Word for the Weekend

I pray that this psalm will be an encouragement to all who read it. Read it out loud to yourself and feel the Spirit of God around you.

Psalm 27

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. 3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. 4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. 5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. 6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD. 7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. 8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek. 9 Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. 10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up. 11 Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. 12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. 13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. 14 Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

I Can Do Magic!

I have finally begun sewing my scrap blocks together that I have been talking about. After going through every piece of material in my scrap bin and choosing which ones I wanted to use and cutting numerous blocks, I can't tell I even pulled one piece out of that bin! How does one manage their scrap pile if making a whole quilt from it doesn't even touch it?! Sigh.

This quilt will be made entirely from disappearing nine-patch blocks. This is where the magic comes in. Now you see it:

Now you don't:

Neat, huh? You can find a tutorial for making this block here. She just says to cut in the middle and for your reference, the middle of the block would be at the 7" mark. It took my terrible math mind a few minutes to figure that out. Check out her other tutorials, though, if you haven't before. She has some real cute things.

I was able to finish six blocks today. I love them all! I love seeing how each one turns out as I make it. It is an excellent pattern for using up scraps.

I'm not a real planner when it comes to quilting so I'm not sure how many finished blocks I will make. It all depends on how many squares I have cut (No, I didn't count those either). I anticipate this quilt being a lap size. I'll probably use a vintage sheet to back it and quilt it in a free motion style. I'd like to have it completed by next week. We shall see if that happens!

Yard Sale Finds

Last weekend I found a few good things at a yard sale. It is always fun to stop at a yard sale because you never know what you will find. Sometimes it is just a bunch of junk and sometimes it is nice stuff but way overpriced. Eventually (ever couple of weeks) you will run up on a really good sale and they will have nice stuff priced cheap. That's what happened to me last weekend! (Insert squeal of excitement)

I got two pairs of Gap jeans for $1 each. There is not one stain or rip on these jeans! I was so excited. It is hard to find my size at yard sales because I have to have short or petite sizes. I'm considering making one of these jeans into a skirt. I'm not sure yet.

I also got a shirt for $1 and a pair of curtain valances that looked excellent for the guest bedroom. They were $1 for both. I was thrilled to find the curtains because I have been wanting some new ones in that bedroom. The curtains we had were from the people who lived in our home before we bought it. They just were not me at all.

Here is a before picture(the only one I could find; it is from right after we moved in):

And here are the new-to-me curtains:

I left the muted gold roman shades up so I/guest could pull those down for privacy. I love the change because it opens that room up so much. Those other curtains were just too much. What do you think?

One Thing, One Week Challenge

Last week Amy challenged her readers to determine to complete one thing over the course of one week. I chose to sew up the two remaining cushions for my patio. Remember how I had found two at a yard sale and was trying to find two more?

Anyways, I completed my goal a few days ago and was happy to finally have a comfy place to sit on the patio. Husband and I sat out there one evening when it wasn't so hot and it was nice until we started talking how we needed to paint the patio and spray paint the patio furniture. Ha! There is always something to be done!

These pictures aren't some fancy camera trick I tried to do. It was actually so humid the day I took these photos, the camera lens fogged up. You get the idea anyways!

I've still been going through my fabric stash and cutting it into 5" squares. I hope to finish cutting soon and get to sewing. I'll share more about that later!

Quilt Along Blocks Week 6

It doesn't seem like I began this quilt along six weeks ago! Where does the time go?! I enjoyed this week's blocks as well as last week. I'm loving the navy blues in my quilt blocks. I think they will make a great contrast against the lighter color blocks.

The block on the bottom is called a cross. I think something like double cross or double plus suits it better. The block on the top is called new album.

Word for the Weekend

Matthew 26:14-16 Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests, And said unto them, What will ye give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to betray him.


Thirty pieces of silver in Bible times was about a month's pay or about the price of a slave. That's what Judas thought was a reasonable price for Jesus.


Many leaders at the time were looking for a way to catch and kill Jesus and Judas was a sucker for making a little money. He figured telling a few people where Jesus was would get him some cash or coins as they called it back in day.


Matthew 26:24 The Son of man goeth as it is written of him: but woe unto that man by whom the Son of man is betrayed! it had been good for that man if he had not been born.


As the previous verse tells us, Jesus was going to be killed as our Savior from sins no matter what. However, Judas saw it as a money making opportunity. That's kinda like today when those TV preachers ask for money all the time.


These verses got me to thinking about how much is Jesus worth to me? What things in life do I sometimes put before God? What things am I not willing to give up that Jesus would find unacceptable? What price am I selling Him out for?


How about when I feel I am too busy to have my quiet time one day? I've sold Him out for some cleaning.


How about when I watch a program or movie that isn't bringing glory to Him? I've sold Him out for a little entertainment.


What about when I don't tell a friend about Jesus because I can't get up the nerve? I've sold Him out for a little comfort.


We have to remember to keep the Lord first in our lives. He gave His life so we could have eternal life. How can we give Him anything less?

Quilt in Progress

I've been doing a lot of shuffling fabric...

ironing it into something that resembles a piece of fabric....

and then cutting it into 5inch squares. I haven't been able to work for very long because I am trying to recover from some type of virus but I hope to get this quilt together in a reasonable time. I'm trying a new block that I haven't done before but seems easy so I don't have to think too much in this heat!

Getting Things Done

Amy over at Amy's Creative Side has created a One Thing One Week Challenge. The goal being that those participating would complete one project or finish a project-in-the-works each week. I decided to join in because I have several things lying around that need finishing up or ideas that need starting. For example, I have several quilts in my head that I have been putting off because of the heat. I quilt upstairs and our a/c doesn't reach up there. I have a small window unit that tries its best but when it is any hotter than 85 it just can't do the job. So, I have been coming up with smaller projects that don't take any longer than a couple hours to do so that I can complete them in the morning before it gets too hot.

I have other projects in my head like placemats, wall quilts, and curtains. I guess that's just how a creative person's mind works.

My project this week is to sew two more cushions for the patio chairs. If you remember, I have completed two so far. I was waiting until I found a couple more at a yard sale. Well, I found two last weekend. That's my goal. Two cushions. I should be able to find time to do that, right?

It is such a pretty day here today. I had to share a picture of what I get to look at everyday outside my living room window.

Quilt Along Blocks Week 5

I finished my quilt along blocks for this week. I liked making both of these and didn't have any major issues. The only mistake I made was on the hourglass block. If you notice, my two hourglasses are not going in the same direction. After I realized that Amy's were both the same I thought about fixing it, but I don't think it makes a difference.

You can still join the quilt along here.

Of course, I had to be accident prone today. I burned myself pretty good with the iron. Ouchness level was about an 8. Maybe a 9. It hurt! Normally when I burn myself I just go on about my business but this time it wouldn't quit burning. I had to get me a make-shift ice pack. Ziploc baggie, ice cubes, and gauze and tape to hold it on while I finished my sewing. I thought about just finishing them tomorrow but I wanted to get them done. So, for the record sweat and tears are in this project and I'm just waiting for a little blood.

Hourglass & Chain blocks:

All my blocks:

This is the second week I have missed posting a Money Monday. The reason is because we just haven't done much grocery shopping. I hope to get back to it next week. Our cupboards are getting a little bare! Have a great day!

Word for the Weekend

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.


Many will tell you that when it comes to going to Heaven when we die, there are endless possibilities you could do to get you there. It simply isn't true. The Bible tells us that believing on Jesus is the only way.


John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.


This verse in John tells us that God is the ONLY true one. Don't be deceived by those saying that good works or just having a good heart will get you into Heaven. You hear all the time, "He was a good man," or "She was so nice to everyone," echoing off funeral home walls. Being a good man or a nice woman isn't going to get you to Heaven.


Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;


I'm so thankful that it isn't by works that we get into Heaven. No one would be there if that were true. There isn't anything we can do on our own to gain favor with God.


Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;


No matter how great or small you think your wrongdoings are, the Bible says that we have all have sin in our lives. It also says that without Jesus the punishment of sin is death. Revelation tells us that that death is an eternal death, where we would experience separation from God and torment.


Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.


Those truths are why it is so important to realize and believe what Jesus has done for everyone. The next few verses express how God sent His Son to pay our price, our punishment. Instead of us being cast into that lake of fire as the verse talks about above, Jesus came to earth and was brutally killed and hung on a cross, died, and rose three days later so we could go to Heaven and live with Him.


Romans 5:8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.


It is God's will that every person on earth will believe on Him. He doesn't want anyone to have eternal separation from Him.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.


What do you do then? How do you believe and how do you receive everlasting life? The Bible tells us to tell Jesus, our Lord. Talk to Him in prayer and tell him how you understand everything He has done for you. Tell Him you don't want to be a slave to sin any longer and you want to live for Him. Ask Jesus to take your sin away.

Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

Romans 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

If you do pray and ask Jesus to forgive you, you will enter into Heaven when you die. It is never too late and never too early to start living a life lead by Jesus instead of the emptiness of the world.

If you have questions or need any help, please let me know. You can contact me through email at mrscouponlady@gmail.com or you may leave a comment and I will get back to you as quickly as I can.

Pillows and Cushions

Yesterday I finished up some projects I had laying around. Project number one was patio chair cushions. I have needed some for a while I am too frugal to buy brand new ones or buy new foam to make them. So, I waited until I found some at a tag/yard sale to recover.


I finally found two this past weekend (I need four, but, hey, two is a start!). I got them both for $0.50 and the foam is still cushy! I also went to a retail outlet called Essex this weekend and found a vinyl flannel backed tablecloth on clearance for $1. It was a great weave style print too!

I needed something waterproof for the cushions on the patio because it has no covering. I have yet to find an table umbrella at a reasonable price also.

Here is how I did it:

Take off the old covering from the foam cushions.

Lay cushion on top of tablecloth to measure the size you will need. Sew around three sides. Insert foam and fold under edges. Pin and sew all the way around the cushion.

Finished! (Ignore the horrible looking patio and rusty chairs--that is another project that is waiting)

Project number two was pillows. I had found some cute embroidered scenes (looks to be on potato sacks) at a tag sale and wasn't sure if I wanted to frame them or make them into pillows. I decided on pillows because the guest bed needed a few more pillows. I think they make the perfect addition. Husband said they looked so good that he would have thought I bought them and not made them (is that a compliment? hmmm....).

I'm going for a shabby chic look in the guest bedroom. I have a plan to make a pretty quilt for the bed perhaps using pinwheels but for now I have a handmade quilt by my grandmother.

Aren't the adorable? When I bought them they smelled funny and the stitching wasn't to clear. Maybe it was dusty or something. I washed them and ironed them a lot and the colors in the thread became brighter. The kitty and bird are so cute!

My Sewing Room

I'd like to welcome ya'll into my sewing room! I love to see where other people sew and craft so I figured I would show you where I do all of my sewing and crafting.

We bought the house we currently live in a little over a year ago. I did not quilt then and I rarely sewed. I mostly did a little scrapbooking and card making. This house has a bonus room upstairs. It is all open and a nice size. (I think the people who lived here before us used it as a bedroom for their children.) So, when we moved in we said it would be game room on one side and an office on the other. (Each side is kinda separated by the stairs.) I had a cafe style table in one corner where I did all of my crafting and that was the extent of my "sewing room".

Well, a very generous lady decided she was going to buy me a sewing machine as a house warming gift. I was excited to get a new machine because the little sewing I had done was on an old Kenmore unit in a cabinet. I didn't have the book that went with it and could only do a strait stitch. I knew I wanted to begin quilting I just didn't know I would be doing as much sewing as I am now. My sewing machine is one of my favorite gifts ever. It's kinda like the teach a man to fish thing.

Anyways, I'm telling you this so you can get an idea of how this room has transformed. It went from an office with a ping-pong table to a large sewing room with a large quilting table! We hardly used that ping-pong table anyways... (insert glares from husband here)

This is where I cut and lay out my quilts. It is cluttered right now because I have a lot of different things going on. I would suggest any quilter get a ping-pong table to use. Seriously. It is huge and you can lay out a whole lap/baby quilt on one side of it. You can just about lay a twin size over the whole thing. It sure does make it easier to baste. I normally keep one side clear for cutting. I keep a basket on that side where I throw my trash from cutting and (you can't see it here) my scrap bin is right behind my cutting area so I can just toss my scraps in as I go.

You can see that underneath I have bins and baskets to organize smaller pieces that I don't call scraps yet by color. Around on the other side I have other fabrics organized into fleece, apparel, vintage sheets/pillowcases, and home decorating. (See those pillows? I bought those at a yard sale for $0.50 and I'm gonna cover them with a waterproof table cloth I got at a retail outlet for $1 to use in my patio chairs.

This is where I iron. I keep the board set up all the time. Actually, I love having my sewing room upstairs because I can just leave projects lying around and no one sees my mess! Notice my scrap bin in the aqua tub. My ironing station is right behind my cutting table for easy access. Ignore the books piled in the floor I need more bookcases!

Here is where I sew! I like to have a window to look out so I don't feel all closed in so that is why I put my machine by the window. I like to use that small office chair with no arms because it gives me a good range of motion and I can also adjust the height. I like to be looking down when I quilt and at eye level when I piece. My machine table is also on wheels because I like to roll it out from the wall when I quilt to give me plenty of room.

And, lastly we have my wall o' fabric!These fabrics are pieces one yard and larger. They are mostly ones that I have not cut into yet. Below the fabric shelf is where I keep my thread (purple box) and there is a picture of my grandmother on my dad's side and on the second shelf is a picture of my grandmother on my mom's side. Both of whom sewed and/or quilted. That shelf is also where I keep my quilt backings. I use sheets mostly. Those red ones I haven't opened yet are Christmas flannel with cute owls on them ($5, twin size at retail outlet)!

The last shelf is office stuff like printer paper and envelopes. You can also see I now keep my printer on top of my old sewing machine cabinet. Under that is the bin o' batting. Ignore the unorganized mess in the green box. Most of that is vintage trims and the like.

So, there you go! What do you think? Let me know if you share your own sewing room in your blog because I'd love to visit!

Quilt Along Blocks Week 4

Two more blocks are ready for this week in Amy's Quilt Along. I had a hard time putting the mosaic block together. It is all half square triangles! I knew when I started it they wouldn't all line up. I was right! I think various factors add up to them not lining up like low quality fabric, no starch, not enough pins, and crooked cuts. I really need a better, bigger ruler for cutting but I simply can't afford it right now. Why must quilting be such an expensive hobby? Sigh.

I enjoyed the log cabin block. I had done those before and I like the clean lines of it. I think I'm just more of a square and rectangle kind of gal.

My two new blocks:

All my blocks together:

Word for the Weekend

Romans 14:13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.

Romans 14:19 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.

Romans 14:21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.

Mark 9:42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.

These verses talk about offending or causing another brother/sister in Christ to sin. Romans 14 tells us that we are not be a stumbling block to others. Instead we are to lift each other up by living in peace. It also says that we shouldn't do anything that would cause someone to sin like drink.

The verse in Mark says that it is better for us to die than to cause a new believer to sin. That's pretty harsh sounding, huh? We need to be sure to think about what we are doing and how others might perceive it. I don't want to do anything that might cause someone to sin because that sin can put a damper on our relationship with God. So, I don't want to hinder someone's relationship to Jesus in any way!

In our daily lives we need to be conscious of things we do that might cause others to sin; even if it is in their minds. For example, if a lady was to dress in a revealing way that might cause a man to look on her with lust in his heart. That man has sinned and that lady was the cause of it. If she was dressed modestly. the man would be less likely to think of her in that way. By dressing modestly women can decide they will not be the cause of a man's lust.

Quilt Along Blocks Week 3

It is very hot here today! My home thermometer is registering 99.6 degrees right now! My sewing room is upstairs and we don't have the central air ran up there. We just use a window unit and let me tell you I was sweating getting these blocks together this morning!

I've been following Amy's Quilt Along the past three weeks. Here are my next two blocks for the sampler quilt.

The one on the left is called two by three and reminds of how a rail fence block goes together. I really like the way it looks. I could see it being used on very large scale for a simple quilt. The block of the right is a snowball type block. I was very nervous about patching with triangles but Amy made it easy and talked me through it well. I'm not so afraid of them now, but they still aren't my favorite shape to work with.

It is hard to tell in this picture, but the snowball block's fabric is navy blue with white dots.

Here are all my blocks so far.

Money Monday

I don't think I bought as much stuff as I did last weekend. We went to three stores again. I feel like we got better deals this time though. Let's see how it turns out...

Retail price of everything in the picture is $78.74.

Kroger

2 12pk cans Minute Maid Lemonade

2 12pk cans Sprite

Retail Price: $20.56

Coupon Savings: -$3.00

Kroger Card Savings: -$ 9.96

I Paid: $7.60

Food Lion Transaction #1

Lays Chips

2 Old El Paso Fiesta Ready Rice

3 Hartz Crunch and Clean cat treats

2 pkgs Oscar Mayer Beef franks

3 4pks 9Lives canned cat food

Butterball Turkey Bacon

5pk Kraft Mac and Cheese

2 Oscar Mayer lunchmeat pkgs

Capri Sun 10pk

Retail Price: $44.27

Coupon & MVP Savings: $31.15

I paid: $13.12

Food Lion Transaction #2

2 Bryer's Smooth and Dreamy Ice Cream Bars pks

2 Cool Whips

Kraft Chiptole Mayo

Retail Price; $10.57

Coupon and MVP Savings: $8.79

I paid: $1.78

Rite Aid

M&M plain

M&M peanut butter

2 M&M pretzel

Retail Price: $3.34

Coupon Savings: $1.76

I paid: $0.29

To review, the retail price of everything was $78.74 and I paid $22.79!

I also went to some yard sales and found some nice quilting buys.

Here are bundles of quilting magazines; all different kinds. Some new and some from before I was born! I have yet to go through all of them but I am in the process of keeping the ones I want and tossing the others. I'm marking the quilts I want to make with my post-it flaggers. I got each of these bundles for $1. So, $5 total.


These are fan blocks. The lady had these in a baggie marked $0.50 for all of them! Needless to say, I grabbed them up!

I was so excited to find these wonderful vintage sheets and pillowcases at another sale. I use the sheets for backings for some of my quilts and the pillowcases will most likely get used in a quilt. I got everything you see for $2!

I found these pinwheel blocks in a baggie marked $0.25! Again, I grabbed these up! There were also pieces cut out to make a few more blocks.

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July!

Word for the Weekend

Luke 18:31-34
Then he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of man shall be accomplished. 32 For he shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: 33 And they shall scourge him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again. 34 And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.

These passages are Jesus telling his disciples about what is about to happen to Him. The same passage appears in Matthew (20:17-19) and Mark (10:32-34) but they leave out something that Luke makes note of in the last verse in this passage; the fact that the disciples didn't understand what Jesus had just told them. Perhaps they thought Jesus was telling one of His parables and would explain later. Maybe they thought it would happen figuratively. Whatever they imagined, it was just something they understood that they would not understand at that moment.

Verse 34 also says something else--what Jesus was telling them about his death and resurrection was "hid" from them. They wouldn't have been able to understand no matter how bad they wanted to because God had hidden it from them.

Sometimes we don't understand why some things happen in our life. Well, remember that you are in good company! The disciples didn't understand either. When a love one dies, when we barely have enough food to eat, when we can't pay the bills, when ten zillion things seem to go wrong all in one day....we may ask God, "why did that have to happen to me?" We may never get the answer we are looking for here on earth, but we can take comfort in some simple truths from the Bible.

Jesus knows what it is like to feel forsaken. Matthew 27:46 says: " And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" He took on all our sin and in doing so felt forsaken by His Father. When we feel forsaken we can pray to Jesus and trust that He knows exactly how we feel and loves us dearly.

Remember that all sufferings here on earth are only for a short period and as long as you have asked Jesus into your life you will have eternal glory in heaven.

2Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction which is but a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

In closing I wanted to share the words of an old hymn, "We'll understand it better by and by" written by Charles Albert Tindley.

We are tossed and driven on the restless sea of time;
somber skies and howling tempests oft succeed a bright sunshine;
in that land of perfect day, when the mists are rolled away,
we will understand it better by and by.

By and by, when the morning comes,
when the saints of God are gathered home,
we'll tell the story how we've overcome,
for we'll understand it better by and by.

We are often destitute of the things that life demands,
want of food and want of shelter, thirsty hills and barren lands;
we are trusting in the Lord, and according to God's word,
we will understand it better by and by.

Trials dark on every hand, and we cannot understand
all the ways of God would lead us to that blessed promised land;
but he guides us with his eye, and we'll follow till we die,
for we'll understand it better by and by.

Temptations, hidden snares often take us unawares,
and our hearts are made to bleed for a thoughtless word or deed;
and we wonder why the test when we try to do our best,
but we'll understand it better by and by.