Peace - safety

Prayer for the Home

Peace, unto this house, I pray;

Keep terror and despair away;

Shield it from evil and let sin

Never find lodging room within.

May never in these walls be heard

The hateful or accusing word.

Excerpts from Edgar A. Guest

Blessings,

Janet

Sunday afternoon walk on a cold winter day

The temperatures rose to a reading in the 20's.  It had been too long in the frigid weather to be kept inside and time arrived for a long walk on a lazy Sunday afternoon.   A hearty one-half mile walk from my front doorstep (much shorter if we could cut through a neighboring acreage) is a long trail that was converted from a former railroad line for the Monon Railroad.  This trail connects several counties and is growing each year, as the popularity increases.  Going one direction we can walk to the next town to the south and then on through to the suburbs and city beyond; going to the north, we can walk several miles on the paved path through horse farms and wooded acres with creeks and ponds.

It is invigorating and inspiring to walk this trail and take in the sights of beautiful trees and plants, creeks and small ponds in all the seasons, listen to the birdsong, breath in fresh air.

Today, Beekeeping Daughter and I took off for the north where the area is less populated and the sites are more rustic.  I grabbed my camera, as we donned our heavy boots, scarves and woolen hats and mittens, and pulled on down-filled jackets.

Sharing some of the sites along our walk today ...........

Almost time for Downton Abbey!  Gotta scoot!

Blessings,

Janet

100th Anniversary Quilt

I promised that there would be photos of the quilt commemorating the 100th anniversary of the law firm where Constantly Joyous works. We certainly don't want to break a promise.

This quilt is being carefully constructed using the Jacob's Ladder block signifying the underground railroad that flourished in this county, the Courthouse Steps block because this is the law firm's anniversary, and the Scottish Cross to honor one of the founders who was of Scottish decent.

We placed the blocks on the dining room table to give an idea of how the quilt will look when the blocks are all sewn together to form the quilt top.

First is the Jacob's Ladder quilt block.

Next is the Scottish Cross ....

And last, here is the Courthouse Steps.

The little triangles sitting on the bottom in this photo below will be used as the border around the quilt when it has been put together.

The thin brown strips will be between each block as laid out on the table below.  We tried to give an idea of how this will look as the blocks and strips are sewn together.  There will also be picture blocks showing old photos of the courthouse and various pictures of significance to the firm all made into quilt blocks.  At the very center of the quilt will be the law firm logo.

I'll close with a photo or two of the old record cabinet that I refinished to put in the front entrance.  I put a walnut stain on it after it was stripped of old finish, painted small leaves and blue flowers on the panels in the front doors, and then put three coats of protective clear finish to make it smooth (sanding between each coat).  It was a good project to do during  these cold winter weeks in February.

For those of you living where Old Man Winter is making himself felt, stay warm and safe!  Blessings to all of you wherever you live!

Janet

Log Cabin Quilt in Progress

When we met for our weekly supper/sewing/crafting night, Miss Wonderfully Kind brought her newest quilt that she is putting together.  She had started piecing this Log Cabin Quilt and before finishing it to the size needed for her bed, she realized she did not have enough of a few of the fabrics to complete the quilt!  Panic ensued when she looked at the local fabric shops and even on line and could not locate the fabrics required! That necessitated a day long trip to various favorite quilt shops in the state of Indiana.  Yes, she traveled a portion of the state to three shops she particularly admired for their variety, quantity and quality of fabrics. Good selections and possibly a source of hard-to-find fabric matches!  God was smiling on her, and she managed to locate a match for one of the fabrics and very good blending fabrics for the rest.  She pieced the 'logs' together and brought the quilt in progress to our latest weekly gathering.  Still has more log cabin pieces to piece together ... and then some strips along the side, putting it together with the backing, quilting it and then sewing on the binding.

We all think this is going to be a stunner.  Finally she is making something for her own bedroom.  (She is famous for making wedding quilts, baby quilts, you name it for everyone else.)

What do you think?  I experimented slightly with the lighting on the camera for these photos.  The first one does not use the flash .... but the other two do have a flash.  I hoped to show you the piecing on this the best way possible.  The little yellow squares on the top left are sticky notes she has placed there to instruct and remind herself of the placement of pieces.

Miss Constantly Joyous is piecing together a quilt for the law firm where she works.  It is to commemorate an important milestone for the firm and is using beautiful quilt blocks and creative photography.  Hopefully I can share some of the photos of that after next week's gathering.

Stay tuned!

Janet