The center of the Home...

I have always loved houses and house plans!  I have even drafted a few of my own.  Someday I would love to build a house.  I want to make a house quilt- just trying to figure out the perfect "take" on it for me and my style.  :)
When I think of the perfect house, to me, the KITCHEN would be in the center- literally!  That may sound weird, but let me explain...  That's where I spend 99% of my time- that's where our family chats- that's where stories are retold, laughter is always heard, and heartfelt love is shared.  If I could build my dream kitchen, it would be complete with fireplace and cozy chairs, window seats and couches.  There is a sign above my kitchen table that says "Come gather round our table."  That's what the kitchen is to us- where we are us, imperfections and all, and where we are truly loved, no matter what.  

I thought about this today as I read Debbie's daughter's story of her new lunch bag.  How good it is to sit, listen, and enjoy the meal- and having those you love around you is an added bonus.  I regularly read the Penzeys Spices catalog- love it!!

I received my latest copy yesterday and opened it today, in the midst of my musings about the central role of a kitchen, and almost did a double take at the inside of the cover...

Just perfect!  So I guess you could say, I want kindness to be the center of our home.  What a wonderful place the world would be if we could all take time to sit, visit, share some home cooked food, and just be loved around the kitchen table!  So no matter what room your kitchen table may be in, and whether or not it is close to the center point of your home, may it be the heart of your home each day!

Hoops, not the hula kind...

No matter how much I wiggled growing up, I could never get those hula hoops to work :), but these I can do- and no wiggling required :) All the better-

I have been wanting to make some hoop art for the shop (and for my house) for a while now. It seemed like everytime I got ready to sit down and work on them, something else would blow up in my face (or another deadline would hit). Finally after many weeks, I have been able to get two pieces finished and into the shop- hip, hip, hooray!

It's been fun trying out different techniques on each hoop. The first one (My Sunshine), I appliqued and then machine freehanded the wording and embellishments. The second (There's no place like...), I appliqued then hand-embroidered the wording and embellishments. I like that they are different. I know some people love fancy, shamnsy, over the top hoop art, but I prefer simple and with meaning. So that is what I went for :) I may have to make duplicates for some of my rooms. I have quite a few more ideas and hope to have more time to work on them in coming days- we'll see what hits in the next little while :) It's been so wonderful to have a few minutes of down time to work on these- I really needed it! hehe!

Hope everyone's week is going well- I can hardly believe that it will be April this week- for real??!! Oh my, every year gets faster and faster- it makes me want to hurry, I don't know why, but then I realize that I need to sit back, take it all in, breathe deep, and just enjoy the moment. I have this saying hanging in my living room and try to live by it- The Joy is in the Journey. That sums it up for me- yup, just try to cherish every moment and be grateful! So April or not, I am just going to sit back and take it all in, enjoying the little things, especially!