Mini Quilt!

Ladies and gentleman, I think I'm officially hooked on quilting! My lessons with Pam have continued and I'm now ready to put my quilt together. Last night we practiced by making a miniature quilt in the form of a pot holder! Ta-da!

We used some of Pam's leftover fabric scraps and some special batting that is actually heat resistant, specially for hot pads. I started by pinning all three pieces together (top, batting, and bottom). Then I stitched around the perimeter using a special "walking" foot on the sewing machine.  It's used for quilting because you typically have multiple layers of thicker fabrics.  Then I proceeded to quilt across the pad.  I used a simple vertical line, but you can really go crazy here and stitch however you want. Finally, I put the binding around the edge.  

Repeating this for the entire quilt will be a more time consuming task, but it's a great feeling knowing that these are the last steps and I will have a completed quilt! I've already been searching out my next project on Pinterest.  Better not get ahead of myself! Stay tuned for a final post featuring my finished t-shirt quilt!

Oh, Technology!

Last week, I moved offices! I still have the same job, in the same building, but I moved my desk and everything on it into a room with a door. Woohoo! It has been a slight adjustment getting all of my various forms of technology in sync with one another again (phone, computer, printer, check deposit scanner, etc.). But I'm liking the change so far.

And today, I arrived at work to find out that my work e-mail (which is based in gmail) was making a change that wouldn't allow me to be logged into that account and my personal account at the same time.  So I reluctantly made the move from viewing all my mail online at gmail to using the mail application on my Mac.  I'm also trying out iChat for the first time.  I will tell you now, I don't deal well with change.  I got very used to my routine of sitting down at work in the morning and opening up my two email accounts in the same firefox window.  It will for sure be an adjustment but I'm trying to see the good in it. :) How do you deal with new technology or any change, really? Do you get on board early and embrace it fully or only make the change at the last possible moment because your current situation is on its way out?

And while we're on the topic of new, let's just talk about Pinterest.  I've been on it for a while (after resisting for as long as I could) and I still just don't get it.  I like the idea of being able to "bookmark" images I like and feel inspired by, but then what? I just imagine it's a place for me to stare at all this stuff I want. How many of you actually act upon the things you're pinning? And for that matter, where are you finding all this stuff you're pinning? Do you just follow an insane amount of blogs or are spending most of your time re-pinning things from other people?  Enlighten me, people!

Steps

Two years ago today, I stepped on a plane bound for Africa. It was a step that changed my life.  As I look back on that day, I’m amazed at how that one step had such a powerful and direct impact on the steps I take today.

When I walked into training for my upcoming Africa trip, I had just finished my final presentation for my bachelor’s degree in Public Relations.  I spent three days meeting my teammates, learning about Africa, and preparing for a month in rural Kenya.  In the month between that training and the actual trip, I returned to Austin to walk across the stage and receive my diploma, walked down the aisle at four weddings of close friends, and walked along the beach as my now husband asked for my hand in marriage.  No doubt, these were all pretty big steps in my life.  But I had no idea that stepping onto that plane to another continent would be equally as big.

I spent the next month in Kenya hosting summer camp for hundreds of kids in a rural village close to the Tanzanian border.  Many mornings, I went for a walk with a friend, watching the sunrise over the Chyulu Hills.  I walked down many dirt roads visiting schools and homes of the people in the community. I ran (ok, I jogged) up and down the fields attempting to play soccer with the Africans- not an easy task. I had the profound privilege of walking alongside these people I hardly knew and I fell I love. I walked away with a desire to know more. More walking, more steps toward a life I never imagined for myself.

I got back to the states, went to one more wedding, and spent the next day driving to Nashville to pursue a career in the music business.  A few months later, I found myself walking into Blood:Water Mission, not as a publicist, but as a finance assistant. I know it doesn’t make much sense, but here I am, still walking alongside some incredible people, both here in America, and across the world in Africa.  We are all walking together toward the same goal and it’s a beautiful thing.

So I continue to take steps, not always knowing where I’m going or what lies in front of me. But I know I can’t stop, because wherever I go, I have to believe there is a reason, not only for the destination, but for the journey itself.