Lindsay is in Labor

Lindsay has been in labor since early this morning and we hope to have the new great grandson out in this great big world soon. Talked to her a couple of hours ago and she was about ready to go to the hospital. Now I want to get the baby quilt finished for him. Shay and her kids are planning to be in Denver for the Labor Day weekend and we'll get to see the new baby then also.

Here is Lindsay, Mom, and Kaylee at Thanksgiving.

I was actually able to get out in the garden, this weekend, to trim a few tree branches that were shading the veggie garden and pull and cut a lot of weeds, wild grass, and elm seedlings out of the herb garden and veggies. Amber and her younger sister, Makayla, came over and helped me clean house by vacuuming and mopping. I took them for ice cream at the Cold Stone place in Canon City to thank them. For some reason vacuuming is so hard for me, it pushes so hard, due to the suction, and leaves me breathless. My appointment with the Cardiologist is tomorrow morning. Please pray and send good thoughts for him to be able to help me.

I have also finally gotten enough gumption to do some more quilting. I have some projects I want to work on, and I've had the WOTB block for Deborah (the woman who led Israel to victory in the book of Judges) cut out and taking up space on the side of my cutting table since mid May, when I began having problems, so I sat down last night and sewed and fused it, to clear the decks for action. This block is for all you variations of Deb out there, since it is the Honey Bee block; Deborah means bee. I chose colors to go with the bee theme and really like the looks of this block. This is the 37th WOTB block I've finished. There are 15 more than need to be completed. At this point, I'm not sure if I will do all of them, but I do want to make the blocks for Rebekah and Rachel, and Ruth and Naomi. I have the base done for Esther, but need to do the star points which are made from tiny pieces and appliqued on. When those are completed I may decide to go ahead and design a layout for the quilttop. I don't have the passion to finish the blocks for some of the more obscure women and have begun the "Praying the Names of Jesus" Bible study and quilt block group and want to start making those blocks. At The Creative Cloth Closet in Canon City, I found a batch fat quarters of wonderful gold flashed print fabrics to use for these blocks; they have the look of medieval designs. Some day I hope to make the blocks from Carol Honderich's group "Quilting the Psalms". The appliqued blocks she designed are incredible.

WIP Wednesday

Spring gave us a preview of summer today with a temperature in the high 80s, which cooled off fast in the late afternoon when a thunderstorm rained on us. As soon as these first hot days show up our business phone rings constantly with requests for air conditioning work and refrigeration repair. From now on Joe will be running pretty fast to keep up with the calls.

I am proud of myself for getting my Lilliputian Prairie Pond cleaned, refilled, and the new fountain pump installed yesterday. You can't believe how smelly and ugly the bottom of a pond becomes. I used a wet vac to suck up some of the yucky water, but it couldn't get all the sludge in the sand and stones of the bottom, so I jet sprayed the bottom with my watering wand on the hose and use a 5 gallon bucket to dip the worst out, then I just let the water run over until the trash and gunk on the top was gone and left the pond filled with clean, clear water, which I treated with anti-algae chemicals and then added the beneficial bacteria treatment. [While doing all of this I ended up with 2 more ant bites on the backs of my thights; ants must have a thing for cellulite. I have declared war on these critters.] It is so clear I can see the pretty river pebbles on the bottom. This pond fountain is a popular place for the local cats and birds to get a drink, as well as a meditation place for me. Now I have to unwrap, clean and set up my small patio fountain.

As you can see in the photo, some of my prairie plants are already growing and the prairie grass is starting to green up at the roots. This is a hot weather grass so it doesn't get green as early as the blue grass, it also requires only a fourth of the water and only has to be mowed about once a month.

Quiltwise, I am working on some more of my Women of the Bible blocks and I received my piece of Virginia Tech fabric and bought a fat quarter of maroon so I'm ready to make my memorial block.

I am getting ready to attend the Denver International Quilt Festival this weekend; I'll stay with my oldest daughter in Wheatridge and plan to get together with Debra Spincic and Samantha. How exciting to meet some of my virtual playmates! I am also working on a small thank you surprise for Debra and a birthday present for my daughter, but can't

show them here, or they won't be surprises.

A sad postscript to a couple of my past posts about Colorado weather. After all this time another of the women who was injured in the Holly Tornado has passed away from her injuries. Also, on the news tonight, it was announced that the little baby on oxygen, in one of the homes without electricity due to the blizzard, passed away from the congenital heart defect he suffered. Please pray for these bereaved families.

On a brighter note, the state of Colorado brought in mobile homes for the families who lost their homes to live in while they make arrangements to find or build new homes.

WIP Wednesday

I'm working on my April 12 x 12 but don't want to show it until it's done and posted. Here is a teaser to whet your appetites. I've been wanting to make a star with a hexagon center like the one that was in the box of old family quilt blocks that my sister-in-law gave me and decided that it would make a great Evening Star for my April piece. It amazes me how many quilt patterns I can find made from hexagons. Now I understand why so many quilters make series of quilts. One is never enough!

I've also been preparing paper piecing patterns for more WOTB blocks. I've been printing my patterns onto tracing paper, which is a hassle because I have to cut it down to fit and then tape it with removeable double sided tape to a sheet of paper so it will feed through the printer. My new printer is more sensitive than the old one and won't feed it if it is the tiniest bit off so






yesterday at the Creative Cloth Closet shop in Canon City, I noticed and purchased a package of Carol Doak foundation paper to try. It should feed better and be less slippery to work with than the tracing paper. Hope I like it better; Denise (the LQS owner) tells me that she has good results using it.





After receiving my copy of the book "Sew One and You're Done" by Evelyn Sloppy, I decided to make one big star instead of lots of small ones. I've started cutting out the pieces for a large block quilt called Garden Magic, which goes well with the lovely fabrics sent to me by Debra S. The block will have to have a border added to make it big enough for the QOV standards. It will be a nice change to work with larger pieces after all the tiny pieces in some of the 6 inch WOTB blocks.




The wind has been terrible yesterday and today and the weatherman is warning us to be ready for a major blizzard on Friday. The weather is simply not cooperating with my Spring garden plans.



I got my hair cut yesterday, and once again, they scalped me! I want it short, but I also want to look like a female. With this wind the short hairs are spiked and I look more like a boy than a grandmother. Oh well, it grows fast. Maybe I should get some hair wax and purple and lime green hair dye. ROFL!

More WOTB Blocks

Got two more of my WOTB blocks done.

Lover's Knot is my block for Leah. It is fused and machine appliqued with gold zigzag stitches around the edges. I chose the red fabric for Leah's passion for her husband Jacob, the pink is for her love for her children, and there is a little blue mixed in there because she knew that Jacob loved her sister Rachel more than her. [Makes me think of a favorite old song of mine, "Am I Blue?" by Ray Charles. I guess that is a sure give away of my age.] The gold, as always, represents the presence of God and His comfort to her in her sadness. I'm extremely uncomfortable with the idea of polygamy but found that the book "The Red Tent" helped me understand what it might have been like. It is an exquisitely written story. Hopefully, finishing this block will get me going on catching up with my blocks. Making these blocks is always a special treat for me because I only have to make one of each and they are such lovely blocks with special meaning. Leah's story can be read at Genesis 29-35. Her sister Rachel's block is not completed yet, that's one that I'm behind on.

The next block is The Palm for Tamar, the daughter-in-law of Judah, whose name means Date Palm or Palm Tree. Tamar tricked her father-in-law into doing his duty toward her according to the Levitical Law on widows and, therefore, ended up in the Genealogy of Jesus. I chose the green fabric for the palm frond against a gold washed sand color representing the desert, with the gold, as always, symbolizing the presence of God. This block was paper pieced. Tamar's story is told in Genesis 38 and Matthew 1:3.

A very Happy Easter to you all.

"THE LORD IS RISEN !

HE IS RISEN INDEED!"

Postscript to Hagar's Block

Dear Friends, I guess I opened a can of worms. I did not intend my Hagar block to be construed as an attack on Islam. I made a beautiful block for her and through my study came to a very sympathetic understanding of what this poor woman went through, due to being a slave.

I, as a Christian, do not monitor blogs, and leave 5 page rebuttals to the beliefs of those of the Islam faith. Therefore, I do not appreciate whoever it was that felt the need to set me straight in my beliefs by leaving an anonymous 5 page rebuttal of my beliefs in the comment section. I have deleted the comment, feeling it was inappropriate. However, I kept a copy of the rebuttal and will study it, but since I am already aware of the difference in belief, on this point, between the Jewish/Christian and Islam Holy books I doubt that this rebuttal will change my beliefs.

This does not strike me as the best way to open a dialogue between people of the two, or actually three, faiths. The only people of Islam (or any other faith) that I have a problem with are the ones who feel that it is their duty to kill me and my people for being infidels. If you have no desire to kill me, or see me killed, I have no problem with being your friend. I have absolutely no desire to attack, kill, or see killed, those who have differing beliefs, and I regret those times when "Christians" felt such a need. I am making an attempt to understand what it means for me to love my enemies, even when they are attacking and endangering me and my people. I don't believe that means I have to bow down and expose my throat to the blade that is threatening me. I see a difference between turning the other cheek and exposing the throat to the blade.

I apologize that this unpleasantness had to impinge upon our celebration of the textile arts, but we can't always turn our backs and ignore what is going on in the world. I felt that I needed to express myself to the person who chose to attack my beliefs anonymously.

Starting the Old Testament Women Blocks

Here are the first three blocks for the women of the Old Testament. I started with the new group, WOTB2, to study and make the blocks I missed when I started WOTB4 late.

The Garden of Eden block is for Eve, who is to blame for all our troubles (we have to blame someone), "The Devil made me do it". The story of Eve is pretty well known by most of us, she was made, by God, from Adam's rib, to be a helpmate to him. She was tempted by the serpent and ate the forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and then gave it to Adam who also partook. They were driven from the Garden to earn their food by the sweat of their brows and women would bear children with pain. Her story can be found at Genesis 1:26-31; Genesis 2 - 4

This pieced block looked to me like a formal garden plan of intersecting paths dividing 4 diamond in a square beds. Light gray green was chosen for the path; green for lush foliage; rose and orange for flowers; the red center square for sin; and gold for the light of God. This is Eden after sin entered. The red also represents the promised salvation to come.

Week 2 we studied Sarah, the wife of Abraham, and her block is the Sarah's Choice. Sarah followed Abraham to the unknown land of Canaan, that God promised to them and their offspring, who would become a great nation who would belong to God as no other people had. I wanted a joyful look for Sarah's block and chose the light salmon red fabric first because it looked like desert colors. I then chose the red to represent Sarah's love, courage, and strong will. The yellow gold represents her happy laughter on hearing she would bear a child in her old age. The gold lines symbolize God's plan for the salvation of mankind through her child, Issac, and the family nation that would rise from his seed. This block was traditionally pieced.

Sarah's story is located at Genesis 12:1-20; 16:1-8; 17:1-22; 18:1-15; 21:1-13; Galatians 4:22-31

Week 3 was the study of Hagar, the Egyptian slave of Sarah, she was given to Abraham to have a child for Sarah, when Sarah gave up hope of having a child of her own. She gave birth to Ishmael and "let pride overtake her when she became Abraham's wife. A lonely women with few resources, she suffered harsh punishment for her mistake. She obeyed God's word as soon as she heard it and was given a promise that her son would become the father of a great nation."
Read her story in Genesis 16; 21: 8-21; Galatians 4:22-31

For Hagar's Wandering Foot block I chose the blue green to symbolize that her life and that of her son was saved through the intervention of God. The red represents her love for her son Ishmael. The light blue green of the background is for the water in the well provided to them in the desert. The gold as always shows forth the light of God in their lives. This block was fused and machine appliqued with gold thread.

Final New Testament WOTB Block

My internet connection and I have been quite slow this week. Blogger refused to post my new 365 Photos or WIP Wednesday photos Tuesday evening and I didn't feel like struggling with it anymore so closed my computer and went to bed. I'm still dragging but Joe came home from talking to the Bresnan Cable people and we are evidently going to get a high speed connection. Hooray! It got to where I felt like it took me so much time to upload and download stuff that I couldn't get anything else done. Hopefully I can now be more productive and less frustrated.

I managed to finish the Priscilla Block. Priscilla was a tent maker who, with her husband Aquila, was a friend and colleague of Paul on his missionary journeys.

I can't say that I have mastered set in seams but this is the best I've done so far. For Priscilla I chose the red to represent her courage in helping save Paul's life; the green is because she was a practical business woman; the brown symbolizes that she was an earthy, centered woman helping her husband make tents from goat hair and leather; and the gold always represents God's presence in her life. Luckily, after I chose those colors I looked in my box and there was the perfect fabric with red, green and brown all mottled together. The light gray with the gold flecks represents the goat hair mixed with the symbol for God and makes a good foil for the darker fabric. Even if a person's trade is making tents, it can be done as unto the Lord.

The story of Priscilla is found in Acts 18 and 19.


Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

A "funny" thing happened to me on my way to buy peanut butter. I tried earlier this week to buy some low fat Peter Pan Peanut Butter at my local WalMart and they were out. When Joe went shopping he tried to find some for me, but they still hadn't stocked it. When I looked yesterday the peanut butter shelves were almost empty. What was going on? I then went to another grocery store in town and found their peanut butter shelves also almost empty, but they had a sign up saying that Peter Pan Peanut Butter had been recalled due to a Salmonella outbreak.

When I got home, I found the news story online which gave the stock number for the suspected batches of peanut butter. I checked my jars of regular crunchy, for Joe, and low fat creamy, for me; both were nearly empty and sure enough, both were in the suspected batch.

Now I often have a little of this peanut butter on whole wheat crackers for with salad, a couple of times a week for lunch. (A small amount of nuts are an important ingredient in my healthy eating plan) In mid October I had a spell where I became violently ill at Bible Study and Joe had to rescue me and take me to the emergency room at the local hospital. There was a lot of GI flu going around, so they didn't do any testing, just gave me medication to settle my stomach and sent me home to sleep. I've been struggling with inexplicable GI problems since, to the extent that I became quite weak and shaky. In January I was sent to take multiple tests, etc. and was found to have extremely high potassium levels, which were a concern, but no reason could be found for the GI problems.

Last Friday, I once again had a severe bout of GI "flu" which has fluctuated all week. Now I wonder if the "flu" I had in October was really Salmonella which has kept my GI tract messed up since. Needless to say, I bought another brand of low fat peanut butter and WalMart told Joe to bring back the recalled jars for a complete refund. I hope my tummy will now settle down and let me feel human again.

WIP Wednesday and the Weather

Welcome to southeastern Colorado. After over a month of snow and frigid cold, we've had four days of warm Chinook winds here in Florence, it got up to 72 degrees today. There is still snow on the north side of the house but even a little of the mud has started to dry out.


We took Mom and Dad to dinner in La Junta on Sunday to celebrate their 69th wedding anniversary. From Florence to Pueblo the prairie was bare except for little drifts on the northeast side of the plants; we saw a herd of pronghorn antelopes who were enjoying being able to eat without having to dig through snow. As we drove beyond Pueblo there was more and more snow remaining on the prairie and fields. In Fowler there were glaciers with double tire track canyons in the streets and huge stacks of snow and ice along the highway where it had been snowplowed. East of Fowler there was still at least a foot of snow on the fields, even though there hasn't been more snow there for over a week. Here are photos of the snow piles at the sides of the parking lot at the restaurant where we ate. It was much colder in Fowler and La Junta than here due to the longtime snow cover. We saw several buildings that had collapsed due to the weight of the snow.

There are still many of the side roads that are not passable and over 100,000 cattle have perished on the ranches due to lack of food and water and pneumonia from breathing snow and stress. It is calving season and the cows are having a hard time giving birth and many calves cannot be saved. In addition to all of the hay drops from planes and helicopters, today it was reported that Coors Brewery is donating huge amounts of cattle feed, that is a by product of the making of beer. Michael Martin Murphy, a country singer who lives in Colorado, is giving a benefit concert at the State Fair Grounds in Pueblo for the ranchers who have lost so much.

The cold, snow and mud have been a good reason to stay inside and sew. I'm still working on the strippy ninepatch for the 40 Quilts Project. I have over half of the ninepatches done, and
the strips to make the rest are cut. I have two more of the stripe elements to put together of the three required. I wish I could work as fast as some of the other quilters but my speedy days are long gone.



Here is a teaser of my February 12 x 12 quilt. I didn't want to ruin the surprise of what it is so I took a photo of some of the scraps that remained on my cutting table. You have to wait until the 12th for the reveal.

When I went to the Creative Cloth Closet in Canon City today to pick up some Steam n Seam 2 I was able to take a photo of the Eleanor Burns "Egg Money Quilt" that is on display there. It is a wonderful Depression Era looking quilt that made me think of some of the quilts that Granny made, only a more modern take. She told Denise that she was sorry she couldn't come with it, but that she doesn't travel well in cartons any more.

Purple Cross Block for Lydia

For week 51 of the Women of the Bible study group I have completed the Purple Cross block for Lydia. Lydia was Paul's first European convert to Christianity. She was a dealer in purple dye and the first European church met in her home. The purple dye came from sea mollusks in the Mediterranean Sea and it took so many to make a tiny bit of dye, that only the rich and royalty were able to wear purple clothing. [I've been interested in natural dyes since taking a course in Navajo spinning, dying, and weaving at Henderson Museum, CU Boulder a little over 30 years ago so was excited to study about Lydia. Unfortunately, there were no sea mollusks in Boulder, so we used plants, lichens and cochineal bugs to dye our homespun wools.]

The choice of purple fabric was pretty much a given. I also added a little green to symbolize the life of the new European church with gold to indicate the presence of God. The block was done with fused, machine applique and stitched with gold thread.

The story of Lydia is found in Acts 16:6-40.

It is not clear to me, from the way her story is written whether she was selling the actual dye or purple dyed cloth. Some people think she was a weaver, who was selling her purple dyed cloth. This makes sense to me, because according to the book "Women's Work: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Years" (which I highly recommend) by Elizabeth Wayland Barber, weaving and trading and selling cloth was the first industry and was done by women because they could do at home while caring for the children. There were many extremely successful fabric businesses run by women in this part of the world during the time of the New Testament and earlier.

Her information was gathered through the discovery of spinning and weaving tools and writing on tablets in archaeological digs because very little actual fabric has survived.

Urban Red Fox

I am so jealous; my daughter, Michal Ann, sent me these photos of a fox in her backyard. She says she thinks the fox is dreaming of eating Roo Kitty. The amazing thing is that Mike lives in Wheatridge, which is a western suburb of Denver. She is just a few blocks from a city park with natural landscape and a lake so occasionally she has a fox come for a visit. I've never had a fox in my yard, what am I doing wrong? I'm sure it's just as well, but I do love to see the foxes.




It is snowing again; we've had major snows now for 7 weeks in a row, usually at the end of the week. This one came in sooner than I expected and had the "fun" of driving home from shopping in it this afternoon. There wasn't much on the side streets yet but it was very slippery.

I didn't manage to check in on WIP Wednesday, but I'm still working on the Strippy Ninepatch for the 40 Quilts Service Project; I'm nearly done with a new WOTB block, just have to do the machine applique stitching. I've also started doing a few mock ups for my February 12 x 12 quilt. The first photo I tried just wasn't pleasing me but as I was driving to Canon City I spotted a herd of black cattle grazing on a snowy pasture in front of some hills, so I turned the car around, found a place to park and got some photos which I think are just what I needed. Even the "just before the snowstorm" light was right for the evening scheme that I have in mind.

Blogger wouldn't post my photos last night, so here I am again. It was forecast to stay under 10 degrees F. today, but it is sunny with a temp of 39 degrees. I prefer this type of forecasting error so much better than the unexpected blizzards.

Mary Magdalene WOTB Block

I had intended to post this along with Dorcas, but forgot, so here she is, out of order, week 49.
Mary Magdalene's block is Mary's Star. To me it looks like the sun radiating light and symbolizes God radiating Love, Justice, and Healing, so I chose shades of red, yellow and orange to also represent the love, joy, and warmth that Mary Magdalene must have felt when Jesus healed her, as well as when she recognized the risen Jesus at the tomb.

The block was done with fused machine applique with zigzag stitches of gold thread around the pieces to hold them and for embellishment.

Mary has gained quite a reputation, that she probably doesn't deserve. Somewhere along the way people started to call her a prostitute, but nothing in the Bible indicates that. She was prominent among the women who were the followers of Jesus. Lately it has been claimed in many writings and best selling novels, that she was either the wife or lover of Jesus, once again without proof. We must remember when reading novels, that they are fiction not fact.

Her story is told in the following scriptures: Matthew 27 & 28; Mark 15 & 16; Luke 8 & 24: and John 19 & 20.

Here is a glorious image of Mary Magdalene from the Grace Cathedral in San Francisco. The egg in her hand is a symbol of the resurrection. I believe that my block is a good match for this image, which I love.

WOTB Week 50

Here is my WOTB block for week 50. Dorcas was an early Christian who sewed clothing for the poor widows in her city. Because it was a fishing community there were evidently many widows who had lost their husbands to the sea. When Dorcas died, the Apostle Peter raised her back to life.

For Dorcas' Charity Wheel Block I chose the colors red and green to go with the Heart and Hand theme that my study group thought fitted her works for the Lord. The red represents her love and energy and the green for her practical, generous spirit. It doesn't show that well in the photo but the greens are mottled with red. The gold stands for the love of God that surrounded her and her sewing ministry.

I paper pieced the rays and fused and machine appliqued the circles with zigzag gold thread.

Dorcas and Lydia seem to go together in my mind in that both worked in the fabric arts. It seems proper that we learn of them and emulate
them. You can read the story of Dorcas in Acts
9:36-43.






When I started paper piecing the ring pattern for the rays I quickly realized that it wasn't going to work when I got to the last piece. I realized that I had to cut the pattern between the first and last pieces and do a regular seam to make the complete circle. It worked well but looked rather strange during the process so I decided to show you what the process looked like.

WIP Wednesday

Wednesdays sure seem to come around fast! This week I am working on another WOTB block, this one for Dorcas. It's called Charity Wheel and I'm doing it as a combo of paper piecing and applique. I really enjoy these blocks, the blocks that Carol Honderich chose for each woman are so diverse and interesting (that means not simple) and I love putting together the colors to match the women as I see them.

The other project that has priority now is the child's quilt I am making for the
40 Quilts Service Project for the Quilt Studio webring. Beth sent me this great striped solar system fabric and I'm figuring and measuring and cutting. There will be four strips of this stripe across the width of the quilt with ninepatches on point between. There was also enough of this fabric to use it as backing. I'm getting ready to set up an assembly line to produce the ninepatches. I think this will make a very cute quilt for some child somewhere.

It is all of 46 degrees F out here today! I am spoiled by living in the Banana Belt of Colorado and not used to the kind of cold and snow we've been having lately. Some snow expected again this weekend, I hope it doesn't keep us from going to visit the family as it has now for 3 weeks. Mandy is celebrating her 16th birthday Saturday and has some new artwork she wants to show me.

If we don't get high speed internet soon, I'm going to go battier. With all the blogs I need to check on and the graphics I need to download and upload, this dial up is just wasting so much of my time. Joe thinks we don't need high speed but he doesn't use the internet the way I do. He did put in a big chunk (technical jargon) of new memory to speed up our computer but it doesn't do a thing for the dial up. "Lord, I need patience, but I want it right now!"

Martha & Mary of Bethany

I've finished the blocks for weeks 45 and 46 in the Women of the Bible quilting and study group.

Martha was the older sister who was overwhelmed by the household duties necessary to prepare a meal for Jesus and the Apostles, and complained to Jesus that her sister Mary was sitting and listening to him teach instead of helping Martha. Jesus lovingly rebuked her and told her that Mary had chosen to do the right thing.

I chose a red fabric to represent Martha's strong will and green to represent her practical nature.

For Mary I used pink for her great love and aquamarine for her desire to grow spiritually by being close to Jesus and soaking up his teaching. The gold wash in both blocks always represent God's presence.

These blocks were both a combination of piecing and fused machine applique.

The stories of Martha and Mary of Bethany can be read in Luke 10 and John 11 & 12.

As I studied these women I came to realize the necessity of balancing
out the Martha and Mary nature's in me. As an oldest child I have
tended to be driven and a perfectionist who felt the need to
micromanage (control) those around me. A wise woman of age once told
me that our senior years are the time to "make our souls" and I am
thankful that I have lived long enough to appreciate what she meant. "Too
soon old, too late wise."

WOTB Beggar's Block

Here is my block for the Syrophoenician Woman. This one was just pieced and is not a precise as the PP'd ones.

The Syrophoenician Woman came to Jesus and begged for healing for her daughter who was demon possessed and suffering greatly. Jesus asked her if he should feed the children's (Jews) food to the dogs (gentiles) and his apostles tried to shoo her away. She persevered and kept pleading; replying that the dogs were allowed to eat the crumbs that fell off the table onto the floor. Jesus then told her that because of her great faith her daughter was healed. Her story can be found in Matthew 15 and Mark 7.

I chose the orange to represent the woman demanding Jesus' attention and healing for her daughter. The blue represents her trust and confidence in Jesus. The gold is always the presence of God which never fails, no matter what the situation.

I'm not getting much quiltmaking done and am having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit. Would you believe, I tripped on the two steps up from the sunporch into the house and fell down again. I managed to mangle two of my potted herb plants in the process and rebruised my right knee, bruised my left thigh and knee and wrenched my back. With major effort and pain I did manage to get back up and toddle to the recliner and I'm stiff and sore today. I think this is a definite sign that I need to get back to Curves to exercise three times a day. When I was going regularly and taking off weight my balance was a lot better. So...my first goal for the coming year is to exercise at Curves three times a week and shed a minimum of 6 pounds a month until I reach the weight that my doctor recommends for me. This ought to resolve the falling problem plus improve my general health and condition.

Starting Over

Dear Friend, Grab a carton of Ben and Jerry's Coffee Heath Bar ice cream, pull up a chair and commiserate with me. While switching Toad Haven Annex to Beta, I inadvertantly deleted my whole blog; a whole year of communication right down the tubes. It is heck to be so computer illiterate!!! But, what better way to learn. It's all right to fall down but now it is time to get back up and begin again. [Is there a way that I can backup my blog so I don't lose it again?]

Here is the block for Herodias (week 42) for the Women of the Bible quilt and study I'm involved in. I chose the purple and gold fabric for the Queen's Pride. I thought the pattern of the purple was frantically busy as Herodias must have felt while doing all her scheming and plotting to better her position in life. This block is done in fused raw edge applique. I love the combination of circles and squares. This is the 23rd block I've done of the series of 52.

Herodias was the wife of Herod Atipas, who schemed with her daughter, Salome, to get Herod to behead John the Baptist. Her wicked and bloodthirsty story can be read in Matthew 14, Mark 6, and Luke 3:19. In researching Herodias I found the absolutely fascinating chronicles of the three New Testament Herods (Herod the Great, Herod Antipas, and Herod Agrippa). [I confess to being nuts about Jewish history, as well as other histories.]

Since I am now up to date with current blocks, I went back and completed the Altar Steps block for Hannah (week 18). Hannah was a barren wife who wept and prayed at the Tabernacle for a child. Eli, the priest, saw her and thought she was drunk. When she explained her suffering to Eli he prayed that she would be blessed with a child. Hannah dedicated her son, Samuel, to the Lord and after he was weaned she took him to stay at the Tabernacle with Eli, where he could be trained to serve the Lord. Each year she took him a new robe that she had stitched.

This block was paper pieced with the center octagon fused on and machine stitched. The light blue was for trust and confidence, the purple for spirituality and wisdom, and the green was for fertility. The touches of Gold represent the presence of God.

You can read Hannah's story at I Samuel 1-2.