Happy Christmas

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Christmas hexie coaster that won't necessarily be put away anytime soon.

A few phrases have survived in my lexicon from our years in Yorkshire and Happy Christmas is top of the list. While my hubby and I are celebrating solo, video chats with family lessen the distances, as well as calls made earlier this week with relatives and dear friends. Our beloved battling cancer in the Midwest is improving, talk about miracles. And of course the most marvelous occurrence is feted today, the birth of a saviour in the guise of a migrant child born in extreme poverty. Christianity is full of contradictions, which later Christ told his followers was to mystify those unable to understand his message. Which is yet another oddity, but not for me to analyze today.

Today is about noting peace. Peace two thousand years ago, peace in our time, peace to last.... Forever, eternity, the ages. But I'll take peace right now; aftershocks continue here, the cold persists back east, other calamities worldwide. Yet in this small sliver of time, peace rules my heart, which was not the case earlier today. Peace matters. Peace heals. Peace is why a king was born in a stable. Makes little practical sense, but God is not about transparency. God is about faith. About believing in what seems impossible, unfathomable, perhaps not sane. Wars and famines still exist. Maladies strike and not all can be cured. After being ill all week this morning my youngest daughter tested negative for covid, but her youngest son tested positive. Shite happens, but peace remains.

The back because the fabric was handy and a good reminder regardless of how long into 2023 it's employed.


I spent much of yesterday making the coaster pictured at the top of this post; machine appliqueing it onto a rather dark piece of fabric, but I wanted the contrast. Then cutting fabric for the back, fashioning the quilt sandwich as well as the binding strip. A little machine quilting, adding said binding strip, an obligatory run through the washer and then it sat on the back of the sofa while I folded the rest of the clothes and attended to several other tasks. It wasn't until last night, as I took a break from some paper piecing, that I studied what had been so diligently sewn together, random scraps recovered from the mess that had been my sewing table flung to the floor, repurposed with a reason. The reason is to remind me that despite all attempts at this world figuratively and literally crushing my heart, peace reigns. God's peace, Christ's peace, hexie peace. Hexies patch blown-out knees, decorate shirts and onesies, transform small bits of cotton into a cohesive flower. May the strange but lasting love born years and years ago proffer you peace this Christmas Day in whatever manner befits your need. And I send you a virtual hexie hug!

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