2025 OneThing #55 - Put up Christmas Lights on the Porch - didn't happen

Wow. For two weeks in a row, I've not been successful with the thing I identified as my "One Thing." This is not an encouraging trend . . . So I'll write about what I DID get done.

I put up the oversized outdoor bulbs on the evergreen tree on the east side of our driveway. Louie had asked me to wait until he had trimmed some branches and I did. It's silly to do this, but it makes me happy. I also took down the "spring" lights over our indoor stairwell and put up some Christmas lights. This also makes me happy. But with a day and a half of "home" time, I neglected to put up the Christmas lights on the porch. I will still do it when we get home from the lake! But it got colder and I subbed yesterday. I don't think I'll ask Louie to do the lights up on the garage, etc. It's already mid-December!

I had put our Pack and Play on Craigslist for free and didn't get a single nibble. I brought that, the glassware no one claimed, a four-place mini loaf baking stone, and Lou's old lamp to Hands of Friendship. Getting rid of things continues. 

 

I spent a chunk of one of my home days sitting in front of the fireplace, sorting through Lou's papers. I'm getting closer to the end! I found about a cubic foot of empty cards and envelopes. I joked with Kathy Kendall that I'll have to come visit so she can help me sort and organize them!

2025 OneThing #54 - Draft wills and/or trust - didn't happen

This topic has been on my to-do lists for over a decade. It's frustrating to me that we have not yet gotten our "ducks in a row." Death is part of life and we want to prepare for our children before it's too late. 

We did meet with a paralegal to get more info about trusts. This was a follow-up to the dinner we went to in early November. I have a book from the library about DIY wills with not much info about trusts.

Our current plan is to talk with the boys (as we still refer to our adult sons) to get their take on this. We've heard the adage "pay now" (trust) vs "pay later" (wills). Sigh. I just want to get this done. I wrote my own will (and one for Louie) about a decade ago but didn't get them notarized . . . I keep thinking we'll hunker down and get our paperwork done. And we keep not doing it. I do have my own Health Care Directive!

So, I like to post about something I DID complete, so here it is. We talked about the fact that we last went downhill skiing about a decade ago. It was funny that someone asked us where we found our "retro" ski gear! We originally bought it brand new in the 1980s. Grin.

Once Louie agrees that we can get rid of something, I'm on it! I emailed Play It Again Sports on October 12 and got this response: "Thank you for the message Jeanne....unfortunately the ski equipment you mentioned would be too old for us.  Consider donating it to a thrift shop like Goodwill, Unique, Savers, etc."

 

Well, I know Goodwill doesn't take sporting equipment (that's how I got a new pair of snowshoes a few years ago! A guy in front of me was told they wouldn't take them, so I hopped out of my car and said, "I'll take them!") and I have dropped off a LOT of stuff at Hands of Friendship . . . so I looked on Craigslist for some reason and I found The Ski Guy in Richfield. After some messaging and texting, I was able to drop off FIVE pairs of skis and three pairs of boots. Booyah!

 

My photo angle is weird and makes the boots look larger than the skis. Ah well, on to the next thing.

 

 

OneThing #53 - November summary

It has been a good month! I am so happy that I've gotten back into a more balanced pace of life, with a healthy mix of work, leisure, productivity, and connection. 

 

Since I've blogged all these November weekly goals, I'll just sum up with an upgrade.

 

I had not finished stitching around my letters in my word for the 2025-26 school year. In fact, it's been sitting on my Juki sewing machine since that first week of November. So over the Thanksgiving weekend, I finally finished top stitching the letters down. I decided to add large green buttons for the "holes" in the letters a, b, d, and e. It probably doesn't show up well in the photo, and I'll definitely have to be careful when I get to quilting this, but I like how it looks. I plan to take it with me on my next trip to the lake so I can do some embroidery to make the letters look more like vines.

 

My verse for the month of November was Isaiah 26:3-4 which says, "You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord Himself, is the Rock Eternal."

Even though I read it aloud each time I went into my studio and worked on projects, it doesn't feel memorized yet. I need to exercise my brain and get these Scriptures deep into me!

November felt like a really good month. On to a new adventure!

2025 OneThing #52 - Share pics of glassware w/ family

I've learned my lesson! I can only choose my own thoughts, words, and actions. 

 

I still have most of the three boxes of glassware that Louie took out of the garage rafters a few weeks ago. They were items he had packed up from his parents' home after his mother died. We selected a few items that we especially liked and then I set out and photographed the rest in batches. I shared the pictures in a Google pics album and shared the link with his siblings and all the grandkids. About half of the items have been claimed! 

I removed those images from the album and now plan to share the album link with his cousins. Whatever is still left over after people have requested pieces will be donated to a thrift shop. Louie thinks some of the pieces may have been his Grandma Lilly's, so I want to be sure any sentimental ties are taken care of.

My son Alex thought the green glass might have been uranium glass, but I tested it with Louie's black light (yes, we own one!) and it is just green glass.

So I still HAVE all this glassware, but half of it is boxed up to go to other people. (Note I didn't make the goal to get rid of all the glassware; just to share images of it.) I'm getting there!

We also donated the hospital bed to a couple from Sioux Falls, SD. A different person came to pick up the plastic office chair mat thing. Today I will connect with someone in Richfield who really wants the Rollator-style walker. Progress!

2025 OneThing #51 - Write Personal Messages on Notepads for Stocking Stuffers

I did it! I wrote on one, then two more, then on Tuesday night (11.18) I finished all the rest! It may seem silly, but if I can plan ahead and work ahead, it makes me happy. I'm not posting a picture of the project, but here's one of my mom and dad.

When they went for walks to the park, they'd pick up aluminum cans for recycling. 

They'd pick up trash, too, and taught my boys to follow their example.

My parents were little kids during the Great Depression and I know that it made an impact on them. They saved almost everything! When my mom died, there was a huge stack of "scratch paper" - most of it mimeographed copies from her teaching days. It was more scratch paper than anyone could use! Last spring, I took it to a print shop and had them glue up an end and cut it into pads of notebook paper (four per 8 1/2" x 11" sheet). I've intended to put them in the Somers family stockings but thought it would be nicer to add a personal note. 

I'm glad I made it my "one thing" for this week. It feels good to have something ready for Christmas already! It also feels pretty good to be typing this up on Tuesday evening and scheduling it to publish at 1:00am on Sunday!

2025 OneThing #50 - Make a Pillow for Viv from Lou Shirts

I got this one done by Tuesday! The internment for Lou (with honor guard) was at Fort Snelling on Wednesday, November 12 and I knew I'd see my sister-in-law. This isn't the most attractive pillow, but I had given away too many of his nicer shirts for family members to wear. (She asked me to make a pillow from his shirts.)

I had first used a navy blue pajama shirt with a slight white crosshatch pattern, but I discovered that the fabric was so thin that it just wouldn't do. So I made the back and heart out of a flannel shirt and a pale blue pajama top. There's a zipper at the bottom so she can take it off to launder it or to see the other PJ shirt.

I have been very much in "get 'r done" mode lately!

It felt nice to give this to her along with some other items. It was nice to honor my father-in-law and be together with family.

2025 OneThing #49 - Send Mail to SOLC Missionaries!

This has been in process for two months or more! We encouraged our congregation to write notes, draw pictures, share Scriptures, etc. on the third Sunday in September for our "Missions Minute." Our church currently provides monthly financial support to four AOG missionaries. Not very many people participated . . . but I still wanted to send encouragement to our missionaries.

Then my October got away from me with Lou's death and my own note-writing procrastination. I'm so glad I set this as my "One Thing" last week, because that (and a canceled sub job) helped me to follow through! 

I typed up the short message from the missions committee to each of the four missionaries, I got copies made of the picture of us, and I wrote my own four personal notes. I got messages into envelopes, addressed them, and brought them to the post office on Friday to mail. 

It feels good to have this finished! Now on to a new goal for this week . . .

2025 OneThing #48 - Make "Abide" Word

I've had the fabrics picked out for several months, but struggled with how to make the word look vine-ish. I finally cut out the letters and have decided to add more vine looks with stitching. This will be my final "one word" (I believe). Though I've enjoyed this process, I'm ready to move on. 

With this word, I have a total of twelve. I started during the 2014-15 school year with "Listen." That was followed by joy, hope, trust, love, choose, humility, grace, shine, selflessness, simplify, and now abide. 

 

My theme Scripture is John 15:4-5. "Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." 

 

There are also the verses in Galatians 2:20 and John 15:1-8.

 

So far, I've cut out the letters, used some double-sided fusible stuff, and ironed it all together. I'll use a kelly green thread to stitch the outlines and then do some needlework with thicker green threads (probably on our next lake trip, since that's where my crazy quilting stuff is). I haven't decided what I'll do for / with the open spaces in the A, b, d, and e. One thing at a time, right?

Galatians 2:20, John 15:1-8

OneThing #47 - October Summary

This will be short because I never did the calendar for October! Lou died on October 3. His celebration of life was on October 14 (Betty's birthday). We had a very, very busy month. My "mantra" was "One Thing at a time." It helped me to focus on what most needed to get done. 

I didn't have a specific Scripture verse that I referred to, but I definitely prayed for God's grace! Here's a link to Lou's obituary. Viv wrote it. Angela officiated at his funeral service.

Louie and I have all of Lou's worldly possessions here, so I've been trying to work my way through them and move them on to new homes when appropriate. I've donated almost all his clothing. I'm working on the furniture slowly. Also sorting papers - ongoing. It's a lot.

There are SO MANY fun photos of Lou. I like the ones from his youth the best.

He was in football, choir, and drama. He graduated in 1948 from Grand Island High School, Nebraska.

2025 OneThing#46 - Lots of Stuff!

 Here are some of the things that got done the week of October 19-25, 2025:

• We got rid of the popup! A nice young man named Raymond (from Frazee) paid $75 for it and it's finally gone. He shared pics the next day - he had already stripped off all the camper parts and had it down to the frame, axle, and wheels. He plans to make it into an ice fishing house. Very cool! 
• I burned one grocery sack of Lou's papers with medical and/or financial info on them. It took a long time! I alternated some pieces of paper with some of the twigs from our brush pile. I have bag #2 almost full for the next trip to the lake. (Alex gave us an old burn barrel. It's super convenient for this.)
• I subbed for three days and worked extra to get the room cleaned up and info ready for quarter 2.
• Louie and I went to Wednesday evening prayer at church. That was nice.
• We did lots of lake stuff (unloaded the Fiero; transplanted some flowers, mint, and rhubarb; dug dirt to fill low spots; etc.) AND I did two jigsaw puzzles. 

It was a full week and I am glad it included time at the lake! Reading over this, I realize it's not in chronological order. Too bad! I'm moving on . . .

 

2025 OneThing #45 - Miscellany

 I haven't even wiped off my September info and written October in yet!

Here are some of the extra things I've done:

We donated furniture from my father-in-law's room to Bridging in Bloomington. What a great organization! They use volunteers to help with donations, repairs, etc. so that people moving from homelessness to a place of their own can have furnishings and household items. It feels good to donate to them! (And to get rid of things we don't need.)

 

This desk was purchased by my sister-in-law Del and I thought about keeping it in my sewing room. But I am terrible about cleaning and the open shelves are dust collectors.

 

Lou had lots of lovely photos of family members on them. He also liked the pull-out drawer shelf thing.

A few people have commented on how cool this furniture design is . . . art deco, maybe? Sure, there might be a flipper who would love this and give it a new life, but I just wanted it gone.

Lou kept his socks, underwear, etc. in here. It's pretty heavy but the veneer is pulling away in places. I just didn't want to invest more time and energy into this.

The nightstand was sturdy and easy for me to carry alone. It went with the other two items.

I have two pieces of his furniture that Viv said she wanted but she didn't have time to deal with on the day of the funeral.

I have another eight(?) that I'm going to try to sell. Louie is going to keep at least one of the filing cabinets to put tools into up in the pole barn.

Next, I'm tackling the clothing. Everyone who wanted a shirt was able to take one. I've already loaded five bags into my car to drop off tomorrow. There's plenty more here to deal with!

2025 OneThing #44 - Know When to Say When . . .

My plan for 9.28.2025 was to write about sending letters of encouragement to our church's missionaries. That still has not happened. I had good intentions! But I spent many, many hours at St. Francis Hospital with my father-in-law and more time with him at Suite Living. He passed away on Friday, October 3rd at 2:19pm. We are in the thick of funeral planning and pretty much everything else has gone by the wayside.

SO this entry will cover 

• 9/28 - encouragement to missionaries
• 9/30 - September summary
• 10/5 - week of thinking I would be working on my "Abide" fabric word . . . 
• 10/12 - not setting a new goal for this week that's already half over (Hence the title of this entry.)
  

 

I have no idea what my "OneThing" will be for October 12-18. The funeral is on 10/14. We have something planned for each day of the week. Right now, Saturday, October 18 is my only unplanned day for the entire week. Sigh. I have to focus on my blessings because my life is filled with them!

Here's the sign I put up at church inviting people to share with our missions people:

Some people did write notes, but I haven't done my own yet and I think I should just wrap that up and mail whatever we do have!

I love snail mail but I recognize that not everyone enjoys that. Still, I had hoped for a more robust response. We gave people four weeks to participate.

Here's my calendar for a few weeks (I thought I was getting back on track!):

 Actually, weeks one and two went well. It's funny how much of a difference it makes when you rely on the Lord instead of yourself!

I'm also happy with the gift for Benjamin, but I can't believe I didn't get a single photograph at his birthday party!

My verse was from Galatians 6:9-10

 

 

 

 

Here's my fabric for my word for this school year:

My sister Ann expressed some confusion about this word. To me, it's best explained by John15:4. "Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." 

I want to daily seek God's presence. I want to dwell in the shelter of the Lord. When I try to do things my own way, I end up frustrated / exhausted / defeated. 

Abide is the word I want for this school year! It's also my plan to stop doing the One Word after this school year. Perhaps I'll get back to quilting one of these days.

It's too depressing to take a photo of my house's piles of papers, photos, clothing, etc. And there's still more at Suite Living! We're almost done removing Lou's personal effects. After that, we'll take out the furniture. As usual, we have more to do than time to do it!

2025 OneThing #43 - Benjamin Birthday Gift

My grandson turned three yesterday. I thought of a pretty neat gift idea that was very personalized . . . and realized that I could not bring it to fruition this past week without a lot of stress and / or a disappointing result. I had been turning ideas over in my mind for quite a few months. We are all so blessed, my grandsons included! We have so many things. 

When I realized that I wanted to follow through on my idea but that it was not realistic to have it ready for today's celebration, I decided to work on it for Christmas. I will blog about that at a later date. It was a good call because I've had plenty of other things to occupy my time lately!

I decided to get my grandson a Fisher-Price record player. I realize record players are pretty anachronistic in 2025, but I think it will be a fun thing for him anyhow. I don't care for battery-operated toys, but I love music. I hope he enjoys opening it and playing with it! I sewed the gift bag from some novelty fabric I have.

I love my family so much. I'm glad I get to see some of them this evening!

2025 OneThing #42 - Praise God and Thank Him Each Day

This one should definitely be an "always" goal and not a one week in time thing . . . but it was a very good focus for me this week. Having my grandsons last weekend, helping Lou and Joyce with stuff, subbing two days . . . I needed a bit of a "reset" this week.

Choosing to praise God and be thankful for His love, grace, and mercy helped me to cope with being a bit overtired and overbusy. Putting my focus on the Lord and my gratefulness got me through this week!

I also got to do THREE fun things! Louie and I went out to dinner with Mike and Laurie on Thursday 9/11 at the Brick & Bourbon in Stillwater. I went to my friend Lisa's Decades Dance Party on Friday 9/12 (though I didn't even make it all the way through the 80s). Louie and I went to Lisa's and Tony's backyard concert last night. It was a lovely evening and we had a lovely time!

As a bonus, Pastor Mark Sullivan preached this morning and it was a wonderful message. God is good!

Since I love photos, here are some from the decades party and the backyard concert:

2025 OneThing #41 - Move Lou's Stuff to Pool Table

I'm calling this a success even though there's lots more to be done! My 95-year-old father-in-law recently moved to a care facility. His wife has a tendency to throw everything away without even knowing what it is. I helped her remove all of Lou's stuff and that man LOVES his paperwork! Initially, I put it in the living room, thinking it would be a good place to sort and organize. Having my grandsons over the past weekend meant I needed to clear it out.

I took before pics and laugh to think that my f-i-l wants me to bring his papers to him! (I am bringing him a few file folders at a time. His room is 400 square feet and already has six pieces of furniture in it . . . 

Technically, the four bins / boxes in the back of this last photo are still here from two years ago when my sister-in-law emptied her Maple Grove house. They are mostly photographs, cards, etc. I have a lot of sorting to do!

I don't mind doing this too much, but having dealt with the packrat tendencies of my own parents and siblings, I'm becoming more of a "toss it out" person. My personal focus is: buy less, donate or recycle, make do with what you have. I'm a work in progress!

I wish I had better "after" pictures, but my grandsons kept me busy AND we still have camping stuff out from my August 26 trip up to the North Shore with my sister. Life has been quite full lately!

To be fair, I have plenty of my own papers which I moved to one end of the pool table before bringing Lou's stuff down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I have my living room "back" mostly. The stuff on the wingback chair is ready to go to his home. The stuff in the laundry basket is being prepped to go. These are the little odds and ends I'm close to getting rid of.

 

 

And here's what I'm facing downstairs in my office space. Wish me luck! Or better yet, come over and help me sort. :-)

2025 OneThing #40 - August Summary

I'm calling August a very stark look at what a lack of time management skills can do . . . and I'm writing this on September 2nd!

Week One (August 3-9): Call a friend

Week Two (August 10-16): Prepare Pahl info for picnic

Week Three (August 17-23): Sew fitted sheets for Lou

Week Four (August 24-30): ??? Have fun (I just wrote that in this morning!)

 

So I think I've already written about not calling any of my friends with whom I've not spoken in a while. Perhaps I'll still do that . . . since I think of some of my lovely friends quite often.

I sort of prepared some info for the Pahl picnic, but have some genealogical info in different places and could certainly do more. This will realistically go on a "someday" pile. Or perhaps I'll work on it earlier in the summer next year before the annual picnic.

Sew the fitted sheets for Lou? I sewed one and it works okay. I started a second one which is in my sewing room right now. Ann sewed a set, but I never tested them out to see if they fit. Sigh. Still on my to-do list. Honestly, just getting him moved in on August 25 felt like a victory. Everyone at Suite Living is so lovely! I think he's happy there, but my to-do list specifically for his stuff is getting longer and longer instead of shorter.

I wrote "have fun" for last week because that's what I did! After getting Lou settled, I went up North with Ann and had a lovely vacation. Twenty-two LaMoores, Gerdes, and Clarks spent the Labor Day weekend at Gunflint Lodge just across the lake from Canada. I have now set up my September calendar and have a goal that I think is realistic and important for this week. 

My verse for August was Psalm 86:11. I didn't read it / say it as much as I ought to have! There were definitely times where I was self-focused and mouthy. I'm so glad for repentance and forgiveness!

 

2025 OneThing #39 - Call Someone / Prepare Pahl Family Info

I am frustrated with myself. I have been thinking of several people I care about but haven't talked to in quite a while. So I set it as my OneThing, thinking that would help me get it done. 

 

Between Sunday, August 3 - Sunday, August 10, this did not happen. So I thought I would do it Monday 8/11 and then blog . . . and it kept not happening. Why on earth do I have such an issue with making phone calls?!

 

So this past week, my OneThing was to prepare some Pahl family info before the "cousins" picnic on Saturday, August 16. I started a family tree type thing on a Google Doc so that others could help me edit it. I wanted to gather old photos of Grandma and Grandpa. I had such good intentions . . . 

 

This one is a partial project. . . and I'm feeling out of sorts. I think I've been pushing some things too hard and not spending enough time in the Lord's presence. I'm going to set a new OneThing for this week and let the past two weeks be past. Progress, not perfection.

 

Here's a pic of the 2022 picnic and some of my cousins (which I did not have handy to share on Saturday):

 

2025 OneThing #38 - July Summary

 

I moved my board to my cutting table. It's upright and I see it when I go in the room, but it's a bit more awkward to actually get to it. 

This month feels as though it has flown by. My goals didn't feel super significant, but they all felt good to accomplish (except week one . . . but that's another story). 

I need to "clean up" my last week goal. My WORD photos and info are not where I'd like them to be, but I'm much, much closer now.

I am at the lake, so will wait to wipe the board and set up August. My July verse was 2 Corinthians 3:17 - "Now the LORD is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the LORD is, there is freedom."

 

I thought that was particularly appropriate for Independence Day. It's amazing to understand and experience the freedom that God offers!

2025 OneThing #37 - Organize WORD info

This one was just a "what's on my list that I've been meaning to deal with and haven't gotten around to but can easily tackle while at the lake" thing. (It's kind of hard to believe that I have an English degree with a sentence like that!)

I first encountered the One Word phenomenon during the 2014-15 school year. Our principal introduced the concept to the staff and challenged us to choose a word for the school year. I chose the word "listen" because I am not a very good listener . . . as many talkers are not. But I also went to the library to get the book by Jon Gordon. My blog entry for the book is here.

Instead of their idea of making a sign, I decided to make a quilt block. I initially thought I would make one each year until I retired, but I quit teaching full time at the end of the 2016-17 school year! I have continued to make a block each year, but have decided that this will be my final year. I will have twelve blocks and can work on making them into a quilt. I have continued to do this by the school year rather than the calendar year.

Since I have photos, notes, and ideas in at least five different places (file folder, on the blocks hanging in my studio, in my photos folder on laptop, in my Storyworth book pages 191-196, and in Google drive), I have been intending to gather them into one cohesive spot. So this is it! (I have spent far too long finding the bits and pieces of info to make this entry . . . and I may replace the photos that I copied from my Storyworth book with the clipping tool later.)

2014-15 Listen (black block letters on white)

Psalm 46:10 "He says, 'Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.'"

 

 

2015-16 Joy (purple on yellow / white)

John 15:11 “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete”

 

 

 

 2016-17 Hope (green on grey)

Romans 15:13 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and
peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by
the power of the Holy Spirit.”

 

 2017-18 Trust (rainbow on white)

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

2018-19 Love (hot pink on white)

 

1 John 4:19
“We love because He first loved us.”

(As I noted in my StoryWorth entry, the Bible has LOTS of references to love. I picked this one to have as a focus.)

 

 2019-20 Choose (red on newsprint)

Joshua 24:15

“But if serving the LORD seems
undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom
you will serve, … But as for me and my household, we will serve
the LORD.”

 2020-21 Humility (brown on beige)

Philippians 2:3-4

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of others."

2021-22 Grace (navy on pink lace on blue on white with snowflakes)

2 Corinthians 12:9 

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me."

2022-23 Shine (one inch yellow squares on black / grey with gold accents)

Matthew 5:16 

"In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven."

 

 2023-24 Selflessness

 Galatians 5:24-25

"Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."

 

2024-25 Simplify (red stitching on pale yellow)

Colossians 3:2

"Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."

 

Detail:

Funny story! I had seen a technique at the 2024 Minnesota Quilters show that I wanted to try. My sister Ann had taken a class where you outline your word or design, then stitch intricate designs outside of it so that the "negative space" left shows your intent. I loved that idea and tried two different methods for doing that with this word. Then on my third try, I "started" with hand stitching the outline I'd drawn . . . and began laughing. Why was I complicating my One Word for .  . . "simplify" ? I decided to leave it like this. (And a learning experience! Thread color can bleed onto fabrics . . . )

2025-26 Abide (purple grapes / berries on pale green)

 

<...I'm currently working on this one...>

John 15:4-5

"Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 'I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.'"

 

I'm posting this even though I need to clean it up a bit . . . but this has taken a lot of time! I'm keeping the file folder with my scraps of paper (for now) and I have the basic info on a Google spreadsheet. Clearly, starting and staying organized with projects is much easier than trying to pull pieces together from several sources!

 

Oh, and I initially planned to make all the blocks the same size (my notes in the file folder say 10" x 28" for a target size) but quickly fell away from that plan. My first five blocks ranged from 9 1/2" - 12 1/2" high and 25 1/2" - 29 1/2" wide. Last year's simplify is oversize so I can cut it down, but I will probably end up using some kind of sashing to get them all to a certain size so the quilt goes together more easily.

One more note - the Scriptures are to help me remember WHY that word is my focus. God's Word holds the wisdom and direction I need. The Bible verses are an anchor for me. I love the word "abide" and want to get that block made so that I can hang it in my office as a visual reminder.