Phil 4: 6 – 9
Brothers and sisters:
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything,
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving,
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding
will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers and sisters,
whatever is true, whatever is honorable,
whatever is just, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious,
if there is any excellence
and if there is anything worthy of praise,
think about these things.
Keep on doing what you have learned and received
and heard and seen in me.
Then the God of peace will be with you.
When I met my husband oh so many years ago he had another translation for part of this scripture: “Worry about nothing, pray about everything and the peace of God will knock your socks off”. I’ve always loved his translation, bringing a simple, gentle, current reminder that worry is overwhelming and sucks life. I love it too because I like to walk barefoot, its one of my favorite things to do, just walk barefoot and feel the earth beneath my feet.
Worry is linked with fear. Fear that what we want in life will not happen. Fear that we will not be able to meet our responsibilities i.e. the mortgage, food, clothing, have a little bit of fun. For me this also goes along with writing that book on machine quilting. There is a fear, a worry that what I have to say will be summarily rejected. And so the writing and thought process have come to a screeching halt. I Know this is irrational and yet the fabric, thread, batting and ideas are all in my sewing room, waiting for me to get it together. Some of the writing has appeared on terificreations in the form of blog posts generating some good responses both on the blog and on facebook. When I wrote the post If I were actually writing a book Kelly Ann told me to “write that book!”
This scripture is a reminder to think about the good things. This translates into thinking about the good in quilting. I’m reminded frequently that I’m a good cheerleader for other quilters…and I want that to be reflected in this book. My whole premise is that when there is a basic, clear understanding of the mechanics of quilt making then anyone can machine quilt and do it well.
I am currently working on Quantum Leap, a quilt with Jeanie Sumrall-Ajero of Kaleidoscope Collections. I love working with Jeanie – we seem to complement one another well, bringing out the best in one another. This is one of those good things.
What you’re seeing here is bubbles, teeny-tiny bubbles. There will be bubbles in 2 colors for sure and maybe 3 colors. I have to see what happens when on the practice piece I’ve been testing color on. If it works great, if not I’m good with it too.
These are the good things that I’m thinking on….
Happy Quilting!
Teri
Just a note: I’m using the BERNINA #24 foot, a 90/14 top stitch needle with Magnifico thread to stitch these tiny bubbles.
A Quilter's Heart 
Thanks for sharing your thoughts….I think fear also spirals downward, and ends up “freezing” /crippling a person. I personally struggle with trying to be perfect which is another type of crippling. Giving myself grace and room for growth is also a way of having positive thoughts and thinking about the good. Perhaps I’ve gone in a different direction from what you are saying, but I totally agree with thinking on the truth, lovely, pure…its a much better way to live. Very freeing…Thanks for your post!
I don’t think you’ve gone in a different direction at all. You’ve generously added a different perspective. It’s a good thing to be sure. Perfection is in the mind of the person trying to be perfect, yes there are standards and goals to aim for but perfection…is elusive at best. It seems a lot of quilters, a lot of artistic types struggle with this fear, crippling fear that prevents good things from happening.