A Bright Spot at Home

I was so happy to have power in the house, that instead of celebrating by washing dishes and vacuuming and doing laundry, I ignored it all and spent the morning making this heart pillow from one of my favorite fabrics, a soft chenille look-alike called Minky.

 

I was not sure if I would like too much of this color, so I only bought half a yard of this fabric. This pillow took the entire half-yard, leaving a few slender scraps. The cost for the fabric was $3.75 and the stuffing was approximately $1.00 or more, so the total project including thread possibly cost about $5.00.

 

With Grandma's white cotton chenille bedspread draped over the wingback easy chair, this pillow certainly brightened up my sitting room, and just in time, for tomorrow the Ladies Bible class will be here for lunch and a gift-exchange.

 

This year we are continuing in our new tradition of donating something you do not want anymore, that you think some other lady might like to have. We do not wrap anything, but put it all in a basket and let each lady choose what she likes.

 

Last year, everyone was completely thrilled with their gifts, and this is the one I got:

The new cushion is very soft, and this is what it looks like on the chair:

If you have limited time, and you are not an experienced stitcher, I do not recommend this project, but I will briefly explain how it is made. On a scale between one and ten, its a ten in difficulty! Minky is not as easy to sew with as cotton, when creating gathers or layers of fabric.

I first cut out a pattern of a heart from a brown paper grocery bag.

Then I cut long strips enough for gathering, about two and a half times longer than the size of the pillow.

 

Join the short ends to make one long strip, and join it in a complete circle.

Then fold it and stitch both sides together, right side facing you. After that is pinning it around on pillow piece in pleats, and then stitching down, removing pins as you use the machine. Sew the back on to that, then stuff, and last, stitch the opening shut. You can get more detailed instructions on you tube and tutorials everywhere. Due to the time this took, I probably will not be making another one. I started it early in the morning and finished it at noon. I am still happy with the results, and I made a rose by wrapping thread around part of the ruffle, and attaching leaves from green fleece fabric.

I rarely get anything completed in time to join linky parties, but today I am in time to join Shabbilicious

 

I wanted to mention something about negative thinking and how harmful it is. It can become a debilitating habit that will slow down your progress and keep you from following through with your duty as a Christian woman, and also limit your dreams and goals.

Saying that it is too late or too hard, or letting the gloomy moods of others prevent you from doing good things and improving your home and the lives of those around you, is very bad food for your mind. Negative thoughts can be poison for your mind and create stress on your body. Practice mentally substituting good thoughts, and you can successfully learn to think on the bright side of life.

Just as you probably would not eat anything rotten or unappetizing, guard the thoughts that enter your mind, and think on things that are lovely. (Philippians 4:8-9). We often hear people quote verse 8, but have you ever thought about verse 9? It is like a tag along promise.

If you think of each day as a precious gift in a very swiftly passing life, it is easier to be motivated to make the best of a day, make progress in some area and serve God with all your heart.

 

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