Tag Archives: Thoughts

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Finding Peace During Conflict

In my latest vlog, I deviate from my regular topics of fiber and fabric, and reflect on lessons learned in my youth, lessons which have become vital for navigating the turmoil of today. Finding peace during turbulent times is seldom easy, as it is easier slip into conflict even as we for peace.

The important key to finding peace, at anytime but especially during turbulent times, is to engage. Even as we might need to step back from conflict, we can still find ways to engage.

Engagement in society, seeking deeper knowledge, acknowledging our own areas of weakness, and working to find greater understanding are all ways to the path of finding a sense of peace. In seeking these things, even if we cannot do them all at once, we take the steps necessary for growth. We take the steps necessary for progression.

When we feel frustrated that we cannot change the world, we tend to forget that we can change ourselves. Change on the individual level and on the small society level (friends, family, social groups) will have lasting effects. This change and effect may not get the headlines, but they are sustainable even when the political winds shift.

Sadly, conflict in often unavoidable, but we can still work for a change, and that change may help us find peace.

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Saith Me… Purpose and Joy

I have found “giving up” to be really hard work and terribly difficult to achieve. 

 I am not making light of the desire, just the opposite. The desire is often very intense, but giving up seems to simply be much harder than finding joy or purpose. When joy seems elusive, I look for purpose. Purpose usually leads me to joy. 

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Saith Me: Together

Whether we are a tortoise or a hare, the journey can be better if we travel together.

Simplistic, yes I know, but true in most cases when the parties are willing to embrace each other’s weaknesses as well as each other’s strengths.

Choosing our companions wisely is certainly key to success. Also key to success is recognizing our traveling companion today may not be our companion for the entire journey.

Seldom is the journey, or life, a smooth, straight path. Even when we know where we want to go, and have a map to guide us, we will encounter obstacles that may cause us to detour seeking an uncharted way to our destination.

Having trusted companions can help us navigate the detours; and if we should get lost, those companions will prevent us from feeling the despair of solitude.

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A Message to My Followers

Will the words fail me? Will the joy fade away? Or will I once again find a path forward?

Despite today being the anniversary of one of the happiest days of my mother’s heart, I awoke with a dread similar to one I have had before. Only this time the dread was deeper and more weighty. It is one thing for the hopeful to follow the path to sorrow when the path is shrouded and obscured. Yet, when the light shines brightly on the path, illuminating the danger signs in glaring clarity, it is a dreaded thing to witness.

I seek joy through creative pursuits, and I seek to share that joy with others. It is my hope that in some small way I can inspire others to seek their own joy.

In my efforts, whether through blog or vlog, I try my best to focus on the universal language of joy. Today, in the light of so much chaos, I finally feel the unshakable need to be clear about something I believe many (or at least those closely following) will have discerned. I use the word joy with great understanding that it is a word intertwined Christ.

I use it as a synonym for Christ, and for love, and for grace.

I view it as an eternal condition – this joy of which I speak, and I see it as being a common language.

I believe it is a condition and a language that supersedes the religions of man. For all of mankind can experience it, and seek it, and receive it regardless of the customs they follow.

I use JOY for this very reason – it bridges the gaps of culture. For while I connect it to Christ, others need not do so if that is their choice. It doesn’t change the eternal and universal nature of it.

Sorrow has gripped me, has made my heart weep, but I will cling to my quest for joy – and in doing so, I will hopefully be able to continue to have something to blog and vlog about.

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A November 2024 Thought

Pilate gave the people the opportunity to set Jesus free – the prophesized savior, a man who taught love.

Yet when given the choice, they instead chose a traitor, one imprisoned for sedition and murder. They chose to condemn unto death the very hope they had been taught to seek, and instead they chose another. (Luke 23)

History shows us, time-and-time again, that people will choose unwisely. Choosing a path of love, charity, and kindness takes work. It also can require us to do what the wealthy young man could not do – follow Christ. (Mathew 19:21-22).

When faced with a choice, people will more often than not choose a snake-oil cure rather than a path to real health.

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What’s in a Word – The Patchwork Quilt

The word quilt can mean simply a blanket. However for some, the word is intertwined with memories of a cherished grandmother who provided warmth and a hug through a patchwork creation of love.

The language of quilting, is both simple and complex. It is a craft developed around a utilitarian skill, but unlike its fiber cousins, weaving and knitting, quilting can mean the entire process as well as the specific skill of sewing together the quilt sandwich.

The word quilting describes the task of sewing together two or more layers of fabric, with the modern quilt usually having two layers of fabric sandwiching a middle layer of fiber called batting or wadding. However, historically, the process often was used to bind together many layers of fabric in order to create a dense fabric structure used for armor.

The term quilting has also become synonymous with the process of making a quilt. Piecing the patches of a patchwork quilt is less often used. It is easier to say, “I am quilting,” and have yourself understood than it is to say, “I am piecing,” or “I am doing patchwork”. Plus, not all quilts are pieced or constitute patchwork. Whole cloth quilts and comforters are examples of quilted items that would not require piecing and would not be called patchwork. Plus there is also a category of quilts that are tied or tufted. These are still considered quilts by many (especially when they are patchwork in nature), but these have no quilting stitches.

So what is in a word – the word quilting? Is is just another English word that causes many to shake their head over the confusion of the English language? Or is it a word that is fluid, adaptable, and timeless? It can mean many things – different things to different people, and also many things to one.

In my dictionary it has many definitions. Including the following one.

Quilting is the process of making a hug.

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This week’s video shares a few more of the quilted items under construction in my home at the moment, as well as a couple finished quilts. I also have another patchwork block to share.

Ayla’s Christmas BlockDownload

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Uncharted Paths

A charted path can help us get to where we want to go, and it can provide us a sense of control in a chaotic world. Yet, there is something to be said for occasionally leaving the charted path and bravely taking an unplanned journey into the unknown.

With the completion of my dedicated sewing-crafting room (notwithstanding the need of a fresh coat of wall and ceiling paint), I find myself recognizing a shift has occurred. While I don’t believe the sewing room is the catalyst of this change, I do think it symbolizes the change that has occurred within me.

It is as I begin to really use this dedicated space, a space that brings me joy and comfort, I realize more fully that I have changed.

Change doesn’t usually happen overnight, but sometimes the awakening to the change does feel abrupt. We go to bed one night only to wake up the next morning to realize the journey we’ve been on has led us to our destination. What then, we ask ourselves? Do we meticulously map our a new destination, or do we allow ourselves the freedom of following an uncharted path, even if only for a short while?

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This Week’s English Paper Piecing Block – The Triple Star
25-triple-starDownload

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