A Grateful Heart

Always be joyful. - 1 Thessalonians 5 : 16

I share this post so that those of you feeling the same way will know you are not alone.

I seem to be having trouble with this verse. I am trying, I really am. But to be honest, I have been angry. I am angry when I go to bed and angry during the course of the day. Things have been difficult to say the least, but the Lord has not let go of us. So I just keep praying that the Lord will help me to always be joyful.

It would seem that where I thought we (my family) would be is just not where God wants us to be right now. It is funny how God works. A little back story - I work A LOT - on the computer. And I have been trying to build in other things in my life, because otherwise, there is taking care of the kids and working, working, working. So I started sewing and exercising more and trying to get more time outside. And, a big one, I started trying to go to bed at a somewhat normal time with my hubby again... giving us time to giggle and chat and fall asleep next to each other. I wanted to feel human again. And you know what... I didn't earn enough to pay the bills this past month and then August was looking worse.

So I got mad. I was mad that I could not have a life like the neighbors, taking vacations and eating out, buying new things for their kids. I know, I am awful. I was mad at my husband, mad that he wanted to try and start a business, mad that it wasn't making any money, mad that he wasn't doing more about it. I was just mad all the time.

So I prayed and found the hubby a part time, flexible, job that he could do while also keeping up with his bees and I have started staying up late again, missing my workouts and not getting time to sew to make up for the not paid bills, to get groceries and all the other things that are necessary.... but I was still mad. I was mad that I could not have that other life that I wanted, until tonight.

When I was young, I prayed that I would not be rich. I thought that having too much money would cause too many problems and I just wanted to have enough. And as I have aged, I continued to pray that God would use us in whatever way he saw fit. Well, he has. I think one of the reasons that my husband has had so many odd jobs is that he is a little rough around the edges and can talk to other rough people about God in a way others can't. He was telling me today that some of the guys at his side job were interested in the bee stuff and he knows they were going to ask him about it. And instantly, I knew.... God has made it necessary for my hubby to go to yet another odd job to talk to these guys about God and the bees are part of his way in. I said this to him as I was thinking of it. And he began to tell me how he was thinking the same thing too and tell me about a few things that happened to him recently that let him know he was on the right path.

How can I sit here and have my hissy fit, when this is what I prayed for? This is what God wants us to do. Oh what a funny plan God has for us. He continues to teach me to be a better person and to trust Him and put my faith in Him. And I continue to let Him down. I am trying, I really am. But for today, I am going to do my best to not be angry anymore. I am going to keep praying for stronger faith and joy. I am not going to lose hope. I will keep doing God's will.

Getting Ready

We are going to be visiting our first craft show this year. I only have one more weekend to prepare and I feel frazzled. I don't know what to expect, how much product to bring, what will sell, etc. And there is still so much to do: make table cloths, create the actual display and practice setting it up, buy the tent (ouch)...

So many questions....

We will be mainly selling the hubby's honey from the bees. And I have been working hard to make some lovely products with the wax and other by products.

My latest work has been on some lovely lotions.

The bars are really adorable, feel so luxurious, and smell nice too. I love that they are made with simple ingredients, but still works so well. I think they would make an excellent end of the year teacher gift as well. So, here's to hoping that those passing by will think so too!

What have you been up too?

Sewing Lately

I haven't had as much time for sewing lately as I would like. Work seems to always get in the way. When you work from home full time, homeschool, and try to run your hubby's bee business, it seems that sewing gets lost in the mix.

With the few minutes that I did have, I tried a couple new things.

First up, I made some crayon and colored pencil roll-ups. These were super fun.

I kept it simple by cutting three pieces of fabric the same size for each one.

Crayon roll up - 6 in x 19 or 20 in (whatever length my fat quarter was after I trimmed it...)

Colored pencil roll up - 9 in x 19 or 20 in

One of the three pieces in folded in half and used for the pocket.

I sewed lines 3/4 inches apart to fit the crayons and pencils. This attached the pocket to the inside fabric.

I also got a chance to try the block of the month for Sew Can She. This month was the On Point Heart. It was fun to try a block I have never made. I made them half the size of the block described in her tutorial. I hope to make two more and attach to make a sweet hot pad for spring.

It was fun to see how the different colors worked together. I like the one on the left better. I think you can see the heart more clearly. I'm going to try one with the birds on the outside and the teal and polka dots forming the heart to see how they play together too.

I am adding my blocks to the monthly link-up.

Melon Mosaics

I just love when Rachel, at Stitched in Color, has these mosaic challenges. Her writing is just beautiful and I always feel inspired.

My first mosaic feels like a summer bouquet.

And my second...

Well, this one sort of reminds me of a sunset I saw at the beach.

It might be too many coral, peachy, orange colors, but sometimes the sky is just filled with so many different shades. And the solids could be fun together.

I really wanted to get a chance to work with some raspberry shades of color, but every time I tried it just didn't feel right. I might keep playing around with it because it is really fun.

Check out Rachel's post to see how to make your own and enter the giveaway.

International Quilting Day

I hope that you all were able to enjoy International Quilting Day. I was supposed to be working, but I decided it would be worth losing sleep to spend the day sewing.

I have been redoing my sewing corner and decided to put the big ironing board away. It took too much of my small space. So I found a small ironing board at Goodwill for $2. It was a mess, but I had lots of fun with fabric and a staple gun recovering it.

With my new ironing board made on Friday, I was all set to work on my first quilt on Saturday. So I started by planning out where I wanted each square to create the bee body.

Then I spent the whole rest of the day piecing it together. This part was fun and frustrating. I thought I was so careful cutting and so careful with my seams, but some of the pieces still do not line up as I wanted. I put some of them together more than three times. Then I decided to go with a quote I recently saw and felt that it would be better finished than perfect.

So it is not perfect, but it isn't horrible either. It is only a small fraction of the whole quilt and it took me so long. (Is this horribly slow for one days work??) So this will take a while, especially if I only get a weekend here and there.... but it was so much fun.

I worked a little on another project on Sunday to help the remake of my sewing corner. I am excited to share that with you soon. Just a little more to do...

My First Quilt

I finally decided what I should create for my first quilt. It took forever, and there are at least 8 other quilts in planning... but for the first one... I decided it should be for my soul mate, my hubby, the beekeeper.

I found this great fabric at Connecting Threads. I loved all the honey combs, little bees and beautiful flowers. And then they ended up having a 40% off sale. So I snagged a bunch and got planning.










So then I started planning it out. I am still not sure about the wings, but I have a basic plan that will have me just sewing squares together for this first one. Once I got the basic plan together, I found this great white fabric with little hexagon/honeycomb designs all over that will be great for the rest of the quilt. The fabric was really fun to pick out.

But I am soooooo nervous to put this thing together. I guess making the first quilt for my love wasn't the best idea. I don't want to mess this up, and I know he will inspect it from top to bottom. I have been sewing quite a bit, but never anything this large. I don't know how I will even quilt it and I have not ordered my walking foot yet. So for now, I have a few hundred more squares to cut and lots of piecing to do.  I will probably just stare at the quilt top for a while after it is put together before basting and quilting. That will be fun!

If you have any tips for a first time quilter, please share. :)

Le Challenge... Space

This past Sunday I had a lot of fun just sewing. I had to work part of the day, but I have also been trying really hard to include some time for the things I enjoy as well. So I sat down at the machine and decided to create.

Soon after I got started, my three year old got hurt while playing. It was just a small "boo-boo", but he wanted to cuddle and not let me sew. So after about 10 minutes of hugs and kisses and cuddles, we compromised. I told him that I would make him a pillow, so that he would have space for his head to lay while resting the "boo-boo" on his foot. He wanted Christmas themed pillows and I said YES!

Then the hubby got going on about how he still wanted an insulated bag that could carry his water bottle at the bee yard. He uses glass jars, to stay away from plastic, and wanted something that would hold them and keep them from breaking. So I started measuring the half gallon glass jug and designing a pattern for this lovely bag. It has two layers of batting and 1 layer of insul-bright on each side. I don't think that glass jar will be moving, breaking, or getting too warm anytime soon. I had some of the material that feels like a table cloth, I think it is called oil cloth or something. I used that on the inside so that if there was any condensation it wouldn't soak through the bag. He didn't want anything too girly on the outside, so we went with ninja turtles for the outer fabric. I am saving my bee prints for a quilt for the hubby. He thought the ninja turtles were pretty funny. The interior has a box shape, but I could not figure out how to get the box shape and all the batting in there for the outside. I am still trying to figure out how to do that, but the basic tote shape on the outside seems to work just fine for this first try. Now he has a space to keep his glass water bottle safe.

I wish I could have sewed all day and night. It was a great Sunday. What did you do this weekend?

These two projects are being entered into the monthly Le Challenge. There will not be a new challenge over the holidays, so be sure to check back around January 15th for a new theme.

A Grateful Heart

This week, I am so thankful for the few minutes I have found to sew. It is so hard to find the time, but I have been really trying to make sure that I get a few minutes. Sometimes it isn't even once a week, but I sure am trying. I have been planning and cutting while I work with the kids for school so that when I do get a few minutes I can just get right to it.

Here are some of my attempts and more bags. They are not perfect, but I sure am having fun. And I can't get better unless I practice. ;)

Hopefully this weekend I will get a chance to work on some gifts and a pretty purple block I am turning into another bag. Then, after Christmas, I plan to work on my first quilt. It will be for my daughter.

Beeswax Lip Balm

I am so excited about this lip balm. It is made with beeswax from the hubby's hives.

I used:

2 tbsp of coconut oil
1 1/2 tbsp of beeswax
1 tbsp shea butter
1 tbsp cocoa butter
about 25 drops peppermint essential oils

(Bought everything but the beeswax from Mountain Rose Herbs. - not an affiliate link)

I used a glass measuring cup dedicated to making lip balm only to create a double boiler. Once I had it all melted I used the tiniest little funnel to pour the liquid into the tubes. I kept the pot of water warm because it is cold here and the mixture would start to solidify. Then I would just place the measuring cup back in the pot of water to make liquid again.

And it makes a ton of these little tubes. I used an Avery label (Square 2 in x 2 in), but I had to cut off just a little to make it fit. And they didn't stick very well, so I used clear packaging tape over it. Now it looks like a real lip balm and works even better than the ones at the store.

Oh my goodness, it is so good. Love the way it feels on my lips. I'm adding these to the items for sale with our honey. And it is so great to start to see my little "shop" coming together. Dreams do come true.... as long as someone decides to buy them, haha!

Today is the Day! Back to the Future

 

Oh my gosh! My hubby and I are a bunch of geeks. Last month, my hubby turns to me and says, I think today is the day that Marty McFly went to the future. So, of course, I google it to find that he actually traveled to October 21, 2015. So we have been counting down until the day. And we will be forcing our kids to watch Part II to see it happen. Oh, the fun.

Brown Mosaics

Do you remember the primary color mosaics that were being made for a giveaway over at Stitched in Color? It was so much fun. I spent way too long playing with the mosaic maker and putting fun fabrics together. I didn't win, I wasn't even a finalist, but it was still incredibly fun.

So when I saw that she has another fun mosaic contest, I dropped what I was doing to play with fabrics from the fun fabric shop, Fabric Bubb.

Here are my two brown mosaics. This was hard. I have a ton more ideas and way too many fabrics to add. Oh, if I could add more than 9....

The first one has some fun blue shades and a wanderer feel.

As I was working on that one I started to dream up fun shades of purple and pink and brown... So lovely. I never feel like these are perfect, or finished, but I just couldn't afford any more time on it.











Do you want to join in the fun? Check out all the details here at Stitched in Color.

A Grateful Heart

 

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
   1 Thessalonians 5:18

I disappear from this little blog at times because life gets crazy and sometimes there isn't much to report that I feel is worthy of reporting. We still continue to struggle, but we are making it. I am thankful for this. Maybe it is not all perfect, but that is ok. I am working hard to remind myself that some of the things I spend time worrying about really don't matter in the long run. Maybe I didn't pay a bill on time.... yes it bothers me to no end and has me worried... but a few years from now I won't even remember that bill, or bills, was a couple days late. I don't know if my health is in check and don't have the means to get it checked, but for now I am choosing the be thankful for each day the Lord provides me and my family. And I am thankful that I have the jobs that I do, that my kids are happy and healthy, that we are back in beautiful western NY for fall. I love fall in NY.

So I am choosing the be thankful and happy. I am trying really hard not to be worried and crazy. Oh if only it were easier. And I keep praying that I will know the roads/paths to take to continue to do His will. 

Are you ready for the Jo-Ann's Giveaway?

Jo-Ann's is doing some sort of crazy giveaway where you win by being the fastest. You will get notified when the giveaway will start. Then whoever is the fastest gets the big prizes. Those that log in later will earn free shipping or other types of deals.

They are giving away 100 gift cards and a bunch of other deals. Some of the gift cards are worth $100, $200 and $500. That will get you a lot of supplies for whatever crafty stuff you love.


You can sign up now to be notified when the giveaway will start and even earn ways of getting an early notification!

Another Awesome Sewing Giveaway

Have you noticed all the great giveaways this month for fabric and sewing stuff??? Gotta love National Sewing Month or whatever it is!

Here is another one that you might want to enter with $2000 in prizes.

There are 11 more days to enter.

A Grateful Heart

My sweet sister found the following ad on a facebook garage sale type of page. A photographer was selling fabric she used for backdrops.

She quickly sent it to me knowing I would be interested. It was only a couple towns over. And it was an incredibly good deal. The hubby went to pick it up while I was working. And now I have over 50 new to me yards of fabric to play with! (I have never had more than about 6 yards in the house at any one time.... so this is crazy wonderful!) Fabric is so expensive. So I am grateful that this photographer doesn't want it any more.

I have so many projects swirling around in my brain. I wish I didn't have more work to do before I sleep. I would rather be sewing.

The orange/yellow fabric almost feels like a vinyl tablecloth or something, just not as sturdy. I was thinking about sewing some reusable snack bags out of it or something. Any ideas what kind of fabric that might be and what it would be best used for?

Anything great happening in your life to be thankful for? I hope you all are doing great!

Sewing Giveaway

There is a huge giveaway going on all month for National Sewing Month. There are sewing machines, fabric thread, and tons of other stuff separated into several prize packages. If interested, check it out so-sew-easy.

A Grateful Heart

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
   1 Thessalonians 5:18

This week, I posted an ad for our raw honey on Facebook and we got our first sale. I know it is just one little sale, but I am going to celebrate it all! We had over 60 likes and tons of comments. So I even started a business page. Now I just keep praying that it might turn into more. 

What are you thankful for this week?

My First Pajama Pants

I decided that I wanted to sew my mother in law some pajama pants for her birthday. She really likes to sleep and what would be better than some nice flannel pjs made with love? To make sure I could do it, I practiced on a pair for my daughter first.

I found this lovely little video that makes the whole process really simple. And I just used pajama pants we already had. I used 2 yards of fabric for my 9 year old and elastic. I used 3 yards of fabric and elastic for the gift pair (they had to be a bit longer!).

And then I picked out some fabrics. I really wanted flannel, which depending on where you are shopping and your budget, really can limit the choices. All in all, I think I found some fun fabrics and would even like to get a few more sometime.

For my daughter, I picked this sweet dandelion print.

It is so cute and she used to have an obsession with dandelions when she was younger. So this holds a dear place in my heart. They came out pretty well. I tried to make them extra baggy in case she grows a ton and for comfort.

My daughter has got to be the only crazy kid that puts on flannel shirts on 85 degree days! But she sure is cute!

Now, for my mother in law, I really struggled choosing a fabric. I hope that I didn't pick something I like that she won't. I really have no idea. And what I came home with wasn't quite what I was picturing, but it looked lovely on the bolt and felt so soft and cuddly.

What do you all think? Will she like them?  They feel amazing. And I gotta tell ya, if she isn't gonna like 'em, I would keep 'em! They look like Christmas and summer at the same time. And they are just lovely. But it is hard to know if someone is going to think that what you picked is lovely too. I guess I will find out on Wednesday!