Heaven? Really?

Have you ever found yourself wondering about heaven?  Is it for real?  Is it really out there?  Am I going there? Does it really look like the prettiest flower garden? Or maybe like the most gorgeous sunset you've ever seen? How do I get there anyway?

What do YOU think of when you think of heaven anyway?  This is the question I'm asking!!  :)

Yep! That's the question!  Now, why I am asking it is the matter of the rest of this post...  :)

You probably already know that I review books for Tyndale House Publishers.  The last book I worked on is "Appointments with Heaven."  It is about a Doctor that grows up with a precious faith and wonderful Christian examples.  However, tragedy turns everything upside down and he decides to turn his back on God.  The most interesting thing is that, when he thought that by studying Medicine and understanding science would confirm the unexistance of God; he actually starts catching these little glimpses of heaven when treating his patients, and his world is turned upside down all over again!!!  A wonderful read that I would say should become a must-have for all Christians.

Check what Dr. Anderson has to say about it in his YouTube video  that for some reason Blogger is not finding and I cannot embed in this post...  :(  

(Sigh.) These marvels of technology...

Now, some extracts of this book were taken out and put together in a 30-day devotional... AND IT CAN BE YOURS FOR FREE!!!  That's right, I'm hosting my first giveaway, thanks to Tyndale's generosity.  

All you have to do is leave a comment and tell everyone out there what YOU think of when you think of heaven.In return, I will send you via e-mail a free devotional based on "Appointments with Heaven" that will be a sure little blessing for you!  :)

Keep in mind that if your comment is "private," I won't be able to send you the devotional because I won't see your e-mail.  You can try following the blog and I'll be able to use Google gizmos to send you your devotional.  

So, are you ready to go to heaven?  :)

Appointments with Heaven, by Reggie Anderson

Dr. Anderson shares his Powerful story of faith and awareness of the real, constant and marvelous companionship of heaven; throughout his experience as a family physician, he shares evidence of how this life is more a sort of parenthesis that opens when we are born and closes when we pass away and go back home.

Raised by strong Christians, Dr. Anderson’s childhood was wrapped in a precious trusting faith.  However, tragedy made him wander away from God, to the point of denying him during his early college years. It was medicine itself that sparked his return; in this sense, “Appointments with Heaven” is also a first-row seat to the connection of science and God.  Dr. Anderson shares how he went from thinking they were completely alien to each other to witnessing their deep, unbreakable connection. It was a blessing to read of how he usually shares this understanding with his fellow peers and making a stand for the truth and people's ultimate destination – either with or away from our Father.

The simple and trusting faith of a child made me shed tears, but it also challenged me. I ended up questioning myself and my authenticity as a Christian.  How many times do we just go on living and forget about the fact that God is right there with us ALL the time, anywhere we go?  How often do we feel completely independent and wise to make our own decisions and assume that we are entitled to every single breath, when we actually are granted the blessing of life? How often do we think of eternity as something that starts when we pass away? Most certainly, if we ever think of that moment, this thought will be accompanied with feelings like fear or anxiety, but this need not be; what we know as death is just going back home. I sometimes wonder if we even understand that eternity is already here, every minute, every second, and we are already part of it; Dr. Anderson’s book is an encouraging reminder of its constant presence. 

Problems, financial crisis, death, accidents and all sorts of difficulties have happened to Dr. Anderson and his family.  Through each of these, they have learned to look towards God, remain faithful and wait on Him... And He never lets anybody down!

This is a highly recommendable book that provides both, comfort and insight into the marvels of the world that is constantly besides us.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for an honest review. This has not influenced my opinion on the book or on the author.

Getting the Wheels rolling!

Some time ago, I saw the following fabric line and just got crazy about doing something with it... It was one of those moments when ideas start tickling in my head, and don't stop!!!  The weirdest thing is that I'm not much of a flowery kind of person, so I really don't know where all those tickles came from.  

How-e-ver... I did notice that the colors are the same ones as in "Starry Night" or in "Terasse de Cafe la Nuit," both by Vincent Van Gogh.  Who knows! Maybe those mysterious tickles have a mind of their own that knows better...  :)
Ha! Color Play in action!!

/

So, after musing, pondering and thinking of those prints, I decided I was actually going to seriously plan my next quilting project, and the quest for a meaningful block began...

And after deciding on the skill level and number of mini fabric pieces I would have to cut from yardage, the finalists are:  Dutch Rose (or "Swoon"), Star of Bethlehem and Carpenter's Wheel.

All of them are based on an 8X8 grid and share an inside line that goes around the block. I looked and looked, and most of the serious instructions I found require templates, so I ended up taking my handy sketch book in hand and figuring the blocks myself!!

The first step: grid... Check!

Second step: Figuring half-square triangles in the design... Check!

Third step: Finding out color placement...  Check!

Fourth step: Figuring the size of fabric and initial cuts...  Check!  
(Kind of...  More like: "I hope I got the figures right...")

Fifth step: Decoding the Carpenter's Wheel... Check!

 ... and color placement.

And whatever step is next: Moving to the Star of Bethlehem... Check!

Retracing steps: Interchange the inner green "ring" with yellow, so that there is consistency among the three blocks.


And this is where I'm at:

OK...  At least I'm getting something done!!  

But I also must confess that in the midst of all this planning, I've been working on a tutorial that several people have requested and on a wonderful book that I recently got from Tyndale - which means that before I can get this exciting Wheels project going, a review will come first...  So many things to do in so little time!

By the way, this brings me to the fact that I will soon be hosting my first giveaway, out of Tyndale's generosity.  Stay in touch and don't miss the details!!!

Stay blessed  :)

A day full of firsts... zippers, pouches and leather!

Mr. Fuzz says that my handbag is like the Bermuda triangle... lots of stuff goes in, who knows what comes out!

I guess that my frayed, good old cosmetic, meds and whatever else pouch that I have faithfully carried around for YEARS finally gave up and decided to burst out of joy one day...  Well, well, I may have put in it one too many things  (really? does that EVER happen in a woman's bag?  lol)

Anyway, as you can see in previous posts, my crafty bone is restless and I decided to make a pouch - yes my own pouch, lined, zippered, and will a bunch of firsts for me: making a pouch itself, attaching a zipper and sewing leather!! 

And there goes another Yiya! I mean, why make first times easy if you can get a combo of super exciting who-knows-how-it-will-turn-outs...  Yep, that's me! The one that dares to choose weird things and try them for the first time; why be conventional when you can get yourself into trouble right in the middle of a project?

After looking around for a pattern I'd like, I ended up at Ayumi's blog, Pink Penguin. Ayumi is a super talented Japanese designer, and her pouches and totes are just beautiful.  You can definitely see the influence of Japanese culture in her desings, very zakka, practical and with a hint of simplicity that is a common feature in her unique execution.

So, I followed Ayumi's instructions; click on the following link to go to her tutorial: How to make a stylish Pen Case.  That said, hats off to Ayumi!!

And here is what I ended up with:

I tried to get a good angle, but I when I look at the picture, I can think of all my misses, but it's not too shabby...  Actually, I think it's kind of cute!  The best part is when I took it out at work to reach for something, and the lady that was with me just picked it up and started turning it around and admiring it...  She even asked if I would sell them... Oh well!!  When we live in a world when we don't have to work and money (for fabric and crafty stuff, of course) grow on trees, it would be a whole other ball!


Let's get the pics rolling!!  Getting things ready in pic 1...  Side note: I generally don't get a "mise-en-place;" I kindly send my thanks to Mr. Fuzz who was peacefully sleeping in the next room while Yiya woke up at 6:00 am on a Saturday...  Guess my body has to learn that it can sleep in on Saturdays!

Something that I had to do is make sure I understood Ayumi's instructions by making my own notes on the materials and the way in which all the parts came together.  Actually, this was my first step; after all, this was my very first purse and my very first zipper!! (And taking notes is quieter than my sewing machine, hehe.)

The following step is a bit different from Ayumi's instructions.  I really wanted to use some of the scraps I had, so I pieced the center part, with an extra 1/2", so that the piecing matched the original; I had to use some of the lining fabric in order to get the size I needed.  After that, I just sewed the faux leather to the sides.  (And yes, Mr. Fuzz was awake when I started sewing, lol.)

I cut the batting a bit larger because I wanted to QAYG (quilt-as-you-go) - I really liked how the extra stitching added interest and structure to the panel.  The larger size was needed because fabric often shifts with this technique, and I was not sure how the faux leather would "behave."  I'm glad I had the extra material because it DOES shift A LOT.  I actually ended up flipping the panel so that I could sew in both directions and keep the leather from skewing too much.  After this, I sewed the front panel to the lining.

In the next photo you can see how the fabric "folds" inside the seam, it all gets bulky, and it won't let flat. A little trick that I learned is to top-stitch. This means that you need to sew VERY close to the edge of the seam to set everything straight and in order!

After top-stitching, everything is straight, flat and ready for the next step!  By this point, I was just elated to work with the leather, and the next project had already started to take shape in my head...  

The next step was making the sides, that I ended up thinking of as flaps, and attaching them to the sides of the main panel.

And here I am, checking the progress with the picture that Ayumi posted on her blog. Not that bad for a first time, huh?

The next step was attaching the binder to the edge of the zipper...

 and sewing the sides around the "flaps."

The pouch was taking shape and the only step missing was attaching the zipper to the other side of the pouch.  According to Ayumi's instructions, the only step missing after that one was sewing two little ends to the tips of the zipper.

 

And here it is!  A zippered pouch, fully lined!  Woohoo!!  Soooo happy that my little black pouch decided to fray and push me into making one myself... Oh! Did I mention it has a zipper?  :)

See you next time!

Coffee Time!

I have this thing for creating things that are practical, so when a good friend told me that her favorite color is black -and sometimes gray- I couldn't help but start thinking of a little something for her. Despite her colorful statement, she wore pastels and bright colors, and I had to get to the bottom of it!  It turns out that she has been trying to try other color combinations and get away from a monochromatic wardrobe... And then, she just did it - she brought orange and green to the picture.  I knew I had to put all of those together, and ended up with inserts and half-square triangles in the only black fabric I had (at the moment...). 

So, here is the final mug rug, according to specifications:

 

Ah! Little triumph over pieced binding and echo quilting, thanks to my ever-useful walking foot.  By the way, I got that one because Mr. Fuzz recommended it, and it has been a major life saver.

And while enjoying a cup of coffee, I start concocting a new wall hanging for the office and a Thanksgiving gift.  Yes, it may sound sort of soon, but it's never too soon to start with hand-made gifts for the end of the year!!  I will be posting the progress on that one, and I hope you enjoy it as I will be tackling three major blocks, all on an 8x8 grid can't wait to get that little project going...

In the meantime, I'll get ready to crawl on the couch and start reading a new book from Tyndale that just got in the mail two days ago; with so many things to do a so little time, I'd better get started!

See you next post!

A quick mini!

So... what do you do when time is short and you need a quick gift?  Go to the nearest mall? Department store? Grocery store? [...]

Well, you can keep looking and looking, but you won't find one of those in The Hill!  OK, there's some places about 7 miles away, but there's nothing like a hand-made gift that you can put together in two evenings, trying to squeeze quality time with the sewing machine while the world whirls and rolls around you... 

With all the scrappy experiments I've been doing, I had a bunch of small pieces that ended up in a small topper/mini quilt:

I just cut 3.5" inch squares of linen and blue fabric, and pieced them together.  Now, you know I like to experiment and practice FMQ each time I can, so I couldn't let this chance go...  I ended up doing a different FMQ desing on each linen square, but this time I used contrasting thread. The intention was matching it to the main color, but I'm not completely sure I like the final result. 

The good thing, is that the person I gave it to liked it!  (Moms are like that:) ). Blue is her favorite color and I had to make something that would fit in a box all the way back to the big city.  I cracked up when she called me and said something like "that little doily is cute."  Yep, mom is cute like that.  :)

Playing with scraps

After "abandoning" my FMQ Adventures for a while, I decided it was about time to give a try, but this time in a serious project - and that's why this one is made out of a bunch of scraps!  I got a box of little pieces left from a previous experiment (WAY too experimental to be posted in any decent blog) and the Drunkard's path runner I finished about a month ago.  

My crafty bone started tickling with new piecing techniques and FMQ ideas, particularly after watching two Craftsy classes.  The scraps from my Drunkard's path runner would give me the great opportunity to try Improv Pods, a composition by Elizabeth Hartman, which you can see in Craftsy class, Inspired Modern Quilts. Angela Walter's Craftsy class, How to Machine Quilt Negative Space, was the second source of my inspiration for this quilt. 

When it comes to the quilting itself, something that really stood out for me was the texture of the quilting.  So far, I had only FMQed by using a contrasting thread, as you can see in previous posts, but this time, I had to try and see first hand how blending thread would look.  So... (drum roll, please) here is the result!

I'm really pleased with the finished look, but I also like how the back looks.  It's a great way to see the finished texture.  Also, I still haven't decided if it will end up as a runner; I thought it could be a pretty wall hanging, so I also sewed folded fabric squares to the back, just in case...

  

And the pictures started rolling... In here, you can really appreciate the unbalanced effect, by having a chunky blue frame at the bottom and a wider negative space at the top.  Also, I have seen here and there some quilts with a binding that has little piece of a different fabric than the main part of the binding.  I like the way that looks and decided to put some of the green away from the chunkiest blue to help balance the composition.

 

And here is a close up of the quilting. Another big idea I learned from the class is that the quilting can emphasize the piecing, so I tried to do so by quilting lines on the "frames" of the end pods. I micro-stippled the connecting strips and the frame of the middle pod. The inside of the blocks (excepting for the solid blue pieces of fabric) has a looser meander (or larger stipple).

And just because the wood looked so cute after the rain, here is another angle of the finished runner.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed this post; I will probably make another scrap pod runner soon and I will be taking pictures of the process, so don't forget to stop by and see what's going on here at the Hill!!