There she goes!

Musings on Life and Beauty

My little one conquered the stairs in one great climb.
(Note:  the pictures aren’t great, but all that matters to me is that I witnessed it and was able to get pictures at all!)












Then she was on her way down the hall to the toy room and all the big kids (her fan club).

Watching children grow is bittersweet.  I was at once filled with happiness for her independence, satisfaction with her growth, and sadness that in 2 minutes I watched a part of my precious baby disappear – forever.  That familiar heart-clenching ache and tears stinging my eyes were a silent salute to all that growth entails, the beginnings and the endings, and as much as I’d like it all to just pause , I know that the best course is to gather yet another moment into my heart and adjust.  It’s what mothers do.

Hopeful Homemaker

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Cherry Harvest

Musings on Life and Beauty



It’s no secret that I love my cherry trees.  I love watching them change with the seasons and wait anxiously for the beautiful red cherries to appear.


This year our harvest is much smaller than last year.  Where last year there were large groups of cherries, this year we have only a few here and there.  Still, my heart fills grateful for the cherries we have.  Our livelihood doesn’t depend on our trees; they are icing on the cake, something that makes life rich and full.  Our needs are being met, and God still blesses us with cherries!  Instead of canning and making jam, this year we’ll choose one special dish to prepare.


The most interesting thing of all has been our second tree.  The one that’s not as pretty, the one I don’t expect too much from.  Most of our cherries are on this “less productive” tree.   The “better” tree is almost entirely barren of fruit.  Just when I thought I had them figured out, God reminds me that everything can bring forth fruit in its own time.

I love the spiritual tutoring that comes with everyday life.  I learned a lot today.

Jennifer

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Chirp Chirp Quilt Top

Quilting and Sewing



I put together this very basic quilt top in an afternoon.  The pattern comes from the Spring 2010 issue of Quilts and More.


Instead of piecing together strips of solid colored fabric for the stripes, I swapped in a striped fabric that I absolutely love.  Doing this meant that piecing the quilt top (excluding the applique) required only 5 seams.  Talk about easy!  Sometimes it’s nice to work on something simple in between more complex projects.  While I loved the idea of a large bird on the quilt, the bird in the pattern wasn’t my style, so after a bit of brainstorming, I changed the background shape and drew a bird on a branch.

This is my finished quilt top.


I love the way fabric choices and a bit of tweaking can change the way patterns look.  The original quilt in pastels is lovely, but I also love the way the deep blues make it more sophisticated.


The fabric I used for this quilt is, once again, Rural Jardin by French General for Moda.  Part of my motivation was to make a quilt using the bird print in the deep blue colorway, which is my favorite print in the collection.  Scrapping the oval in favor of a more modern shape was a fun twist.   I simply drew the shape, bird and branch and used some featherweight interfacing to stabilize them.  Instead of doing the applique by hand as I did in my Faith Sings quilt , I decided to work on my machine applique skills.  Overall I’m very pleased with the results, and I also like how the fabrics work together.  It was fun to use some of the Rural Jardin wovens.  They’re even lovelier than they look in pictures.


Because it’s so small, this project should be fun and fairly simple to quilt.  It’s my third quilt top in the lineup, so I’d better get quilting.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jennifer

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