Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peek of the sewing project I’m working on. It is a wedding gift for a friend, and I can only show you the fabrics I’m using at this point. I’d really love to show you more, but you’ll have to wait a few months.

I’m using Country Classic Cotton Solids in soft yellow and Calico Fabric (also cotton) in crackle brown, green vine, gravel tan, and burgundy small check. The yellow is my background color and I’m pairing the brown and green together and the tan and burgundy together. There will also be another solid, probably dark brown or blue, incorporated eventually. The colors are most accurate in the full color scheme shot.

WIP Wednesday

My last WIP Wednesday post was 17 weeks ago! I have been crafting, but have mostly been working on a secret project. I’ve got something to show you now, though. In another post, I’m going to give you a sneak peek of the secret project

About a week ago, I found a cross-stitch I had already started and was inspired to work on it. I started this piece about 10 years ago, intending it as a gift for my sister who picked it out for me. The little brunette in the design reminded us both of my niece. It is made by the Janlynn Corporation and is called #029-0019 Collecting Seashells and was designed by Nancy Cole (amazingly, you can still buy it!). I finished the girl’s face, a bit of her hair, and a small portion of her dress when I realized I’d made a few errors. I got frustrated and put it away. Then life took over, as I’m sure most you understand, and I hadn’t touched it since!

Before beginning, I sorted through the colors in the thread box. Ten years ago, I organized the threads in a way that made sense (at the time), but I just couldn’t figure it out now. So I slowly went through them, figuring out which was medium turquoise versus light turquoise (and light tan versus light flesh, and on and on), organizing them in slots, this time noting which slot each color was put in. There are 33 colors in this one piece! I’m missing one color, which I think is pretty good 10 years and 3 moves later. It’s “light gold brown” which I need to finish her hair. I’m going to search my embroidery thread stash to see if I have a reasonable substitute.

 Then I got to work. It was tedious to fudge around all those mistakes, but I think I did a good job of it and am now on track, following the diagram for the rest of the piece. I’ve completed her hair (except for the missing color), her arms and hands, and a good deal of her dress.

Here are all the photos in a gallery view. I’ve had so many issues with these photos in this post that I’ve decided to just throw them all together.

Collecting Seashells

Face

Elbow and Dress

Thread Colors

Thread Box

Copyright Nancy Cole

I Deserve

I deserve better than this. I’m a good person; I deserve to be treated well. I deserve nice things, a big house, a new car, a handsome husband, well-behaved kids, a high-paying job, beautiful furniture, the latest fashion trends, the hottest new shoes.

Sound familiar? Everyone knows at least one person who has professed entitlement at some point, or perhaps we know we have said these things ourselves. The common belief today is that living a “good” life–giving to charities, volunteering at a homeless shelter, going to church, listening to clean music, recycling, “going green”, etc–should bring you good things. It is believed that these positive actions are grounds for deserving the best of everything. And when the best of everything doesn’t happen, people get upset… very upset. “But I deserve this promotion. I stayed late. I helped other people finish their work on time. I always submitted my tasks in a timely manner. I maintain a clean office. I give to the office charity. I buy gifts for expectant moms and attend every office party. I deserve more than what I have. I deservethebest of everything because of all the wonderful things I do.”

What have you really done, though? Have you ever told a little white lie because you thought it wouldn’t hurt anybody? Have you ever thought of your co-worker or neighbor or friend of a friend in any way other than as a sister/brother? Have you ever gotten too much change and decided to keep it? Have you ever illegally downloaded a copyright-protected movie or piece of digital art? Have you ever not loved your wife as you love your own self, as Christ loves the church, enough to die for her? Have you ever disrespected your husband, complained about him to your friends, emotionally beaten him down, manipulated him to give you what you want? Have you ever let something else take the place of God in your life, created an idol out of food, sex, work, children, money?

The fact is that everyone sins, everyonefalls short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). You actually deserve to go to hell. I know I do. I know that it doesn’t matter how many “good” things I do because Iwill always sin, for the rest of my life. And even if I could stop sinning, I’m sure I’d be proud of that and would be back at square one.

That is a difficult burden to face and accept. It’s hard to shirk the “I’ve done well, so I deserve good” mentality because it is drilled into our heads from birth. But you don’t deserve good things. You deserve hell.

That is a dark message–but there is a glorious, wonderful light! God is just… but He is also merciful. He sent His Son to die on the cross, to pay the debt of all in one act, so that we may be saved from what we deserve. God is GOOD! He looked upon us all with mercy, His creation a hopeless mess when left to themselves, and He did what few, if any, earthly fathers would be capable of doing–He sent His Son to die, He gave up One for the rest.

Next time you start thinking “But I deserve better”… think twice. Do you really want what you deserve? Or would you rather be saved by the grace and mercy of God? This is the God who created you, loves you. He knows exactly what you deserve, better than even you do… and He loves you enough to offer salvation from what you truly deserve.

Mother’s Day

I’ve been blessed with a wonderful mother. She is not perfect, and I think I love her more for that. She is honest and open and kind and generous and loving. She adores her children and grandchild and gives all of herself to them. I have so many wonderful memories of her that it’s hard to pick a most favorite, but I’m going to.

When I was young, my family ate out with my grandparents every Friday night. Afterward, we would go to my grandparents’ house and the adults would chat while my sister and I played. My grandparents have a big dining table with padded and upholstered chairs with wheels on them. I love this dining set because it is a large part of so many of my memories. This is the setting of my first memory.

I was about 2 years old and we had returned from eating supper. The adults were talking and there I was, laid tummy down on my mom’s lap (while she sat in one of these soft swivel chairs) with my head against her chest and my full belly on her’s. She was always a soft momma, and I loved that about her. I remember listening to her heart beat and hearing her voice echo in her chest, and I thought that was pretty neat.

That’s the first thing in this life I remember. I’ve always been a bit of a daddy’s girl, but I cherish this first memory as a momma memory.

I have also been blessed with a wonderful mother-in-law. She is generous, loving, gracious, helpful, funny, and a blessed example of a hardworking wife and mother. She raised my husband, homeschooling him and teaching him how to love a woman. I must say, she did a magnificent job in that department! I believe that he is a shining testimony to her devotion to her children. I pray that God will bless me with many more years to get to know this woman better and to be maybe as close to her as I am to my mother.

Happy Mother’s Day to all you mothers out there. The ones who aren’t perfect, but who give 100%, even on the bad days; to all of you who put your children before yourselves; you who area blessing to your children, your grandchildren, and your children-in-law. I thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

She Crochets: “Pineapple Delight” Doily

I decided long ago to crochet a doily for the top of our cedar chest. I began this one many times, starting over and over, setting it aside for other projects. I finally picked it up with determination about a week ago and knocked this out in a short period of time. If I’d have known it would only take a week, I might have worked on it more before!

I didn’t do a brilliant blocking job. It’s not perfectly round and some of the “fans” are not shaped very well, but it’s good enough for the chest, as most of it is covered anyway. The second photo below is a close-up of one of the “pineapple” designs… don’t worry if you don’t see a pineapple ’cause I don’t either! It looks more like a strawberry to me, but in the photo, it just looks like loops of crochet chains! And after taking the photos, I did rotate the doily a little on the chest to make it sit more symmetrically.

Pattern Info:
Pineapple Delight #A-340 by Coats & Clark
Ravelry

This pattern was pretty good, for the most part. There were some errors in the pattern, but I was able to deduce what I was supposed to do, so nothing was fatal to the project. Many steps also weren’t explained quite clearly, which made for a few puzzling moments. Overall, though, the design is very nice and beautiful. It is a simple doily that is quite pretty when finished.

Thread Info:
Red Heart Classic #10 Crochet Thread
100% mercerized cotton
natural

I had to buy this thread after using Aunt Lydia’s for most of it because Walmart apparently doesn’t carry Aunt Lydia’s anymore. There is a slight color difference, but it was really only noticeable when the thing was wet. The thread made for a good doily–don’t have much to say about it.

Photos:
As seems to always be the case, I apologize for poor photos. It’s a cloudy day, and I didn’t want to take this thing outside after taking the time to wash it already. But here they are anyway.

Just After Blocking

Close-up of a “Pineapple”

Center Design

Looking Out from Center

It’s New “Home”

At Home on the Chest

Now you can see all the little trinkets my darling husband brings home from the woods. That basket has a large pine (I think Southern Pine) cone, a huge maple leaf (that is one I brought in), two candles, an upside-down turtle shell, a shell from a creek, some nuts (acorns, etc) and it is almost halfway full of various rocks. At center left of the photo, you can see three turtle shells–two large and one small. The small one actually still has the belly plate attached, which is why he brought it home. It’s rare to find one intact like that. He really is sweet; I love when he brings home treasures–he is always so excited about them, and that makes me happy.

She Sews: Sewing Machine Cover

I’ve been keeping my sewing things out on one edge of our longdining table because I’ve been working on a project. This is great, except that the machine gets dusty if a few days pass without me using it. This is not great because the thread gathers the dust and creates ‘knots’ of sorts.

There is a woman on YouTube who makes sewing (and cooking and other) videos, and she put up a tutorial a while ago for making a custom-fit sewing machine cover. A lightbulb went off! A cover would solve my dust problem and would look a little nicer. Her tutorial is for a quilted cover with batting to make it stiff. I didn’t do that, so mine is a little floppy, but fits and does the job I intended. I used an old pillow case, and had just the right amount of fabric. I had to piece the long section, but that’s OK.

Here are a couple of pictures. Sorry for the poor quality; the machine is on a table that is not near any windows.

She Cooks: Basic Granola Bar Recipe

I love granola bars. They are probably one of my very favorite snacks, but they are expensive to buy already made at the store. A while back, I found a recipe for granola bars, and then adapted it to my own tastes and created this general recipe.

Basic Granola Bar Recipe

Ingredients:
2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup old-fashioned oats
2 cups nut/seed combination
1 cup dried fruit
1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk

Procedure:
1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Prepare a 13″ x 9″ baking sheet that has sides at least 1″ tall by greasing it, then laying a sheet of parchment paper in it (leave 2″ on either long side for faux handles), and then grease the parchment paper.
3. Combine the oats, nuts/seeds, and fruit in a large bowl. Stir in the sweetened condensed milk until everything is coated. It will require a lot of stirring. You have mixed it enough when there are no more “dry” ingredients in the bowl.
4. Pour the mixture onto the baking sheet and spread it into an even layer with your mixing spoon/spatula. Then, use your hands to press it firmly into the pan in a very even layer that reaches all corners of the pan. Dampen your hands with warm water occasionally to prevent the mixture from sticking to you.
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the edges are golden brown. They will still be soft when you remove them from the oven, but will harden as they cool.
6. Immediately remove the bars from the pan by lifting the parchment paper out and onto a cutting board. Cut the sheet of granola into 24 bars. Gently place on a cooling rack. Allow to cool completely, then store in an air-tight container.

I’ve tried this recipe with a few different nut combinations. I like pecans and almonds the best, but switching either with walnuts works too. You need very small pieces of whatever nut you choose–I like to use a small kitchen chopper (you could use a food processor) to chop the nuts into about rice-sized pieces. I want to try sunflower seeds one of these days because I think that would be good too.

I would not advise using plain raisins in this recipe. I used them, and the fruit turned quite bitter. Maybe sugared raisins would work. The only other fruit I’ve tried is dried cranberries, which I really love in this recipe.

You can also add various additives of your choice. I’ve tried these with honey and with peanut butter. You need about 1/4 cup of an additive to be able to taste it in the final result. Honey doesn’t change the texture, but peanut butter will make the bars kind of fluffy and lighter. Peanut butter also can be quite over-powering, so only use it if you really want peanut butter granola bars.

I don’t have pictures for you because these bars are quite difficult to photograph in a dark kitchen on a cloudy day.

Irises

Yesterday, Nate brought home a beautiful bouquet of wild purple irises and a couple of spider lilies. (Excuse the background of the photo below… it was the best mix of sunlight and shade!)

Beautiful Bouquet

The blooms are pretty and he even thought to include many buds with them, so that I can enjoy the flowers for a longer time. The spider lilies don’t photograph very well, but the irises do! Nate often sends me pictures of wild flowers from the woods while he’s working, and has brought home a bouquet or two before. I love this about him.

Iris Blossoms

I like knowing that he thinks of me while working; he says flowers always remind him of me. Not only did he bring home a bouquet, he also dug up a few plants of each flower. We’ve put them in pots, so it’ll be interesting to see if they survive. The blooms already there are definitely dying, as expected, but perhaps the bulbs will make it.

More Iris Blossoms

Wives

“I’m slowly training him.”

I’ve heard this statement, in some form or other, in reference to husbands about various things: giving gifts,  recycling properly, approving of a hobby that has taken over the house, complaining too much about a dirty home, etc. It seems a common trend now to “train” one’s husband to do as one likes. Women want to train their husbands to be romantic on special occasions, even if their hearts are not in it. Better yet, women want to train their husbands to force their hearts to be in it! Women want to train their husbands to do housework so that they don’t have to; or train their husbands to be accepting of any and all flaws present in them.

Is this the attitude a Christian wife should have? Perhaps personal reproach and diligence to alter faults is more conducive to a happy marriage than simply changing one’s spouse. Instead of throwing tantrums when we are not given a gift on our birthday or anniversary, maybe we should consider what gifts we have recently given. Instead of complaining about our husbands not helping with the household chores, maybe we should go about our own work cheerfully. Instead of saying “me, me, me,” maybe we should be saying “Him, Him, Him and him, him, him,” focusing our attention on our Father above and our husband at home.

The most beautiful thing is that when we stop criticizing and grieving and “training” our husbands, we heap blessings upon ourselves! When we do our housework diligently and with a merry  attitude and happiness that we have something to clean, our husbands desire to help us. When we give freely and openly to all, our husbands bountifully give.

Ephesians 5:33
However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Is slyly “training” someone an act of respect or of dissatisfaction, dishonor, and disdain? If your husband knew that you were “training” him to do things your way, would he be grateful or grieved?

I have not been married long, but I have found in that short time that a cheerful countenance, happy attitude, and joyful giving is the best way to love and respect my husband. He appreciates my diligence and blesses me continually with love, mercy, and reward. When I don’t ask, I receive. When I patiently endure, he apologizes. When I forgive, he seeks to change. When I work hard, he gladly assists. When I conquer my will for a time, he rejoices with me. When I experience hardship outside the home, he encourages and steadies me.

When I focus on Him, He blesses me.

Stuff to Do

One of the top searches that brings people to my blog is “stuff to do with your husband.” I can envision many different scenarios. Perhaps this person is newly married and just looking for some fun ideas to bring her and her husband together. Maybe she is an older woman who has exhausted all her own ideas to win some of her husband’s time. Or maybe she is a combination of these women.

I don’t know who she is, but I wonder if she’s tried any of my ideas… and I wonder if any have worked to return (or introduce) some cohesion and love to her marriage.

I’ve posted a handful of ideas for things to do with your husband and am adding to the list. I like cooking with him, getting greasy under the hood, planning and executing a fun camping or canoe trip.

But I must say this: my favorite activity to do with my husband is to just be alone together. I adore those minutes after a long, tiring day when we lay in bed, nose to nose, laughing over a funny joke he heard or tearing up over a bruised heart. Sometimes the conversation turns into a 30-minute tickle fight and other times, we drift to sleep quickly, content just being near each other. His voice and presence comfort me and prepare me for a restful night.

I don’t know who you are, and I don’t know why you are searching for activities to do with your husband. I just pray that maybe I have helped you, whoever you are.