Christmas Give-Away!

A singular jolly snowman and a couple of Christmas trees in a field of snow.  Not sure why it took me so long to finish this little table runner!  I had lofty plans to hand quilt this one, but I ended up machine quilting it to save time.  After all, it's already December, folks!!

The table runner, kitchen towel, and stacking salt and pepper shakers are heading over river and through the woods.....

or more like down Banks Mill...

across Pine Log...

and onto Gatewood Dr!

Janet Buck, 

you're the winner of my Christmas give-away!!

May they bring a little Christmas cheer to your kitchen this year.

I'll deliver them to you very soon!  And I might even through in some cookies for Gary!

And now, I really must start decorating my own humble abode!

love,

Fields of Snow

First the good news.  There will be a give-away this Christmas.  Now the bad news.  It's not finished yet.

I just didn't start it early enough to get it finished for a drawing on Thanksgiving.  In fact, I just started it yesterday!  I think you'll like it though.  If you've known me a while, you won't be surprised to discover that there is a snowman involved in this little project.

It started while I was at the beach a couple weeks ago.  I found this adorable itty-bitty stacking salt and pepper shaker set at my favorite gift shop and knew I had to grab it up for one of you.  The snowman is the salt shaker; his hat is the pepper shaker.  It was love at first sight.  Then I found this little homespun tea towel to coordinate.

Last night I pulled some fun prints and designed a simple patchwork table runner to complete the give-away.  It will be finished at each end with some hand embroidery before I hand quilt and bind it.  I wanted to give you a sneak peek so you'd have a general idea, but the finished product will remain a mystery a few more days.

Sorry.  Blame my crazy-busy life right now.

How about I draw early next week?  To enter, just leave a comment here or on FB or email me.  Tell me your favorite memory or aspect of the Christmas season--really anything you want.  Don't worry, you won't be graded.  Just share your heart.

love,

He Ain't Heavy. He's My Brother.

Bao and Shen

Did you know that November is National Adoption Month?  While remembering our children's stories, I am reminded of one of my favorite adoption stories ever.  If you love a great story with a happy ending, you're in for a treat.

This is the story of Bao and Shen, sons of friends we met ten years ago through our adoption agency.  Todd, a pastor, and Henriann live with their family in Texas.  Henriann and I became email buddies as we chased paper, sought approvals, and waited out the SARS outbreak in China (severe acute respiratory syndrome) some days wondering if we would ever even get to meet the precious children we knew were waiting for us.

By God's grace, we did eventually make it through that horrible SARS wait and travel to China in the same group to get our children, Holly and Bao. Meeting Bao in China was an experience I'll never forget.  He had only been with his new family for less than a week when I first made his aquaintence.  Yet, Bao, age five, was already picking up English at lightning speed and delighting all of us with his adorable antics.  Undeniably very intelligent, Bao is also extremely determined.


I'll hush now and let Henriann tell you their story herself, as written back in 2004.   Then I'll be back to update on how their boys are doing today.

******

There are friends who pretend to be friends, but there is a friend  who sticks closer than a brother. ~ Proverbs 18:24~  Oh, what a story I have to tell of God's faithfulness! I have been waiting and waiting to share this news with all of you. I hope it encourages you wherever you are on your adoption journey!  In August, 2003, our family brought home a beautiful little five year old boy named Bao from Shenzhen, China. [We have two bio daughters, Melanie (12) and Cina (10)].  Bao is a precious child and he has truly blessed our family.

As soon as he could speak English, he began talking about his best friend in China, Shen Bao Long. We had seen this child in Shenzhen and even taken his picture to have for Bao. Bao began to ask if we could bring Shen Bao Long to our house.  Bao has a trundle bed and he was always pointing out that Shen Bao Long could sleep in the extra bed.  He saved clothes, toys, and candy for him.  Every time he talked about him, I had an ache in my heart.  Bao missed his best friend so much! In November, some dear friends received a baby referral from Shenzhen.  I was thrilled!  We translated a letter from Bao to Shen Bao Long and sent him a gift.  Our friends actually met SBL, and took a video of him opening Bao's gift.  I cannot tell you how many times Bao watched that video.  We all fell in love with that sweet boy on our TV screen. In December, I began looking for the family who must be adopting him.  In August, the SWI [orphanage] had told us he was "paper-ready" and I assumed someone must have snatched him up.  I thought it would be wonderful to get the boys together again.  I emailed different lists looking for him, but no luck.  In January, I emailed my adoption agency and told her our story. She offered to talk to their contact in China, who was leaving for Beijing shortly.  Within days, we heard from her.  The CCAA [China Center for Adoption Affairs] had just received Shen Bao Long's file! I don't know exactly how it all happened, but I love the mental picture of our adoption agency’s representative standing in the CCAA, surrounded by thousands of Chinese children's files and holding up Shen Bao Long's file and saying "I have got to have this one"! I believe God used her in such a powerful way. Everyone in the "China adoption community" says it's impossible to pre-identify a child. Let me tell you - "ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE" (Mark 9:23). The CCAA was still "processing" his file, so although Shen Bao Long's name appeared on Christian World Adoption's latest Special Needs listing, the file wasn't ready. Also, the question of who was going to adopt him was biggest in my mind. Of course I wanted him, but my husband was very sure that there was no way we could do it - financially we were drained from Bao's adoption and surgery. I considered my sister as a possibility, but it wasn’t the right time for her. Then some very dear friends expressed an interest. They watched the video, looked at his pictures, and read all my books on older child adoption. This went on for about six weeks. They were so interested that at one point I think I emailed our adoption agency and told her I was almost certain that they would adopt him. I was excited about the possibility of the two boys being the same town, but sad that we weren't taking him. Still his paperwork sat in the CCAA. I could go on and on about various things that happened, but I'll try to keep this short. At the end of March, I was pretty low. Our friends had decided not to adopt Shen Bao Long. I was sure God wanted us to have him, but had no idea how we could do it. Todd was still unsure and there is nothing worse than not being on the same page as your husband. My travel mates from Bao’s adoption were a constant source of encouragement. They prayed for our family to make the right decision and sent me so many encouraging emails. One Friday night, I prayed very hard for confirmation that this was indeed the path God wanted us to take. The next day, Todd went to get the mail. There was a letter and an EXTREMELY generous check from my dad. This was amazing for several reasons. My dad didn't even know we were considering adoption, he hardly ever gives us money except for at Christmas, plus he mailed it after the mail pick-up time on Friday night! I sat at the table and bawled! Todd was choked up and said "Will you stop praying so hard!" but agreed that this was the sign he had been waiting for! I emailed our adoption agency on Monday with the news that we were going to adopt SBL as soon as the CCAA released his paperwork! She emailed me on Tuesday that guess what - on Monday, in China, the CCAA released his paperwork! Glory! So, we start this wonderful process again and hope to bring Shen Bao Long home to his brother by Christmas. We will call him Shen, which means "Spiritual Thinker." Bao was so excited when we told him! He wanted to go buy the bunk beds that day! He said, "Mom, did you know Shen Bao Long is my best friend?" Yes, Bao, we know! And my sweet, wonderful daughters are so excited about their new brother! Thank you, Lord! I think back of standing over Shen Bao Long's bed (he was napping) last August and taking his picture. How God must have secretly smiled that I was taking a picture of my son and didn't know it! It so reminds of the verse in Ephesians 3:20 - "To Him who is able to do exceedingly more than WE ASK OR THINK". I could have never imagined that we would be doubly blessed!! We can't wait to bring him home! Thanks for letting me share my story! Glory to God! Love to all, Henriann, Todd, Melanie, Cina, Bao, and now Shen, waiting in Shenzhen Best friends, now brothers, Bao and Shen at home in Texas 2005 ******** Fast Forward to 2012.  Recently Henriann and I caught up on Facebook.  She gave me permission to share how her boys are doing today. Shen started high school this year and Bao is in his last year of middle school.  Shen loves the social aspects of school, but is a strong A/B student.  Bao loves learning and does very well in school (as we both knew he would!) I still remember your amazement in the China airport on how fast he picked up the English words for colors. Both boys play on their respective tennis teams.  Todd takes them out several evenings a week to hit around; great father/son bonding. They both played baseball in the Spring, but I think it was Shen's last year.  Bao is in band and Shen has been in a couple of drama productions.  Bao is a thinker and Shen is a doer!!  Both the boys love God and are great about inviting friends to church activities.   I'm so proud of them both.  I still can't believe that God blessed us by letting us be a part of their story.  My hope is that this adoption story blessed your heart as it has mine and so many others'.  Has God spoken to you about adoption?  It has been our experience, and that of our friends, that He makes the call very clear.  If you have any questions about adoption, I'll do my best to answer them for you.  If I can't, I can put you in contact with someone who can.   God bless you today! Love,

Ticker Tape Holiday Table Runner

As promised, I'm back to show you the little scrappy table topper I made a couple weeks ago.  This one started out as a Christmas table topper.  However, when I put it on the table with some fall flowers, I really liked the way the yellows, greens, and reds worked with the autumn color palette as well.  So there it stays for now.  I may use it at Christmas or I may not.  Probably the yellow binding is what makes me like it so much for fall.

This one is ridiculously simple, albeit a tad time-consuming.  The idea was originated by Amanda Jean over at Crazy Mom Quilts.  She spells it out in her book Sunday Morning Quilts, which I happen to have and adore.  This is so easy, though, I think I can just tell you how to do it right here.

You start by layering and spray basting the backing, batting, and white face fabric together.  Then you just grab all your littlest squares and rectangles in your choice of colors from your scrap bin.  I went with red, yellow and gold, plus green.  You stitch these down, one at a time, through all the layers.  It's almost like putting a puzzle together.  Just find a piece that fits the next space, and don't worry whether it looks perfect or not.  When you finish sewing on the last little scrap, your quilting is done as well!

I admit that the wonkiness of it adds to the charm.  However, the raw edges are a stretch for me.  Being an old-school seamstress (emphasis there on old), I like to finish all my edges to prevent raveling.    These little pieces are going to fray just a bit and I know it.  It's allowed.  I'm dealing with it.

Every time I look at it, I like it more.  It reminds me of a little stained glass window.  And it was essentially free, which just makes me exceedingly happy.

Love,

Funnel Cakes and Clover Patch Quilt

What a fun time we had in Columbia today at Riverbanks Zoo with most of our family and some friends!  Hannah was so excited to find a funnel cake stand near the entrance.  Brad was sweet enough to spring the big bucks and buy her one.  After Maggie tasted Hannah's, she really wanted one too.  Actually, all the children did.  I contemplated buying one for them to share.   But after further thought,  I decided we'd just try to make some when we got home.

We used this recipe which turned out really well.  I halved it because it looked like it was going to make a lot.  Even with halving it, we still had more than enough!  Here is Maggie enjoying the first one--hot out of the fat!

No, I didn't photograph the frying process.  I hate working with hot oil and I didn't need the distraction of the camera in my way.  But all I did was mix up the batter in a bowl and pour it into a quart sized zip-lock bag.  I heated a couple inches of oil in my smallest stainless pot.  Then I snipped off the corner of the bag and drizzled the batter into the hot oil.  It fried on one side and floated to the surface.  Then I flipped it over and fried it on the other side a couple minutes.  A liberal sprinkling of powdered sugar finished it off perfectly.  I think Caleb's exact description was, "Amazing!"

On the quilting front, I have quite a lot going on.  Really you don't want to know how many quilts I have in progress.  It's pretty crazy, actually.  Below is a Clover Patch quilt I'm working on.   This is one I started just for fun since I love to applique by hand.  It's going to have that wide green border all around the outside.   There will be a vine and some flowers appliqued around that border.  My plan is to get this ready to take to the beach with me next week.  I always love to have some handwork I can sit and stitch when I'm away from my sewing machine.

Hannah, I'm going to try to post more, now that I know how much you enjoy my silly little blog.  Next I want to show you how I made a very simple table topper using the tiniest fabric scraps.

Love,

super wow party in your mouth bars (and a finished mini-quilt)

First of all, happy Friday!  Is the weather as glorious where you are as it is here in South Carolina?  It's so beautiful here...mid-seventies and sunny.  It's the start of a beautiful weekend.

Let's celebrate the weekend with a party, shall we?  This recipe comes straight from my friends Pat and Joy's blog, Pearl River Diaries.  Their Our Daily Rice tab has some delicious treats you're going to want to try.  Lacy tried this one when she was visiting them in China.  They're called Tasty Bars, but seriously, that name just doesn't quite do them justice.  Instead, Lacy dubbed them "Super Wow Party in Your Mouth Bars."

So yeah.  We're going with that.

This recipe totally saved the day on Wednesday.  I was dying for something sweet to snack on and there was nothing that fit the bill in the pantry.  It was a double bummer because not only were there no cookies in the house, there was no flour in the cupboard.  That almost never happens around here.

I don't give up easily.  Desperation brought to mind this recipe I remembered seeing and hearing about, where the base is made of oats.  In fact, there are only six ingredient: oats, butter, brown sugar, vanilla, peanut butter, and chocolate chips.  Joy and Rapture!  I had all that!

It goes together in a hurry and then needs to chill in the fridge for a while to set up.  The wait was almost torture; however, it was worth it.  Definitely one of those recipes where the end product is greater than the sum of the parts.  Everyone agrees, these are Super Wow.

Here again is the link:  Tasty Bars

Go give them a try.

As promised, I wanted to show you the little Dresden Plate mini-quilt I started a few weeks ago.  Actually, this is one of two I'm working on.  The other is similar but I used lighter fabrics.

 I just love little projects like this...embroidery and hand-quilting in tiny stitches.  Pure bliss.

So, what do you have planned for the weekend?  My plan is to start a fall table runner for myself.  The irony is that after doing fall give-aways for the past five years, I still have never made a fall quilt to keep.  That shall change tomorrow.  The vision I have is an apple tree in the center and fall motifs around the border and the line from the song, "Don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me."

Enjoy your weekend!!

Love,

fall quilt give-away winner!

Karen Filaseta!  

You're the winner of the Pumpkin Patch table runner!

Facebook message me your address so I can mail it right out to you.

Thanks to all 42 of you who played along!

Love,