Quilt Block Fun

My first quilt in a magazine

I am finally getting settled in my new Quilting space. I have so much more room to spread out and sew. I am looking forward to all the fun things I will be creating in this space. I have big plans. My first big project to come out of my new sewing space is a Quilt for Quiltmakers 100 blocks volume 5. I have been testing blocks for Quiltmaker,for the last three issues. While I was working away testing blocks for issue 5. I was asked if I wanted to make a quilt using blocks from that issue. I was tickled! I got to work right away looking through the blocks to pick just the right ones for my quilt. I tried a few different ones out. When we test for the magazine we work on 12-15 blocks. For this project I had about 30 blocks to choose from. After playing around I finally settled on one. I then made a simpler version of that block to be my alternate block. I think the two make a great pair.

I am so proud to have a quilt pictured in a national magazine. My hope is that this is the first of many.
Her is a hodge podge of some of the blocks I have tested over the past 2 years.

Some of these are from previous issues but I wanted to share them. All these patterns can be found in Quiltmakers 100 blocks volumes 3,4 or 5 Please feel free to ask me if you want to know about a specific one.

A marriage book that will be of benefit to all.

 

I recently read Happily Ever After by Gary Chapman. The book is by an author that I have enjoyed many titles from. I read this book looking forward to more good advice. I was not disappointed. I feel this book is a culmination of all his other great books. It had highlights from his other books along with more great new advice to benefit anyone no matter what season of marriage he or she is in.
The book is broken up into chapters that each deal with a different area of marriage and family. One can skip to the section that would be of most benefit at the time or can read the whole book to get oodles of good advice. I like how each chapter has a review of the concepts shared and also has action steps that one can start applying right away. I have taught marriage classes to a military ladies groups for the last 10 years and this will be a great book to teach in the near future because of how all inclusive it is in dealing with situations that all married couples face.
This book is a must for anyone. I think it would even be great to give as a wedding gift to a newly married couple. I will be purchasing a few copies to share. I have already purchased the audio version so I can share it with my hubby when we are riding in the car. The audio version has a pdf file with it that contains all the additional tools and resources that make the book so wonderful.
I was given a copy of this book to review by Tyndale.

Kids in your own neighborhood are seeking adoption

Wait No More by Kelly and John Rosati

Please read this book if you are interested in adopting a child through your State’s Social Service Agency. It can be a rewarding experience. My family is a foster-adopt family in my state. I chose to review this book for Tyndale for that very reason – it is a subject I am very interested in.

The Rosati’s wanted a family but found that adoption was going to be their only option. Since they were stationed in Hawaii with the Air Force at the time they decided to pursue this option, they adopted there. The process is much the same in all 50 states. Eventually they adopted 2 boys and 2 girls, although that was not their original intention. The many twists and turns of the process and the various situations are what make this book interesting reading and strike a chord with others who have gone through or are going through this process.

The Rosati’s had several career changes and moves within the U.S. during the course of this book. The thing that shines out in this book is their love for and dedication to the rights of our country’s orphans. There are a lot of children right here in the U.S. waiting for a forever home and many of them will never have one because the need is great for people to choose adoption. Birth parents are not always able to be there for their kids for a variety of reasons, but the child is an innocent victim of the circumstances and deserves the love and stability of a family.

You will find as you read about the Rosatis’ experiences that the going gets really tough really fast and there are many hurdles to overcome with each child, but the rewards are great. If you are interested in adopting or have adopted, you will want to read this book. And maybe, if you weren’t even considering it, you will consider adoption after reading this book. In any case, you will enjoy reading it.

A DVD series you should watch with your teen.

This is a set of 2 DVDS containing 10 lectures on the reliability of the Bible. Dr. Stephen Meyer is conducting a college course of lectures and each section is one of the lectures. It covers from the Patriarchs through the New Testament account of Jesus’ trial.  There are 5 25-minute lectures on each DVD and also included in the set is a 96-page discussion guide.

These lectures are very much in the same format as Dr. Del Tackett’s Truth Project series and made by the same people. Although this is a college course, it is easily understandable by laymen. In fact, my pre-teen daughter found it very interesting. Dr. Meyer explains the minimalist view and talking points and then gives archaeological and historical evidence which backs up the Biblical Truth.

While I take the Word of the Bible on faith, it is still very satisfying to have some evidence and facts to back it up and give an answer to the naysayers. I will listen to this series multiple times to try to gain all the information that I can from it and will incorporate it into my daughters’ homeschool studies so that they too can gain this knowledge. This series was sent to me by Tyndale for review but I would have purchased it myself at some point anyway when I learned about it.

PLAN to be touched by the unPlanned Truth!

Abby Johnson was raised in a Christian home and led a storybook life. At 17, she went off to college and as an impressionable and inquisitive girl she looked for causes that interested her. She developed a relationship with a man and found that she was pregnant.  He took her to have an abortion and made it seem very normal. A couple of years later, she was pregnant again and took the abortion pill. Then the relationship ended. About the time she finished college she started volunteering for Planned Parenthood because they presented to her that she would be helping women make important choices in their lives. Eventually, much to her parents’ chagrin, Abby became an employee of Planned Parenthood and eventually became the director of the facility in Bryan College Station, TX.

Working in the Planned Parenthood facility she was constantly faced with fielding the Right to Life people outside the fence. She noted that the ones that wore bizarre costumes and shouted evil things to the women coming to the clinic only enforced the stereotype of the crazy right to lifers. Those that really made an impression on her though were the quiet, respectful, dedicated people that stood out there and prayed every day and counseled the women that were entering the facility. She made up her mind to get along with those people, rather than be confrontational like previous directors had been.

One day Abby was called to assist an abortion doctor in the clinic who was doing an ultrasound as he did the procedure.  She was shocked and dismayed to see the child on the ultrasound and watch it sucked out in pieces. She immediately knew that what she had been telling people for years and what she had been told was not true. She also knew immediately that she could no longer be a party to it.

She resigned from Planned Parenthood and sought counsel from the Coalition for Life people that she had conversed with in front of the clinic for years. She has become an advocate for Life and speaks all over the country. Planned Parenthood tried to intimidate her by filing an injunction against her but it was dismissed in court.

You can see a trailer for this life changing and thought provoking DVD on YouTube. I encourage you all to watch this DVD. It is so eye opening. Share it with friends and also watch it with your kids. I believe boys need to be educated aobut this just as much as boys. 

This is a story of how God can turn a life around in an instant. Just as Paul’s life was changed in an instant on the Road to Damascus, Abby Johnson’s whole life’s course was altered in front of that ultrasound monitor that day.

Tyndale House sent me this DVD to review and I am having a contest on my blog to give away a certificate for a free copy to one lucky winner. Please comment on my blog to have a chance to win this certificate. The drawing will be Monday, May 23. If you don’t win that is OK. The day after my drawing for this DVD there is going to be a Unite for LIFE webcast. It is a free webcast featuring Abby Johnson that will benefit pregnancy care organizations. You can sign up to participate on May 17 at 8:00 p.m. (in all time zones) at www.uniteforlifewebcast.org. Unplanned the book and the DVD will be available for purchase as a package deal and 33% of each purchase will go to crisis pregnancy centers like CareNet, the National Institute of Family & Life Advocates, and Heartbeat International.

The best way you can help those in need and help them choose life is to know the facts and find out all you can. Always have a compassionate and sensitive heart to those in need. Most of all Pray! 

Great Book for long winter nights and a Giveaway!

I used Random.org to find the winner of my giveaway. Congratulations to Veta! 

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:4Powered by RANDOM.ORG

I have been at it again reviewing another great book from Tyndale. Read all the way to the bottom of this post for your chance to win a copy of you very own. 

Boone Drake is a Chicago cop, a family man and a lifelong Christian. Life seems to be on a blessed track until an unexpected tragedy takes most of that life away. Boone’s personal journey back to God and the development of his career in the Chicago PD make up this engaging story.

This book had me hooked from the first chapter. The story of an officer whose goal is to take on organized crime and the street gangs makes for an interesting read.  The addition of the officer’s spiritual journey made for a fascinating read. I didn’t make it through this one without a lot of tears shed, but it was well worth the read and I would recommend it highly to anyone. Jerry Jenkins never disappoints!

In Boone’s personal journey, his inner searching eventually leads to his being able to witness to a new Christian – one of the biggest, baddest gang leaders in the city. His personal courage in that instance was an inspiration to me and brought home once again the fact that as Christians, that is our calling on this earth: to witness to the lost, no matter who they are, what they look like, how we feel about them or how hopeless it looks.

Jerry B. Jenkins was co-author of the now-famous Left Behind series and Left Behind for Kids. He also authored the amazing story of a prison chaplain and the prisoners he served, one in particular. It is called Riven and after you read it you will have a new appreciation for your Christian faith. He has written many other books and you can see a list here: http://www.jerryjenkins.com/books/fiction/ and here http://www.jerryjenkins.com/books/non-fiction/.

If you would like to find more books by great authors like Jerry B. Jenkins check out Tyndale's website. Tyndale provided me with a copy of this great book to review. I am part of their blog tour as well. So in celebration of that I am giving away a copy of THIS book for you to enjoy. All you have to to be entered is tell me what book or books you are reading right now. You must answer the question to be entered. I will draw a random number on Tuesday February 22nd around noon. Even if you don;t win I hope you get a hold of a copy of this book to enjoy.