Mountain Musings

Ladies' Project Day

What: Ladies' Project Day

When: Yesterday afternoon

Who: Ladies and daughters of our church

Why: To get some work done on crafts or other current projects while fellowshipping with friends

From recipes and scrapbooking to knitting and quilting, our hands were busy. There was even a Vitamix demonstration and enjoyment of refreshing fruit smoothies. More fun times together!

~Hannah

We've Got a Winner!

Thank you to all those who entered the Vision Forum giveaway for one of the five conference albums. Since there were not a lot of entries this time around, you all had a greater chance of winning!

However, there still can only be one winner, and the Random.org generator we used gave us the winning name. Congratulations, Wagner Family!!!

You will be receiving the True Beauty: Cultivating Christ-Centered Father-Daughter Relationship album you selected.

Winning comment: 

Thank you for allowing us to try to win a great CD collection! We will pick TRUE BEAUTY if our name is the winner.  Thanks again~  Wagner Family

Thanks again to all who participated!

~Deb

New Audio Album Giveaway

 

We're excited to have another opportunity to host a giveaway here on Mountain Musings, featuring more Biblical worldview resources from Vision Forum. This time, Vision Forum is offering to give a copy of one of their newest audio albums to a reader of our blog. The 5 new collections of messages are:

• Let Freedom Ring! The Philadelphia Faith and Freedom Tour
• True Beauty: Cultivating Christ-Centered Father-Daughter Relationships
• History Has Been Made: Moments and Messages from the 2009 SAICFF
• Lights, Camera, Action! Highlights from the 2009 CFA
• The 2008 Witherspoon School of Law and Public Policy

These conference CDs will help you consider topics as important as the battle for Biblical marriage, the significance of the Electoral College, an analysis of how Christians should depict violence in film, how to build the father-daughter bond, and what the Bible has to say about female magistrates.

You'll also be able to hear special event highlights such as a “Give Me Liberty” recitation by Dean Jones, dramatic performances by George Sarris, music from the Von Trapp Children, and a behind-the-scenes look at Fireproof with Stephen Kendrick and Kirk Cameron.

Go here to read more descriptions of each of the albums and determine your favorite. To enter for a chance to win the album of your choice, comment on this post with the album you would select. You have until Friday the 27th at 8 pm EST.

If our family could pick just one of these albums, we would probably want to listen to Let Freedom Ring! The Philadelphia Faith and Freedom Tour. We've never been to Philadelphia and would enjoy hearing on-location tours as well as talks about historic leaders like George Washington or Jonathan and Sarah Edwards.

One last thing: Our research from past contests on this blog shows that you will likely have a 2-9% chance of winning our giveaway. :) So for those of you who want to make sure you get to hear these messages, be aware that the 50% off sale on this set ends tonight!

~Hannah

End of Orange Pile Challenge ~ 5 Blocks Finished

Well, this is the last evening of Pat Sloan's Virtual Quilt Retreat. I'm ending the Sew-Along with five blocks completed and will have to finish the rest this week.

It really has been lots of fun matching colors and making the blocks. Thanks, Pat, for Orange Pile weekend!

Here are the five blocks I finished. I'm very pleased with the end result and look forward to depleting my orange stash even further this week. I'll post a final picture when the project is all done.

~Deb

Saturday OP ~ Quilt Shop & 1st block

A couple of pictures from our day out at the Quilt Shop...Yes, we filled two carts with bolts of fabric! Here's Hannah standing by the loot!

It took us three hours to decide on all the fabrics we wanted to buy! Talk about a fun morning!

I loved the display of The Very Hungry Caterpillar quilt and bought the fabric to make it. Did you know that March marks the 40th anniversary of the book by Eric Carle? Hannah liked the watercolor look of the quilt panels. It should sew up quickly.

Then we hurried home so I could start on the Sew-Along of the orange pile blocks! I'm posting my first block below, and I have to say that it was very fun working on it and putting the various fabrics together! 

I haven't decided if I'm adding the corner triangles or not. Here's a picture without them and also to document that I really did sew a block today. :)

I hope to have several blocks done tonight and will post more pictures by tomorrow evening--the end of the retreat.

~Deb

Saturday OP ~ 2

I really, really, really have to get down to business today and sew, sew sew!

The little elves washed and dried all the orange fabrics yesterday while I was away so I would be ready to start.

At 9:30 last night when I walked in the door, the bed looked a little too inviting. I crashed, and no orange pile blocks were sewn yesterday!

Today our local quilt shop is having their 20%-off-everything-you-can-fit-in-their-canvas-shopping-bag sale. What's a girl to do? Sit home and start some OP sewing or go shopping at the quilt store? 

Off I go....yet again! I really am a part of this OP Challenge...I think!

In the meantime, head over to Pat's Sew Along and see some of those completed OP blocks.

~Deb

OP Pattern ~ 1

Well, I'm up extra early to get out the door to Richmond this morning but thought I'd check the OP site to see if a pattern had been posted yet! Yes! The virtual quilt retreat has begun!

The first post is up with a sample block. Go here to see how our oranges will start out. At least mine will start out tonight when I get home around bedtime...unless some little elves named Hannah and Sarah get into the orange pile and help ol' Mom out while she's gone. :)

~Deb

OP Sew-Along (That's What I Get For Blog-Hopping!)

Very rarely, if ever, do I blog hop and hop and hop. I usually stick with reading my favorite blogs and that's it, as there's only so much blog time! Last night I checked out Susan's new post over at Blackberry Creek (check out her orange fabrics!) and found out she's participating in Pat Sloan's OP Sew Along.

What's an OP Sew Along? Well, OP stands for Orange Pile, and it's a Challenge to use up any orange fabric we might have in our stash. If you remember, my stash is very small compared to others out there in quilting blogland!

But I hopped to Sister's Choice Quilts and saw Nicole's orange choices, and then hopped to Pat Sloan's Corner and saw her orange b-o-l-t-s of fabric and read about the virtual sew-along. Of course, I wanted to participate!!

The Sew Along starts Friday morning when we'll get more instructions and lasts until Sunday evening; there's lots of fun going on with prizes and more hopping to participating blogs. But...do I have any orange fabric for this wild unexpected project?

This afternoon I went through my stash and came up with a few oranges and also a complementing color; I think I'm using green with an accent of beige. I'm not even sure if I have enough fabric to sew along, as the yardage and pattern we're using haven't been announced yet. It wouldn't do to go out and buy orange fabric when the goal is to use up what we already have!

  Seeing as I'm having lunch with a friend in Richmond most of the day Friday and visiting friends for dinner Friday evening, when will I get started sewing? I'll see if this is something I can reasonably accomplish--or not. It's a fun idea anyway. Don't you think?

~Deb

Holiday Shopping Beef Stew

Here's a recipe my friend, Nancie, shared with me many years ago. It comes in handy on those days when you've been out shopping and would love to come home to delicious aromas wafting from the kitchen and a meal all ready to sit down to rather than being tired and frazzled with nothing prepared!

My friend, Becka, over at Becka's Blog recently asked for recipes that would be good ones to come home to after church on Sundays. This recipe has now officially been renamed Sunday After Church Beef Stew.

It bakes for 4 1/2 - 5 hours, just perfect to pop in the oven early Sunday morning. Preparing all the ingredients the night before makes the task even easier.

Sunday After Church Beef Stew

• 2 lbs beef for stew
• 5 medium potatoes
• 5 carrots
• 1 medium onion
• 1 14 1/2 can stewed tomatoes, slightly drained and mashed
• 1 can cream of celery soup
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper

Peel and cube all veggies. Combine all ingredients in 2 1/2 quart casserole, cover, and bake in 275 degree oven for 4 1/2 - 5 hours. Serves 6. (Sorry, no picture as I haven't made this in quite awhile.)

Check out Becka's Good Chicken Breasts post. Doesn't that look delicious?

~Deb

Sunday Night at the Movies

Showing tonight in the Mountain Musings family room: How to Disciple Your Family - A Plan for Generational Victory by Vision Forum - 10 DVDs.

Notes taken from the first DVD:

7 Prayers to Pray for our Children

• That the Lord would save the souls of all of our children early in life and that none be lost. Lord, save our children.
• That the Lord would place in the heart of our children to be covenant keepers of the God of their fathers. Have mercy on them, Lord.
• That the Lord would send blessed, well-suited, Christ-loving spouses to our progeny. Lord, we pray for no divorce for 200 years.
• That all our children will continue to home educate their own children, following the Biblical model for discipleship. Lord, may all our children home-educate.
• That God would bless the wombs of our daughters and daughters-in-law with a multitude of children who love Christ and who will be mighty in the Lord.
• Lord, bless and make faithful the labors of the family in all of its generations.
• That children will honor their fathers and mothers and be faithful to the godly and applicable visions their fathers give to them.

Wonderful prayers to pray for our children. We're looking forward to hearing more of the DVDs another evening.

~Deb