Baptism Quilts

I've been working on baptism quilts for our grandchildren.  It is such a special time for them and I wanted to make something so they could always remember their special day.  I didn't get a picture of the first quilt I made all by itself, but you can see how happy this sweet girl is with her quilt.  It's just the perfect size for snuggling.

I let them choose their color scheme and make the quilts from a combination of flannel and minky fabric.  The squares are cut 9 1/2 inches square.  I use 6 colors or color/pattern combinations.  The quilt is 5 squares wide x 6 squares long.  I also have a friend embroider their name and the month of their baptism on one of the corner blocks.  

I'm working on quilt #3 right now.  He requested every color (except the girlie ones!), but I had him narrow it down to his favorite color - which is red! 

  

 

YET...

 

When I worked at an elementary school, the PE teacher had a word on each of the four walls of the gym...

YET

When she would teach a new skill to the children (like how to dribble a basketball), she would often hear: "I can't do that."

She would respond with: "Yet.  You don't know how to do it yet."

She would explain why dribbling is an important skill to learn if you want to play basketball.

She would demonstrate the skill.

Everyone would be given a ball and a chance to practice.  Some would pick it right up, others needed a little one-on-one time with the teacher.

They would dribble standing in place.

They would practice walking while they dribbled.

Pretty soon they were running back and forth across the gym - dribbling!

Doing the thing they didn't think they could do.

Don't you think each one of us is like those children?  

When we are asked by our Heavenly Father, or our doctor, or someone we trust to do a 'thing'....  

...Maybe it's to pay tithing.  Or to listen better to those we love.  Or to be more focused on studying the example of Christ.  Or to go all in on learning how to decorate cakes!

Maybe it's to eat better, be in better shape, lose some weight.

It's so easy to say: "I can't do that."

We need to remember that small steps and lots of practice will help us accomplish those things that we don't think we can do.  

If a seven year old can learn to be darn good at dribbling a basketball, what might you be able to accomplish?!  It might not be yet, but with practice - it will be amazing!

There's Always Room for One More!

 Quilting Bees!! 

They happened in different homes, and sometimes with different women, but typically it was the same core group of ladies that went from home to home to work on quilts. 

They came to my home when I was a child. I had aunts who were there, neighbors, and ladies I did not know. I remember lying underneath the quilt as they worked and listening to them share stories of their families, express concerns and relay their hopes and dreams. It was a magical time for me. I didn’t know it at the time – but that was my first exposure to the Relief Society in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the sisterhood that comes when you participate in it.

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Fast-forward 40 years.

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 I returned to that little community I had grown up in on a summer day, looking for an older cousin to chat with. I was told she was at the church, quilting. My husband and I went to my home church building, and there on the stage was a beautiful quilt in progress. But even more beautiful were the women gathered around it with needles in hand. Some of them were the same women who had been in my living room those many years before.  Some were the daughters or daughters-in-law of those women.  There were grandmothers, women whose lives had taken some tragic turns, widows, those who had never married, young mothers and newlyweds.

My mother passed away a few short months before I got married, and many of these women were responsible for some of the beautiful quilts that I now enjoy.  Two were made from scratch, and another was given to me by a sweet woman in our congregation who shared with me that my mother had worked on that quilt.  She knew it would be a treasure to me.

This sisterhood had blessed their lives in so many ways throughout the years.  

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 I recognized stability there, and the feeling of being needed. 

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Strength and support from others who had already walked the path that someone else was currently traversing.

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Trust.  A physical, emotional and spiritual source for when it was needed.

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If I could go back to my younger self - one thing I would change would be to include more people in my circle.  There are so many things I could have learned from others if I had only let myself invite them in. 

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So maybe - those lessons learned from under the quilts can be applied to a time such as this...

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We need one another - there is always room for one more!

Just ONE Page.....

Last week I read an article found here.  This article shared how people of many different faiths were asked to read just one page in the Book of Mormon and share their feelings about what they read.  It showed that although people of different faiths/beliefs might worship differently, that there are similarities in those things that we do believe. 

I decided to take the challenge.  I got my copy of the book that I keep in my vehicle, randomly opened it, grabbed my highlighter so I could mark any references to deity, and I read one page.

My thoughts from what I read:

• There is a God.  Jesus Christ is a God
• He will teach us His ways - when we know what He teaches, it is easy to follow Him
• Jesus is the Lord from Jerusalem
• We're admonished to walk in the light of the Lord
• For those who choose to live a wicked life, they will be judged by their works 

I can testify that there is a power in reading the Book of Mormon - by doing so, it will answer questions you have about life - about deity - about faith, hope and charity - about grace and redemption and so much more.  

If you don't have a Book of Mormon and would  like one, if only to read one page, leave your name and address in the comments and I'll get one to you. OR - you can access a digital version by going here.

Pumpkin Bread

I've had several people ask for my pumpkin bread recipe, so thought I'd share here.  There aren't any pictures at this time because we've finished off the last of the bread that I made a couple of weeks ago.

It's yummy!   Enjoy!

Pumpkin Bread

• 6 eggs, beat well
• 4 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 c. vegetable/canola oil
• 3 c. pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 3/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 tsp. baking powder
• 3 tsp. baking soda
• 3/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 3/4 tsp. cloves
• 3 tsp. cinnamon
• 5 cups flour

In a large mixing bowl combine the eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin and mix well.  Add the spices and flour and combine on low speed until mixed well, then on medium speed.  Be sure to scrape the edges of the bowl to make sure the ingredients are all mixed together.

Lightly grease and flour loaf pans.  Fill 2/3 full and bake at 300 degrees for 85 minutes.  Check with a toothpick before removing from oven.  If the toothpick still has sticky batter on it after sticking it in the center of the loaf, bake an additional 5 minutes and check again.  

Remove from oven and lay pans on their sides or on a cooling rack to cool.  When completely cool, remove the bread from the pans and put in ziplock bags, or wrap in saran wrap.  

This was a recipe my mother had and I used to make it when I was living at home (LOTS of years ago).  Our house was never wired to be able to have an electric stove, so we heated our water and cooked all of our meals on the coal/wood burning stove, and it still turned out fabulous!  And hey, I'm not THAT old - but growing up certainly was an adventure!

Hope you enjoy the bread - our family loves it.