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.