February 2020

My First Quilt

Posted by Wendy on February 27, 2020 Leave a Comment

Okay, so this isn’t really my first quilt, but it’s the first one I’ve done in several years.

This photo is the best representation of the true colors of the quilt.

This is a design I’ve wanted to make for a while, ever since I saw it done on another quilt just before Grasshopper (7, formerly Small Fry) was born. When I was shopping for fabric, I didn’t necessarily have it in mind, until I started putting fabrics together. Generally speaking, I find shopping for fabric equal parts frustrating and exciting. The options, even in a smaller store, can be so overwhelming. But then when you find one that you love, you can suddenly begin to find others that would compliment it so well. That was the case with these. It was the animals first, followed closely by the words. Finding the other two to tie everything together was easy after that!

The backing came later. Even for small quilts, the price of the backing can add up quickly because it’s such a large piece. By waiting just a couple of weeks, I was better baby to shop the sales at JoAnn, where I got flannel for the back at just $1.99 (USD). At that price, I got pieces to back a total of 3 quilts.

The other thing I had to wait for in order to finish this quilt was a “darning foot” for my sewing machine. I love the style of free-motion quilting, but ever since my first machine broke several years ago, I haven’t been able to create that style because none of my subsequent machines allow the feed dogs (the things underneath the needle that pull the fabric through) to drop out of the way. You could cover them up, but with a standard foot, that’s worthless because when you lower the presser foot, the fabric is so squished between the cover and the foot that you can’t move it at all. After a bit of research, I learned that a darning foot doesn’t apply pressure to the fabric in the same way as a standard foot. So I ordered a set. Within minutes of their arrival (I bought a set of 3 for under $14 including shipping), I was trying them out. And I was ecstatic! I was so thrilled to be able to free motion quilt again.

Overall, I’m really happy with how this quilt turned out. My husband mentioned a couple months ago that maybe we could get a booth at a bazaar for the holidays this year, so I have a goal of creating many, many things to sell. Crochet blankets are too much time commitment to be able to build up any sort of stash, so I’ve decided to do quilts instead. This was going to be my first one for the stash, but unfortunately the back wrinkled quite a bit, so I don’t think it’s sale-worthy. That just means that it now belongs to Bumblebee (18 months) instead. And he seems to love it.

Blessings,

Christian Apologetics: a TOS review

Posted by Wendy on February 26, 2020 1 Comment

DISCLAIMER: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in exchange fir my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been working through The Unbreakable Faith Course from Pilgrim’s Rock, LLC. As you can surmise from my post title, this is a course on Christian Apologetics (defending the faith), and it is very well done.

The course consists of video lessons and two textbooks: The Box and God the Reason, both written by series creator Craig Biehl. The books (called “textbooks,” but formatted like and as easy to read as novels) are available either as physical copies or PDF ebooks. The video lessons are online. The course is self-paced, but required to be completed within 36 weeks (one standard school year). The course is designed for teens 15+ and adults, and complete enough to earn your teen one high school credit.

The course has 6 parts, each one with required reading from the texts and several videos. There is a quiz at the end of each part. Like any high school or college course, the best place to start is with the syllabus, and The Unbreakable Faith Course has a very complete one that goes over the expectations, grading scale, and course calendar very clearly.

The first assignment was to read The Box in its entirety. This was easily done because, like I mentioned before, it reads like a novel. The book forms the foundation of the course, and is interesting to read because it has many “conversations” between two characters, called Mr. A (atheist) and Mr. C (Christian). There are some interesting points made by Mr. C, but the one I found most compelling was that atheism requires just as much, if not more, faith as Christianity. The only difference is where that faith lies.

Once you finish reading The Box, you work through God the Reason and the video lessons. The videos are usually in the 10-13 minute range, and I usually watched either after the kids were in bed or while I was cooking dinner. Those are typically the only times I had a few minutes to myself (as other moms understand!). The information contained therein was really solid, and I enjoyed the singing of hymns at the beginning and end of each one.

Overall, I think this is a very complete course, and definitely doesn’t skimp on information. I can understand how it earns a full credit for high schoolers!

Blessings,

Other members of the Homeschool Review Crew are reviewing The Unbreakable Faith Course this week too. Head over to the Crew blog to find links to those reviews; if you’re even a little curious about this course, you don’t want to miss the other reviews!

Crochet Ripple Blanket

Posted by Wendy on February 12, 2020 Leave a Comment

A few days ago, I finished making this crochet blanket. I absolutely loved making it; the colors are so pleasant, and the pattern was easily memorized, so it was great for show-watching and car-riding. There are countless versions of the pattern online (I’m guessing it’s one of the oldest crochet patterns around), but I followed the one by Jayda in Stitches on YouTube. My blanket is 10 repeats wide (140 stitches, 144 starting chains), and 3 repeats plus one segment tall. I consider each height repeat to be 8 rows of gray, 4 teal, 8 black, 4 teal. I finished it out with 8 rows of gray, because otherwise it felt like I’d “stopped” rather than “finished.”

Blessings,

Meet the Family: Ballet Boy

Posted by Wendy on February 8, 2020 Leave a Comment

When I asked the kids what they wanted their new “blog names” to be, our oldest chose Ballet Boy. It’s rather fitting, seeing as though dance is his main “P.E” and extracurricular right now. So, without further ado, let’s meet Ballet Boy.

Ballet Boy is 16, and besides ballet (he’s been the lead role in three ballers now, including having been The Nutcracker twice) his main interest right now is medieval weaponry. He’s been doing loads of research and has started collecting swords. In fact, he’s even started making his own! He spends about half his schooldays in my homeschool, and the other half working with/for his dad. As he’s matured, he’s become a fantastic sounding board for ideas, and an invaluable part of Will’s team.

Ballet Boy is a remarkable young man, wise beyond his years (usually), and incredibly responsible. He’s been our go-to babysitter since he was 13, and it’s so nice being able to trust him in that capacity.

Will does a lot the assigning for Ballet Boy’s school, and under his guidance, our son is learning Earth science and reading Machiavelli’s The Prince (besides the things I assign him as well). They have rousing discussions (so I’ve heard) about his readings.

In addition to sword making and ballet, he has recently shown an interest in learning to sew; I got a new sewing machine a few days ago, so we’ve had a couple of lessons.

I think that’s it for Ballet Boy for now.

Blessings,

Meet the Family: Will

Posted by Wendy on February 1, 2020 Leave a Comment

Will and I have been married for 19 years. He runs a publishing and graphic design company. The publishing side deals with his own books (he draws comics and writes and illustrates picture books). He also has a magazine, which features comics, stories, and non-fiction profiles. The goal of the magazine is to promote art and literacy in schools. As such, he offers copies free to schools for their students.

The graphics side focuses on helping other self-published authors get their books ready for print. He takes the text and illustrations (when applicable) and sets up the appropriate title pages, fonts, etc.

Outside of work, his favorite books are Cold Mountain and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series. He enjoys mobster movies and spy shows. His favorite beverage is iced tea, and one of our regular date nights is to hit our favorite restaurant, sometimes just to drink tea and talk.

Though he works hard, he also likes to play hard. He isn’t opposed to getting down on the floor to play horsie with the little kids or grabbing a Nerf gun to shoot the teenagers.

He is a great interior designer; our home is beautiful because of his eye, not mine. He prefers his music on vinyl, as is proof by our collection of nearly 200 records.

I am blessed to get to spend my life with him.

Blessings,

Month: February 2020

My First Quilt

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Christian Apologetics: a TOS review

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Crochet Ripple Blanket

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Meet the Family: Ballet Boy

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Meet the Family: Will

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