Quilting

On the topic of quilts, which followed the beloved topic of lint in my last post, I was excited to receive a personal email from Jeanne Williamson, who wrote The Uncommon Quilter. I also came upon a blog called allsorts with a most lovely quilt story. I haven’t quilted myself, (apart from a baby doll blanket that my mom helped me with, which I still have, in fact), but from a young age, I remember the women in my church gathering together to do “quilting”. I remember being in their presence as they sewed the pieces and lengths of fabric, as their hands worked with the thread and their quilts grew to completion. There is such depth to a quilt as each patch, stitch and piece of fabric has a story to tell. There could be a lot of metaphors drawn here, but I will relate it back to lint, because lint has a special depth of its own, especially when it is infrequently removed from the lint trap.

Lint

Here I am writing again about my fascination with dryer lint. I noticed that I have not had a lot of hits to my blog about lint, but I know that it will soon become all the rage. Lint is great. It is free. It is fluffy. It is warm. It is soft. It is thick and it can grow. It is a fabulous recycling material. It can even come in different colours.

I have been searching the web for other lint-lovers, such as myself.

Here are some more lint sculptures:

The second picture is purple blanket lint. They come from a

National Lint Project.

Some more unique uses of lint:

Dryer Lint Birds nest

The Uncommon Quilter

The last one is an artist called Jeanne Williamson who uses lint as a design element in her fabulous quilts. The Uncommon Quilter is her newly published book. She has a blog with many posts related to dryer lint.

I have a great love of the concept, “beauty from ashes.” It comes from one of my favourite verses in the Bible:

“To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of despair.”

Isaiah 61:3

God can take anything ugly: a heart, an attitude, an emotion, an action, even lint, and transform it into something incredible to use for his good purpose.

Secrets

A most interesting blog that I have added to my blogroll is about secrets.

I have a secret to share as well. Sometimes on a Friday night, after the kids are in bed, I find an excuse to drive out in the Malibu and I crank (I mean really crank) the tunes on Battle of the Beats.

More Than a Conqueror

Please have a look at my new blog: www.sucthings.ca

“In all these things [trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, famine and sword] we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Romans 8:37[35]

I don’t know about famine, nakedness or persecution in my life, but how about meltdowns for not having a playdate, getting three children to school on time and staying on top of the laundry? My kids have had a lot of flus in the last month and I have found myself feeling frustrated, overwhelmed and drained. I had a good chuckle at a post in the Chicken blog, along similar lines.

God says that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. What does it mean to be a conqueror? I started to google female warriors (and a lot of very interesting images came up, I tell you!) One female warrior that I love is Eowyn from Lord of the Rings; her zest, courage and fighting spirit.

Sometimes it feels like we are in a vicious battle. Her expression above reminds me of how I felt just this morning, trying to get three kids ready for school, resorting to nagging and debating with an also emotional three-and-a-half year old.

It is good to remind ourselves that there really is no battle. Jesus has the victory and we are victors with him. We can rest confidently in His power and love. No matter our feelings, actions and irritations, God is on our side! Of course a little extra sleep, never hurts either. There. I feel better already just writing this post.

Lint Craft: The New Type of Knitting

I kept putting my clothes in the dryer and when the load was finished, they were still damp. Hmm… I wonder why. The next morning Mark called me from downstairs… “Mary, you forgot to empty the lint trap again!!!!!” Oh yeah that makes sense. This is what he showed me:

You might think this is an ugly sight, but it’s not. This is a beautiful sight! Lint is a great material to recycle with. In fact there are tons of CRAFTS that one can make with lint. It might even become hotter than knitting!! Here, for instance, is a great lint craft, just in time for Easter:

It’s found at this site: dryer lint, recycled crafts. Here are some other links as well: Dryer lint modeling material, Artist Bryn Starr dryer lint art.

Life’s Little Surprizes

Think on things that are lovely:
I crouched down to take a picture of these crocuses which amazed me. They were growing through the rubble left over from our renovation. It reminded me of God’s grace and power bursting through the rocky parts of our hearts and lives.

Think on things that are true: While having this revelation, Miranda opened the patio door and announced to me, “Mommy, your bum is coming out of your pants!” (Sorry, no photo of that!)

Easter is Arriving

It was so great being outside this weekend. Even though the weather was cloudy today, the mild temperature was wonderful. It is a reminder that spring is on its way. While driving to Ikea one weekday, I noticed that a house on Laurentian St. in Coquitlam is also celebrating the arrival of Easter. We went to check it out again today. Here are some photos:

The Spreading Effect

Do these images scare you? Or do they excite you, thinking “at least my place isn’t that bad!” Well, it could happen to anyone and it starts slowly. One room at a time, one book, fingerprint and crumb at a time. It is what I call the spreading effect. It is a huge topic of discussion among moms and it is a monster that I want to attack in this blog. You’ve heard the word: the concept of MESS!!!

“He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire, he set my feet on a rock and he gave me a firm place to stand” Psalm 40:2

Morning Shock

Please note: this is based on a true story. None of the facts or photos have been altered to attract attention to this blog!

After this morning I had to change one category from “humour” to “the funny and the outrageous”, because the first word does not do justice to the stories we moms can tell.

I was having a pleasant, relaxed morning. It was a beautiful, sunny day, house was clean (This is big for me -I will post in the future about my cleaning issues), the kids were cooperative and everything was running smoothly. I left Myles strapped in his highchair (or so I had thought) and I went upstairs to brush my teeth. I heard soft “goo, goo and ga, gas” from below, so I went on to style the girls’ hair. After meandering with my make-up, I wandered back downstairs to get Myles and to my shock I saw: (only the picture can do it justice!)

Thank the Lord Myles seems to have developed depth perception and did not attempt to leave the tray.

Note to self: Myles is much more active than the girls ever were. Check those belts!!!!

For another outrageous mom story, visit Martina’s blog, Fresh MD. It was her blog that first inspired me to start blogging myself!

Share your stories in the comments below!!!!

Spring Trim

Well, with the days getting longer and brighter and the weather warming, it makes one want to refresh and transform. To put away the velours and wools and exchange them for linens and cottons. To throw out the blacks, browns and olive greens and exchange them for whites, pinks and robin-egg blues. It is also, importantly, a time to rid oneself of winter hair.

My esthetician did tell me that it could afford to be a bit shorter for an ideal waxing treatment, but it was a long winter after all.

“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided [leg] hair and the wearing of gold jewelery and fine clothes. Instead, it should be of that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.”

1Peter 3:3 (with liberties)