Take A Guess

Good morning everybody! Hope you are having a great day. ♥

I named this little girl Reba. ;)

My mom sent me this card.

This guy is named Chip as in Chocolate Chip!

Good 'ol mom! It sure made me smile. Those are "my chips" as they are referred to in this house. The kids might like potato chips, but I prefer my Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips!!

I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off yesterday. Have a frame for the tiny needlepoint that will probably work. Almost done stitching it!

 And finally, any guesses on what this will be for?

Antique French knife rest (poodle)

I picked this up at JoAnn last night. It is another project for our anniversary on October 3rd. It is something I have never done. It looks like fun. I ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY WILL NOT BELIEVE IT IF ONE OF YOU ACTUALLY GUESSES WHAT I HAVE PLANNED FOR THIS YARN!!  tee hee!

Stitching and praying and goin' a bit crazy,
Vickie

Stitching Under Pressure

Good morning everybody! Welcome new followers. I am so glad to have all of you here today. ♥ I just came in from the backyard with a few photos for you this morning.

This is the small tree I can see from my kitchen table, where I do all my stitching. I should have gotten a few pictures starting with last week. Next year I will. This tree, in the park, just on the other side of the fence, is so pretty to watch. It starts changing colors in the fall with the slightest blush of peach. It darkens to coral and salmon colors and then to reds. You can see it is beginning to show a few red leaves here and there.

This is a view out by the pond. It is blocked by the fence and tall grasses. You can see the trees begin their change behind the pond in the woods.

The garden is slowing down. Still flowers in bloom though.

I am stitching under pressure. Oh, I will definitely get the Erica Michaels "To Thee My Heart" stitched for our anniversary. I just do not know if I will have time to frame it. I have checked the thrift shops, Michael's and JoAnn for a suitable frame. Next I am going to drive to the closest needlework shop and check. If all else fails, it will be given to him unframed but done. It will be framed. I am also going to get the Pixel People made into a flatfold this weekend. Life is so busy with our three teens. College choices have been made for Jacob, now to apply!

The MRI results showed the same thing as 8 years ago. A slight disc bulge at L4-5. My doctor feels I should go to a pain specialist again for an epidural. I had 3 cortisone shots, 2 in discs and one in my SI joint, 7 1/2 years ago. They did not help me. He feels time may have changed things. So Brian has done research and has found a very good pain specialist. He is rated in the top 1% of the U.S. for pain management. He requires a referral from my doctor. So that is what I am waiting for. The nurse tells me it will not be done and sent until the middle of next week. Aaarrgghh! It is so frustrating, this waiting. Once the new doctor receives it, they will call me to schedule. So it's gonna be a bit.

Well, gotta go stitch now! You all take good care of yourselves. Have a most wonderful day!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

The Lamb

Good morning everybody! Ever heard this? Ever sang it? We did last night in church.

The Hymn

"The Lamb"

by Gerald Coleman

Stanza 1
The Lamb, the Lamb,
O Father, where's the sacrifice?
Faith sees, believes
God will provide the Lamb of price!
Worthy is the Lamb Whose death makes me His own!
The Lamb is reigning on His throne!

Stanza 2
The Lamb, the Lamb,
One perfect final offering.
The Lamb, the Lamb,
Let earth join heav'n His praise to sing.
Worthy is the Lamb Whose death makes me His own!
The Lamb is reigning on His throne!

Stanza 3
The Lamb, the Lamb,
As wayward sheep their shepherd kill
So still, His will
On our behalf the Law to fill.
Worthy is the Lamb Whose death makes me His own!
The Lamb is reigning on His throne!

Stanza 4
He sighs, he dies,
He takes my sin and wretchedness.
He lives, forgives,
He gives me His own righteousness.
Worthy is the Lamb Whose death makes me His own!
The Lamb is reigning on His throne!

Stanza 5
He rose, He rose,
My heart with thanks now overflows.
His song prolong
Till ev'ry heart to Him belong.
Worthy is the Lamb Whose death makes me His own!
The Lamb is reigning on His throne!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

In The Garden This Morning

Good morning everybody! That someone nice is YOU! I am glad you are here with me. Welcome to my new followers.

Isn't this pansy just breathtaking?

This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

I had the MRI yesterday, late afternoon. I don't think the doctor's office has even received the report yet. I will call over there shortly to ask if I may have the results today if possible. Who knows if they will even find anything note worthy. Seven and a half years ago, on the last MRI they really didn't. That is why I went through 2 years of different treatments, procedures, therapy and junk. Then I finally made it to a specialist who said it was my left SI joint.

I finished reading The Key On The Quilt by Stephanie Grace Whitson. Very good historic fiction book. It is about women in prison in historic Nebraska. I found the book by chance. I am glad I did. I will be reading more by her. But for right now I have begun Bonhoeffer Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas. This is a huge book. I was given this by my FIL. This will keep me for quite a while!

I am still stitching on the Erica Michaels piece for our anniversary. Slow but sure.I brought out my magnifier/light. Much better!

Remember my Clementine Rose? The one that is older than me? It was my paternal grandmother's. She is blooming along wonderfully. Smells lovely.♥

Chocolate Drop Sedum in front and Chocolate Joe Pye Weed in back

And last but not least. I had to pick one of these for Mabel. ;)  We just love green beans around here. =)

Take care my friends. Have a fantastic weekend filled with joy!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

A Giveaway Win!

Good morning everybody! It is another cool, sunny morning here. =) Brian called and pushed the woman at the doctor's office yesterday. She was on vacation for one week, last week. She is the only one who takes care of insurance and MRIs. What?!? So amazingly coincidental that she calls a few hours later and the insurance went through for it. We just have to wait until today to set it up with the hospital by our home. She needed time to get it to them.ROAR!! Man, I am trying to control my rage here. It's just that health care things can be so DUMB! I am waiting 2 weeks just to make the appointment for  the MRI the doctor ordered. I am living in pain every stinkin'day. Sorry, sorry. Ugly bitterness tries to budge back in there. Forgive me. Moving on.......

Maggee sent me this.

AND this! A surprise she added. Isn't she sweet? Thank you Maggee. I made you a little something to show my appreciation of you. =) It is in the mail, on it's way to you way down there.

I am stitching on this.














I made an assumption that this was cross stitch. Surprise!! When it arrived and I opened up the package, I started reading it. Holy Toledo! This is needlepoint over one on 40ct silk gauze! Oh my goodness! Now what?! I made a start the other day. Then I frogged the other day. :(  When, when this ever gets done, it will be really cool. I hope. I think. At least it should be. This is to be for Brian for our 20th anniversary along with the Pixel People I have yet to finish "finish".

Mabel say "Hi"! She is sporting her haircut I gave her on Saturday. Isn't she lightening up? Hard to believe she was jet black as a 2lb, 7 week old puppy I received on Mother's Day 3 years ago.

Have a great day my friends. Thank you for visiting me. I do so appreciate you.♥

Slowly stitching and reading,
Vickie

Pixel People!

Good morning everybody! It is a beautiful day here. The small project that has been giving me fits, is the Pixel People! I wanted to make "us", Brian and I, for a gift to him. I still need to finish it into a flatfold finish. This is a gift for our 20th anniversary. I still have 2 1/2 weeks to get it done.

two over two on 36ct white linen

You can find the patterns here. You obviously have to play around with them, and create you! I counted a few times and I just have to blame the percocet I was on. There is supposed to be a space between Brian and I. I decided he's gonna love it this way best anyhow. I was so far into it before I realized the problem. It's not a problem now. I like it the way it is. My glasses gave me troubles. As you can see from my profile picture on the right above, I have rimless glasses. It took a few different flosses and tries, but I think I got it! =)

I am wearing my pink flats you will notice. ;) It was fun. Kinda. Pretty much. Except for all the frogging of things that I did not like the way they turned out and had to change. But it's all better now. It's us at 20 years of marriage! ♥

I am reading and learning now. Taking on the next anniversary gift project. It is over my head for right now. I am trying not to hyperventilate. It is a stitching project, but not cross stitch. Very different. Kinda scary. Dummie me shouldn't have taken this on with only 2 1/2 weeks before our anniversary. Well, step by step I go.

 

Have a fabulous weekend friends. I can't wait to hear what you think of "us". Thank you for taking your time to visit me. I am so glad you did!♥

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Angel Ornament

Good morning everybody! It is a beautifully, cool morning here. It is sunny and will be real warm. =) I stitched this weekend. I got the little angel for my mother done. I like to make my mom angel ornaments for Christmas. This one was a freebie from Victoria Sampler.

one over one on light blue 28ct evenweave

There were different examples on the website stitched up. I went with Wendy's, as my mom's favorite color is blue. When I pulled the floss I realized the colors were a bit more purple than blue. That was okay. I like the colors a lot. I did change the color for outlining the skin. I could not find the blending filaments at either JoAnn or Michael's. So I did not use it. She was to be holding a ribbon with a charm. I do believe I am leaving her plain like this. I like her as is. We will see how I finish her. She is so small.

I love these grasses along the back fence. I got them for free when they closed down a Sears Grand right by our home a few years ago. When they started to tear down for a new grocery store to go up, I went and talked to the foreman on the jobsite. I asked him if I could have them. He told me to come back the next day, he would have them dug up and set aside for me. Brian and I returned for our free grasses. =)  The other plant you see on the right is the Chocolate Joe Pyeweed/ Eupatorium. It will be covered in tiny, little white flowers soon.

I wanted to show you how my two turquoise pots in front of the garage look now for fall. I always go to the wonderful, local nursery in July. It is more pricey, but he has the unique and beautiful plants. I go in July because he marks annuals down then. That's when my spring pansies have pooped out, so I nab the annuals for my fall plantings. So it cost me $4 a pot. =) The large green leaves to the left are what is left of the lovely pink hollyhock. And do you see who snuck in there? I kept trying to distract her. She just barely snuck in the photo. ;)

Lastly, here is a lovely photo Miss Madeleine took last week. A beautiful sunset we saw from our back yard. The buildings are the library on the left and the police department on the right.

That's it for today friends. I thank you once again for stopping by and taking the time to comment. You're the best! ♥ May every minute of this day be blessed by the Lord.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Advice Please

Good morning everybody! How's everyone this morning? We all have colds in this house. Yuck! Madeleine started us out with it. She got it from school already. I hate that.

So I was wondering if you ladies could tell me what you think. I stitched up the first one of the kids' Christmas ornaments. I was thinking of mounting it in that little pendant piece you can see in the picture. Have any of you done this with your stitching?

There is that slim frame around the glass. There is not much depth to the piece. I had wanted to stitch up each of the kid's year of graduation for the back. The book I absolutely love and have checked out over and over again from the library for alphabets and numbers is missing!! They cannot find it! Rats! It's called 365 Alphabets: Cross Stitch All Through The Year by Kooler Design Studio. The library computer catalog says check shelf. If it is mis-shelfed, what shelf should they check!!!! The library is kinda huge!!! It has been almost one week since they began looking. I think I will have to look to another source.

So I was wondering if I should go this route, with the pendant type finish. I have had these in my stash for quite some time actually. I am afraid to cut my stitching so close and small. Do you use Fray Check around all the edges? There would not be room in the depth for two pieces of linen plus turned edges. Have you ever used Fray Check where you wanted to cut and then after it is dried cut it afterwards? I have only applied it to my cut edges.

one over one on 32ct white linen

Any thoughts or ideas would help me friends. Thank you! One down. Two to go!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

My Pinpillow Basket

Good morning everybody! It is a cloudy, drizzly kinda day today. Not the best for picture taking, but these are what I have to share with you.

one over two on 36ct tea stained linen

These two are with the flash. The two pinkish, purplish, brownish counting pins are made by me. The three others were made by Nataly, a gift for me. This is the freebie pattern from my last post. It is found on Nuestras Miniaturas. I knew I wanted her in this sweet, little basket. I found the ruffle and backing fabric at JoAnn. It goes very well with it.

I am pretty pleased with it. =)

When I was in JoAnn I found out that they will be moving. They are taking over one half of an empty grocery store in a strip mall. The other half will be Big Lots. I had even joked last year when the grocery store built a new, bigger store and left that one behind, that this should be a new, bigger JoAnn. We have one of the old, tiny ones. Glad to have one. I am just sad they aren't going to be one of the Super stores and use the whole space. This location is still very close to me. It will not be done til June they say.

So I am still stitching on the first of three Christmas ornaments for the kids during the day. When they are home I am stitching on my mother's angel ornament. They have not accidentally seen any ornaments yet over the years. ;)

Thank you for stopping by today. I would love to hear from you and know you were here.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Weekend Stitch

Good morning everybody! Welcome to Nicky my newest follower. I am so glad to have all of you here. You make my day with your friendly comments. Thank you. =)

The last thing I told you was that I was going to stitch up an ornament for one of the kids this weekend. Well I began that on 32ct over 2. I just don't like that. It looked to big. The dark blue just wasn't covering very well either. So I tossed that. But I decided the dark blue I had wasn't quite the right match to the high school's color blue. It was too late at night to go to JoAnn. So I decided to start the Angel ornament I am making my mother for Christmas. I had the pattern. I knew I had linen. I only had half of the DMC. Well, the next stitch waiting to be done was one for myself. =)

one over two on 36ct tea stained linen

I found this precious, little stitcher here, on Nuestras Miniaturas. I just love little stitches. Dollhouse miniatures are awesome to me. =) Even with me stitching this little freebie over two, her finished size is 1 3/4 x 2 3/4 inches. Sweet! I have a little basket I have planned for the finishing of her. I found it at Good Will this summer. I don't remember the price right now, but I do remember it was dirt cheap.

I used Weeks Cinnabar floss. I love this color. (Thanks again Peggy!) The true colors don't seem to be showing with these pictures. Maybe when she is finished the true golden tones will show more. I need to go to JoAnn again for some finishing fabric. I don't have anything suitable for this pin pillow.

I did get the correct school colors in DMC yesterday. Navy blue and dark canary. So I did barely begin the school logo Christmas ornament. I will stitch it on white 32 ct still, but one over one. I also am adding a neat antique motif I found that is used to surround monograms. Now to stitch in secret! ;)

I did finish the book I was reading by Bill Cosby. It was funny. Just not hilarious. I thought it would be very funny. I found the book at the library by chance.

Have a great day in the Lord everyone!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Finished

Good morning everybody! What a big, beautiful moon we had last night. I finished this yesterday afternoon. Sorry, not the best picture, it is still in the Q-snaps.

Praise God by La-D-Da

Such a pretty piece. I am so thankful to Peggy for this pattern. This was part of my gift she gave me in her giveaway. I stitched it on the linen she gave me, 36ct Toasted Coconut, Tree of Life Samplings. I used the Weeks flosses, with one DMC she included, one over two. Oh no!!!!! I just realized that I never made the three french knots in the center of each flower!!!!! Well, now you know what I will be doing today. ;)

I pulled linen and floss last night. I began the first of three Christmas ornaments I will be making for the kids. We have given them an ornament every year for St. Nick's.  They are mostly store bought, but sometimes handmade. Last year I stitched them each this Mac ornament, as our dear Mac had just passed in October.

Mac

All three children are now going to Pius XI High School together. Jacob is a senior this year. I am going to use white 32ct linen and a nice dark blue floss. Their colors are dark blue and golden yellow. The school uses the XI as their logo. I am going to stitch a XI and use yellow ribbon for the trim work. Haven't decided what shape yet. Hopefully it will be very nice.

Here is a shot of the little espeliared McIntosh apple tree. It is coming along quite nicely. No apples this year. Maybe next year. We are not supposed to pick any apples for three years.

We are not doing anything special on this Labor Day weekend. How about you? I will definitely be stitching. A little more yard work. So many cherry tomatoes! I will definitely not be growing as many next year. I love them. My stomach does not. Acidic foods cause me to have gastritis. The doctor warned me years ago to control the acidic foods, do not need ulcers! The green beans are plentiful right now. I love fresh green beans. Mabel does too. She runs over to join me in the yard when I go to the vegetable patch. We share green beans right off the vine together. =)

This is little Mabel in the kitchen. This is how she waits for one of us when we are about to arrive back home. She gets a sense of the time for our return. She started doing this after Maggie died, since she is an "only dog". She is definitely a companion dog.♥

Take care my friends. Have a safe, long weekend.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie