Forward Motion

It takes me awhile to accept change. It's not that I don't like new things- more that I miss things I've grown accustomed to when they're no longer there. Over the last few days, I've been praying a lot about some coming changes that I'm not looking forward to or honestly, a little scared of. As I came before God with a heavy heart, He sweetly reminded me that what I'm seeing as painful for little reason is meant by Him for my good. Asking God to return things to my comfort zone is asking Him to leave me where I am, to stop growing and forming me to look more like Him. Asking to go back is a rejection of the good that resulted from changes of the past. With each big hurdle in life, I've found with time a new normal is established. Most of the time, I like it more than the last and mourn when it changes. This will be no different. He's teaching me trust, stretching my faith, and reminding me that there's nothing to fear in His plans for me.

"You Lead"

I've got waves that are tossin' me,

Crashin' all over my beliefs,
And in all sincerity, Lord,
I wanna be yours,
So pull me out of this mess I'm in,
Cause I know I'm wanderin'
Lead my soul back home again,
I've always been yours,

And this world may push, may pull,
But your love it never fails,

You lead, I'll follow, Your hands hold my tomorrow,
Your grip, Your grace, You know the way,
You guide me tenderly,
When you lead, I'll follow,
Just light the way and I'll go,
Cause I know what you got for me is more then I can see,
So lead me on, on, on and on,
Just lead me on, on, on and on,

As a child I heard your voice,
But as a girl I made my choice,
There is no other way for me,
I'm devoted to you,
You're my peace on the heavy days,
You're the warmth of an autumn blaze,
Your love carries me away,
And it's never to soon, no...

And this world may push, may pull,
But your mercy never fails,

You lead, I'll follow, Your hands hold my tomorrow,
Your grip, Your grace, You know the way,
You guide me tenderly, yeah,
When you lead, I'll follow,
Just light the way and I'll go,
Cause I know what you got for me is more than I can see,
So lead me on, on, on and on,
Just lead me on, on, on and on,

Sometimes when I wake up, I don't wanna rise up, Out of my bed, to many thoughts in my head,
Don't wanna be who I used to be,
Gonna take the back seat and let you lead,
And I...
Need to stop, need to stop,
Cause I'm going to fast,
And I...
Know my God is still God, And you got my back,

You lead, I'll follow, Your hands hold my tomorrow,
Your grip, Your grace, You know the way,
You guide me tenderly, yeah,
When you lead, I'll follow,
Just light the way and I'll go,
Cause I know what you got for me is more than I can see,
So lead me on...
Lead me on...

And I...
Need to stop, need to stop,
Cause I'm going too fast,
And I...
Know my God is still God, And you got my back,
You got my back,
I know ya got me, I know ya got me,
I know ya got me, Lead me on...

~J. Grace


The line: "Your hands hold my tomorrow" especially came to mind today. I have a hard time releasing control over circumstances despite knowing that control is His with or without my unnecessary striving.

Quilt update!

I was on the first steps just until this week (cutting out the squares and putting anti-fraying backer on them) I didn't work on it every night so timeframe is slightly misleading as far as how long it takes. I really started the 2nd week or so in Jan so for where I am, it's great progress!

The friend who's doing a quilt of her own with me told me to use the flexible, plastic cutting "boards" to cushion the cutting space. Definitely much smoother cuts!


All squares are now backed and in the pattern order I want. This includes 6 specially designed squares (more than one piece sown or patched together)!


The whole thing is 7 squares wide and 7 deep. 6 of the 7 rows are sown together!I'm waiting to finish the middle row because I'm still crafting the very center square. I'd love to find a Clemson girl patch or get a child sized shirt with something about Clemson girls on it. The material currently in that space was is a fabric I found that I really like! It's somewhat girlie and cute! I'm thinking of making fabric flowers out of it to attach as accents if I dont use it as a whole piece.

Supply/cost update:
More fusible backer (4yds): $20 (love my fabric store! Always a sale or a coupon!)
2 yds Purple fabric: $10 (used for the special squares. I bought it thinking I may end up making some extra squares to fill out space.... not needed!)
1 yd of white fabric $3
1 yrd of a nice Clemson patterned fabric -$10/yd

400 long quilting pins $7
slidable metal fabric ruler $2
patch-making no sew material- $3 (for the special squares)
for a total of $55 additional dollars

The main reason this has been so expensive is that its my first project so I' ve had to buy supplies and I'm doing more experimenting.

So excited about how its coming together!

Not alone in the struggle

I just discovered a blog written by a friend of mine. Of course, the first thing to do with a new blog discovery is to start exploring! I love this post! I have previously written about encouragement in living out Biblical manhood and womanhood. This is another in that thread but the quote focuses on a mature Christian man keeping faith that God has a Godly woman in mind for him and prays for her growth and sustaining while they both wait. I find this so encouraging as a female. We more often hear about women being encouraged in our wait. Don't settle, pray for a Godly husband, cultivate the attributes of a Godly wife.... All good and encouraging but I find it refreshing when I hear or read of a man struggling through the wait as well. It's all too easy to get discouraged and assume that men don't feel the heart longings that women do. We were built with different emotions and reactions but men who are seeking the Lord as they seek a wife are looking for women who are truly in love with our Savior. How encouraging to know that God works mightily in those He's given the responsibility of pursuing and these Godly men are still worth waiting for.

Love this!!!

Admittedly, I take things too personally sometimes. Negative comments towards those I care about (family, friends, my alma mater, my church....) are one of those things....
Especially in the fall football season, I need to be reminded that nasty comments about my university are centered around competitive football. No one will be able to take what God did in my heart and life during my four years at a wonderful university. A fellow Alum said it so well here.
(I've also previously written on the topic here)

This is more a continued lesson for me.... Identity in Christ! Nothing else compares and should not therefore be able to affect me.

Tshirt quilt!

I've been wanting to make my college tshirts into a quilt since before I graduated. So excited to begin the process. My sweet friend Shannon has made one before so we'll be making some "crafting dates" to work on our individual projects together! So looking forward to time with her and seeing our projects progress!

For the sake of curiosity (b/c I know its one of my biggest questions) I'll try to record not only the process but also some idea of how much the whole project costs. I've done a little research on paying to have the quilt made by a "professional". I'm betting I can do it cheaper and more fun ;)

So far:
A fabric store close to work has a sale this week!
I bought a pizza cutter looking device to help with the fabric cutting
Originally: $30 but on sale for $21
a 12.5x 12.5 omnigrid (a square, clear piece with gridlines to keep everything uniform) on sale for $16
3 yds of fusable backing The sales lady was so nice and gave me a 40% off coupon! Originally $7/yd but with the coupon the material and a pair of fabric scissors came to $21!
To protect my floors, tables, etc for the cutting process I picked up a couple of foam presentation boards 2/$5
So totals for tools and supplies: about $60
I still need to pick up the batting for the middle and choose what I want to do for the back. It will likely be a jersey knit sheet or I'll pick up a few yards of fleece material.
I want this to be very cozy and well loved for snuggling on the couch so I'm leaning towards a fluffier batting and fleece back!

Here are a few pictures of some initial steps:

Here you can see several shirts I had labeled as to which sides I wanted used as well as a piece of remnant I picked up forever ago...Not sure if it'll be used or not. Its fleece so the shirts are a different material. You can also just see the guide square and cutting tool sitting on the fleece.

Getting to the cutting! I found it easiest to face the back of the shirt up and cut along the seams.



I started with the sleeves then cut the color from the back. I found this to be best as I accidentally cut a little of a back design while the front was facing up. (the collar on the front side is lower than in the back so if you cut looking at the front, the back design you do want may be underneath the front collar you don't want. Thankfully, it wasn't damaged too badly but definitely a lesson learned!

I have a few more shirts to do initial cuts on before using the grid to get the 12.5x12.5 squares cut. Its 12.5 to allow some room for sowing. After the squares are cut, I'll iron the backing onto the pieces and prepare them for Shannon and I's first sowing session!

One DIY finished and another begins!

The pillow cover from this post is finished! :) I had a wonderful time getting a couple sowing lessons from Jean, one of the ladies in my small group. She was so kind to host me in her home for a couple of evenings to finish the project. Here's how it turned out!




I love the piping, the hidden zipper and the cute paisley accent! The pillow now much better fits the decor of the room. I'm excited to have a cute accent piece that will add to the rest awhile theme of the room. My dad has described my color scheme and overall feel of the living room to be an invitation to "come down a couple notches", to be calm and rest. I love that :) I hope my guests do feel like my home is relaxing and inviting. It's certainly been so for me. I especially love that I'm gathering pieces that not only provide fashion and function but sweet memories of those I spent time with to create them. I do believe I've been bitten by the home decoration, crafting bugs!

Next up: a tshirt quilt with my college shirts!