Another Blessing

If you read the last post,

there was a blessing of the elder sort.

This morning, I encountered a blessing of a different sort.

Sometimes God graces us (ourselves) with blessing.

And sometimes just witnessing His grace towards others

is a blessing.

I have never tried to attach a video,

so I hope it works.

I will say it brought tears to my eyes,

and I have watched it several times already this morning.

Mr. LB would tell you I have an affinity for music.

The genre really isn't important.

If it's good, I can recognize it.

This is a great reason why I don't care what folks look like.

I don't care if they are skinny blonds.

That doesn't mean they can sing.

Likewise, if they are deemed "unattractive,"

that really doesn't matter to me.

I would rather listen than watch.

True music comes from within.
This is absolutely beautiful.

Wishing you all blessings:

Amira

(click on the link)

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

  

*~*~* Grandmother Apple*~*~*

It might seem strange to some folks

to have respect for a tree.

It's not that it was planned.

It just happened over the years.

This is the tree under which my children played.

They gathered worms & bouquets of violets.

They entertained friends and

learned to climb.

She watched as my son fell from her branches.

At 4 years old, I heard the cry/holler then nothing.

Talk about a heart attack.

My motto was always, "If they're crying, at least you know they're breathing."

I raced over to find him, breath knocked out, but fine.

Children don't climb trees any more.

Go ahead and ask how many have next time you see a group of youngins.

Yes, learned to climb.

There used to be a second trunk/limb.

You can see at the base where it was.

Last winter, the wind broke her.

We considered cutting the whole thing down,

but I couldn't bring myself to part with her completely.

We cut the broken side off and waited to see what happened

not knowing if it was just a matter of time, and

we would have been wiser to take care of it all at once.

She limped along through last summer.

She bore no fruit.

She survived through our odd winter.

And this spring she showed us her beauty once more.

She has more to give.

It just took us believing in her.

This seems like such a good parallel for our lives.

Sometimes, we are broken by "things" life deals us.

We still have life in us...still have value.

There is someone I know who will be 94 this Saturday.

He and his wife have possibly been the most valuable friends

I have ever been blessed with.

Many of their friends have already passed.

They are likely looked over by many among the current generations.

They still have something to give.

I seek and value their knowledge and insight with every life decision I make.

I might have a different perspective,

but I consider and respect their input.

Like Grandmother Apple,

they have something left to give.

I can hardly wait to see what autumn brings.

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

A Quilt Show and An Estate Sale

Talk about a weekend on the go.

Now I need a weekend to recuperate from the weekend.

Saturday was the Pendleton Quilt Show.

It was nice, not as many vendors as usual

which I am finding is kinda the norm since 2008.

There were of course some pretties:

 These 2 are by Jess Berry.

His work is all self designed and hand appliqued and quilted.

Sunday, while lazily roaming Craigslist antiques,

I ran across an add for an estate sale in Waitsburg, WA.

I was going to wait until next weekend

to go that direction for a few odds

but decided to go today instead.

The prices (on Sunday) at half off were fair.

The 'regular' price was what one might find

in a much larger city so perhaps fair in a different geographic area.

They were fair enough to find a few goofy little goodies.

 A whimsical frog tape dispenser.

 

                                                    This thimble intrigued me.  

It has a thread cutter on the side.

It's just sitting on the tea cup, because it's little.

Mr. LB went fishing today so

when I saw this picture, I just cracked up.

It's called "Pa & Ma Philosopher."

I got a few other things also,

that I neeeeeded of course.

I've been being good about saving so I almost felt guilty

after buying these things today.

Mr. LB laughed at me when I told him that and said,

"Just don't spend the mortgage."

May you all have a beautiful Sunday evening.

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

Perfect Stitching Frugal Tip (A DIY)

In case you are newer to this blog,

I am a crazy quilter.

Maybe it's because there is no such thing

as a wrong crazy quilt.

There are a few specifics I like in the design

on some of the crazies though.

One thing is the right color for the accent stitches.

I love the old fashioned wool crazies

with big primitive looking stitches.

Here in-lies the tip:

Use size 30 crochet thread

(often found at thrift stores for a quarter - as long as

it's not stained, discolored, or smelly, and is in good condition.)

Then comes the fun part. 

Dye it the color you want it.
Even if the crochet thread is a color,
I typically just dye them a darker shade.
In the picture above, the peachy color
would go into a pumpkin colored dye, etc.

I often end up dying a piece of wool

a specific color. 

So when that happens,

I throw in some thread.

Here is a vintage yarn winder that I use 
to measure how much I am pulling off the spool/ball.
You could also use a notebook or hardback book,
just so you can slide the thread off of it easily.

Note:

If you have left over dye,

add a little vinegar, label it and save it

until your project is finished.

If you don't, you'll end up needing more of that color.

I know there are some very good quality threads and flosses

out there that are sworn by.

I happen to live in No-where-ville.

We don't have a quilt shop any more.

We do have a newer fabric/craft shop,

but they are a small business trying to make it.

They have many necessities but

not a lot of specialty items.

I don't want that to sound negative in any way as

I am extremely grateful for them.

However, by dying my own,

I end up with a perfect matching/contrasting thread.
(and fingers too as I usually don't wear gloves:)
I like two strands on wool.
One strand on cotton is very dainty looking.
To me, the colors just seem more genuine.
Of course, if you don't like to dye things,
you might just stick to store bought.

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches