Travel zipper pouches

Hey everyone!

Today I made some cute zipper pouch bags for my sister and I to use on our trip we are going on thursday. I used this tutorial and added my own twist to my big pouch and even did different diminsions and instructions than this person. But they were my inspiration.
https://modernquiltlove.wordpress.com/2009/07/14/perfect-box-pouch-tutorial/

I bet you can guess which ones are mine and which one is hers! We have very different personalities as you all probably realize. :)

Of course mine are the red and orange floral and hers is the pretty floral. I love being chic and modern and she loves being chic and classic. :)

 

I have also added some in the etsy store! Do go over to the side bar and have a glance at my new stuff! 

In Christ,

Rebecca

Its taken longer than expected....

but by Gods grace my etsy store is open for business. I will be adding items periodically through tonight and tomorrow to finish up the listing all the items I have for sale. But bare with me while its not very full. Have fun looking around and please do tell your friends about my shop! cherrio!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SingNSew?ga_search_query=singnsew&ga_search_type=seller_usernames

Rebecca

A Sewing Frenzy

Hey everyone!

I have been so busy sewing this week due to all the snow. Today I have to get back with the program and study a lot for college. Yesterday was a sewing day basically. I sewed up two bias plaid skirts in the morning and studied some in the afternoon. Not as much as I could have and then sewed a purse and a shoe bag for our trip to Williamsburg next week. Yes I am sewing all of this stuff for the trip we will going on next weekend. I am so glad to finally use these fabrics up and it was sure a lot of fun. Pictures of the bias skirts hopefully by saturday since they are still unhemmed.

Here is the tutorial I used for the purse last night. I am quite pleased with the result! So so cute and practical!

http://howaboutorange.blogspot.com/2010/05/12-free-bag-and-purse-tutorials.html

And here is the result! The great thing about these projects is the fabric was free!!! 

 The red courdory was from our neighbor and it was just enough for this purse. Her husbands mother passed away and there was a treasure trove of fabrics that she just gave to Bethany and I to use. How delightful to get free fabric. I wish I knew more about the woman who owned the fabrics. I am going to go over to my neighbors house later today and show her this purse and ask her about the seamstress the fabric came from.

I did exactly what the tutorial said and it turned out great. The only thing I changed was adding the bow to set it off better. I thought it added a great touch. It would have been boring without it I thought. The black and white plaid suiting is left over from one of the bias skirts I also made yesterday. I had lots of big scraps left to play with. I even have more! The purse did not use a lot of them.

Yes it even fits all my stuff and can even fit my little Bible when I go off to church and the big camera too if needed. Its the perfect size purse in opinion. I usually carry too much, I have big purses, but this purse is smaller than I usually carry, but thats a good thing I believe. :)

I also made a shoe bag for my shoes when we go to Williamsburg out of some left over suiting scraps from the other skirt I made yesterday as well. I love the cherry floral print on top of the plaid. Its adorable! I made up the pattern based off of a shoe bag my sister owns. I plan to sew up another one out of the plaid suiting as well today.

Well hope these small projects inspired you to sew on your snow day as well! I am loving the snow, even though other bloggers say they hate it. :) I just love it! Winter is my favorite season. So all in all my projects were free! love that!

Have a lovely thursday!

In Christ,
Rebecca

I'm working towards the opening.....

of the etsy store this week. I am so sorry its not been up yet! We have had some complications that I did not anticipate with getting me my own bank account. So I will definately let you all know on here when its officially opened! Here is what I was doing today for a special sneak peek.

The piles above of some projects coming together for the store. You will have to be suprised as to what the triangles turn into. :)

Coasters that are granny squares! I thought en genius! :)

 table runners such as the one above will be available soon!

Crocheted banners as well to hang in your windows or in your door ways and walls to cheer up the room! And below the mess when I am sewing for the store with my earl grey tea at hand on a crocheted coaster. :)

My whole space while I was sewing and listening to Abigail Adams letters by Mrs. Botkin from Vision Forum. You can buy it over here-http://www.visionforum.com/browse/product/?productid=63631

Its really great and I totally recommend it for history for homeschooling or learning on your own about the war for independence in America! Its great to hear from a wife and mothers perspective. I hope your Sabbath was blessed and was refreshing to start the new week. Mine sure was!

In Christ,
Rebecca

My little Friend

My cat Felix while I was knitting some more loverlies for my new etsy store and reading the Patriots History of the US for my college classes. It was a cozy arrangement. And no the etsy store is not opened yet. I plan to open it by the end of the week. So be alert for the blog post that will tell all about it.

In Christ,
Rebecca

So Taylor Swift is not my thing.....

but this is amazing! I love the cello and the piano combo on this. So its worth a listen. It inspired me once again to pick up the cello sometime! Its been a dream of mine to play the cello! I love the deep, rich tone of it and ever since watching Master and Commander a few years ago I was dreaming of playing Chopin's cello solo someday! still dreaming and I even found a teacher in my area. But right now I don't have the time with piano playing for my church and my voice major. someday maybe my sister and I can do harp and cello duets! its a dream of ours.

have a lovely saturday! I am knitting and reading Patriots History of the US while listening to this video. Next I am going to finish Northanger Abbey on Librivox. You can see it here- http://librivox.org/northanger-abbey-by-jane-austen/

In Christ,
Rebecca

Tribute to my Grandfather and my daddy

hello everyone! My dear sister Bethany is doing much better. She is not all drugged up as she was yesterday. So now we can actually chat and go about our day as normal. But it sure was fun watching movies and eating good food together in her bed yesterday while crocheting and sewing. I have neglected this post for some time! BacK in November my family went to the Udvar Hazy museum of air and space and we were able to do some photos of the memorial to my grandfather and all the other men who served in the Vietman.Above are my sister, mother, and father finding my grandfathers name. The monuments were quite modern, which we did not expect. But they were great!

Inside I found lots of things to photograph with our new camera! :)

My father also fought in the war Desert Shield, Desert Storm when I was born. So I have a great respect for our military. The Bible does not say that war is bad I believe and I believe that to be in the military for our men is an honor and a way they can serve God. Praise God for all the troops that are protecting us daily all over the world and especially in Iraq and Afganistan right now.

Mom relaxing while we went to see the Space ships and such. Well I hope you all are having a great thursday! I am! And its been quite productive. I believe my etsy store will be open for business Lord willing next weeK. But it may be a little longer. As long as my dad can help me with the shop this weeKend it will open on schedule next friday.

 

Be blessed and I have been pondering Romans 6:1-6 today, I pray that my non christian readers will realize that the God of the universe can mold and shape you into a new creation! A creation that is totally surrendered to the God that became a man and died for our sins. And He rose again and gave us the Holy Spirit that we may live to His glory! You can too be dead to sin and new in Christ! If you want to learn more about the Gospel message please email me-ra.stricKer@gmail.com or comment here. I am also on facebooK, so do go and find me on there.

"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not Know that all of us who have been baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into his death? We were buried therefore in him in baptism unto death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walK in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in a death liKe His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection liKe His. We Know that our old self was crucified with Him inorder that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin."-Romans 6:1-6

In Christ,

Rebecca

Sermons, Bible verses, and books goals

Hey everyone!

I am truly trying to spend less time in blog land and more time reading, listening to sermons, and memorizing the Word. Its really been great as I have learned so much more than I do reading blogs and tutorials about sewing and such all day. :) I love sewing and crocheting while listening to a sermon or audio book. I do this while reading books sometimes as well. Its great when the book is heavy because it will stay opened for you on its own. Otherwise I use another book to have my book opened while hand sewing or crocheting.

I never really listened to sermons on the computer before except when I missed a sermon at my own church. So I am listening to Scott Browns sermons on Romans from 2008. They have really been encouraging! You can listen to them for free here. I am always encouraged my Scott Browns teaching and I have enjoyed many of his books as well. I recommend Family Reformation: The legacy of Sola Scriptura in Calvin's Geneva, as well as A Church in the Home, and his audio CD about Gossip. You can buy them all from the Vision Forum store.

I also recommend my pastors sermons, which are also always convicting! Do have a listen on my churches website Grace Baptist Church sermons.

So I hope you all will join me listening to sermons regularly. Its been an encouragement to me this new year!

I finished Hinds Feet to High Places last night and its a great read! Its so inspiring and challenging. A few things I need to put into practice and I learned from this read was I need to give over everything in my life to the Lord. I need to remember I am not my own, I am the Lords temple. Therefore, I need to give over my desires that are of the flesh and let the Lord reform my desires to match His for my life.
I also need to as MuchAfraid (the main character) did become Acceptance with Joy. Every time something happens and the Lord wants me to do it and I don't want to I have to accept it with joy. Its so hard for me many a time to accept circumstances with joy. But the Lord is the only way I can accept my lot in this life with joy. When I remember the Cross I can be joyful because the Lord took my shame and my pain and died for my sins and He rose again and is now seated at the right hand of God. Praise God I can have acceptance with joy because of Jesus.

I also finished The Freedom and Power of Forgiveness by John MacArthur on Sunday. It was an amazing jounrney reading this because I have such a hard time forgiving others many a time as well all do. But one thing I found while finishing it up on Sunday was my pardon of sin from the Lord is not a hope of pardon. I am not hoping that I will be pardoned of my sins, I have assurance of my pardon! I can be absolutely sure of my pardon because Christ has done a work in me, He transformed me and has been molding me to be more and more in love with Him the Savior of my life. I died to sin and am now raised in to a new life. So realizing that I am not hoping for pardon from sin and I am pardoned really just struck me! Praise God for His grace and mercy on me a sinner.

Also while reading this, I realized I had to forgive a certain friend, not in front of that person, but in my heart. I had not truly forgiven this person for hurting me with their words, I had not forgiven her as Christ forgave me. So I urge you ladies! Don't become bitter and start to hate that person in your heart as I did. Love them and forgive them as Christ forgave you a wretched sinner who deserved no better than to be left wallowing in sin. Forgive that brother or sister with love and compassion because Christ did the same for you!

I am also wanting to memorize even more Scripture this month. Romans 1 and 1 Corinthians 4 are on my list. Hopefully I can do it in the Lords strength. I will update my progress soon.

Oh and by the way my etsy store is set to open at the end of next week Lord willing. My dad has to help me set up the online store and such. So please be in your prayers for that.
Also my sister Bethany will be very absent from her blog this week as she is getting her wisdom teeth out this morning. If you remember please pray for her recovery to be fast and that she will not be in much pain. I get to play nurse and serve her smoothies and soup on a fun tray and watch movies with her. So I am not complaining. It will be nice for me. Hopefully somewhat fun for her too. :)

In Christ,
Rebecca

January Reading List 2011

Hey everyone!

I thought I would share what I reading this month, I have made my list of reading for all the way till July! Its so fun to do and hopefully I can read them all in on month!

1. I just finished is The Power and Freedom of Forgiveness by John MacArthur and its amazing! what a great one to read at such a good time in my life to read it! I really needed this as its so important for us to forgive others because Christ forgave us when He did not have to! All the more we should learn to forgive our brothers and sisters because first Christ forgave us. So it really should not be so hard to forgive, but for me it has been. I am still learning!

2. The second one I plan to finish tonight is Hinds Feet To High Places and I love it! Its such a beautiful allegory of the christian life. I have really been challenged to give my everything to the Lord. Even the little and even the big things in my life. Last night I read about how the main character named Much Afraid gave a sacrifice of loving a suitor. She gave to the Lord if she would ever get married! She gave up the one thing that since she was a little girl she probably wanted to be, a wife. ladies we need to do the same! Can you give up your dream of getting married to one man and be married to the Lord of Lords! I can! But its hard.

3. The third one Her Hands came Away Red, I am in the middle of reading and so far its been a good read. But I would not recommend this one for young readers. The 2 I mentioned above I recommend highly for all ages that can comprehend them. This one I recommend for ages 16 and older. Its about a gal who goes on a missions trip and really does not have a relationship with the Lord. But I am hoping that eventually she loves the Lord in the end. It is not about a gal who was homeschooled or really had a good relationship with her parents. But I used to be that girl and I can relate to her. So so far its been a great read.

4. The 4th one I bought thrifted and I still have not gotten very far. Its very slow going, but I am learning a lot about the Pilgrims and their journey to the new world(America). Its called The Plymouth Adventure. Now I am not very far in it, so I will have to share my thoughts about it after I have read more.

5. The 5th one is really good so far and I could not put it down! I love how this lady describes all areas of life to be an education. I love how she writes and its very encouraging in a world that does not call home the center of our lives and industry. Its called For the Family's Sake. Its practical and really paints a picture of how we can as sinners create a place in our home that glorifies our Lord.

6. I have yet to get very far in this one either. AbrahamLincoln is apart of the heros of history series and my family has most of them. I have never read one. So I am trying to change that. I don't really realize who Lincoln really was, some say he was a tyrannical ruler, some say he was the greatest president. Hopefully from this one and some other reads I can find out the story behind the man. Without him we would not have a United States! We would have a divided states, so I do not believe he was a bad president or a tyrant.

Well I hope you all are reading great reads too! And I would love to hear what your lists are for the new year too! Also if you have read any of these tell me what you thought about them.

In Christ,
Rebecca

Praise Moves DVDs

Hello everyone!
I thought as its the new year 2011 I would post what I have been doing for exercise lately. It has been a new years goal(not resolution) for me to exercise regularly as much as I can. With so many other things to do its hard for me to want to exercise. But this website is great!- http://praisemoves.com/?gclid=CK7K14nnq6YCFRZy5QodfAdvnw
It has made me excited to get up in the morning and exercise! Its an alternative to yoga and is not yoga. I repeat this is not yoga.:) Its called Praise Moves. And it is great because its memorizing Scripture and meditating on it while you are exercising! What a concept. I said to my sister why did we not do this sooner! We have the AM And PM DVD as well as the Power Praise Moves DVD. We love them both!

I especially love the new AM PM DVD because you can do it in the morning and evening each day. I have not done this. But I use the morning one mostly. I also use the strength one on the Power Praise moves DVD as well as the ab workout. I did the ab workout this evening after not doing it for weeks and it felt good and also was difficult. But I can't wait to get my abs in better shape. they are weak, but God is strong! :)

Hope this encourages you all to exercise and maybe do Laurettes DVDs. They are great for remembering to start our day with the Lord as well as exercising.

In Christ,
Rebecca

Scriptures I am pondering......

this month. I am planning to with lots more effort this year memorize more Scripture. I was able to do that since november and in december I did, but not as many as I had hoped. It really has helped me when I am tempted to sin to recall Scripture. So I thought I would send these your way to encouragement you. When I am tempted to grumble I remember these verses from Philippians 1:14-18,

" Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the Word of life, so that in the day of Christ you may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should rejoice in me."

We should do all to the glory of God and without questioning!! That is so hard! And without grumbling when things are not going our way, we are to submit to the Lords will.
But even more importantly when we have to do something that we don't like will we submit to God. God wants us to do it, then we should even though our flesh says no. Ladies I urge you to do things that are really only done with Gods strength and not our own. Remember we are not our own, we are Gods temple and we are redeemed by His blood, therefore we are not our own. So remember next time you want to grumble, as I really need to remember also, do it with a joyful Spirit of the Lord.


Another set of verses from 1 peter that has really helped me when I am tempted to be vain and want to go and see myself in the mirror to assure myself I am just right( hair, clothing, etc.) is  1 Peter 3:3-6.

" Do not let your adorning be external- the braiding of hair, the wearing of gold , or the putting on of clothing-but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious."

Now yes I know you have heard that verse a billion times, but we are commanded to be beautiful by an imperishable beauty that only comes from a love for the Savior and Creator of the Universe! That is an amazing and beautiful gift of a gentle and quiet spirit in the Lord. Only the Holy Spirit can give us that demeanor and attitude. I pray daily to be able to have a Spirit of the Lord. Now this does not mean we must not talk or laugh out loud. It means we know when to say something and when not to say something. We encourage others by our speech and don't put them down. This means we gentle, which does not mean we flit around and can't be strong too. We are gentle with our words and actions, remembering that we are to treat others as Christ treated us, with compassion and mercy. So this is my interpretation of that very familiar Scripture. The Lord has shown me this over the past 10 years since He drew me to himself. Praise God for His Holy Spirit to show us his way through His Word!

So next time you are tempted in an area to complain remember we are not to grumble, but be joyful doing the Lords work! That is so hard for me most of the time, but the Lord has put it on my heart to try to be better at that. So I thought I would share that with you all. Also remember next time you are proud of your nicely put together outfit, with the perfect shoes, hair, and jewelry to remember that your demeanor and gentle and quiet spirit in the Lord is even more beautiful.

In Christ,
Rebecca

What I have been up to lately.....

crocheting, knitting, and sewing up a storm thats what I have been doing! Now that we have a functional craft/sewing room I love sewing in there!

 So bookmarks for my etsy store have been done with cotten yarns that are vintage.
                                     
 I also received an antique book from my parents for Christmas that is a book of biographies and quotes from women of the past. Its wonderful and I want to republish it someday. Its from 1856.

 You can see that the bookmarks work nicely in this little volume.

 Coasters will also be available in the etsy store soon.

 And there are more styles coming along that will be a suprise in the coasters. I have my own little inventory shelf in our craft room for all these items that will be for sale. :)

 What my family has been up to a lot lately! We are game people! We love playing games in the evenings and this one is a new favorite. Its called Qwircle and is for 4 players, so big families this may not be a favorite unless you do teams. We are a family of 4. Its so easy even your little ones who are 4 or 5 could play.

 I also made some cloth bins for all my new yarn that is for my shop to crochet and knit up some pretties.

 Josh Groban has been a big help to keep me on task and helped me to be calm while studying for my clep exam for US History 1 on thursday. Pray for me if you remember, its at 3pm eastern time I will be doing the exam. I am at peace because I passed my practice exam today though! Praise the Lord!

 I did little rose buds on this bin above with rick rack and love the result!

This one with vintage ribbons and rick rack as well.

Well God bless and more about the etsy store and the new to us craft/sewing room soon.

WOW WOW WOW!

I can't believe I had never gone over to see this before-http://www.lavendersgreen.com/index.htm ! A fellow blogger Suzannah over at http://www.adventuresindressmaking.com/  mother has this lovely website for selling historical garments and I can't believe I had never seen it before! Do go over and drool with me. :)

In Christ,
Rebecca

Pinwheel throw pillows

Hey everyone!

So yesterday I had great intentions to start a pinwheel quilt, but then I decided I did not want to do that right now and wanted to use the squares for a smaller project. Yes I really don't plan ahead all too well. :) So I made these two pillow covers for my pillow forms. I wanted something new and bright and cheery for me room. Here is the result. I found this lovely blog yesterday as well called psiquilt and it has great inspiration! She is a great quilter and gave me the idea for the pin wheel squares. I am really loving quilting lately! :)

 The above one is made from the main fabric of an old skirt my sister had made me a while ago. It was too small, so I cut it up for reminding me of memories in this pillow. All the pin wheels are made of scraps from other projects as well to remind me of the past.

The above ones main fabric is made of an old dress I never wore from the thrift store. I love the boldness of the print against the bright pin wheel squares.

Have a lovely monday!

In Christ,
Rebecca