I Have Been Sewing

Hi friends! How are you today? It has been raining for over half a week straight here. That makes the pain go up unfortunately.

I did finish off the front room valances. Chocolate and cream fabrics. Same fabric as the foot stool I showed you a few weeks ago. Not sure you can see them very well, but the buttons are covered in the same fabric. Brian and Madeleine wanted to help me cover all the buttons. Sure! That was nice. :)

For the first picture I caught the few minutes of sunshine we had. The windows are clean! The two screens need to be removed and cleaned. Brian does that with the hose. ;)

Here are the two chocolate table runners I made.

This was my Great Aunt Ethel's end table with a book shelf. Not in the best condition, but I love it anyways. The rooster planter was my Grandma's.

This is my Great Aunt Ethel's cedar chest she left for me.

Aren't these neat? My friend Tatiana made them. They are discarded CDs from her work. She then crochets over them and gives them as gifts to use as coasters. Never would have thought of that!

I am beading away on Theotokos. Nearing the end!

Our dear Mabel's back is flared up again. We took her to the vet on Monday. She is on her 4 different medications to hopefully bring her back to her normal. She can still walk some. One of the meds is a pain pill.

We are praying. If you want to pray for her too, I welcome that and appreciate it. We love her so much. The vet did not mention taking another x-ray, and we probably won't. She already has 7 slipped discs. We know more can slip also. Another may have. This incident was triggered by, believe it or not, her anal glands. She had full anal glands, so she was scooting her rump around on the grass trying to alleviate herself. The hunched position and the pressure, hurt her little back.

We are giving her the best of care and keeping her as comfortable as possible. We have learned since her back problems began just over one year ago now, that recovery takes weeks.

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope you have a beautiful day my friends!

Beading and praying,
Vickie

Zero UFOs

Hi friends! How are you? The grass is greening up here. My perennials are popping up too. I have been slowly, but surely getting the flower beds cleaned up on the non-rainy days.

Back in September I stitched Lizzie Kate's Flora McSample Heart Sampler. I searched thrift shops for a few months for a suitable frame. Never found one I liked. A few months back I went to Hobby Lobby. I found what I am calling a candle screen. On clearance! It is metal. It was black with rust/distressing. Not my kind of thing at all. BUT! I had visions of what it could be. So after a few gentle reminders ;) Brian sanded it down for me. And then he painted it a cream color. Madeleine offered to paint the little flowers on top. :) I am quite pleased with how it turned out. AND.... I finished off the Heart Sampler  to hang there! This is in our front room, next to the very pale pink bench. Not sure you can tell it is pale pink in this picture. The walls are cream.

This was stitched two over two with DMC on the provided 28ct Mint Green Cashel linen.

I went rummaging through my fabric stash for the purple print I used. :) The pink ric rac is from Nancy at Victorian Motto Sampler. I am happy this is completed finally, and I am back to zero UFOs. :) As in, nothing partially stitched and nothing waiting for final finshing either.The white bird I received from June last year. :) The Mabel buttons on the bottom, I received from Lee last year too. :)

I have been busy sewing. I will have those valances for the front room completed on Sunday. I am waiting for the aluminum cover buttons to go on 50% off at JoAnn. I just picked up some chocolate colored ribbon at Michael's. I could not find what I wanted at JoAnn. I am hoping to finish the valances off quickly. I also made two chocolate colored table runners for an end table and my Auntie Ethel's  cedar chest in the front room. Pictures soon! :)

I read The Last Bride by Beverly Lewis last week. I enjoy Beverly's books. I have read every single one. However, I had this one all figured out and knew what was coming the whole way. Didn't like that. Not that her books are mysteries, they are not. Still.

Emerson is going to prom tomorrow! A friend/girl asked him! Just like his Dad. HA! They will have a very nice time, I am sure. :)

This is a beautiful orchid Brian bought me a month ago.

 Mabel often does this. They each get a bone to chew. She waits and watches Henry chew his. His is always better. ;)

I have thanked God for you today friends!

Beading and praying,
Vickie

Happy Easter!

Christ is risen! Happy Easter my friends!

I stitched up this freebie, available from alita designs, for this Easter.

I used all of the called for DMC colors. I stitched it on this 14 count Charles Craft Hopscotch fabric I have had sitting in my stash for a long time.

I needed a little something to cover the goodies in my Easter basket. What Easter basket you ask? Well, this one.

I also created this Easter basket liner last week. It is not perfect at all. I will not even give you the link to the tutorial I followed, because I should not have followed it! It skipped steps and I had to wing it. I spent hours embroidering the pussy willows. I am not remaking it.

As soon as I set the basket down to get a few pictures, Mabel and Henry both had to come check it out. Of course!

One of the things I changed on the freebie from above is the cross. I made up my own Orthodox cross. Why? Well, last Sunday, Palm Sunday, Brian and I became Orthodox Christians. Brian has been considering this for years. The both of us together have been considering it for a year. All three of our teenagers live at home with us still. They are all Lutheran. Two of them have attended Orthodox church with us. We do not expect them to change. We will continue attending Lutheran church with them as long as they live in our home with us. We attend church every week. We always have and always will. We are strong in our faith and beliefs. We do not want our children to fall away from the church. We simply could not wait for many years to make this change in our lives. I just cannot describe the awesome reverence and holiness of Orthodox Divine Liturgy.

So this is what our Pascha (Easter) basket looked like on Saturday morning when we took it with us to church. Father blessed everyone's baskets after the Liturgy.

I embroidered pussy willows because our Orthodox church uses pussy willows on Palm Sunday instead of Palm branches. We were given the Pascha bread (Kulich) by a member. The kids and I made pastel Easter eggs this year. You can also see a butter lamb. Orthodox Christians fast from meat, fish, eggs, dairy, wine and oil during the entirety of Lent.

We have had this Lord's Supper icon for over 15 years. We put our pussy willows on top of it, in our kitchen.

Well, I am off to worship! Then lots and lots of family time. The kids last day off is tomorrow.

Oh yes. I have already attacked my chocolate bunny! mmmmmmm! And I had a pumpkin chai latte too! LOVE!

Thanks for stopping by. I am so glad you did! Be blessed!

Beading and praying,
Vickie

Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop

Good Morning friends! I am taking part in the Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop this year. You can learn all about it, and find out where the Hunt begins, by going to Jo's blog. Each of us in the Hunt are sharing an Easter or Spring stitched finish with you. Here is mine.

I stitched this when I was 18 years old. :) This is simply titled "May", because it is from God's In His Heaven, a pattern book by Gloria & Pat. There is a different pattern for each month of the year. I had this framed about 10 years after I stitched it. Then it hung in Madeleine's room for many years.

Each of us participating in this Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop were assigned a letter. If you visit Jo's blog to find out where to begin, then you can hop from blog to blog, collecting letters as you go. You will end up with the Mystery Phrase. :) My letter is  S. You need to visit Gracie's blog next to continue on in order, and solve the mystery!

I will be back on Easter to share two finishes with you. I took a break from Theotokos to make two Easter projects. They involve cross stitch, embroidery and sewing.

If I don't hear from you for a while, I want to wish you a Blessed Easter right now!

Beading and praying,
Vickie

Poodles and Pansies

Hi friends! Did you get yourself an Easter hat like this?

This is another one of my vintage poodle cards. :)

This is what Henry looked like before his haircut yesterday.

Here are Mabel and Henry after I gave them both haircuts this week.

The weather has been mild enough that I have been working in the garden for 30 minutes at a time, every other day now without increasing my left SI joint pain. Hooray! Thank you God. What a blessing.

Pink and purple pansies! Another blessing. ♥

I finished Man's Search For Meaning. This a 1946 book by Viktor Frankl chronicling his experiences as an Auschwitz concentration camp inmate during World War II, and describing his psychotherapeutic method, which involved identifying a purpose in life to feel positively about, and then immersively imagining that outcome. He was a Jewish psychiatrist. It was a very interesting book. This was an assigned book for Jacob's Philosophy course. I decided to read it also.

Here is a picture (not the best, sorry) of the beading I have done thus far.

That is it for today my friends. I hope you are well AND happy. :) I am glad you stopped by. Thank you for your kind words. I appreciate them AND YOU!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

The Dreaded Chore

Hi friends! Another beautiful, sunny day here. It is 60º. :) I worked for 30 minutes in the garden yesterday AND today. Without much pain increase! That is fantastic for me. I am very happy with that. I love to garden but decided a few years ago not to expand or add additional beds or borders anymore. I just cannot handle the pain gardening brings about. If I can work 30 minutes at a time with what I have here now, I will be busy enough.

If you recall, last week I asked you all what Springtime chore you think I dread the most. One person guessed correctly. That would be Mary Jane. I told her she is right and I will mail her the chart this week. :) Oh yes! The nasty chore is cleaning up dog poop!!! With our long Wisconsin winters, a lot of poop gets hidden or frozen in the snow and ice. And when things melt and thaw in Spring, well....YUCK!! Happy to say that chore is all done!

Plodding along with beading still. Little things keep popping up for me to do, so I haven't done as much beading as I would like. Tomorrow I have to give Miss Mabel a shampoo, blow dry and cut. :)

You take care. Thanks for stopping in today.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

RAK

Hi friends! I received a RAK from our friend Carol. What a happy, beautiful surprise. :)

Carol tells me that she admires how I live my life to the fullest in spite of my chronic pain. So she stitched me this LHN "Hope" virtue. She hopes and prays that some day my pain will be erased altogether. Oh me too Carol, me too!

I cannot even put into words the excellence of this little pillow. I am NOT exaggerating. I told my husband that this is the finest stitching and finishing I have ever seen. Carol also included an extra bit of cording so I can use this pillow as a Christmas ornament. What an excellent idea! I will do just that. :) You can also see the pretty, little note pad she gave me.♥

Busy times with Emerson. He graduates in less than two months. Then on to Concordia University Mequon.

The campus is right upon the shore of Lake Michigan. He will live at home and commute. He is going to major in History, so far. ;) He decided not to major in Art. He was also accepted at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. He loves art and history. The choice was his to make. And he waited as long as possible, let me tell you! He is definitely not done creating art. We will see what God has in store for Emerson.

I finished my least favorite Springtime chore. You still have a chance to guess what chore that is for a free chart I am offering here.  I will draw a name tomorrow. :)

Plodding along with the beading of Theotokos. THAT takes a long time!

Well off to worship on this beautiful Sunday morning. I hope you have a lovely day in the Lord my friends. Thank you for stopping by.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Pink + Poodles = Fabulous!

Hi friends! Do you remember last month I received an RAK from Kim? Well one of the gifts she sent me was the JBW pattern, French Country Poodle. I stitched it up using the pretty, pink variegated floss Donna sent me in February. I finished it into a "knob knocker"/ door knob hanger for Madeleine's bedroom.

I stitched this one over one on 25ct white evenweave. It is finished with the adorable, pink poodle fabric you see. Thank you Kim! This won't be the last time I stitch this poodle up. :)

My heart finishes aren't always what I want them to be. I find it so hard to keep a uniform shape. Do you have troubles with hearts? This is what hung from Madeleine's door for a few years.

I believe this was from a Cross Stitcher magazine. I substituted my own purple DMC colors to coordinate with her room. :)

I took a picture of Theotokos when I took it off the scroll bars three days ago. You can see I began the beading in the upper left corner.

I want to thank Vicki,Lee and Dani for their advice on beading. I have not heard back from Riolis. That is okay though. Had I looked at the needle they included for beading, I would have noticed it is impossible for one OR two strands of wool thread to fit through those beads. DUH! I did say that I have not done a big project with beads before. I did! So, I took myself to JoAnn right after Dani told me to use Nymo thread for beading. I am happy to say it is working very well. Slow, but very well.

Remember my Spring Poodles post? Wanna know something I think is very cool? Kissy of Kissy-Cross saw my post. She said she was inspired by concrete Mabel and Henry wearing their bows with her freebies on them! She decided to create another freebie because of it! She made two bunnies wearing poodle bows! tee hee! She says, "Okay, you can't see the poodles on their bows but I swear there are some ;-)" Yay! Use the link above to check out this new freebie. I printed it off. :)

I hope you have a super day in the Lord my friends. It is rainy here, so I will be beading today. Thanks for stopping by.  Oh yes, I forgot to mention if you are interested in a free chart I am giving away, see my previous post. :)

Stitching and praying,
Vickie