March Sampler

Hi friends!Welcome new friends! I have been stitching away on yet another monthly pattern. I found this sweet, little pattern in a book from our library, titled 365 Tiny Cross Stitch Designs by Kooler Design Studio.

I stitched this one over one on 25ct white evenweave with DMC and white Wisper. It was NOT fun stitching with the Wisper over one.

I am almost done with another of these sweet, monthly patterns. The finished size of these little samplers  is one inch by one and a half inches.

I hope you have a fabulous week my friends!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

♥

Hi friends! Hello to my new friends! If you can believe it, I did not get the epidural. I went all the way there on Wednesday, and I was told that I should have been called. The prior authorization has still not come through. So I must wait. Very disappointing to say the least. I am thankful I can at least take these muscle relaxers. They are getting me through this constant pressure and pain.

The latest piece I stitched for the cubby shelf is this one, by the Little Stitcher.

This is a free pattern you can find right HERE. I stitched this one over one on 28ct lambswool linen using DMC and Artiste metallic floss in Lipstick.

I stitched the words in green instead of the called for brown, because it is a little reference to Greendale. I have been saying for10 years now, "There's no place like home." And I always mean going back to Greendale. It is the sweetest, little village. We raised our three children there. I wish, hope and pray we live there again some day. (I do appreciate the home we live in and the safe, nice community.)

The Home Is Best piece that I stitched several years ago, is our sweet Greendale "Original". If you are interested, you can read more on Greendale and see the houses just like the one I stitched above, HERE .

I finished reading Stars Over Sunset Boulevard by Susan Meissner. I really, really liked this one. Here is a review of the book:

Los Angeles, Present Day. When an iconic hat worn by Scarlett O’Hara in Gone With the Wind  ends up in Christine McAllister’s vintage clothing boutique by mistake, her efforts to return it to its owner take her on a journey more enchanting than any classic movie…

Los Angeles, 1938.  Violet Mayfield sets out to reinvent herself in Hollywood after her  dream of becoming a wife and mother falls apart, and lands a job on the film-set of Gone With the Wind. There, she meets enigmatic Audrey Duvall, a once-rising film star who is now a fellow secretary. Audrey’s zest for life and their adventures together among Hollywood’s glitterati enthrall Violet…until each woman’s deepest desires collide.  What Audrey and Violet are willing to risk, for themselves and for each other, to ensure their own happy endings will shape their friendship, and their lives, far into the future. 

 I hope you have a wonderful weekend my friends. Thank you for stopping in. I appreciate your friendship.

Stitching and praying, 
Vickie

Whoopsie Daisy!

Hello again my friends! Yes, me again. Two posts in one day, because I forgot. I told everyone who left a comment for me on the Secret Stitcher Sweetheart Blog Hop post, I would draw a name today for a small present made by me.

There were 37 entries. I wrote down all the ladies names, cut them up, folded them, and placed them in this dish with.... a piece of dog food of course. That is how I get Miss Mabel to do the honors.

A very blurry picture, I know, but Mabel is fast!! And the name that stuck to her ear and fell out?

Here is our winner:

I need your address my dear!

While I have got you here friends, may I ask if would you please pray my epidural goes well on Wednesday afternoon? I would truly appreciate that.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Hands On Design Redesign

Hi friends! We had unseasonably warm weather and lots of sunshine over the weekend.Most of the snow melted. So nice.

I have been busy stitching up December and January in the Year of Celebrations series from Hands On Design. Both of these patterns are found in the January 2014 issue of Cross Stitch & Needlework magazine. These two took me longer. Take a look, do you see why?

THIS is how the patterns are charted to look. You can see I made significant changes. My reason for swapping these two months is because Brian and I are Orthodox Christians. Christmas is January 7th for us, not December 25th.

I wasn't too keen on the elf legs, so I stitched up two more presents instead.

Merry January has a nice sound to it, doesn't it?

Making December up in this way took me a while to figure out.  Since the word December is longer, I had to rearrange and leave out a bit. I also elongated the scarf. I also took out the word frost and put in snow. December definitely means snow to me!

Both of these patterns were stitched up on 25ct New Khaki lugana, one over one with DMC.

I will be making these up into pinkeeps today. Then they will be ready for display in the cubby shelf when their month pops up.

I baked cookies this weekend.

Thank you for stopping in with me today. I am so glad you did. Have a super week in the Lord.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

An Un Birthday Celebration

Hi friends!I just have to share this stupendous package I received from our friend Gracie. She had an Un Birthday Celebration and gave ME presents!!

This is a Party in a Bag. :) How cool! Emerson and Madeleine had fun with the party blowers. ;) And the firecrackers we took outside. (So as not to upset the dogs.)

Just look at this sweet, little bag of tiny, pink buttons, a bluebird button, special charms and a painted frog!

We are all looking forward to trying out this jelly. Read the label!

What could be in this little bag?

Great trims for future creations.

And look at this. Isn't this just pretty? Pink flosses tied in a bunch and trimmed with lovey pink roses

Gracie, you are SO thoughtful and kind. You put together a gift that is just perfect for me. Thank you my friend!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Nathanael and Titus

Hi friends! If I say "Nathanael and Titus", do you know who I am speaking of? If you thought of our friend Anne, her precious, baby boy and her gorgeous cat you are correct!! I made up a small flatfold standup gift a while back. Since she has received it, I will show it.

I never did take a picture of the completed flatfold, but here you can see the adorable fabric I found just for this. :)

I stitched this two over two on 28ct Monet Blue(very pale) linen  with DMC. I kind of merged two freebies into one pattern. You can find the freebies HERE. I also changed colors around a bit to create Nathanael and Titus. :)

I am stitching another monthly piece. Imagine that! ;) I will show you that next time.

I finished reading Torches of Joy by John Dekker.  It was a very interesting book. I will be honest, I read this book because it is written by my favorite author's father. I did gain insight into family's early years.

In 1960 the twenty-five thousand Dani tribespeople hidden away in the remote Toli Valley of Irian Jaya used only stone tools and had no written language. Then, in one generation, they took the always dangerous, sometimes fatal, leap from the Stone Age into the twentieth century.

At this critical time John and Helen Dekker gave themselves to the Dani, helping them discover the gospel of Jesus Christ and their destiny as helpers of other tribes. Today the seventy-nine churches of the Toli Valley, with thirteen thousand baptized believers, have sent out sixy-five couples to other tribes needing the gospel.

A chapter from a present-day Book of Acts, Torches of Joy is a model for cross-cultural mission strategy and one of the twentieth century's most striking chronicles of God's grace and power.

I never mentioned that Murphy had a dental cleaning at the beginning of this month. No more stinky breath. Yay! He was weighed at that time also. When he came to us last fall he was very thin from the stress of losing his one and only owner and home for 12 years. I am happy to say he is no longer 9.6 lbs, but 12.4 lbs.

Thank you for stopping in today. New friends and old friends are always welcome here.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Miss Mabel playing in the snow. It was snowing heavily. It seemed as though we were in a snow globe.

A Murphy Valentine

Hi friends! I stitched up a tiny Valentine recently. It was the piece I used to participate in Jo's Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop.

It's a Murphy Valentine! :) I have had this free pattern, you can find right HERE, sitting in my pile, just waiting to be stitched up. The blog hop was the perfect motivation for me to get it done!

This Poodle Valentine is stitched one over one on 25ct white evenweave, using DMC.

Would you like to see what I stitched up over the weekend?

This is March from Maja/Snowflower Diaries.  This Joyful World SAL is so great, isn't it?!

I stitched this one over one on 25ct Wedgewood Blue Lugana, using DMC and VMSS for the orange.

Thank you for stopping in today my friends. I am so glad you did. You brighten my day and warm my heart.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop

Hi friends! Happy Valentine's Day! I am once again taking part in the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop. What does this mean? Well, you can click HERE to read all about it on Jo's blog.

I have received this picture of my Valentine sent by my Secret Stitcher.

Isn't this gorgeous?

My Secret Stitcher just needs to visit Jo's blog, visit the stitchers on the list, and she will find her picture here. Please leave me a comment here letting me know who you are Secret Stitcher! I need to search the list to find my stitched Valentine!

Thank you for stopping by today! Welcome new friends! Leave me a comment so I know you dropped in. I will draw one name from the comments here on Monday, February 22nd. This person will receive a small gift made by me.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

January In February

Hi friends! I completed January in the Snowflower Diaries SAL.

I stitched this one over one on 25ct cream linen using VMSS for the orange and DMC for everything else.

I did not want the flowers and snowflakes to be barely visible, so I used two strands of B5200 for those.

I am glad I made time now to stitch January. I did February first. I need to stitch the Hands On Design January pattern yet. Then I will be caught up with my three different monthly pattern series. I have so many other patterns set aside for my cubby shelf. I will make sure to do the Snowflower Diaries, Hands On Design and Palko's months first. Then I will worry about adding in other patterns for the little cubby holes.

I have begun stitching the March pattern by Maja/Snowflower Diaries. It is another sweet one.

Wednesday I gave Murphy a bath. He is good for that. Then an hour after his bath, I gave him 1.5 tablets of his sedative(the maximum dose), so I could groom him. I waited one hour for the drug to take effect. NOPE!  He may be 12 1/2 years old, but he does NOT like grooming at all, and it takes a lot to knock him out! So I called the veterinarian. He said we could give him valium  the next day instead.So Brian picked up the valium. Thursday morning when Murphy finally woke up (he is not an early riser ;) I gave him 1/2 a tablet as instructed by the vet. I waited 45 minutes and gave him the other half because he was wobbly, but still walking around. WELL I will say this again it takes a lot to knock him out!!! Thank God Brian came and helped me. I just do not even know how I groomed him last time, unsedated and by myself. His clip is not perfect, and as hard as it is for me to accept, it is never going to be. This guy is one heck of a fighter!!! Wow.

Brian told me he will be there to help me in a few months when it is time to do Murphy again. And we are giving him the whole tablet from the start. I am sure I will still have to muzzle him and have him wear a cone/ E collar. Yikes!

Thank you all for your kind words on Madeleine's art. I passed along all your encouraging words to her. Boy, did you guys ever make her smile! :)

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Hands On Design

Hi friends! I decided to move on with the next pattern, March, from Hands On Design, since it is found in the same Cross Stitch & Needlework magazine I have checked out from the library. (March 2014)

The picture has a pinkish cast to it. My pink sweatshirt was glowing in the sun. ;)

This is stitched one over one on 25ct New Khaki Lugana using DMC. I did change three DMC colors.

Perhaps you noticed Murphy?  Yes, the original pattern shows a Leprechaun from the waist down. I wasn't real keen on that. I thought, hey, Murphy is an Irish name. Why not put him in the pattern instead? ;) I have a feeling his previous owner was Irish? Poodles are originally from Germany in case you did not know.

We went to the Milwaukee Art Museum on Saturday.

Madeleine received a Silver Key Award for her self portrait and a Silver Key Award for her portfolio in the Scholastic Art Competition. This is a national art competition. There were almost 2,000 entries from our state of Wisconsin alone. It is for grades 7-12.

Yep, she painted herself with her parakeet, Winky.

The winner of the Sweetheart Tree pattern, Finger Fun I is Jo! I will get this pattern off to you Jo.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie