Patchwork 9.11.2012

This morning I woke up and enjoyed watching the sunlight
stream through the window over the quilt on my bed.
I believe my mom or her mom, my Nana Bradstreet,
stitched the quilt  together over 75 years ago.

Last night I read in the Anne Bartlett novel, Knitting, "At one point they discussed knitting, the making of Sandra's shawl, and Sandra's work teaching textile history and theory.  Sandra offered a few pieces from her current research, about the resurgence of home crafts in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, and the trend toward complex stitches as a new generation learned to knit." What an interesting observation...a resurgence of creativity from terror and ashes to knitting, crocheting, weaving, embroidering, stitching, creatively drawing together fibers and fabrics that have the potential to warm, decorate, protect, and celebrate our precious patchwork of loving life.

So far I have written ten  commenters names on slips of paper and tucked them into this mug.  Each commenter who wants has a chance to be chosen on September 30, 2012 for me to send my mug full of thanks cushioned by some other things to them as I celebrate a year of blogging and my 100th post while I gratefully enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  xxx from Gracie

Give Away Turned Swap Ta-Dah !!!

About three feet from the mailbox, I looked down at the ground and spotted this feather sticking up vertically in the grass and weeds!

All my senses rose in appreciation of another reminder of God's Love,
that hugs like a mother hen who embraces her chicks with her feathery
wings.

When I opened the mailbox I had an interesting assortment of mail,
 including two packages!!
One of the packages contained two skeins of Sos's stunning hand painted yarn
 that I ordered.
 I also bought and downloaded her adorable knitting pattern for heirloom tomatoes
and will be posting more about that soon.




But before I opened either package I grabbed my iPhone 4S
to have it ready to take pictures of the contents of the packages.
When my finger slid the phone on it began playing
the Michael W. Smith setting I had on Pandora
and I became transfixed listening to the lyrics
of eight songs.  I only jotted down a bit
of information about each song, but it was an incredible time
of awareness of God for me.

1.  from the Afters: Light Up the Sky
...God You light up the sky to show me You are with me
[reminding me I woke up this morning and witnessed another
amazing sunrise streaked with pink and red and blue]
...I run straight to Your arms
because You are the Bright and Morning Star...
I can see you all around me...
2.  Darlene Zschech: Kiss of Heaven
...Pray...We call upon Your name...move in our hearts, move in our land
Every nation, tribe and tongue will proclaim Your Kingdom come...
...Pour out Your Spirit, Your wonders on earth...
3.  Erin O'Donnell: Here I Am to Worship
from the album Sing Over Me which has a picture of a bird on it
...Jesus, here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say You're my God
...I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross...
4. Desperation Band: Amazed
...You dance over me while I am unaware
...Lord I'm amazed by You, howYou love me, how wide, how deep, how great is Your love for me
5. Chris Tomlin: We Fall Down ...and cast our crowns
at the feet of Jesus
6. Paul Cardall: on piano, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing
7. Katinas: Draw Me Close
...You're all I've ever needed
You're all I want
Help me know you are near...
8. Lincoln Brewster: Live in Worship, Shout to the Lord
...My Jesus, my Savior, Lord there is none like You
All of my days I want to praise the wonders of Your mighty love...
I sing for joy at the work of your hands
forever I'll love you, forever I'll stand
nothing compares to the promise I have in You

Then my oldest daughter, her husband and 3 little grand girls
came into my room, helped me open the packages,
and appreciate and take photos of the contents.

Sarah wove this with cotton and plastic bags so that it  can and will
be used as a bathmat
[although my SIL thinks I should hang it on the wall .... high praise, Sarah :)]
This is what I won from her give away...

and then she added this

4 adorable lavender [from her garden !] sachets
~~~~~heavenly fragrance~~~~~
and the red white and blue heart keychain

and she wove this fabulous scarf... I so LOVE the colors
and softness and scent from the lavender

Such fabulous gifts, Sarah!  I treasure each one.
Thank you...sooooo much :) xo

I am enjoying getting to know Sarah through her blog
Knits and Crosses,
where she shares her love of knitting, stitching,  weaving, quilting
buttons, cooking, history, gardening, eclectic music...and more.
Such fun to visit with her and admire her wares,
some of which you can buy through Folksy and Etsy.

I have soooo many reasons to be cheerful today.

What has cheered you?

xxx from Gracie to You