Pleated Strip Quilt

Hello Friends,

Not too long ago I picked up a new hobby of quilting. I'm no expert by any means but I thought I would share some of my first projects.  The first thing I made was a baby quilt which I will do a tutorial of soon. The second thing I made was a pleated strip quilt for my good friend Kelly. She requested a quilt as a christmas present and I was excited to have a reason to do another. 

I first picked out 8 different fabrics and cut them into 2.5 inch x fabric width strips (most fabrics will be 42 to 43 inches in width making this a nice way to make it uniform. How much fabric you need will depend on the size you want your quilt to be.  As this was only my second time using a rotary cutter and mat, know that you can do this too as long as you can be patient. I did it while catching up on my favorite shows on hulu. 

For pleated strips you will need 3 (2.5 inch by fabric width strips together).

                            

After a little bit your ready to go. I personally liked the idea of coordinating but differing fabrics. The only request I had was purples and greens so I first found that beautiful pink and green flowers fabric 4th from the bottom of the picture above. I then just found fabrics to go with it.
(Note: I'm one of the prefer not to prewash my fabrics people so these are unwashed.)

The next thing to do is to determine your pattern. You can have a set pattern or not it is up to you. I did every 5th strip pleated because I found it would work out nicely with the fabrics I chose. Please feel free to be creative.

Sew your strips together in the patter that you like leaving for 1/4 inch seam allowance. Ensure that you switch ends that you start each new stripe with or your strips will start to curve quite a bit (I learned this the hard way).

When you get to a strip where you want to do pleating. (remember these are 3 strips sewn together to have enough fabric to do the pleating.) Begin by pining the fabric down and then follow into pleat and pin. This is a little time intensive as you need to pin each pleat. Sew into place, unpin and then pin each pleat to the next strip. While it takes a little longer than just a straight strip you will find that the end result looks great.

                                             

                         

As you continue to sew strips it will begin to look like this. Notice how nice the pleated strip looks! It adds a little flair to the quilt but if it seems like too much you could just do strips. When it gets to the desired length your ready to place the batting, back and bind the quilt together. I did quilt the project by "stitching in the ditch" or sewing the top, back and batting together in the seams between the strips. I did this on every 5th strip to create a nice pattern on the back. Being new to quilting this was a good idea as I was not ready for free motion quilting at this point. This tutorial won't cover these steps as I failed to take pictures of this process for you but I hope to get some together soon, however if you good " binding a quilt" you can find lots of help there. 

My final quilt ended up being 42 x 53 a good lap sized quilt. This was the intended size for me but again be creative. The last pictures show the finished product. Keep in mind the way I am holding it in the last one does make it appear as though my stripes aren't straight but they are...for the most part. :) 

Handmade projects are a beautiful way to show people that you love them. I encourage you to try this easy project. If you have questions please let me know. 

<3

Anita 

The Last Thing I Ever Wanted To be...

The last thing I ever wanted to be was Catholic. I grew up in a southern baptist church that while doctrinally does not teach catholicism is evil, the members of my church sure felt that way. I can remember being told that catholics worshipped satan and believing that as I had no reason to question it.

About a year and a half ago my husband and I had been going for 9 months to a nondenominational church. We had tried so hard to get plugged into to the community, he was serving with the youth and I was helping teach a woman's group. We went to bible studies but we still felt as though it wasn't a good fit. We didn't want to be people who just went to what "felt good" so we stayed until God was clear that wasn't our home. Newly married we wanted couples to pour into our lives and help us in this new stage of life. I wanted older women to learn from and Paul wanted men he could grow from and with. We didn't find that where we were and so we left around thanksgiving of 2012. We honestly had no plan of where we were going to go but prayed God would lead us.

We started going to another nondenominational church in Lake Nona, FL. This church had what we wanted: a great marriage ministry and lots of woman who loved God and wanted to know the bible. We got plugged in but still found that some things didn't add up. Doctrinally little things bothered us but nothing had been said that was too far out there. Around this time (January 2013) I was beginning my pediatric neurosurgery rotation.

I can recall just before I started I kept meeting people who were telling me that their bible had more books in it. Growing up baptist I never questioned where the bible came from because if you asked me I would have said "It's the inspired word of God." That's true, but how did it get put together? Did it drop out of a cave ? Did someone find it on an archaeological dig and did it look like my Kids Application Bible or was it more like my grandmothers King James? These questions bothered me but I didn't look much into it as I kind of chalked it up to them being "catholic." No need to look into that.  I rationalized that perhaps they had all the books after hours and hours of research on how the bible was put together and I was certain I was probably missing a few, but I didn't want to be catholic and at least I could say that everything in my bible was inspired but maybe I didn't have the whole bible... so what? Using that logic now I'd tell you that if someone tried to rip out Hebrews or James or Revelation today I'd claim them a heretic (but thats exactly what was done...these three... 4 more for the new testament and 7 from the old. The new testament was fixed but the old testament never was.)

First day of my neurosurgery rotation my preceptor mentions she's Catholic and I should read books by Scott Hahn to learn about the Catholic church. I wrote it down, and forgot about it. I didn't want to read them because I didn't want to be catholic. A few weeks later at her house for lunch she gives me Rome Sweet Home to read. Dr. Hahn is an engaging writer and it took no time to get through the book, and no matter the subject I don't turn down books. I remember thinking some verses he mentioned were puzzling like "the church is the pillar and foundation of truth." Which begs: Which church? I was willing to overlook this information though, until my husband read Rome Sweet Home. We returned the book but couldn't return the ideas. That sunday at church our preacher got up and was speaking on Ephesians 5. He said we were all "predestined in love." He explained this meant that God doesn't love everyone and that He only loves those who are predestined. As we then all stood and sang a song about how God loves us, Paul and I looked at each other knowing we could never go back to this church. It was heretical to say God doesn't love everyone as it destroys the nature of who God is.

Not too long after that Paul and I both felt God putting on our hearts that birth control was not His plan. This culminated in me coming home and sharing what I learned in school that day. As a physician assistant student we discussed all sorts of topics but what we learned about birth control shocked me:

Birth control has 3 functions
1. Ovulation- birth control inhibits ovulation
2. Cervical Mucus- birth control thickens cervical mucus to limit the sperm from getting to the egg should ovulation occur
3. Abortifactant - birth control thins the uterine lining to prevent implantation should the first two mechanisms fail.

I remember not being able to wrap my mind around that third one. "Prevents Implantation." Implantation of what? A baby. Life begins at conception: a baby is made with Gods guidance when egg and sperm meet. It travels down the fallopian tube and ...implants in the uterine lining.  I came home and told Paul I couldn't take it anymore and my heart broke for the babies God might have given that the medication didn't allow to live. This though still breaks my heart and I pray often that one day if that did happen to any that I'll meet them in heaven and be able to honestly apologize because I didn't know. Had I known, I never would have taken that medication. I later learned that birth control starves and suffocates the baby to death even if it does implant. Talk about cruel and no one told me.

Of course no birth control for a newly married couple ...and we started asking people what we should do? At the time I thought babies were made like cakes even though my medical training told me otherwise. Put in the ingredients and wait.  They told us "pray about it." No advice. No answers. I began to research these functions of birth control to learn that the Catholic church knew these functions and thus encouraged natural family planning through a variety of methods (note: the rhythm method is not natural family planning.) I came to a place where I believed what the church said about birth control but I didn't want to be catholic.

We did around this time meet with a Protestant pastor from my baptist church who I respected. I figured he would tell my husband the catholic church is wrong and that would be the end of it. Instead he recommended Sex Love and Marriage by Christopher West and told us the Catholic church has it right on these subjects and we should follow them but ignore the last page on Mary. I couldn't believe my ears and couldn't appreciate that book more...even the last page.

By this time we were attending mass but it wasn't a happy experience. I hated it, Paul felt bad for going but we were certain we didn't want to be separated and when I asked my husband where we should go to church he said : the Catholic church. I'm thankful now that he had an answer because I truthfully didn't. I could tell you why we shouldn't go to many of the other churches in the area but my reasons for not wanting to go to mass were that it was boring as if church was ever for our entertainment rather than for worshipping God. By this time I had figured out they didn't worship satan as they said "Do you renounce Satan and all his works? - I do." It was tough for me to want to stand and kneel and bow to what I wasn't sure. I used it as time to pray that God would either show me the truth of the Catholic church or He would change my husbands heart and take us away from the Catholic church. I found myself defending Catholic doctrine as to dispel misconceptions as I talked to people being clear that I wasn't Catholic but that Catholics do NOT worship Mary, they do NOT worship satan, they DO believe Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist, they do believe marriage is a sacrament... I was clarifying but not sharing, I was reading a lot but much of it I found confusing to what I knew.

It took a lot of prayer, and time for God to open my heart to the Catholic church. I didn't blindly follow Paul and I didn't make it easy as I was questioning everything down to that I wouldn't cross myself without good reason and I wouldn't bow just because everyone else did. I wanted to know why and how and when it started and then decide if I felt we should do it. I won't go into all these things here but what I will tell you is the tipping point was not all of these things, it was the Eucharist.

I read many books during my journey but maybe the two most important were "The Jewish Roots of the Eucharist" by Brandt Pitre and "The Sign of the Cross" by St. Francis De Sales. In the book by Dr. Pitre a trail between the manna of the old testament and the Eucharist of the new testament was carved out showing me truth that I had never encountered and an explanation of scriptures that have baffled people for centuries.  God led me many other places during the reading of that book and I went on a quest to prove that in some way the Eucharist was either true or false as there could be nothing in between. I read books, I scoured scripture, I prayed and through grace God showed me that when Jesus said "My body is true food and my blood is true drink" it wasn't a metaphor or a symbol. It was true. Learning that helped me during mass quite a bit as the mass is all about the Eucharist: it's all about Christ. To claim its Jesus either has to be true or the church is the biggest heretical place out there because they bow to a cracker. Either they are right, or they really are wrong and NOTHING in scripture could show me that it wasn't Jesus and rather all of scripture screamed that it IS Christ.

I'm still learning and growing and I truly could make a whole book out of this story as it was such a journey but my take home message would be to look into it. Look into what they teach and why they teach it and know why you don't believe it. All I was doing was looking for a way out and God slowly brought me in. I'll be confirmed on May 17th in the Roman Catholic Church and it seems like it can't come soon enough.

To say this is the last thing I ever wanted to be would be an understatement, so if you think I'm crazy I completely understand. My husband can attest that this was the hardest decision I have ever made not only in the amount of time it took to come to this conclusion, but also in what it has cost me. It has cost me the ability to practice medicine at a lot of offices as I am a pro-life provider.  It has cost me friends, who have asked me not to be their friend if I'm catholic, or not to talk about it if I am going to be catholic. I've had friends, family and strangers, bosses and potential employers challenge and question my decision to be catholic. It definitely has not been the convenient option. I can tell you it was the right option, because it is following the truth and God's leading.  It's truly a miracle that God has brought me here, where I least wanted to be but I know that He has a plan for me and my faith.

I'd be happy to answer any questions you have please e-mail me at beautifulgoodtrue@gmail.com
I'll tell you it's a journey to the church just as it's a journey to faith in God.

Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingly power

One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" But the other rebuked him saying "Do you not fear God since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingly power." And He said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise."



One of them despairs. One of them pours out his heart and to Christ while the other is blaspheming. One repents, the other requests pardon. One is prayerful in his appeal, the other is demanding.

While this story has been debated on many sides to determine whether or not this man was baptized or not, whether or not there is purgatory or not, whether or not Paradise meant one thing or another, there is a beautiful picture here outside of biblical scholar hood that we can all agree on. Both thief's on the cross recognized Christ but their hearts toward knowing him were completely different. This should so much impart to us that simply knowing the name of Christ does not constitute a true understanding of who He is. Simply knowing Christ is God doesn't even give the best picture. What do we learn from this interaction: Christ made possible salvation to the world and with that gift He also gave us an intimate way to know Him and we are called to be devoted to Him. The first thief treats Jesus like a get out of jail free card where the second thief doesn't even ask for salvation, he simply asks to be remembered. For God's mercy.



This brings me back to Jesus speaking about the pharisee and tax collector. Jesus always was looking for hearts that were crying out for mercy to the Father just as Jesus in His earthly life called for God’s mercy on himself.



Friends which thief are you? Are you crying out to God in blasphemy or are you prayerfully and whole heartedly begging your savior to remember you knowing He has the power to save you. Friends be the second thief. I say this knowing I’m the first thief too often in my own life. Too often do I reject God in the choices I make and yet ask God “please help me” in this that or the other when I feel stuck. Too many times I can remember doing what I want to on Saturday night but begging for Him to bless me on Sunday morning. We are either for Him or against Him. Thankfully God has grown me and I find myself more on the side of the second thief amazed by the power of Christ and asking Him to please just remember me knowing it’s only by His grace I’ll be saved. Often I find myself unworthy and am overwhelmed by the grace and peace Christ gives me. All is a gift and nothing earned and I pray God would grow my heart more and more to be the second thief and destroy the parts of my heart that look like that of the first thief. Let us reflect on Christ’s ability to save us and on the state of our heart. Let this reflection move you to repentance.



<3

Anita

"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do."

Friends, 

I am reading an amazing book at this time by Frances De Sales called Introduction to the Devout Life. He writes some inspiring words on how to grow in true devotion to Christ. A particular passage that stuck out to me this morning is below:

"But, my daughter, you must not stop short in general affections, without turning them into special resolutions for your own correction and amendment. For instance, meditating on Our Dear Lord's First Word from the Cross, you will no doubt be roused to the desire of imitating Him in forgiving and loving your enemies. But that is not enough, unless you bring it to some practical resolution, such as, I will not be angered any more by the annoying things said of me by such or such a neighbour, nor by the slights offered me by such an one; but rather I will do such and such things in order to soften and conciliate them. In this way, my daughter, you will soon correct your faults, whereas mere general resolutions would take but a slow and uncertain effect. " -Frances De Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life.

Friends. What were Jesus's first words on the cross?

Luke 23:33-34 And when they came to the place which is called The Skull, there they crucified him and the criminals one on the right and one on the left. And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." 

The first thing Jesus did? Pray. Who did He pray for? Those who were crucifying Him, and inevitably for us in our complacency against true devotion. They were killing Him and He was praying for them. Friends this should radically move your heart. I'll say it again:

THEY WERE KILLING HIM AND HE WAS PRAYING FOR THEM!

Friends. would that be you? Honestly? Would that be you? Would you be praying for your murderer as they slaughter you? Would you be asking God for their forgiveness as they torture you? Would you be praying God forgive them if they nailed through your hands and feet into the wooden cross and pushed a crown of thorns into your skull? With your arms stretched out on that cross, in your difficult effort to breath would you hoist yourself up to say "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do?" 

How much does our sweet savior love us that in His death He provided this perfect picture. One sentence but an amazing message. Friends if we are to be imitators of Christ could we do this? Friends in this time of Lent we are called to be led to a place of repentance and forgiveness. Friends contemplate these words and apply them to your life. Hear the sweet words of Jesus speak to your heart as He prays for God to forgive you even in the places you know not what you do. Pray that the grace of the Holy Spirit would enlighten your heart to your sin and that such knowledge would lead you to repentance. 

Friends to true meditate on this can do nothing but bring you to tears. Tears of thankfulness to Christ of His compassion. Tears of repentance at your failure. Tears of heartbreak for others who know not what they do. 

What does Frances De Sales write: that mere resolution to be more forgiving would have little effect but meditation on Christ will help to correct your faults. Friends we can not on our own grow in forgiveness and repentance without Christ. So we must start with the cross. Start with His words. Start with His love. We are called to forgive as Christ has forgiven us. We are to pray for those who persecute us. We are to be known by our love. In context with Jesus on the cross his commands because sweet pleas. Friends: He loves you. He loved you so much He died for you and as He died He prayed for you and for your forgiveness even when you are ignorant of your sin. Let this move your heart to forgiveness friends. Let this rock your world.  Let this bring you to true devotion of Christ. 

"...devotion is the delight of delights and queen of virtues since it is the perfection of charity. if charity is milk, devotion is cram; if it is a plant, devotion is its blossom; if it is a precious stone, devotion is its luster; if it is a rich ointment, devotions is its odor, yes, odor of sweetness which comforts men and rejoices angels." - Frances de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life. 

Friends let true devotion to Christ grow in your heart this Lenten season. 

<3

Anita

4000 died today in the USA

Hello friends,

I regret to inform you that 4000 innocent died today. Approximately 4000 babies died today because of abortion. Today I come to you with a heavy heart. Today I ask for your prayers. A heartbreaking display of the 4000 that die each day from abortion is below. Friends please give these children life. Please support pregnant mothers. Please provide for one another and please please please respect life. Please let me know if ever I can help you and your considering abortion. Please pray with me for the 4000 lost today. Please let's end this.

Please lets stop pretending it's not happening or turning a blind eye to it. Please lets stop condemning the women who have abortions and start loving them and showing them grace. Please let's remind them that they are carrying a beautiful baby that God place their. A gift from heaven. Please let us help to steward that gift. 

Friends please know that if you have had an abortion that there is hope. Please know that if you want to have an abortion that there are options. Please know that if your pregnant your not alone. Please know that I'm praying for you and I don't mean that in a careless let me say I'm praying for you to make myself feel better sort of way. Please know it breaks my heart that these children died today. Please let's not let 4000 die tomorrow...and the day after that...Please lets take a stand. Please lets love these little children. Please. 

please pray with me. 

<3

Anita

Gods rules

I have written about my friends Gary and Michelle before. The kind fudge selling God loving people from St Augustine. They open their home and hearts to us with no pretense. Michelle grew up catholic and went to catholic school. She speaks of it with fond memories and says she was never smacked with a ruler, but has fond memories of a blue ruler with the 10 commandments on it. She recalls being a 4th grade student with this ruler reading the commandments over and over. 

She talks of feeling like she couldn't imagine ever breaking one of them and yet she say there as we handed her the ruler pictures above tearfully confessing she's broken them all. Somewhere between this ruler meditation and life things got messy. As she spoke I recalled my own childhood, involved in a baptist church in south florida singing about being in the Lords army and going to church everytime the doors were open. I was an awanas kid and I did sword drills better than most. I was moved to tears at my Christian youth summer camp as I nailed my sins to the cross. I believed in God and would tell anyone who would listen. The translation however from church to home wasn't there. At home we didn't pray. We didn't read the bible, we didn't talk about scripture and Gods rules. Instead I was told "don't do this... Don't do that." A logical person given no reason to follow what I was told figured some lessons I would have to learn the hard way but the ones I learned that way could have all been avoided had I been taught the why behind the what. Now I wouldn't change it it gives me a great testimony in knowing God can radically change anyone in His perfect timing, but I remember the days when I would sneak reading my bible by flashlight past my bedtime and I remember thinking how much I wanted to be like the great people in that book who loved God. I never walked away from church fully but I did not always live my life in life with those commandments. Even now in a place in my life where I'm trying to give everything I am to God I fail to keep those 10 commandments. It's my failure that reminds me of the need of my sweet savior. Not that I should not do my best but when my best fails grace takes hold. 

Amazing grace how sweet the sound. I'm so thankful for Gods kindness that while he gives us His standards He gives us a means to meet them . He gives The Holy Spirit to guide and comfort and the precious blood of Jesus to cover my multitude of sins. He wants my best but loves me at my worst. It's through His love that I'm led to repentance which yields a sweet grace for my soul. Friends don't misunderstand me. We are called to holiness but know that our works are a demonstration of our faith, an intractable  part of our faith. We don't work for our salvation because salvation is an unlearn able gift but we are saved for a purpose (Ephesians 2:8-10). 

Friends contemplate Gods rules and know that He has good works planned for you to do. He wants the best of you and for you. Let your failure of meeting the "rules" lead you to prayer and repentance so that you make be closer to God. Meditate on his word and remember the faith you had in your childhood. Remember how you couldn't imagine disobeying or not loving God (if you grew up in the church) remember He goes before you and with you and your not alone. 

My heart and my flesh may fail but Lord you are my portion forever -psalm 73:26 

Demanding More.

Hello friends,
I hope all is well. Day 2 of the Lent season here. I drank water. I didn't give up pop and coffee officially for Lent but I did think about it and as I thought about it I thought I would at the very least drink more water...which I did and I realized I am really terrible at drinking water but that I have much room to grow in this.

Today was a day of expectations both on my part and on the part of my patients. In a typical day I expect my patients will have things they want to discuss but today I found my patients by and large very...demanding. They wanted certain things, some which I could do others which I could not and at yet with each patient I tried to begin as patiently as I did with the last and be open and humble to what I need to do. At times it was tiring and trying and I couldn't help but think about how amazing it is that God patiently cares for and loves each of us and never seems to be tried or tired of our requests and petitions. While none of my patients knew how I was feeling I longed for rest. The past week we have had company and while it was a good week it left me with little time for extra rest and relaxation. I found today the fatigue caught up with me and yet by the grace of God I was able to keep it all together. My heart is blessed that tomorrow is Friday and that I am not on call this weekend. An opportunity to catch up on house cleaning and sleeping and reading and a reminder how much time I do have if I make the best of it.

And then I went after work to see my sweet sweet neighbors and their two daughters one of which is only a few days old. A different type of demanding was seen. The almost two year old who wanted milk and barney and attention and entertainment. A newborn who demanded to be held. A mother who gives everything she has to these two little ones with great patience and care.

And then home. Demanding rest with a puppy dog demanding attention.

While all of this may seem mundane I became keenly aware of how much I demand from God even if I would like to never admit I do that. How much I demand of myself with a to do list that is always just past reasonable to get accomplished. How much I demand of my husband particularly in needing time with him.

To demand. To require. To claim. To ask for urgently.

But God is a God of patience, of understanding, of timing. I've seen him move quickly and I've seen him more slowly but whether quick or slow I know its always perfect time.

If I'm going to demand... I need to demand more time with God. Demand more faithfulness from myself. Demand more commitment to holiness from my life. Demand more love from my heart. Demand more kindness and compassion and purity of heart for my patients. Those are what I should require. Those are what I should ask for urgently. Those are what I should claim.

Friends... what do you demand? What do you require? What do you ask God urgently for? I pray that you will grow to only demand Christ even among the various demands of the day. We may live in this world and be called to the demands of daily life but as christians...this is not our home. We have to keep that perspective. We have to have a richer view of the truth. We have to bring our petitions to God by first honoring God's petitions to us. We must trust He knows what is best and trust that He will provide what He sees fit.

Friends wherever He has put you: whether with customers, or patients or crying babies (or sweet sweet sleeping babies) or days of joy or trials... trust He put you just there in that moment for His perfect plan and for His perfect work. Trust Him and as you demand more of yourself rest in the grace and peace of Christ that He will give you the strength and courage to walk the path God calls you on.

<3
Anita

Repent and Believe the gospel.

Happy Ash Wednesday! To all my friends who do not celebrate this day ill briefly explain : on Ash Wednesday the season of lent begins a 40 day ( really 46 day) season preparing for Christ at Easter. On Ash Wednesday our foreheads our dawned with a cross made of ashes and we are reminded that from dust we came and to dust we will return. As the priest drew this on my forehead he said : repent and believe the gospel and a flood of emotions hit me. A knowledge of my sin and a reminder that my sin is a reminder of places of unbelief in my heart and that of that I need to repent. I say all this as if it's something I've always done but it isn't. I grew up southern baptist and I never celebrated lent or Ash Wednesday. I wondered what was on people foreheads on this day and did they know it was there. When I heard of lent I always heard it related to giving up some sort of unhealthy food or caffeine and thought it must be some sorry of spring diet. Now I know it's a season of fasting and repentance and almsgiving. It's a season of preparation. The reflection of the why Christ was crucified before celebrating his resurrection. A season of dedicationZ a reminder to run the race well. My hope this season is to spend more time in the word, more time in prayer and more time writing. Friends I hope if you don't celebrate lent that you will at the very least commit to prepare your hearts for the rememberance of the death of or Lord and the celebration of his resurrection, When we spend time realizing our need for a savior the gospel truly becomes good news. That good news should move our heart to repentance. That should lead us to a desire to be closer and closer to our saviors.

So friends ...repent and believe the gospel. 

Repent. Turn to God. 

Believe the Gospel and let the good news illuminate your heart and let your light shine . 

Repent. Believe. The two go hand in hand. 

<3 

Anita