A Tiny Bit Of July

Hi friends! Is it terribly hot by you? It certainly is here. I have done nothing but hide inside the house in the A/C to avoid soaring headaches.

I finished up the tiny July sampler from 365 Tiny Cross Stitch Designs.

 I made several color changes: white to B5200, 606 to 816, 912 to 420. Also I added in the two yellows, 726 and 727. I could not stitch up my corn in tans! Would you eat tan corn?! The other change I made to this band sampler is the ants. The ones charted look like spiders. I took ants they have in a design for "July 27th" and used them instead. I gave them one extra leg however. It bugged me (HA!) that they gave them only four legs, as ants have 6. Well 6 will not fit in there, 5 barely did, but I think it looks better.

This was stitched one over one with DMC on 25 ct white evenweave.

I have now begun the August Joyful World SAL.

I have drawn the name for the winner of the SB Flag chart..... Christina!  :)  

I finished reading Jane and the Genius of the Place by Stephanie Barron. AWESOME reading my friends. I tried. I truly tried from the start to pay close attention to detail so I could figure this mystery out!! I could not. I love that. ;)

For everyone who loves Jane Austen...The fourth engaging mystery in the series that recasts the well-loved author as a sleuth!

In the waning days of summer, Jane Austen is off to the Canterbury Races, where the rich and fashionable gamble away their fortunes. It is an atmosphere ripe for scandal—but even Jane is unprepared for the shocking drama that unfolds. A flamboyant French beauty, known for her brazen behavior, is found gruesomely strangled in a shabby chaise. While many urge the arrest of a known scoundrel with eyes for the victim, Jane looks further afield and finds a number of acquaintances behaving oddly.

As rumors spread like wildfire that Napoleon's fleet is bound for Kent, Jane suspects that the murder was an act of war rather than a crime of passion. Suddenly the peaceful fields of Kent are a very dangerous place...and Jane's thirst for justice may exact the steepest price of all—her life.

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement. I am grateful for your friendship! Have a wonderful week!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

July Stitching

Hi friends! I completed the July SAL from our friend Palko. It took me a bit longer, as I used all metallic threads in this one.

This was stitched one over one on 25ct white evenweave using Artiste metallic thread in Royal Blue and Lipstick.

I am almost finishing up a July mini sampler. This also will be for my cubby shelf.

I saw the neurologist this week. He has put me on a beta blocker, at a very low dose. While this is typically used to treat high blood pressure(which I do NOT have at all), it is also used to treat migraines. Now I do not have migraines if you recall. I have "Intractable Tension Headaches". It is just a bit too early to tell if this is going to work for me yet. I am on the starting dose yet. He has had patients that have had this medication completely remove the headaches. We shall see.

Would any of my American friends want this SB pattern? I am sorry, it must be an American friend due to postage costs.

I thought I would stitch it, but I am not going to. So I want it to go to someone who will stitch it. Leave a comment below telling me you would like the chart. If more than one of you want it, I will draw a name and announce the winner next time. :)

It has been very hot here all week. I stay mostly inside in the A/C. Best way to avoid bad headaches. Good weather for tomatoes, green beans and summer squash though. :)

I hope you have an excellent weekend my friends! Thank you for stopping in.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Jenny

Hi friends! I am happy to say that Jenny has received my package and I can now share with you what I have been up to lately. :)

Our sweet friend Jenny has been battling breast cancer for over one year now. She is about to start another round of chemotherapy. I made her a little healing garden. She and I both love our flowers. We are finding it hard to get out into our gardens at this time, me just from my headaches. Maybe you recall this little freebie pattern I stitched up several months ago? Well I finished it off into a pincushion for Jenny.

This sweet, little free pattern can be found right HERE, along with many other freebies. I admit that this was a hard finish for me to give away! I truly love the way this turned out on the pale blue linen. The precious backing fabric from Carolien makes it special. I am glad it is Jenny's now. :)

I also worked on two more pieces last week. One for Jenny and one for me. They are the same except that hers is stitched two over two on 32ct lambswool linen and mine is stitched one over one on 28 ct lambswool linen.

When I found this pattern I fell in love with it. Not in an "aww, that's cute, a BFF kind of thing". No, for me, being a Christian, I instantly thought of how wonderful it is to truly have that.  Friendship that WILL last forever. If we are friends here, it is only just the beginning. The start. The warming up of the friendship! A friend for all of eternity.

This free pattern is from The Nebby Needle  and you can find it right HERE.

I did use all DMC, most of my own choosing. I kept the pigtails for myself, as charted. ha! What do you think?!

My friends, if you would like to give a few words of encouragement to Jenny, say hi, or offer to pray for her, CLICK RIGHT HERE and you will be in direct contact with her. :) I would GREATLY appreciate this. I know she would also.

I am almost done stitching up a little July piece. It is done with all metallic threads. It certainly takes longer that way!! I will be back next time to share this one with you.

Have a super week my friends!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Plodding On

Hi friends! My accomplishment this weekend was Madeleine's shorts. Pretty easy when you follow a pattern. ;) Especially since I have made these before from this pattern a few years back for myself. Here they are in an orange linen blend material. Not the best picture.

I am stitching. I happen to be stitching up the exact same pattern I completed last week for my special friend. I wanted to make up one for myself so we each have one.  :) You'll see. Just not yet. Sorry.

So, all I have to show you now are a few daylily pictures.

Thank you so much for your wonderful comments my friends. Maybe you do not realize how very, very much they mean to me. They mean a LOT to me. Especially right now, when I am trapped in the house so very much due to these headaches that are heat induced. I have done online research of my own. It is rather depressing, since there seems to be NO answers for us that suffer this. Just information.

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Blooming

Hi friends! I hope all is well in your world. Thank you for leaving me such nice comments last time. :) I thought I would show you how tall that pink hollyhock has grown now. It is well over 8 feet tall. I am 5'11".

I have one other hollyhock that survived our cold Wisconsin winter. I planted the hollyhocks last year. This one opened up this week. It is a pale yellow. It is not nearly as tall, perhaps 5 feet tall.

These are bachelor's buttons. I buy a packet of  50¢ seeds from the Dollar Store. So pretty.

Madeleine had asked me to sew her a pair of shorts. I drafted a pattern from a pair that she already has and likes very much. I took several home ec classes in junior high school and high school. I figured I could do this. Now I am not necessarily dumb, I think these 4+ months of constant headaches cloud my thought sometimes. So, well, the shorts.... they did not work out. I forgot to account for the fact that the fabric she chose was a polyester blend. Not a knit material. No stretch. So the waist was teensy, tiny. oops.

She does have another fabric she wants shorts made out of. This is a linen blend. Most importantly, she has now decided she will go with the pattern I have for shorts. Yes, I have an actual pattern for shorts. AND I have sewn a pair successfully for myself a few years ago. She just does not want the folded up hem at the bottom. Fine. I can do that. I had offered this pattern in the beginning, but she wanted me to try to make the others.

I have been stitching also. And finishing. For my special friend. I am working on getting this second piece finished, then I will get them off to the post office. So no pictures yet.

Headaches? Yep. The doctor did increase the amount of Imitrex I can have per month to 20. Since I need 2 to knock out the nasty, I get 10 days of relief a month.

I hope and pray you have a good weekend my friends. I am always thankful and glad when you stop by.

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.  For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Pretty Gifts

Hi friends! I received a pretty surprise in the mail yesterday. That is always fun, isn't it?! This package came all the way from California from our friend Jenny.

A pretty surprise

A sweet basket of PINK flowers for ME

Isn't this sweet on the backside?

Now I have to say, pink with white polka dot scissors make me smile! :) "Summer Splendor" is a pretty pattern Jenny. I will think of you as I stitch this.Thank you so much!

I finished The Snowflower Diaries July SAL yesterday. You know I love it because of all the pink right? ;) I actually think the flamingos are too pink, but I did NOT change that, because well, hey, it is pink!!!! I did make several changes. First, here it is.

I stitched this one over one on 25ct Bo Peep Pink Lugana using DMC ,VMSS and Wisper. I only used the White Wisper for the chick. Everywhere else white was stitched in the pattern, I stitched two over one, otherwise the white did not show up on this pale pink fabric. I only used  VMSS in 'The Perfect Rose' in place of DMC 3777. I used DMC 471 instead of 834. I backstitched the flamingos wings with DMC 963 instead of 3854. I stitched up the corner roses in the border as pale pink/DMC 963 instead of white. ;)

Now I need to make myself do some finishing I have set aside for toooooooo long. Then I will reward myself with another start. At least that is the plan. I need to be STRONG. Stitching is more fun than finishing, but this is for a special friend. No more excuses!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend my friends! My American friends, I hope your weekend is filled with parades and fireworks and patriotism!! This will be my first Fourth I can recall that I have not gone to a parade or fireworks. I just cannot. Even if it is cool, the noise will make the headache soar. So I won't. The three kids will together as always. Maybe I can convince Brian to join them too. No sense in us both hanging out here at home. It is okay. We just walk several blocks to the parade route. At night for the fireworks, it is a mile walk to the park. I can see them from the backyard, kind of. ;)

Stitching and praying,
Vickie