Oh My {Wonky} Stars!

God's promises are like the stars; the darker the night the brighter they shine. –David Nicholas

Over the past eight months or so, I've been working on a little stash enhancement project tending towards more modern prints. Most of it has come from on-line shops and quite a lot of it has been on clearance. 50% off is my favorite price. I also joined the Stash Stack Club at Pink Castle Fabrics. Each month they feature a certain color and you can get six or twelve different fabrics in either fat quarter or half-yard cuts. The fabrics they send are considered blenders, that is, tone-on-tone or a single color and white. They have their shop organized so that you can search their blenders or Stash Builders, as they call them, by color. I've also ordered from their sale fabrics and beefed up my stash that way. She who dies with the most fabric still dies, but at least she'll have lots of pretty fabrics to make lots of pretty quilts before then.

Now, I'm not getting paid or compensated by telling you this {but if the folks at Pink Castle get a ton of traffic from here and want to send a little something my way, I wouldn't turn them down}. I've just had a really good experience with them and wanted to show off a little something I've been working on, using things I pulled from my stash.

Generally, I'm not a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of girl. I like to have a plan. But when I saw this Wonky Stars Tutorial, there was just enough organization there that I felt safe being a little wonky.

I had so much fun playing in my stash that I couldn't stop at one.

Or two.

The blocks are 12" and they go together pretty quickly. You could have yourself a nice throw quilt in a 5" x 5" layout in no time at all. I'd say that close to half of the fabrics in these blocks came from Pink Castle. And there's some good stuff in there; Metro Living, Bonnie and Camille, Pearl Bracelets and True Colors. I'm not sure what I'll do with these blocks. Maybe if someone puts out a call, I'll contribute them to a collaboration or something. Or maybe I'll quilt them into table toppers, or sew them into a row and make a table runner. Or maybe I'll make a few more blocks and throw together a quilt. I'm feeling rather adventurous without a plan here.

Today's post brought to you by:

Tuesday Tales

The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser — in case you thought optimism was dead. –Robert Brault

I forgot to post two Personal Progress Totes I finished this month with the bags I posted yesterday. I was planning to put them all together in one post but forgot, so you get to hear from me two days in a row, with is an altogether uncommon occurrence around here these days. We only had one April birthday girl in our ward.

And this second one is for one of my cousin's daughters. I made one for her other daughter earlier, and casually included it into my post with the ones for February and March birthdays, hoping she wouldn't notice her daughter's name. I sent both of them to her a few weeks ago as a surprise and she was tickled to receive them.

For me, that is what it is all about — I love it when someone loves what I have made for them. I put a lot of thought into the things I make and try to use fabrics and colors that suit that person. When I first started working with the Young Women, I had each of the girls fill out a questionnaire so that I could casually find out their favorite colors for the ribbons and their embroidered names. Even though all of the totes are made with the same fabric, I wanted them to be personalized for each girl.

A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by someone wondering if I would make a Gumnut Baby quilt, like the one I made for one of my Twi-Quilter friends. It was a collaboration quilt and we all made blocks for it. I did the center block, which featured the main characters, Snugglepot and Cuddlepie.

For the most part, I turn down requests for commissions. Honestly, it takes all of the fun out of my "me time." It makes my hobby a job. I'm torn, on this one though. I love needle-turn appliqué. And I'm very flattered that someone liked my work enough to pay me to do it. But that's the sticky part right there. I don't know how much to charge. I'm sure those Gumnut Babies took at least 20 hours. Add to that quilting time and supplies and we're looking at $500+ for a baby quilt. I don't know if I would dare ask that. Another sticky spot is that I tend to procrastinate something I perceive as a chore. Creating for money makes it a chore. The person who wants the quilt doesn't need it until Christmas, but that just means I have lots of time to put it off and then I'll end up stressing myself out trying to pull it together at the last minute. I also don't know if I saved my pattern. I don't even know where to start to look for it. I'm a fool if I threw it out, regardless of whether or not I will ever make this block again. And then there's real life; kids, husband, church stuff, job, summer vacation . . .

Do all of those "cons" outweigh the joy of creating something so individualized? I don't know, but I probably should e-mail the person back to let them know I'm still considering. That is the polite thing to do. And whether or not I make the quilt, I can be polite.

Today's post brought to you by:

P.S. Don't tell, but I think those Gumnut Babies are a little bit creepy.

Amelie x7

Friends are like handbags . . . you can never have too many.
–Unknown

I've been working on a secret project for the last seven or eight weeks. Before we get to that, I have to fill in with a little backstory. In January, I was called to work with the Young Women at church. I decided that I wanted to make a Personal Progress tote for each of them for their birthdays using Deena Rutter's Good Life fabric, which is based on the Young Women program. I also knew that I was going to need a bigger bag to tote back and forth to church and while I was making one, I could make a few more for the women who work with me as leaders over the girls. I've been working on these pretty much every day since I finished my last quilt, but I had to keep it quiet. We're all friends on The Facebook and my blog posts also show up on my timeline there. Naturally, I didn't want to ruin the surprise. But they've all been delivered now and I can finally show them off.

I used Geta Grama's Amelie Purse pattern. The pattern, with the accent fabric in the front pockets, was perfect for the Good Life fabric. The purse is nice and roomy, but I added 2" to the height of the bag, so they'd be tall enough to fit a standard size binder in them.

I think the funnest part of the assembly was installing the magnetic snap closures, which I ordered from Etsy for a really terrific price.The bag has tons of pockets; besides the two really deep pockets on the front, there are two pockets inside, one each on the lining front and back.

I think the back zipper pocket is my favorite because it has polka-dots inside. If you've been hanging around for any amount of time, you know how much I love polka-dots. I really love the zippers, which I also got on Etsy.

On the practical side, I sprayed them all with Scotch Guard, inside and out. Although I debated about spraying them before I put the pieces together, I decided to wait until after they were all finished, in case the heat from the iron did something funny to the Scotch Guard.

This is the only sewing I've done lately and this is the first project I've worked on from start to finish without getting detoured in a long time. Sometimes I wondered if I was ever going to get them done. It was tempting to work on something else. And having my nose up close to them and seeing all the not-so-perfect top-stitching made me wonder if they were going to turn out good enough to give away. But the reaction I got from the women when I took the bags to them really made it all worth while. One of them said, "this means so much," as she ran her finger over her embroidered name. That meant a lot to me and I'm so glad they are finished and delivered. I can't wait to use mine!

Today's post brought to you by:

Tulips Are My Favorite

And tulips, children love to stretch
Their fingers down, to feel in each
Its beauty's secret nearer.
–Elizabeth Barrett Browning, A Flower in a Letter.

I'm not quite sure what it is about tulips that I love so much, but they are my favorite of all the flowers. Whatever it is, I think they are a miracle. I thought I'd take you on a little garden tour and show you what is blooming in my yard. These pretty pink ones are Apple Blossom tulips. The pretty burgundy foliage on the left is a peony, which I also really love.

These are parrot tulips, although I'm not sure of the variety because I ordered them in a grab bag. I love the pretty daffodils, rimmed in apricot, behind them, but again, they came from a grab bag so I don't know their name either. On the left is a bleeding heart, which has gotten really big. Does anyone need a cutting?

Once upon a time, I knew the name of these pretty purple tulips, but I don't remember now. The red parrot tulips are also from the grab bag, but I think they are a different variety than the others. It is hard to see from the pictures, but the color isn't quite the same.

This one is called Blue Diamond.

I love orange flowers. This one is the Donald Duck tulip. It was bred for his 50^th {I think} birthday.

A neighbor brought me this bulb, so I don't know the variety, but it is absolutely gorgeous. The picture doesn't quite do justice to the beautiful apricot color.

I thought I'd try something a little artsy-smartsy here. Not sure it worked out how I wanted, but I love these delicate pink tulips.

The bulbs are getting a little crowded. For the past several years, I keep thinking I need to dig them up and spread them out, but then these beautiful groups of a dozen or more tulips come up and I can't bear to separate them because I know it will be a few years before they will multiply enough to grow in pretty bouquets again. I think that it really needs to be done this year, though. The tulips won't last much longer so I'll enjoy them while I can, and when they start to fade I'll make a little time to rearrange them. It will be fun to have a new tulip show to see next year.

Because of Him

The sun rises up over the vast cityscape of Jerusalem, lighting the white limestone walls of the old city and creeping over buildings. Just north of the walls, a garden sits undisturbed.

Shortly, a throng of tourists will arrive and take their spots on the benches overlooking the garden. Some will descend the steps to the lowest point in the garden, quietly duck through a door carved in stone, and stare reverently into a hollowed portion of the rock where a body was laid to rest about two thousand years ago. As they leave, they will notice a sign on the door: “He is not here, for He is risen.”

The tourists don’t come to the Garden Tomb because this is where they hope Jesus was buried; they come because they hope this is where Jesus did what had never been done before—He lived again. –The Meaning of Easter, Mormon.org



Jesus is the Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer. Because of Him, death is not the end, and life takes on new meaning. We can change, we can start over—and we can live again with God. This Easter, celebrate His life and discover all that’s possible because of Him.

As part of our lesson today in Young Women, we each took some time to think of how our lives are better because of Him. On this beautiful Easter day, I hope you will take some time to reflect on the good things in your life because of Him.

Back Row, L to R: Sarah, Erica, Elizabeth, Kim
Front Row, L to R: Maddie, Jehni, Sam

#BecauseofHim