Music Please

I view and visit all these wonderful blogs and wonder...how do you all do it? Where do you find things like the beautiful music, the christian sites, etc., etc. I would love to "dress up" my blog a bit, but don't know where and how to get these great things. Anyone?

New Year's Resolution

Well, it has been so long since I last blogged, but my New Year's resolution is to get blogging again and be consistent. It has been such a busy, but wonderful December this year. My husband sang in the Living Christmas Tree production at church this year. It was the 13th year for the Living Christmas Tree and I do believe it was the best ever. All the performances were FABULOUS. Last I heard there were more than 4,000 who attended this year. I helped decorate the tree this year and when I had to get inside to put in the decorations, I had a much better appreciation for the tight space and how hard it must have been for each of the singers to stand for so long. WHEW!! I know I could not have done that.

Two winners from my blog have been sent gifts for participating and I do hope they have both received them by now.

Our Prayer Quilts ministry has grown so much, it's amazing. We have completed 14 quilts, 100 military prayer squares and more than 500 pocket prayer squares since October. These women have become such a part of my life and their quilting and frienships are truly treasured.

Last, but not least, I was elected the President of our Quilting Guild for 2009. I will do my best to bring new ideas and interests to the guild and feel so honored to have been nominated. This is a great group of quilters that I have enjoyed being a part of now for more than 3 years.

So, as we begin a new year, fresh with new possibilities, new ideas, new friends and old, may 2009 be a blessed and wonderful year for all of you.

Quilt Ministry

It has been way too long since I last posted and hopefully this week I will try to catch up. We have been getting our Prayer Quilt Ministry off the ground and going and it has been a quilting, praying marathon this past two weeks. We are so excited to be members of Prayers and Squares International. We can't wait til we get our registration back and can start applying the labels to the quilts in progress.

Prayers and Squares is a quilt ministry that provides a quilt to someone in crisis. The motto is "It's not about the quilts; It's about the prayers." Our church womens outreach ministry decided that this was a good program to join as we have so many in need within our own church and community. Quilters and non quilters alike have joined together to make pocket prayer squares, military prayer squares and lap quilts for those in need. We are very excited about this ministry and where God will lead us. We have already completed and delivered two lap quilts and have two others currently in progress for prayers and then delivery to recipients.

So, this week, I shall begin designing and preparing yet another lap quilt for someone some day who needs our prayers and to be wrapped in love.

Little Slugger Quilt

I finished the binding and placed the label on the Little Slugger quilt this morning I made for a friend. WHEW!! That makes 7 labels I've finished this month and one more baby quilt.

The baby's room is baseball themed and I didn't want just an ordinary quilt to give them. This quilt is an example of how I wait until I find just the right fabrics to inspire me. I had an idea in my head, but it wasn't until I saw the baseball fabric that I knew immediately what I was going to do and this is the result. Since it's my own pattern and design, I've decided to post it on our web page http://quiltsandracks.com/ and sell this one by taking orders. I just love the way the blues and reds all came together. The picture just doesn't give it justice. I know they are going to love it as much as I do. Sometimes these are just so hard to give away, but worth it when I see the faces of the recipients and know that it will go to a good loving home.

Design Possibilities or Quilter's Dilema?

I was doing my usual reading of other's blogs this morning and found two wonderful blogs I hadn't read before. One, Marilyn at Piece by Piece is giving away a beautiful quilt that she made and if you haven't been to her site, you really should take a look at her work. There are so many wonderful quilters out there that I believe I could spend days just admiring their artistry. Some, like me, could quilt all day every day and still not have the time to finish all those quilts in our heads that we want to do.

Knowing this, I finally devised a system where I write down the ideas that come into my head, include the pattern or design I think I would use, what fabrics I want to use, and then, later when I get time to start on that quilt, I haven't forgotten what I was thinking at the time I wrote it down. Sometimes, as time passes, I find that I've discovered a different pattern or fabric that will work even better for the quilt idea.

When it's time to start a new quilt, for me, it isn't the piecing or design that slows me down, but more which fabrics will best show off the design and then how to arrange those fabrics within the design. I mull over fabrics for several days before cutting into them, as I want the most WOW I can get from my fabrics. Once I have finally made up my mind, the energy and excitement of piecing start all over as I want to finish it and see the final outcome.

My husband (my biggest fan) and very observant I might add, has commented, that it takes me more time to pick out the fabrics than it does to make the quilt. Always challenging myself to go outside my comfort zone, I try to design something new and exciting for me to work on each time I start a new project. It's the excitment, creativity, and challenge of something new and the possibilities, that continually inspire me to keep quilting and I hope that I will never lose that excitement and energy.

How about you what takes you the longest? Designing, finding a pattern, choosing fabric, or putting it all together?