Roasting Marshmallows: The Weekly Digest

Looking out the window....

 

After enjoying our taste of spring, Colorado is back the normal cold and snow of February.

 

A cool experience...

 

The Loving Stitches quilt ministry met for a work session last weekend.  A recipient of one of our quilts and his wife stopped by to thank us and bring us gifts.  Without blasting the man's business on the internet, I'll just say he was very sick and close to death.  Now, he's been given a very good report from his doctors.  He and his wife were a fun couple and their visit was a sweet surprise.  No, we don't do it for the thanks, but it's encouraging to see the joy and comfort that our handiwork and prayers bring.

Favorite quote(s) of the week...

 

Whatever you think you can do or believe you can do, begin it.  Action has magic, grace, and power in it.  - Goethe, qtd. by Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way, p. 67

 

When a woman knows that she is loved by a man, her entire being shines with the assurance that she's wanted and adored.  God wants you to have the same assurance--from Him.  No earthly love can compare!  Your beau may leave you desolate.  Your husband could desert you physically or emotionally.  But God's love for you never will fall short. - Heather Harpham Kopp, The Dieter's Prayer Book, p. 80.

 

The Lord has been mindful of us; He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel;  He will bless the house of Aaron.  He will bless those who fear the Lord, the small together with the great. - Psalm 115:12-13 NASB 

 

I'm thinking about...

 

My brain is a marshmallow right now,
so I don't have any poignant or salient comments to add.

 

What I've read since my last digest...

• Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter ✮✮✮ (Category:  Kiddie Lit)
• Ever Increasing Faith by Smith Wigglesworth ✮✮✮
• The Wisdom of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton ✮✮✮ (Category:  Recommended read).
• The Essentials of Prayer by E. M. Bounds  ✮✮ 
• The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton ✮✮✮ 1/2 (Category:  Recommended read).
  

I'm currently reading...

• The Artist's Way Julia Cameron 
• Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster
• The Dieter's Prayer Book by Heather Harpham Kopp
  
• Faith's Checkbook by Charles Spurgeon
  
• The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin
  
• The New American Standard Bible
  

This week's blog posts...

• My previous digest:  "Coloring Outside the Lines" is here.
• Scraps and Such 03:  The Weekly Hodgepodge is here. 
• First Line Friday #31:  Dry Bones Dancing by Tony Evans is here.
• First Line Friday #32:  Hollowed Out by Jeremy S. Adams is here.
  

I am thankful for...

• 
  The completion of my ironing station.  After killing my trusty Black and Decker steam iron by knocking it off my wobbly ironing board one time too many, I knew it was time to try to collect the needed materials to make a portable countertop ironing station.  We use them at our quilt group and they're great.  For an explanation of what I was trying to make, see this video from Stichin' Heaven.  I asked a co-worker who does woodworking as a hobby if he had a piece of scrap plywood for the base of my project.  He said he did, but what he brought me wasn't plywood; it was even better.  What it looks like is a section of solid surface countertop that's about 1/2 - 3/4 inch thick.  It's heavier than plywood, but will be able to take heat and usage better.  I covered it with a couple of layers of cotton batting and a leftover piece of cotton fabric that I stapled to the bottom of the slab.  I covered the staples with felt as Rob suggested in the video.  Now, when I'm ready to quilt, I can pull the slab out from under my couch, slap in on the counter (or my folding table as shown), and get busy.  With about 24 X 42 inches of usable space, ironing quilt tops will be much easier, and sending my new iron crashing to the floor is MUCH less likely.
  
  
  
• Completion of another quilt top.  This was a pattern I improvised from a bunch of strip scraps someone from our quilt group handed me as a challenge.  I call it "Sound Waves."
• The prayers of friends.
• Dishwashers.
• Heat and hot water. 
• Coats and Clark's all purpose thread.
• A friend's successful surgery.
• Workouts that burn off the crazy.
• God's peace.
• My blanket ladder.  Diana and I made it together years ago.  Seeing brings back the fun memories of that day. 
• I'm thankful that our new washer in the laundry room is a top load with an agitator.  Our old one was a front load washer that spun the clothes around with a teaspoonful of water.  I never felt like my clothes were as clean as they could be.