My First (and Hopefully Not Last) Quilt

I was never a huge quilt lover until my friend Michelle let me borrow a beginner quilt book.  I was hooked by the first visit to the fabric store. Choosing the fabric took quite some time, but it was like putting together the colors for a kaleidoscope or a mosaic. I didn't have to choose fabrics that matched perfectly. I chose one main fabric that I really loved and ran the bolt passed all the other fabrics and grabbed the ones that complimented it.  I think my favorite part of the whole process is when you see all the different squares of fabric sewn together for the first time.
I liked the idea of creating something that could be so one-of-a-kind but always thought a quilt would be too time-consuming and difficult.  I was wrong! Well, wrong about it being too difficult.  A quilt is as time consuming as you want it to be.  A simple one can be made in just a few hours. But I was bound and determined to do hand stitching for the decorative quilting so that added on around five more hours. Keep in mind that it was my first time hand stitching anything besides a hem. When my husband and I were visiting his family in Indiana, we went shopping in Amish country where I found a beautiful quilting template.  Perfect for my quilt! In the second picture below, I tried to crop a closeup so you can see the hand-stitched pattern.
I wish I had more time to quilt.  I thought of maybe trying to do one per year.  I don't think I would hang one up in my house, but I think they are wonderful gifts.  My Mom sure loved hers.

The floral fabric around the edge was the first fabric I chose.  I then took the bolt and ran it passed the rest.  The others just kind of jumped out at me!

If you look closely, you can see the hand-stitched pattern.  I did every other square to cut down on the time.

An Anglo-Saxon Poem That Touched My Heart

Have you ever come across something that startled you by it's unlikely connection to your life? As I was preparing this past summer for the upcoming school year, I read a poem from an entirely different time and place. It felt as if the poet who wrote it all those years ago had written it just for me.  I found it in the introduction to the first unit of English Literature.  It is an old Anglo-Saxon poem whose author is unknown.  Within its simple ten lines, a wonderful story of sacrificial love is told.

Dear to the Frisian (Jute) wife is the one

whom she welcomes,

When the vessel reaches the haven -- his ship

is at hand,

Her lord is come to his home, he who provid-

eth for her,

And she summons him in; she washes his

sea-stained garments

And giveth him raiment new. Full pleasant 

is it for him

Whose beloved wife waiteth for him ashore.

So beautiful! For a wife whose husband is often away from home, a poem that tells of a husband's homecoming and a wife's welcome is a poem with much meaning.  I just never expected to find such a poem in the Anglo-Saxon section of a high school literature book!  

Getting That Hotel Look

My husband and I have hit a wall.  Literally.  We are normally not indecisive when it comes to decorating our home.  I usually get inspired and start hanging pictures and arranging furniture.  He thinks about the functional side of things and keeps me from buying too many things that have absolutely no purpose.  All in all, we make a great decorating team (at least for our taste....please don't try to hire us!)

We've lived in our home for almost a year now and the one room that hasn't been touched is our master bedroom.  I have always been told that your master bedroom should be the FIRST to be decorated and complete.  After all, it is the most important room in the house.  Maybe because I want it to be perfect, I haven't been able to decide what I want to do yet.  The current state of the room isn't horrible.  It's actually very relaxing and acceptable from a design point of view.  Most of the room's character comes from the moulding and double trey ceiling.  Gorgeous!  But the rest of the room's decor doesn't do it justice.

We've finally decided that we want to go with the hotel look.  Now that just opens a whole new box of opportunities....and decisions.  I googled 5 star hotels and searched through dozens of pictures.  I saved my favorites and have been choosing what I like from each one.  I wish I could find the perfect room that I could copy floor to ceiling but no luck.  I don't think that ever actually happens.  Here are some of the inspirational pictures.

Matthew and I both love the color palette of this room.  I also adore the ottoman. We aren't so in love with that heart chair, however. 

What I noticed and liked about this room was the chocolate wall. I feel the room is a little cluttered and busy though, but the colors are great. 

Adore, adore, adore this room! Matthew says it's the floor to ceiling windows letting in all the light that I really love.  Maybe, but I still adore this room.  Really love that picture above the bed and the lighting. 

Okay, so maybe this isn't the stereotypical hotel look, but this is for our bedroom, right? How cozy is this room!!? I love the punches of color. 

Headboard.  Need I say more.

A little fussy for our taste but there are still some elements I like.  Window treatments are gorgeous. I love the artwork and nesting tables. 

The first thing Matthew said when he saw this picture is, "Really beachy." Guess that would be interpreted, "I don't like it."  What I like about this room is the bed and the side table.  

Love the bed, bench, and chairs.  Where can I get chairs JUST LIKE those?  Matthew says, "All I can look at is that light fixture on the ceiling."  

Love the colors.  And there's that chocolate wall again.

So the journey for the "hotel look" begins. 

Simple Elegance

A simple and inexpensive alternative to "the wreath".  I took a trip to Hobby Lobby and purchased my shatter-proof, plastic ornaments for 50% off.  Hang them from Dollar Tree ribbon and PRESTO...instant elegance!

Eyeballs! and Pay Attention!

Anyone who has ever taught knows that if your student's eyes are not on you, then they probably aren't listening. Yet a pair of peepers could be staring right at you while the brain behind it is only thinking about a cheeseburger.  Such are the ways of learning.  It takes a great deal of hard work and discipline from the teacher AND the listener.  I always hated saying to my students, "Pay attention!" or "Listen while I'm talking."  I began to tell them, "Eyes on me" which eventually evolved to, "Eyeballs!"  I always get a smile or laugh from my piano students when I say this, but they definitely know that it's time to LISTEN UP.

I'm going to do a little confessing here.  I found myself guilty of the pair-of-peepers-but-cheeseburgers-in-the-brain kind of listening the other night at church.  Now that I think of it, I'm not even sure if I was looking at Pastor or not.  My mind was wandering...I mean REALLY wandering.  I was actually worrying and fretting over something that hadn't even happened yet.  I'm very talented in the area of borrowing trouble from tomorrow. I had just finished with, "What's going to happen?" and I was moving on to, "What are we going to do about it?" when I realized I had no clue what Pastor was talking about. "Eyeballs, Jane! Pay attention!"

When I think of how often I let my mind slip into another dimension when I should really be listening and learning, I'm reminded of Romans 10:17. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."  If I had approached that church service with the attitude of gleaning all that I possibly could from God's Word that night, just maybe God would have given me the exact answer I needed for my problem.

God doesn't like to fight for our attention.  He doesn't want to have to keep saying, "Eyeballs, eyeballs!"  The only way our faith will increase is by hearing God's Word.  How can we hear his Word if we are not paying attention?

Leaf Wrapped Mason Jars

Ahhhh! The fall season brings out the homebody in us all.  Were there ever such things as bathing suits and sunblock? If there were, I don't remember them.  Around this time of year, all I want to do is relax, sip a cup of hot tea and enjoy the glow of our fireplace and the smell of pumpkin spice candles.  Bringing warmth and ambiance into a home is easy and inexpensive with these leaf wrapped mason jars.  I bought the mason jars and leaves at Hobby Lobby, and the twine I found lying around in our garage. Yippy. I bought leaves that had a little bit of bend to them so they wrapped around the mason jars easily, but you can use any type of leaves you find.  I formed the leaves around the jars, tied the twine around them and made a bow.  I didn't want to melt votive candle inside, so I bought the small jar candles from Wal-mart and placed them inside.  No mess at the end of the candle.  When the candles are lit, a beautiful glow shines through the leaves.  It really is like having little fireplaces all over your house.

Silly Bands are the most appropriately named items in history

    If you don't know what Silly Bands are then you are either never around kids, teenager, or adults who think they are kids or teenagers, or you never leave your house.  Silly Bands are bracelets that take the shape of a particular item until they are on your wrist, then they just look like messed-up rubber bands.
    During a piano lesson last week, one of my students came in with both arms full to about mid-forearm of these silly bands. After the initial "You have got to be kidding me!" I winced at the very thought of wanting to cover my arms with tight plastic bands that did little for the support of healthy blood circulation.
     I had to comment.  "So that's a lot of Silly Bands you've got there." He was proud, very proud of his collection.
    "I have three hundred at home but only around forty on right now!" he beamed.  So proud.
     He then began to take them off.  What a process!! After a few minutes, he was free of his bands, and in their place were thick purple indentions.  Eeek! It looked like it hurt, and he said that, yes, sometimes it did, especially when he slept in them.  Um....no comment.
     So we untangled the mess, and he showed me some of his pride and joys: the football, the sun, the milkshake.  He even had a few to give me. (I hate to admit that they were actually really cute.)  He gave me a fairy, a mermaid, and a unicorn that glow in the dark.  We set them aside because I wasn't going to waste time waiting for him to put all five hundred of them back on his wrists (exaggeration).  During our entire lesson, there they sat in a jumbled mess.
      I don't quite understand the attraction to covering your arms from wrist to elbow with rubber bands, but every time I see one of these bands on one of my student's wrists, I have the intense urge to ask them, "Hey, what shape is THAT Silly Band?"  So silly, right? And thus, so appropriately named.

  He gave me these silly bands.  They glow in the dark!