Two kinds of time......

I have multiple magazines subscriptions - quilting, women's interest, cooking, and general interest. Most months I find inspiration for quilts, recipes that sound good, and other assorted ideas. But in reading the April issue of Good Housekeeping I found something to challenge me in the Editor's column. In it she talks about a conference that she went to and the subject of time. What she wrote gave me food for thought.,

The basic two types of time are Chronos - minutes, hours, days - the schedule that all of us live our lives by these days. And Kairos - event-centered, memorable time, the moments that make the deepest impression on us when we are fully living our lives.

I know for me, I have to wonder how much more should I be living by the second instead of racing the clock to live according to a schedule. None of us can walk away from all Chronos based time, but do we really look for the Kairos moments?

What do you think?

Gratitudes:
1. God's bountiful supplying of my needs
2. For the ability to quilt

Finishes.....

Woohoo...I've managed to finish the top and back for the T-shirt quilt. Only thing left to do is to figure out how I need to adjust the back so that there is enough room too put it onto the frame by the gal who is going to quilt it for me.

And the latest project that I finished today is a purse for me. Both of the two that i've been using are coming apart, so I needed to get a new one. But I haven't been able to find one that I liked, so I decided to make one for myself. =) Pictures of the purse are below. The purse Front has a pocket made from a quilted piece from the stash of a quilting friend who passed away last year. Used another piece from her as an inside pocket as well. The main body of the purse is denim and I used a remnant to line it. The only thing I don't like is that the fusible fleece didn't want to bond to the denim when I tried ironing it on today. The purse was made in a similar manner to how I make tote bags and was easy to make. =)

Gratitudes:
1. God has supplied financially and enabled me to pay rent and my auto insurance. Hallelujah!
2. Lots of hrs at work, which keeps me busy.

Progress has been made!

Lazy day today since I don't have to go into the store until 6 pm tonite. =) As such, I've finally been able to make visible progress on the commissioned t-shirt quilt today. Have gotten the center of the quilt back pieced. At this point the quilt back measures 73" long by 72" wide. Have to wait to add the border fabric until I know what size the front will piece to. Next up is trimming the t-shirt fronts down to managable sizes so I can the quilt front together.

Have also managed to finish a donation quilt this week as well. The maple leaf blocks were sent to me by Jane, and the strip set blocks in the setting blocks were from the orphan blocks I inherited from Terry D.

Next up on the horizon, other than finishing off the commissioned quilt that is, is to work on the two commissioned projects for my land lady, finish off the purse that I am making myself, and continue with the projects (baby quilts, etc) that I have ready to make and then sell. Also have a tablerunner that I need to get made before the 20th of March.

Gratitudes:
1. One week down in my wait for the outcome of last weeks interview in IN.
2. The wonderful spring weather we've had here in N. Tx this week.

Finished Quilts....

In the past couple of weeks I've finished off another UFO (the 4th for this year!) and have also finished two baby quilts that I will be listing for sale this week. Also have a couple of tote sets that I've finished up and will also be listing for sale this week as well. Thinking of listing all items on both Ebay and Etsy, along with links to them on my website and blog. Really need to be able to start making some extra money by selling some of the things that I'm making.

The tablerunner is the 'twin' of the tabletopper that I finished in February. I'm thinking about selling this as well as the baby quilts.

Both of the baby quilts started with 3 FQ's of a cute Boyd's Bear flannel print. I cut 6" squares of the flannel and used them for the centers of the blocks. Added coordinating borders around the flannel and ended up with cute quilts. Still have enough of the flannel to make one more baby quilt, and the plan for that is in my head. =)

I have a lot of fun making tote bags. And working at Joann Fabrics part-time has given me access to the remnants as they are made. Have gotten a lot of fun fabrics to use for totes. The two pictured below are made from a couple of prequilted fabrics that I picked up as remnants. I had enough fabric to not only make the tote bags but also small little zippered bags to match.

Gratitudes:

1. Love being able to get remnants at great prices which makes sewing totes and quilts more affordable for me.

2. For the ability to sew and create. =)

Interviewing for the Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship

This past weekend I was in the Indianapolis area with long-time friends Pam and Dan and their girls. Flew out there to interview for the Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship program. I continue to be impressed with this program and those that are running it. I am glad that I applied for acceptance into it. And am praying that I will receive an acceptance letter for the Fall 2010 cohort. Did come away from the time at the interview with lots of things to think about. Have a to-do list as well - beginning with getting my application for federal financial aid completed and submitted before 3/12. Plan is to get that done before the weekend is over.

Also over the weekend I got the score on the remaining section of the Praxis I test. The writing section was definately my weakest one, but I still passed it with two points to spare (Got a 174, which is in the middle of the average score range, and needed 172 for the program.) I can live with being 'average' in writing since I'm looking at teaching math and/or technology. =) Also found out that I passed the other two sections with above average scores (math - 188 out of a possible 190, and reading (comprehension) - 182 out of a possible 190), something I'm very happy over since I was worried about the reading portion of the test.

If I do receive an offer of a fellowship, and accept it, I'll be moving to Indiana sometime in May. And my first day of graduate classes towards a Master's Degree in Education could be as early as June 1st.

Gratitudes -
1. Safe travels to and from Indiana last weekend.
2. A good interview for the Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship.
3. A great time of fellowship with my longtime friends.