EVERYWHERE A CLUCK, CLUCK!

My mailbox was clucking yesterday! The FatCat's Chicken Swap blocks arrived home to roost. Aren't they wonderful?!?

SIGGY FROM ITALY

This wonderful siggy arrived today from Laura in Italy. That tiny sailboat block is only 1 1/2" square! My goodness! The entire siggy is just 4 1/2" square. What wonderful work!

SIGGY BLOCK

This adorable Sunbonnet Sue siggy came to my house two days after I broke my shoulder. I am finally able to make one to reciprocate to Mary. Usually I keep a few made up ahead, but wouldn't you know, I had used them up just before my trip and fall!

MEMORIAL DAY

I made this block this weekend. It is going into a group comfort quilt project for a mom whose son died in Afghanistan, fighting for our freedom. It feels like such a small contribution to make.

WOB, REBEKAH, WELCOMING HAND BLOCK

This week, in my on-line bible study, we are studying Rebekah. As a young maiden, she said just the right words at the well, so that she would be identified as the appropriate wife for Isaac. For my Welcoming Hand block I chose to use deep blue to represent the water in the well. The tan is for the camels, so many in number, which she offered to water. The green represents the jealousy and rivalry between her sons, Jacob and Esau, as in 'green with envy'. I think sibling rivalry is a normal emotion. However, for the parents to get involved and play favorites, is a whole other issue. Meddling and trying to take matters into one's own hands seems to be a common theme for these Old Testament women, and perhaps for many women of today also. It can be hard to be still and let God's will play out. I also like the way the cross emerges in this block.

DJSP MAY GIFT

My Dear Jane Secret Pal gift arrived this week. She sent me a kit to make a sunflower table runner. Love the fabrics and the pattern! I also received really cute tiny notecards and a wooden hand presser.

It was a real pick-me-up in a dark, rainy week in Central Florida! She really brightened my day.

WOB, LOT'S WIFE, CROSSROADS BLOCK

This week in my on-line study of Women of the Bible, we are studying Lot's Wife. For many this is a familiar story of the woman who was turned to salt, because she looked back. Seems like a huge punishment for a quick glance, doesn't it?

What I am taking away from this study of Lot's Wife is that she was pretty attached to her life. I think her looking back literally would be a natural thing to do. But when it says 'looked back' does it mean perhaps that she longed for the lifestyle she was leaving behind and couldn't let go of? Was it more than a curious glance? I think so. I think she was reluctant to leave her old, comfortable, sinful ways.

I do think when you live with sinful ways around you, they grow on you and you become tolerant of them, and sometimes absorb those views as your own. In our current society tolerance is so often preached. It would be so easy to lose site of your own values under the guise of being tolerant of others, and then having that rub off on you as normal. I think that is one of the greatest dangers our society faces at this time. It is so important to take a stand for values you believe in. It is possible to love the sinner but hate the sin. We don't need to accept the sin as normal, all in the name of tolerance.

From my journal, when I made my block last year:

In pondering the quilt block for Lot's wife, I have several thoughts. What would Sodom look like with burning sulfur raining down? Would it be red and blinding? Would it be white and gray ash, reminiscent of pictures of the towers on 9/11? In the end I decided to make the 'stripes' of increasing urgency to look back dark. Dark represent evil to me. It represents the evils of Sodom that Lot's wife was so reluctant to let go of. I'm combining that with blue, the light. That's a color I associate with heaven.

WOB, HAGAR, WANDERING FOOT BLOCK

This week we are studying Hagar, Sarah's Egyptian slave. This is from my journal:

I used a mottled tan for the background of my Hagar block to represent the desert. Hagar must have been very frightened being alone with Ishmael wandering in the desert, after being cast out by Abraham and Sarah. I have desert camped with full provisions, and with loved ones and friends with me. Still the desert is so vast, so forboding. You'd better have what you need with you, or hope one of the other families has it to survive.

The green is for the occasional scrubby brush or bush in the desert, which is where Hagar put her son down, when they could not go on any longer.

The blue in the center is the life-giving well that Hagar saw when she opened her eyes. Even in the desert there's water.

I used vibrant rose also. Although Hagar was a foreigner, a slave, a woman, a nobody, she was SEEN by God. He saw her struggles. He was there for her. He provided. Not only collectively seen, as in God sees His people, but Hagar, herself, individually was seen. When you look at my block, the first thing you notice is the vibrant rose. It represents that God sees us on an individual personal level.

I think all woman can relate to Hagar at some point in their life. We all feel isolated and alone occasionally.

INKLINGO GIVE AWAY

There's a fun give away going on at Linda Franz' Inklingo blog. Click on the title to this post to check it out. Have fun!

WOB, SARAH'S CHOICE BLOCK

This week we studied Sarah. This is a quote from my journal.

"I chose three fabrics that each have lines to their patterns for Sarah for two reasons.

"First is all that moving with Abraham. We have lived many places, but never in a house longer than now, and that is just not quite 6 years yet. Move, move, move. I get it. Some of the lines are straight, some are curvy, but they all just keep going and going. Also, we moved to Saudi Arabia for my husband's job in 1981 and stayed 13 years! That was a culture shock move. I get it.

"Second, the lines literally are there to represent the lineage of the nation started by Sarah and Abraham. Some lines are straight, representing their blood descendants. Some are curvy, representing all the others in their flock.

"The colors are bright and radiant, representing Sarah's great beauty.

"The block isn't perfect, and that is just perfect with me. In hindsight (of course I aimed for a perfect block), the block's imperfections represent that Sarah wasn't perfect either, and neither are we. God loves us and still finds a useful place for us anyway, just as the square will find a place in my WOB quilt."

I love this on-line bible study. If you are interested in joining us (no affiliation), go to my first post on this topic, Eve, and click on the title or see the URL at the end of the post.