Pebble Stack Wallhanging and a Giveaway

So, last week I showed you my finished pebble wall quilt because seriously, who can wait to show a finish, right?

But - this week there's more! The pattern comes from the book called Seaside Home. And this week, someone reading this post will get a copy of their very own from Stash Books and C&T Publishing. (Overseas winners will receive an electronic copy.)

While I was working at Erica's, it was pretty much an occupational hazard that I got to see everything new as it came in. That was part of my job, after all. So when I saw this book it went on the "Jen must have it" list. Because my husband and mother-in-law are awesome I received it as a Christmas gift.

The designer of the Pebble Stack Wallhanging, Deborah O'Hare, is a fabric painter and the fabrics in her quilt in the book certainly show it. The sand and the water, and of course the sky, look almost real in her version. I had high intentions of painting some fabric for this project but time and wisdom (?) got the best of me so I decided to use some batiks. I found Hoffman Fabrics Bali Snaps in Breakers and Caramel which I thought looked perfect. I even decided to use them for some of the pebbles.

Practicing the layout for the background

Also, the designer was able to make her binding match the colors of the different sections. While I thought this was fantastic, I pretty much knew from the beginning this wasn't going to work for me and my current skill set. Maybe next time.

There are about a thousand things I could have done better on this quilt but I love, love, love it all the same. I had originally thought I would quilt it rather sparsely, but in the end I followed some of the coloring on the fabrics with the quilting and it all just led to quilting the crap out of it. It turns out, that's becoming my style, I think.

Now, some of you may know how much I love the lake and would really love to have a seaside home. Maybe some day I will but it most likely won't be for a while so making all of the projects in this book may not be all that practical. But, in the mean time I'm going to choose a couple to work on anyway.

So here's what I think I'll do. In order to enter the giveaway for the book (thanks again to Allison and Stash Books!), you need to leave a comment with your choice of which of the following three projects I should try first. Whichever gets the most votes will be the first one I try.

1. Embroidered Wall Art designed by Jasonda Desmond

2. Porthole Baby Quilt designed by Latifah Saafir

3. Beach Pillow designed by Heidi Troyer

Just leave a comment with your favorite choice, the order of your comment will determine your number, and I'll use a random number generator to choose the winner. Entries will be accepted until next Wednesday, May 8th, 2013, at 12 noon, EST. I'll announce the winner by Thursday, May 9th at noon and your book will be on it's way from C&T Publishing (remember, overseas winners will receive an e-book). I have not received compensation for this review, I really just simply love this book!

Good luck, and tell all your friends!

Book Review - Unlikely Angel

I just finished reading this book by Ashley Smith (with Stacy Mattingly). It's Ashley's account of her time held hostage by Brian Nichols in March 2005.

I picked up this book because Ashley is speaking at our church services this coming weekend and I thought it would be interesting to know more about her story ahead of time.

The book follows the timeline of the ordeal, interspersed with some of Ashley's own personal story. It's interesting how the two stories are worked together to create one cohesive narrative.

Ashley's story is definitely one of second (and third and fourth) chances. I'm definitely looking forward to hearing what she has to say at church this weekend.

Honestly, I would love to read Brian Nichols story, too. Maybe some day he'll write a book, too.

Book Review: Love Wins by Rob Bell

This is going to be a short and sweet post. I don't have time for any of the controversy surrounding this book. I'm just going to tell you the short version of what I think of it and why.

I am a Rob Bell fan and here's why.

I think he's an important voice in the conversation about God and Jesus in the world today. People need to know that they are loved. People also need to know that they are loved right now. Even before they "make a decision" or "get saved" or jump through whatever hoop is placed in front of them.

They are loved. 

Period.

That's what grace does. That's what grace has done.

This book, Love Wins, is in the same vein as Crazy Love by Francis Chan for me. They remind me that while "Jesus is as narrow as himself, he is as vast as the universe." 

They remind me that the bottom line is:

Love God, Love Others.

That's it. In the grand scheme of things, there are so many things I won't know. There are so many issues and ideas that we could argue around and around about. But both now and in the end (because it's really just the beginning),

Love Wins.

The book links are affiliate links. If you click on them and then buy something I'll earn a small percentage, so thank you. You know I'll just buy more books. 

Caps For Sale

Monday has become picture book day here on the blog. The first one I want to share with you is "Caps for Sale" by Esphyr Slobodkina. This is a silly story about a hat peddler. He falls asleep with all of his hats stacked on his head and when he wakes up he's in for a big surprise. His hats are all missing!


Some mischievous monkeys took his hats while he was asleep. How do you think he'll get them back? Preschoolers especially love the antics of the peddler and the monkeys in this fun book.


Sarah and Jon had fun reading this one together today while I attempted to capture video for you. The video I got isn't bad but I didn't realize how much background noise was happening at the time. We'll have to do better at eliminating background noise next time. For now, I can share the still photo of Daddy and Miss Pretty Pretty enjoying "Caps for Sale."

Wrap Up Spring Reading Thing 2010

These are the books I finished for The Spring Reading Thing Challenge this year.  There were seven others on my original list that I didn't get to.  I am a little disappointed that the number I finished was so low but, I guess we can only do what we can do.  That just leaves me with a ready made list to work on for the summer!

Throw Out Fifty Things by Gail Blanke (finished June 2010)

Love Is the Killer App by Ted Sanders (finished 5/2010)

Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom (finished 4/14/10) I really enjoyed this one.  Found it to be very inspiring.  It was a quick read; I was able to easily finish it in one day, probably about six hours time.

Numbers by Rachel Ward I just (3/23/10) finished this book and it made me angry. The writing never drew me in enough to really care about the characters until the very end of the story. Then at the end it just made me angry. In thinking about this and another book that made me have this strong a reaction, I'm realizing that the flaw in the stories is that there was no hope. In real life, there is ALWAYS hope. This is a fundamental belief in my life and yet I can read science fiction and fantasy and the like and suspend my reality enough to enjoy them. It's when there is no hope in a story that I just really can't

accept the story and really dislike the book.

Burn by Ted Dekker & Erin Healy (finished 3/17/10)

Skin by Ted Dekker (finished 5/26/10) I read this book entirely using the Kindle application on my iPhone. It was an interesting experience. I think that for a "quick read" like this it works for me but for more substantial reads, I still prefer a good old fashioned book. I guess it's at least nice to have the option.

New Moon by Stephenie Meyer (finished 4/1/10) So now I've read Twilight and New Moon, and I think I'm finished with this series. I have enjoyed reading them and I think the story is great. The writing is just so laborious to plod through. Get to the point already! It shouldn't take 400 pages to get to the most exciting part of a book. Guess I'll wait for all of the movies to come out.

20X40 List Update #13 Start/Join a Bookclub

I am so happy to say that I have NOT had to start my own book club but I have been lucky enough to have found two book clubs that are very fun.  The first I've only been able to attend once so far because an ill child kept me from the second meeting.  The first book we read was The Help by Kathryn Stockett and I loved that book.  I felt smarter after reading it.  The second book we read was Twilight by Stephenie Meyer.  I really had no interest in reading it but it was for book club so there you go.  It just had to be done.

And the verdict is, I actually really enjoyed Twilight and it's easy to see what all the hype is about.  It's a ridiculously romantic book.  With all of the Harlequin Romances and other series of romance novels that are sold in this country every year, this book is easily at least as romantic as any of those.  It does NOT have the explicitness of the others or I would absolutely say it's not for pre-teens.  That part has thankfully been left out.  I've decided that as an avid reader I really want to finish the series so now I'm on to New Moon.  I'll let you know how that goes.

The other group I joined turns out to be a Young Adult book club at our local Barnes & Noble store.  It's a really interesting group and the other members have helped me find plenty of books for my boys (ages 11 & 9) to read.  Two of the members work at the bookstore (I call them young adults ~young 20ish, my boys call them old). Either way, they have been very helpful in finding great reads and the discussions of books so far have been really fun.

See my entire 20X40 list here.  By the way, my birthday was March 14th so now I have less than a year to complete my list!

Review: Twitter Marketing for Dummies by Kyle Lacy

I've been using Twitter just about a year now and recently started a small business, Gather Arts Organizing, LLC. When I had the opportunity to review this book I thought it would be very helpful in establishing an appropriate online presence for my business.


On page 103 of Twitter Marketing For Dummies I read what I wish everyone would remember about all social media, "Twitter is about engagement." On page 102 I read perhaps the most important piece of marketing advice in the book, at least for me, "You want to get as many committed, rabid, evangelistic customers as you can."


Not only is this book a great resource for effectively marketing on Twitter, but a really great marketing refresher in general.  Kyle reinforces the idea that social media is simply another venue and needs to fit into your primary business marketing plan.


Twitter Marketing for Dummies has something for everyone. For the complete Twitter novice there are step by step instructions on getting started.  Kyle explains quite a bit of Twitter etiquette and even some "inside" jokes.


For the more advanced Twitter marketer he has already invested the time and energy to examine several tools to use with Twitter to make your time online more effective. There are many, many "do's and don'ts" that I have already used to make really good choices about how to use social media in my business and personal life.


Bottom line for me: Twitter is fun. Business is fun. This book will help you put them together appropriately so Twitter marketing can be fun and effective.

Disclosure: This book was provided to me by Wiley Publishing. The links above for the book are affiliate links.

Book Review: The Sacred Meal by Nora Gallagher

In The Sacred Meal, Nora Gallagher attempts to make Communion accessible to everyone.  By using real stories from her life she shows how this practice is available to all; those who’ve never taken it before, those who have but may feel it’s lost it’s signifigance for them, and to those who’ve always taken it, maybe for granted.

For me, this book came at a perfect time. That’s just a God thing, I hope you understand.  I was reading it just after the terrible earthquake hit Haiti, and we were all trying to decide how to respond.  Many times the author talks about “the healing powers of extravagance, of extravagant generosity, of extravagant love.”  There is nothing more extravagant than God’s love for us, and that’s what I think we all wanted to give to the people of Haiti as we were working to form a response.

Above all, Nora Gallagher presents a picture of the Lord’s Table as a place where everyone is welcome.  Everyone.  Yes, everyone.  Yes, even you.  No matter where you have been or what you have done.  No matter what you have lived through.  His grace is extravagant and covers over everything.  She shows how taking the Lord’s Supper is just one small step into a great big Kingdom. By entering into the mystery of Communion and recognizing the intersection between our everyday lives and the Kingdom that exists in that ritual, we can begin to see and recognize that connection so much more in our everyday lives.

The Sacred Meal is a very quick read and I certainly have been encouraged by this book to read more in The Ancient Practices Series as well as reading more by this author.  This book was provided to me for free by Thomas Nelson publishers.