Quiet Time notebook...my first finished quilting project

My moms group is doing a bible study this summer called "Six Secrets to a Powerful Quiet Time," by Catherine Martin. I will admit that, though I've been a Christian since the age of 19, I have never been successful at having a regular, consistent quiet time - a time of bible study, prayer, resting with our Lord. I do spend a LOT of time in prayer, and I almost always have a worship song on my tongue...but I just never could get in the habit of having that regular time with God. I've participated in group bible studies here and there, but I always found myself waiting until the last minute to get my lessons completed, and once the study was over, my bible mostly sat alone aside from church services or the occasions when I needed to look up specific verses for something.

Anyway, this book and study has been really powerful and convicting for me, and has helped me realize the importance of having a regular quiet time - and that spending quality time in the Word has really been the missing link in my relationship with the Lord over the past few years. Catherine Martin developed the Quiet Time Notebook to help herself (and then others) organize their quiet time, and while I did not feel the need to purchase the entire notebook, I did purchase a few of the refill packs of pages and put them in a binder notebook I already owned.

But it was a plain, ugly notebook...and well, that just wouldn't do. So...I was inspired. I haven't had time to work on any more scrappy quilt squares, but am still determined to learn to quilt. I love love love this talented mom's blog, so I took some inspiration from her, and modified a tutorial I found in quilting magazine I had picked up last year for creating a cover for a composition notebook (that just happens to be up on their website right now!).

Anyway...as I said in the title...this is my very first quilting project ever, so I'm sure there are lots of mistakes, but I'm very happy with how it turned out. I LOVE these colors together...they are so bright and happy. I will also say that piecing the blocks took me FOREVER and I would never have the patience to do a large quilt with small blocks like this! After I got the top all sewn together, I was kind of like, "Um, okay, now what?" I wasn't quite sure HOW to quilt it, so I just started quilting in sort of a boxy pattern (well, not really a pattern!). Anyway, I think it looks alright. I decided not to quilt it all as a whole - I quilted the front separately from the spine and the back.

These are close-ups of the outside of the cover before I finished the project.

And then below, here is the front of it, finished.

Here it is, open - the orange flaps are what holds it onto the binder.

This is the back of it.

This is the inside lining, which you never really see, and I didn't really think about that when I was making it, or I would have just used white fabric rather than wasting my pretty Sugar Snap fabric...oh well...

So there you have it...my gorgeous new quiet time notebook. And you may ask - have I been using my notebook? YES! I have actually been setting my alarm and getting up before the kids (or at least attempting to - some days they get up early and it doesn't work out, and then I have to wait for their nap time), and I have really been enjoying my time with God first thing in the morning. I actually look forward to it! Even when I'm tired, I always come away feeling refreshed and ready to face my day with renewed strength and purpose. He is so faithful!!

New Year's Resolution, Part 2

I'm not usually big on New Year's Resolutions, mainly because I never stick to them. But this year I made two. The first was to learn how to knit, and I actually started on it Christmas day...and by New Years Day, was well on my way to crossing it off my list. By now, I've finished several knitted objects, and can confidently say that goal was met.

My second resolution was to make a quilt. I just started sewing late last year, when my sweet husband bought me a sewing machine and I taught myself how to sew. I really never had an interest in quilting, until I started seeing quilts made with such gorgeous, modern fabrics, and now I'm in love! Seeing as it's now June, I figured it was probably time to get going on my quilt, or this resolution wasn't going to happen.

So last night, I decided to just dive in...no pattern, no plan, really, other than knowing that this one piece of fabric is my inspiration and will be the "centers" for each of my "scrappy" quilt blocks. I'm not using any specific design or pattern for the blocks, but each block will be 9" square. I haven't even decided how big the quilt will be...but I'm thinking it will be for the couch, so like a throw-size...big enough to wrap up in on a chilly night.

So this was my first quilt block EVER. I truly LOVE LOVE LOVE how it turned out. I can't stop looking at it, honestly. It makes me happy.

And the first one was so fun, I couldn't stop, and so I made a second! I don't think I love the second one *quite* as much as the first, but I still love it. I would have liked to have had a few more blues and reds to add to it, I think...trying to go with the colors of the center piece...but I had to work with what I've got. Anyway, I still think it's beautiful.

I can't wait to do more now!!! And it's kind of fun not knowing how it's all going to turn out in the end!