I’m enjoying these first, crisp days of autumn!
Lately I’ve been thinking about various angles of time management…including my perennial habit of putting things off until the very last. Instead of making a project way ahead, I wait to decide what to make until I get down to the wire and have to do something. Instead of getting ready to go in plenty of time and leisurely working until it’s time to leave, often I head out in a frenzy. My tendency is to work on anything else but what really needs to take priority, until the last minute.
I find I can be extremely productive under the pressure of a deadline. But…it’s so frustrating. Is it really worth the stress? And, more importantly: is this really the way a child of God should operate?
We can read throughout the Gospels that Jesus had a very keen sense of time during His earthly ministry. “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.” (John 9:4) He knew His time had a divinely appointed limit and purpose. There is no haste and no delay within His perfect working.
I love what He prayed in John 17:3, as His departure neared: “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.” There was no scramble at the last minute, He was ready. And that’s how I long to be.
I don’t have my Savior’s perfect grasp on time, but I can pray for God’s leading and be faithful with what He puts before me. The way we approach little projects and daily tasks may seem unimportant, but they echo into eternity when they are done for Jesus.
“He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.” (Luke 16:10)
“And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3:23-24)
Life is short. If you have something on your heart, that you know you need to do – I encourage you not to wait. Get started today!
I’ve loved having opportunities to do more crafting lately, making some special gifts. (Yes, even sometimes with deadlines!) Today I’d like to introduce a recent quilting project!
Project: “Stars and Geese” Quilted Tablerunner
Pattern: I started with a pattern in one of Grandmom’s classic quilting books, “A Garden of Quilts by Mary Elizabeth Johnson,” as inspiration. (I’m spoiled by having access to her fabulous quilting library!) The original pattern had only two star blocks, with an appliqued oval wreath of flowers in the center block. I opted for three stars and love the simpler patchwork look.
Purpose: This tablerunner was created as my gift for the Homespun Swap!
Process: I love seeing small, “scrappy” quilts with lots of different fabrics intermixed, but I don’t personally feel super confident with knowing how to arrange and mix the fabrics effectively. I liked how this pattern lends to the scrappy feel, while being balanced and structured. I used fabrics from our stash – and the white-on-white print came from Grandmom’s stash. (You might also spy the pink print from my niece’s special dress earlier this year!)
In the piecing process, I really enjoyed assembling the Flying Geese units for the borders and star points. The stars are standard 12” blocks. The whole runner ended up being about 65 ½ inches long by 18 inches wide, which was bigger than I had imagined.
For the quilting, I used my trusty Singer Featherweight machine to quilt around the blocks and around pieces as needed. When I went to quilt the borders, I realized I didn’t have any readily accessible quilter’s tape and found out that tiny washi tape functions quite well. After it was machine quilted, I added some stenciled hand quilting to the middle of each star and in the borders between the star blocks. Hearts were the motif of choice, of course!
After the quilting and binding, all that was left was a label!
Thank you for reading! This tablerunner was a really fun project and I loved seeing a precious friend take it home to enjoy. ♥
Your turn! Please share! What have you been pondering? Do you have any favorite time management tips? What is a project you’ve been putting off that you could start today?
Because of Jesus,
Maggie ♥
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