Spring Rituals.....

God's Garden

THE Lord God planted a garden
In the first white days of the world,
And He set there an angel warden
In a garment of light enfurled.

So near to the peace of Heaven,
That the hawk might nest with the wren,
For there in the cool of the even
God walked with the first of men.

And I dream that these garden-closes
With their shade and their sun-flecked sod
And their lilies and bowers of roses,
Were laid by the hand of God.

The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,--
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth.

For He broke it for us in a garden
Under the olive-trees
Where the angel of strength was the warden
And the soul of the world found ease.

Dorothy Frances Gurney

Spring is upon us, and my heart and mind have gone to the garden.  I haven't been able to plant a vegetable garden in two years and my hands miss the joy of digging in the dirt.  So, this year we are making do with what we have and planting in a long and narrow planter box alongside a building, and using whiskey barrel halves for container planting.  I made a foray to Kaija's nursery today and found my seeds.  The packets are so pretty, I just had to take a picture.  I'm being very careful to get only organic and GMO-free seeds, being that Monsanto has its finger in so many places these days.  Next will be hauling in some soil and amendments and getting ready to plant!  Yay!

My Quilting History

I've been wanting to do this for a long time, and today just kinda ended up being the day it worked out.

In the past year, my interest in quilting has revived -- in large part because I now have a wonderful group of women with which to quilt each week.  It keeps me going to need a project to take with me.  That, and with the need to slow way down because of my health, it is good to have quiet, undemanding projects to do at home.

So,what I've done is gather pictures of almost every quilt, or quilted piece, I've made over the years, and I'm posting here so I have a chronology of my work.

So, here goes.....

The first quilted piece I ever made was this basket topper for my mom.  The story behind it is that she grew up with a delightful Sunbonnet Sue quilt which had been made for her by her maternal aunt.  I wanted to commemorate it by making her this cover for her workbasket.  More on the Sunbonnet Sue quilt at a later date.

The first quilt I ever made is this log cabin.  It was for our first daughter, Jessie, but later became her brother, Daniel's.  There is nothing left of it but tatters now.  It was well-loved and well-used.

This "Partridge in a Pear Tree" wall hanging was made in the mid-80s while we lived in Columbia .

Then there was a very long gap of probably 18 years or so.  I was doing other things, like raising kids, schooling them, making costumes for our family and for drama productions for the kids.  I was sewing all the time, just not on quilts.  Then for the Christmas of 2003, I kinda re-entered the quilting fray.

This is a wall hanging made for my mom's best friend.  I used one of their favorite pictures of their log cabin in winter, transferred it to fabric and created a quilted frame for it.  She loved it.

This pillow was made for my mom who was in a care facility in California.  She was afflicted with Alzheimer's disease very young.  There was so little I could do for her, but had she been aware, she would have loved to have pictures of us close to her.

I also made quilts for my dad and his companion.  The quotation on each of them says, "There are few blessings greater than the love of family."  On each quilt I used favorite pictures of children and grandchildren.

The next quilt was one made to celebrate a significant birthday of a dear friend.  I called it "Triple Irish Latte" and ended up making a couple more of them over the years.  One for a significant birthday of another dear friend and one for the Care Center Quilt Auction a few years back.  And, I still have one in my unfinished projects tub......

My daughters and I made a couple of quilts together in the mid-2000s, but I only have pictures of this one.  It was such fun.  The delightful gal for whom it was made is a book lover.  The fabrics are book related, there are favorite book quotations on the blocks, and it's embellished with buttons.

This one was made for the daughter of some friends of ours.  Such a sweet thing happened when I gave it to them.  The mom said that no one had ever made a quilt for them before.  Imagine that!  I often gravitate toward log cabin patterns, and I used only fabrics from my stash for this one.  It was a fun project.

Again, here's a log cabin theme.  I called it Pine Tree Log Cabin, and it was made for a dear friend.  This one also came out of my stash.  I love doing that!

This is a Rail Fence pattern made for my grandson's first birthday.  I love blue. Period.

Another Log Cabin made out of scraps.  Can't miss with blue.   I turned it into a printer cover!

This one I made from a bundle of pre-cut diamonds.  It was a really fun project.  It was made for another friend for a significant birthday.  I think there's some kind of theme going on here!

This one is a single block made for a friendship quilt.

And here begin the projects from the past year.  My grandson turned 5 this summer, and I wanted to make him a 5-year quilt.  I had a really fun thing happen one weekend that prompted the use of this pattern.  I've had a favorite quilt book for many years, and when my grandson joined me in looking at it, he really responded to this pattern, saying, "Oh, Grandma, what is THAT one?!"  He and I share the love of blue.  :-)
So, it became his 5-year quilt, along with glow-stars and a couple of project days getting them stuck to his ceiling in constellations.  Fun stuff.  The back has quotations from Scripture about stars.  I love the idea of him reading his quilt and learning Bible verses in the process.  I also made a pillowcase to go with it.

My granddaughter turned 1 this fall, so I had my work cut out for me during the summer months.  I saw a lovely 1930s quilt in a book that had no pattern reference for it.  Between us, my girls and I managed to figure out the blocks and the layout, and after many, many trips to the reproduction aisles of several quilting stores, as well as the stashes of my generous quilting friends, I came up with "Rainbows for Ava" and backed it with lavender flannel.

In finding the fabric for Ava's quilt, I ended up with way more than I needed because buying fabric for a scrap quilt does that.  ;-)  So, I had to use those scraps, right?  Our nephew and his wife had their first baby this fall, so this is the result of using the scraps.  The back was a funny thing.  I intended to use muslin only, but I didn't have enough, the quilt store didn't have enough at the last minute before a weekend quilt retreat during which I had hoped to finish this, and I didn't have enough of anything else, either.  So my daughter and I bodged together a scrap back and it turned out way better than I would have imagined.  That's a quilting buddy in the picture.

And that's it for now.  To be continued, added to, and hopefully be enormously long in the end result!

* * * * * * * *

January 27, 2013

A good friend of mine in Missouri reminded me that I had made her this apron when we lived there.  It's not quilted, but the bib is pieced in a tulip pattern.  She sent me the pictures to share.  Thanks, Anne!

January 31, 2013

And here is my granddaughter's doll quilt which I made for her for Christmas to go with her baby doll.  The fabrics are leftovers from her one-year quilt and made in a pattern reminiscent of hers.

In April I finished a Broken Dishes quilt and gave it to Dale for his birthday.  Here's the story on that one.....

So, more than a decade ago, my friend Annie's quilt group, with which I was not yet familiar, embarked on a group project making a Broken Dishes pattern using Civil War reproduction fabrics.  Some of the blocks were orphaned and ended up in a bag in her stash.  Last summer she gave them to me and I turned them into this:

There are 6 original blocks, then several that were taken apart and put back together in different color combinations, and then there are many that were made new from fabrics from both Annie's stash and mine.

* * * * * * * * * * *

During the summer, I put together a quilt with a textile from Ghana that was sent by a friend who was ministering there a few years ago.  I only bordered it and then had my friend Barb quilt it.  The pictures don't do it justice.  It's kind of a wild one, but the folks I made it for like it.  They have both spent time in Africa and have made one of their spare rooms an African theme, and it works for them.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Advent Calendar!  I made this for my grandchildren for Christmas this year.  They have been enjoying it a lot.  Very cool.  :-)

It's a Nancy Halvorsen panel that I bordered and quilted.  There are button type fasteners sewn on around the border and the interior on which the figures hang.

* * * * * * * * * * *

And this is the last quilt of 2013 for me.......Unbeknownst to Jessie, I was making it for her under her very nose.  She thought it was for me, but when we celebrated it at our quilting group, she discovered it was for her as I read the label out loud:

A Christmas Quilt for 2013

Made with love

for my Jessie-Girl

Debbie MacInnis ~ Chehalis, WA

It was so much fun to surprise her!

I used 5" charm squares from the Wintergreen Collection by Moda, and just sashed them and then used one of the border fabrics in the line to frame them.  Easy and rather striking, I think.

Waiting for Summer..........

Once again, we are waiting for summer at the end of June!  The sun has been playing hide-and-seek with beautiful puffy clouds, and the puddles continue to dance with the rain drops every other day.  I'm looking forward to some warmth soon.  Hopefully.

We went to a wonderful wedding the other day.  It was an incredibly warm and beautiful event, despite the rain outside!  Lots of sunshine inside.  It was one of those where we just rejoice that there's nothing to worry about with these two.  It's a good match.  A godly relationship.  A "Yes!" in the kingdom of God.

We've been to a few gatherings honoring this couple in the past month, and I caught a couple of shots of my grandson and granddaughter at them, as well as one in May at Jessie's birthday party.  Just thought I'd share them.

This is sweet Ava last month,

and last week.

And handsome Xander at the wedding,

shortly after filling his candy bag at the "Candy Bar."

One happy camper!

And the music remains...

Tomorrow, if God allows, an almost life-long dream will come true for me.

When I was a kid, my family watched The Smothers Brothers Show on TV for as long as it ran.  The summer of '68, they introduced a guy from Arkansas who so charmed the masses and the CBS execs that he was offered his own show the next year.  He had an amazing voice and played the guitar as if it were part of him.

I was twelve years old.

Music is a funny thing.  It embeds itself in places I can't see, draws associations I'm unaware of at the time, gets indelibly lodged in my memory and evokes emotions that surprise me.  I listened to this guy's music for many years, faithfully watched his show every week for the 4 years of its run, gathered his albums, followed his career, his ups and downs, his tragedies, and eventually learned that the grace of God had saved him.  I recall great emotion when I heard that news.  And whenever I hear one of his songs, it just does something to me.

Surprised by emotion.

Glen Campbell now has Alzheimer's.  Again, I was surprised by the emotion that knowledge evoked in me.  Sadness.  A flood of memories of TV shows, magazine article pictures on my bulletin board, and 33 LP records.  I also discovered that he is in the midst of his "Goodbye Tour" and will be playing in Shelton tomorrow night, surrounded by three of his kids who form part of his band and who help him function enough to do the shows.  This seventh son of a seventh son, who still has a golden voice and magic in his fingers, is performing despite the ravages of this diabolical disease, because in ways we don't understand, the music remains.

And I'm going. 

More than 4 decades beyond the summer of '68, and I get to go listen to this man sing the songs that have been part of the fabric of my life since then.  And I get to share it with some of my favorite people on earth.

How cool is that?

The conversation matters more than the outcome.....

"But you, when you pray, go into your inner room....."

"Pray in this way: Your will be done....."

"All things for which you pray and ask,

believe that you have received them,

and they will be granted you....."

"With all prayer and petition

pray at all times in the Spirit....."

"Pray without ceasing....."

"Is anyone among you suffering?

Then he must pray....."

"Is anyone among you sick?

Then he must call for the elders of the church

and they are to pray over him,

anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord....."

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another,

and pray for one another

so that you may be healed....."

"Beloved, I pray that in all respects

you may prosper and be in good health,

just as your soul prospers."

The Gospels and Epistles

I don't know one person who, having earnestly prayed for something at one time or another, hasn't been met with silence.  Seemingly unanswered prayer.  Why is that?

I have been working this through as we have prayed and prayed for answers to what is wrong with me.  I know He knows, but He isn't telling right now.  Not yet.  Maybe not ever.

Okay.  So what do I do with that?

In His mercy, He has dropped a lot of words in front of me in the past months about this:

~ The book of Job. (Yeah, what do I know?  I'm right there with him.)

~ "Lord, the one You love is sick."  (about which I blogged recently.)

~ The difference between Religion and The Gospel, (a collection of comparisons sent to me in an email):

 With Religion: My prayer life consists largely of petition and it only heats up when I am in a time of need.  My main purpose in prayer is control of the (my) environment.

With the Gospel: My prayer life consists of generous stretches of praise and adoration.  My main purpose is fellowship with Him.

~ And then I came across an amazing piece by Julia Attaway, a contributor to Daily Guideposts, that has had a tremendous impact on me.  I am including here a small part of the lengthy piece.  I highly recommend reading the whole thing here.  For a little background, they have a son who has chronic anxiety and this piece starts with her challenges in parenting a little one with such struggles.

"One night in desperation I finally cried out, “Lord, what do you want me to do?”  Much to my surprise I got an answer right away, quiet but clear as a bell. “Pray and suffer.” 

Oh.

Pray and suffer.

It wasn’t on the list of things I’d hoped for, or even on the waiting list. However, it made infinite sense. I’d been praying: for John’s problems to go away, for superhuman competence, for the grace to master my frustration. I winced as my brain slowly circled the idea that learning to live with not getting what I thought I needed could be part of my cross. If so, I’d been fighting it as much as I’d been fighting the turmoil that had been thrust into my life.

 

Pray and suffer. Why not? There are worse things to learn to do graciously. If we are to trust God in anything at all, it’s absolutely essential that we trust He will work through any and all circumstances to draw us closer to His son. The cross doesn’t teach us that God will keep us safe from the Boogie Man. It shows us that what we cannot endure alone, we can endure with God, for the love of God.....

And this is mature trust: we know God can save us from the fire, but we choose to worship Him whether He saves us or not. God is God, and worthy of being served for that reason alone. To grow up in faith means we move beyond thinking about what God can do for us, and rest in who God is. It means we pray without ceasing because the conversation matters more to us than the outcome.  And it means that we accept the times we get no answer to prayer, because we want His will more than we want whatever we’re asking for."

 copyright 2011 Julia Attaway

So, here's where I am when contemplating my question "So, what do I do with that?"

~ Realize I don't know squat.  (Just like Job.)
~ Understand that it isn't my purpose to control my environment.  (It's to fellowship with Him.) 
~ Communicate in faith and trust. ("Lord, the one You love is sick. You are sovereign and I leave it with you, offering no ideas for how You might answer.")
~ Pray and suffer.  (He did.)
~ Come to the place that the conversation matters more to me than the outcome. (Wow)

Maybe I'm getting it a little bit.  It's relationship He's after.  And I have a long way to go.

It may be quiet around here for awhile yet.
~

I Will Carry You......

"Lord, the one you love is sick."

John 11:3

I just recently finished reading "I Will Carry You" by Angie Smith.  It chronicles the loss of a daughter just after birth, and the struggles and victories that lie on the road of grief.

What had the most impact on me was Angie's sharing of what she learned from the story of Mary, Martha and Lazarus in John 11.

When Lazarus got sick -- very sick -- his sisters sent a note to Jesus that simply read, "Lord, the one you love is sick."

"Lord" (here KYRIOS in Greek) denotes sovereignty. They knew He was Who He said He was, able to do anything. But they only said, "The one You love is sick." Nothing more. They told Him the problem. And left the rest to Him. Complete trust.

Since reading this, I have found myself praying that phrase repeatedly over the situations in my life that seem insurmountable. "Lord, the one you love is sick."    "Lord, the one You love is hurting."    "Lord, the one You love is needy." I so often want to provide Him with the solution I think is warranted and include that in my plea.  But leaving it at that one phrase actually represents a trust in Him that I need to cultivate.  Every day.

I'm working through how to recognize when it is time to communicate as Mary and Martha did, and when it is appropriate to seek, ask, and knock with persistence, specifically asking for certain things, as in Luke 11 (vs 8).

I am encouraged that both appear in His Word.  In walking the road of health challenges, I have mostly employed Luke 11.  Persistence.  I am now learning to say only, "Lord, the one You love is sick."  And leave the rest to Him.

Of Birth-Days.....

 For You formed my inward parts;

You wove me in my mother's womb.
I will give thanks to You,

for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,

When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;

And in Your book were all written

The days that were ordained for me,

When as yet there was not one of them.

Psalm 139:13-16 

~~~~~

"She is here! :-)" 

3:00 a.m. text from my son this morning.

And so begins the earthly life of this precious little girl, our first granddaughter.

The littlest MacInnis woman.

As of this moment, we don't know her name.  Her folks don't know her name.  But God does.  He has known her from before the foundation of the world.  And He knows all the days that were ordained for her.  They are written in His book.  What an awesome thing that is.

We went to get a glimpse of her this afternoon.  She was swaddled and buried in sweet blankets, sleeping soundly.  Another day she will be held and we will stand amazed at her fingers and toes and her eyes and nose.  And I will share pictures then.  :-)

It has been a rather sober and nostalgic day for me at the same time as one of great joy at new life coming into our family.

Our Shannon, the youngest of our seven in heaven, would have been fourteen this month.  Her due date was tomorrow.  My youngest daughter and my first granddaughter could very well have shared a birthday.

God in His wisdom ordained the days of our Shannon, just as He has for each of us.  Her purpose is being carried out in His Kingdom, out of our sight for now, but nevertheless ordained by Him.  Her days were written in His book just as mine and yours and our granddaughter's are.  No mistakes.  He is incapable of error.  All He does is out of His infinite love for each of us.  And I love that.  And my granddaughter.  :-)

Welcome to the world, little Miss MacInnis!

(Well, not-so-little!  9 pounds 14 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long.)