once upon a quilt

I've been home since last Thursday with a sick girl.  One minute she's cold and bundled up and the next she's stripping clothes off and throwing a tank top and shorts on.  The madness hasn't ended yet, we're home again today.  If I ever get out of this house, I plan on getting some sheets to make one or two (or ten) of these...



While Blogger's link function isn't currently working for me,
you can find it here at http://www.madebymarzipan.com/,
just search for "Bye Baby Bunting Quilt".



We know an astounding number of people having and who've just had babies.  And we want to do something special for them.  So this is one on my list.  Once upon a time, I tried making a quilt, but cutting out the fabric's as far as I got.  Sad, but true!  Those kinds of quilts just seems so tedious and the instructions, well that's a whole 'nother story in itself.  Every step of quilting just bogs down my mind and leaves me frazzled.  So, this is gonna be my attempt at "quilting".  I like to think of it as a cheater version but, nonetheless, it will be a quilt of some sort.  Wish me luck!

 

right where we need to be

I've had a lot of revelations in the last year or so.  I look back and see how God has prepared us in so many ways for the life we are now living and for little things along the way.  Just this week, again, I was reminded of God's perfect placement and timing.

Over the weekend, one of Miss K's friends wanted to come over and hang out but, we had an extremely busy weekend planned.  Instead, I told her Monday would be perfect because it was a holiday and we had nothing on the books.  So, we picked her up Monday and stayed busy all day having fun - shopping, Wii, crafting.  At lunchtime, she told us her grandma was having surgery that day and the hospital wasn't allowing any visitors under 18 due to the flu being so rampant.  She explained further that it was surgery for breast cancer and Miss K perks up and says, "My grandma had breast cancer too."  Friend's mother texted me later to thank me for keeping her girl busy and her mind off things.  And it occurred to me that God put us all where he wanted us to be on that day.  We helped her, she helped us.

I haven't talked to my brother since we were home for the holidays.  He started a new job with crazy hours and no one's really heard from him.  So, I texted to ask him something and inquired about his new job.  He explained it wasn't his ideal job - long commute, in the city - but he was making good money.  We talked about how money isn't everything and I told him God has a way of putting us where He needs us, even when it's not always where we'd like to be and it isn't always comfortable but, God stretches us and it all works out in the end.  I know he's aware of these things but it's always good to hear them again, to know that other people have been there, that they're rooting for you.

Miss K and I had a talk not long ago about one of her friends and how this friend's life would be changing in the future, much like ours did.  I told Miss K that this was her chance to be supportive, encouraging and mindful of the changes that'll take place.  In my eyes, she has a bag full of experience in life changing events for someone of her age and it's her chance to be a mentor of sorts.  Again, God's been preparing her to help others and placing her right where she needs to be.

God's timing is always perfect and He's constantly stretching us and forming us for His glory and to serve others. 

like treachery

 
Out among friends, we spent the evening away from home.  Blessed by the love held between us, we were pleased to join our dearest chums for a little Christmas celebration.  Over firecracker punch and white chocolate mochas, I was a little overwhelmed by how much I felt like an outsider.  While I was treated nothing of the sort, it still felt a little different, if only to me.  They were all so excited to see us (as our arrival was kept a secret) and I was thrilled to catch up and see how much the babies had grown and how life was treating them.  Conversation and laughter filled the air while the sweet and savory smells of every one's hard work wafted about as well. 
 
As I mingled, it was nice to hear Mrs. C talk of her fondness of the Midwest.  How home is always in your heart and how you still miss it from time to time, even after all those years.  It's good to know that no one ever took her memories, ever dowsed her affection for home as she once knew it.  People do that, they try to tell you that you'll never be happy, that the place they call home is better than what you've always known.  They think their way of life is superior and I get it, they like "their place" and that's fine and dandy but, I like mine too.  That doesn't mean one could never be happy being uprooted and tossed from, say, the mountains to the cornfields.  It's just not true.
 
That's why it was so strange tonight.  A feeling of betrayal encompassed me.  I'm now accustomed to the cornfields, the sprawling land, the eery silence, the large farmhouse, the crazy wind, the bazillions of thrift stores I frequent, all the new friends, the fantastic church.  It's all grown on me a bit and I almost want to hide it from them.  I don't want them to know that we've become comfortable there, even though they'd be overjoyed for us.  It feels like treachery.  I don't want to say that I miss it.  But the Mister and I agree, we do.  We miss the silly cornfields and we can't wait to get back and settle in some more.  It's such an odd and confusing situation.  It's funny how God throws curve balls.
 
I am glad we missed the first snow storm.  No regrets there!

Reindeer Cupcakes

When you're the "Star Student of the Week" it calls for super awesome snacks!  So, of course we had to do it right and make some festive Christmas treats.  Today, I made Reindeer Cupcakes.  These were so fun and too cute!

 

 

I didn't follow a recipe, just used regular yellow cake mix baked in a muffin/cupcake pan.  While they were cooling, I secured the brown M&M noses to the vanilla wafers with a dab of chocolate icing (place the icing in a Ziploc bag and snip off the corner - this makes it super easy!)  You could also use red M&M's for Rudolph.  After the cupcakes cooled, I iced them with chocolate icing, added the vanilla wafer noses and pretzels.  Then, I used white chocolate chips flipped upside down and squirted on a tiny drop of black gel icing.  Easy peasy!

 

 

the view from here

While I still can't bring myself to call this state home (it's a technicality, we just haven't been here long enough) it is beautiful in it's own way.  Beautiful in a way that I was never familiar with until we came here.  Some people say there's nothing to look at, no scenery, but I beg to differ.  The cornfields are endless and peaceful.  Nothin's heard except the wind and the occasional howling coyote.  Nothin's moving except the wind turbines and the branches of the trees.  Little birds peck the gravel and the sidewalks finding grit for their craw.  That's it.  It's quiet, peaceful, relaxing. 
 
I love the sun that flows into this house daily.  Light somehow fuels influences my joy.  (Did you know, chickens require light for egg production?  Weird, but true.)  It really makes my day when the sun shines.  There are 5 windows in the kitchen and five in the living room of this house.  (We only had 3 in our kitchen back home, two in the living room.  So, that's a big difference - to me.)  I love that when I look out one of the kitchen windows there's this...
 

a swing, hanging from a grand climbing tree with a view of all the storage buildings for the farm in the background.  (Looks like piles of junk back there and one of them is, the rest are dirt piles, a wagon, a small animal shelter of some kind.  You get the point, farm stuff.)

 

  

Move around to the mudroom/laundry room and there's this - a tire swing beside the sandbox under another great tree. Behind that are grape vines and over to the right is a big, big garden.  This place, it'll be perfect when summer rolls around.  We'll soon be gearing it up for visitors, so get your bags ready.  wink.



 

  

Then, there's my favorite, the wind turbines.  Maybe it's strange, but we didn't have these back home and I still love to gaze at them as they turn in the wind.  At night, it resembles a landing strip because of the flashing red lights.  And in the morning, you see the lights as the sun comes up behind them.  Cool.  Very cool.

 

 
So, while life in town is pretty neat, I still love this country livin'.

hmmm

 

Does it defeat the purpose if one works out for a half hour
and then has chocolate chip cookies with coffee for breakfast?

 

I think so.

 

I think so.

 

 

Leftover-Flower-Lace (Elastic) Headband

Somehow, I always manage to speak too soon.  Seems I have a bit of time on my hands and I've had the notion to check some things off my mental to-do list. 

A while back, I bought two packs of elastic headbands at the Dollar Tree.  Literally, a dollar for 8 headbands.  You can't beat it!  So, here's a headband I created with some leftover lace ribbon I'd bought at Wal-Mart for another project.

 

I used a piece of charcoal-colored fleece, double the size of my ribbon + 1 inch.  I sewed the lace ribbon on each side using a long slightly curved stitch (next time, I will keep it simple and go with a long and straight stitch.)

 

 

 This will just make your final product crisp and clean looking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Note: There are two things I would change next time...

 

1. Use a darker elastic (black or brown?)- my hair is dark and the  light color of the elastic sticks out a bit but, use whatever works for you.

 

2. Add velcro closures - I would use a few small pieces of velcro along the fleece instead of sewing it.  That way I could interchange different pieces onto the elastic band.  (Does that make any sense at all?  I hope so.)

 

One last note, this headband was a bit bulky but, my hair is curly and compensated well.  My daughter, who straightens her hair, tried the headband on and it looked completely ridiculous so maybe I'll go about this a different way all together next time.