Not Really a Proper Daybook

I don't have a proper daybook for you this morning--too much to which I need to attend here. All good, just the best kind of busy. I do have a few random things of some importance to share though:

I am thinking::

about menopause. I don't really want to think about menopause. Really, could we just call it something else? I don't even like the ring to that word. Midlife? No, that  sounds like a balding man's red convertible. The Change? Um, sounds like a hot flash. We need a better word. In all seriousness, I am giving this {{insert word of choice here}} a great deal of thought. Many thanks to those of you who joined the conversation last week. You've moved this project forward by leaps and bounds. There is a book in the works. Just to let you know how earnest I am about doing this thoroughly, I ordered that offensive book I mentioned in last week's post because the editor who likes my book idea suggested that I read it. I bought it, flipped to the end--to the closing thoughts, the send off-- and discovered that after the author divorced her husband at midlife, she found great consolation cuddling her male cat and she learned a lot about femininity from her female cat.

Ladies, we can do better! I know it. Please share your thoughts with me. And if you're still too young to even give a passing thought to menopause, let me ask you to reconsider. Think about the women you know at midlife or beyond. What do you want to emulate there? What do you want to avoid? Consider how being intentional with certain things right now might change what midlife looks like for you. Tell me about the women you know who have the kind of life you'd like to have in your forties and fifties. Tell me details. Tell me anything, but that my future lies with a cat as my main squeeze. (No offense to cat lovers, please)

a way to get a jump on Christmas shopping::

In honor of the month of the Sacred Heart, St. Luke's Brush is offering a buy 4, get one deal. Buy any 4 dolls by June 30 and get a Sacred Heart doll for free. It's not too early to think of stocking stuffers. I can honestly tell you that these are the toys Sarah plays with most of all. They're timeless heirlooms. The Sacred Heart of Jesus doll is a one of a kind, 3.5 inch wooden peg doll hand painted with non-toxic acrylic paints and sealed to preserve this keepsake toy.

summer sponsor opportunities:: as the season changes, there are a few slots opening for sponsors here at In the Heart of My Home. Sponsors will also be onSerendipity and we are eager to bring some new plans to life there in the next couple months. Email me at intheheartofmyhome AT gmail DOT com for more information.

I told you they were random thoughts. Thanks for indulging my brain dump. Now, I'm off to do what needs to be done around here. Have a beautiful Monday:-).

Lord, Hear Our Prayer

The internet is a formidable force for bringing the comfort and consolation and hope of the Lord to all of us. It can be an incredibily powerful medium for community. There is an unfathomable resource for prayer here. We have on the 'net the privilege of praying for people and of being witness to the miracles brought forth when fervent, faith-fulled people pray for one another.

Let's be that community of hope and faith for one another.

How about this idea? What if I pop in here every weekend, share Sunday's gospel and talk a wee bit about how we can live it and pray it in our homes? And then you tell me how we can pray for you that week? Deal?

{And please, do return and let us know how prayer is bearing fruit.}

Gospel

 Luke 1:57-66, 80

When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child
she gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard
that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,
and they rejoiced with her.
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply,
"No. He will be called John."
But they answered her,
"There is no one among your relatives who has this name."
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, "John is his name,"
and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed,
and he spoke blessing God.
Then fear came upon all their neighbors,
and all these matters were discussed
throughout the hill country of Judea.
All who heard these things took them to heart, saying,
"What, then, will this child be?"
For surely the hand of the Lord was with him.
The child grew and became strong in spirit,
and he was in the desert until the day
of his manifestation to Israel.

Think

After seeing how many people waste their lives (without a break: gab, gab, gab---and with all the consequences!) I can better appreciate how necessary and lovable silence is. And I can understand, Lord, why you will make us account for every idle word...

This is what that really is: grumbling, gossiping, tale-bearing, scandal-mongering, back-biting. Or even slander? Or viciousness?

When those who are not supposed to sit in judgment do so, they very easily end up as gossiping old maids.

~ all italicized quotes: St. Josemarie Escriva

Pray 

Dear Lord, Please strike me silent unless, every time I open my mouth, it is to speak blessing God.

Act

Say kind things this weekend. Say only kind things.

Christmas in July! It's a Fabulous Fabric Giveaway

It was around this time last year that a thought first ocurred to me. It began with fabric. I saw some fabric that just kept haunting me. In a good way:-) It begged me to make it into a quilt. I'd never sewn much of anything on my own. But the images of this fabric stuck with me. 

Katie went to quilt camp.

I started playing with my sewing machine, greatly inspired and instructed by Deborah Moebes of Stitch by Stitch (go read that post; I'll wait). Then, Nicky said he really wanted to make a quilt.

And then, Deborah offered an online quilting class. That was the last nudge I needed.

It was a really busy time of year and I worried that I couldn't keep up, but I was hugely inspired by Deborah and carried along by her enthusiasm. Nicky (and company) made his quilt.

For my quilt, I made the squares and pieced all but the border. Deborah warned that the longer a quilter takes to finish a quilt, the less likely that she will finish. The Fabulous Fabric that Started it All?

Flurry, by Kate Spain.

You can't find much of it any more.

I hereby promise that I am going to finish this quilt in July. Of this year. I may take it to Charlottesville for moral support.

Here's where the news gets really great! Kate Spain has a brand new Christmas fabric. It's called Joy!

and the Fat Quarter Shop is offering a Jelly Roll of Joy to one of you. For FREE!

I've been trying to get you to tell me about your summer sewing projects. Think of a project. Go to Fat Quarter Shop and find some fabric for it. Leave me a comment below telling me about your project and your ideal fabric. You'll be entered to win the jelly roll.

How great is that?

Friday Giveaway Winners:-)

The winner of her choice of one print from the Memoria Arts Etsy shop   (which is filled with prints of hopes and prayers) is

Mary  who said...

Her artwork is stunning. My favorite is the "unwavering HOPE" print. LOVE it!!

Mary, I'll pass along contact info to Joy. Congratulations!

~ ~ ~ 

The winner of the St. Luke's Brush Sacred Heart peg doll is Jodi. The Sacred Heart of Jesus doll is a one of a kind, 3.5 inch wooden peg doll hand painted with non-toxic acrylic paints and sealed to preserve this keepsake toy.

Jodi said...

The icons are breath taking. What a talented artist! I have been wanting one of these dolls for a long time. I would love to see one in person. My family has a special devotion to the Sacred Heart, so this would be perfect! Thank you!

Jodi, email me with your snail mail info and I'll pass it along to Garry.

 From Loreto Rosaries, comes this beautiful pair of earrings to celebrate June, traditionally the month devoted to the Sacred heart of Jesus. The earwire is 14Kt gold filled, 15mm flat fishhook. They are available in many different color crystals, pearls or gemstones. The 1/2 inch long Sacred Heart Medals are solid bronze and are hand cast from antique pieces.

The winner is 

Jodi, who said...

The rosaries are gorgeous. I can see owning one and passing it down as a family heirloom. And her jewelry? Works of art! They are so beautiful AND affordable! My favorite are these Sacred Heart earrings. :) I would be honored to show my love for Jesus by wearing these earrings. Thank you Loreto Rosaries and Elizabeth for having this giveaway!

Jodi, send me an email with your mailing information and I'll pass it along to Ruth.

Hooray!

needle & thREAD

Hello, sewing friends! And reading friends! This week, Sarah Annie got a new sundress. But it almost wasn't hers. I chose the fabric from my stash without her input. Big mistake. When I called her to me to try it on before adding buttons or hemming it, she staunchly refused. She said she didn't like it.

Me: You don't like it? But it has pink, lots of pretty pink with the yellow, and I have really pretty pink buttons.

Sarah: I don't like it. I like my old yellow dress that you gave to the Children's Center truck.{{Tears here.}} I don't like this yellow dress.

Me: It's especially for you. It's just your size. It's only meant for a little girl who's three.

Sarah: We can give it to Beatrix.

Me: (thinking: oh no, we can't. because if we did, ginny would see what a poor job i did with the handwork.) Great idea! Bea will love it!

Mary Beth: Yes, and Bea will really love these sparkly pink buttons.

Sarah: Those buttons? (actually, i didn't plan to use the sparkle buttons.)

Mary Beth: Yes. Aren't these the prettiest pink buttons ever?

Sarah: Yes. And we'll save those buttons to put on this dress (pulling a floral fabric off the shelf). Bea can have the other pink buttons.On THAT yellow dress. She'll love them.

In the end, those sparkle buttons went "missing," to be found later in Sarah's pockets. I finished sewing the yellow sundress (and haven't yet pressed it).  Mary Beth talked Sarah into trying it on "to see if it will fit Bea." Sarah spent a few minutes in it and we captured her flirting with the sprinkler. She thoroughly soaked herself and the sundress and declared that she loves her yellow dress so much.

Whew.

Now, I really feel like I owe sweet Beatrix a dress.

Details: 

Oliver + S Music Box Jumper Size 3 (which might be too small for Beatrix;-)

Heather Bailey Bijou Pop Garden Tiled Primrose in Butter 

This pattern is a true beginner's pattern and was so simple. Sarah Annie's has a single inverted box pleat in front. Very clever. The other variation has a fuller skirt with a series of simple pleats. I mastered the buttonhole feature on my sewing machine and confirmed my suspicion that, on its own, it makes the holes too big. since there were so few seams, I decided to try something else new to me and finished Sarah's with French seams. I'm so pleased with the simplicity and timelessness this sweet dress. I'm also really relieved that she'll wear it cheerfully!

Reading is entirely unchanged since last week. I'm making slow progress all the way around: 

I have taken a page from Charlotte Mason's book these days, or from Karen Andreola's wisdom on Charlotte, "I always keep three books going that are just for me - a stiff book, a moderately easy book, and a novel or one of poetry. I always take up the one I feel fit for. That is the secret: always have something 'going' to grow by." 

I'm still reading The Jane Austen Guide to Happily Ever After and highlighting carefully so I can better share it with my teenaged daughter. I think I may have inadvertantly mislead some of you. It's not a guide to Jane Austen books. Rather, it's a guide to finding love, in the style of the best Jane Austen heroines. It's an exceptionally good commentary on current culture. It probably deserves a post all its own.

I've just begun to read What Happened to Sophie Wilder? This one was written by Alice Teti's brother. I'm taking a chance here, because I go into it with the full knowledge that there is cancer in the story. And I don't do cancer. However, this review really drew me in and I think I can do this. Maybe. As Alice reminded me, "Sometimes I am not up for an emotional journey with a book in the midst of the emotional journey that is actual life, but often I am better for it." Here's hoping.

Finally, I'm listening to Reasons to Believe when I sew. I like to have an audio book  in the sewing room; it helps me not to grow restless.

What about you? Sewing? Reading? A little of both? What's on your summer reading list? Do you have a summer sewing list?  Or are you embroidering? Pulling a needle with thread through lovely fabric to make life more beautiful somehow? Would you share with us just a single photo (or more) and a brief description of what you're up to? Will you tell us about what you're reading, also? Would you talk sewing and books with us? I'd love that so much.

Make sure the link you submit is to the URL of your blog post or your specific Flickr photo and not your main blog URL or Flickr Photostream. Please be sure and link to your current needle and theREAD post below in the comments, and not a needle and theREAD post from a previous week. If you don't have a blog, please post a photo to the needle & thREAD group at Flickr. 

 Include a link back to this post in your blog post or on your flickr photo page so that others who may want to join the needle and thREAD fun can find us! Feel free to grab a button here (in one of several colors) so that you can use the button to link:-).