much I like "welcome" around my house? This one whispers it. I like the light letters on the slightly darker background. To be on an eBay near you shortly. It is called True Blue Welcome.

Until later...

~Joan

Good Friday Eve

This is the eve of Good Friday. Years ago I was looking for a nice cross to display at Easter time as a reminder of Christ's death on the cross. I couldn't find any amongst the bunnies and eggs that the commercialized world offered. My dad, who does fantastic woodwork, made me the one above. I painted it white. We put it up before Easter with this dogwood spray on it. Good Friday we put a satin black swag, and Sunday morning, we will put the royal purple swag on. I love Easter. The music we sing in choir makes me cry with gratitude for all God has done for us. May your heart be full of love for God and all He has done for you.

~Joan

Another Seed Packet Arrives

These beauties came from Christine today. We just "met" in blogland recently. The paper is so pretty that she wrote her note on. I hope you can see it in the picture. It has sweet watercolor type drawings with a gardening theme around the edge and Isaiah 58:11 at the bottom, "You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." (NIV).

I might have two of these fabrics already. I know I have one. I won't get to cut them out for a few days. With my children working so much, I've been doing a lot more of the housework. Yea--these people want to eat and wear clean clothes! What's up with that? I don't mind helping, but it does seriously cut into my sewing time.

Thanks, Christine!

~Joan

Small Scrappy Stars Finished

I am reorganizing my sewing area a little. This quilt only lacked the attachment of one border. Rachel grew weary of sewing it. I'm selling this one on eBay. It's 40-1/2" square. I will use the rest of the cut pieces and the sashing units to make a larger version to keep for our family.

Later today I will share what I'm doing with my ironing board and adding storage.

~Joan

Out With the Old, In With the New

Dishwasher, that is. The dishwasher in our house has never worked well. Shortly after moving in, it even stopped working poorly. Being a big girl, I never complained (well, I might have mumbled a little). I don't mind doing dishes with someone in order to have some chatting time. I mean, nothing clears the kitchen for a private chat like, "who wants to help me with the dishes?", right??

I was out scouring the countryside between here and Mary Jo's Cloth World all morning. We go through a lot of vittles, so I not only shopped at the discount grocery store where I drove my daughter for work, but also shopped as Sam's and Walmart. While at Walmart, my husband calls. Here's a rendition of our conversation.

WH: "If someone were going to give us a dishwasher, what color would you want?"

Me: "Ha ha...call back when someone is going to give us a dishwasher."

WH: "That would be now."

Long silence. He said an "anonymous donor" was buying us a new dishwasher. I have dishpan hands up to my elbows with all my big helpers working most of the time. I mean, it was getting serious. I hadn't sewn in DAYS. Not just hours, but DAYS.

So I gave him what I wanted in features, and he BROUGHT HOME A NEW DISHWASHER. It's now installed and has done 2 loads.

Here's the useless beast.

Leaving (we did use it to store our table top grill!)...Now, that's more like it. Quiet, big, and NEW! Humming away...It is our practice to leave the children's cups out on the counter after they are washed. Even when we just had a few children (we have 8 at home now) we always had a different colored cup for each child. Isaac (8) couldn't find his cup tonight. Emily (16) suggested he look in the dishwasher. Lo, and behold--there it was. Isaac had never had that experience before. I don't think he even had a dishwasher in his frame of reference. He exclaimed, "Oh--that is sooooo cool!" He has had his horizons broadened.

Many thanks to my parents for this unexpected gift.

~Joan

Welcome to My House

As you walk up to my front door, you go down a little hill on the sidewalk, then start back up a bit. As your view is drawn from your feet to the steps leading to the front door, this is what you see. Perennial flowers and plants to cheer you. Seeing flowers in bloom lifts my spirits. It is 4:45 PM as I write this, and it's 55 degrees outside.

The hyacinths (middle pot) bloom every year, and they have the most lovely fragrance. The lowest pot holds an African daisy. I don't remember the name of the tiny bluish flowers in the top planter. It is mixed with some ivy that will live through about anything.
While you're standing at the door, waiting for those few seconds for it to be answered, you turn to the right and see this pretty slate. There now, don't you feel welcome? I really like signs that say "welcome". That's how I want people to feel when they come to my house, even before they get inside.
Thank you for stopping by.

~Joan

Two More Anticipated SOK Packets Arrive

When I originally humiliated myself by begging, er, I mean asking for your Thimbleberries scraps for my Seeds of Kindness charm quilt, I didn't think I'd get much of a response. Oh, me of little faith! Before today, I received over 200 different pieces.

This AM was spent at the dentist. I am getting a crown. No, I didn't win the Mrs. America contest. Those days are gone. Long gone. I took a picture of my temporary crown, but it was lifesized, and frankly disgusting. Only my dear dentist has looked that closely into my open mouth! He put the temporary crown on today. I go back in 3 weeks for the real deal. Expen$ive!!

My two oldest boys went with me for their semi-annual dental cleanings.

To add insult to injury, I went shopping for shoes after bringing the boys back home. I can't think of much I like less than shopping. The shoes I'm replacing are at least 15 years old. I think I can get another year out of them! They are black dress shoes. Not only are the styles outrageous, the prices sent me into shock! After some deep breathing I was just fine.

To add a bright spot to my day, on one of my calls home, my WH informed me that two more seed packets had arrived. One was 10 pieces and 2 lovely self-published patterns from my new dear b-friend, Marcie, and another air mail pack with lots of pieces (I think 40+) from a new cohort, Cathi in Canada (hi to all Canucks reading).

Note to self: do not take picture of Thimbleberries fabrics on top of quilt made from Thimbleberries fabrics. Duly noted.

~Joan