Calendar Poodle SAL

Friday, July 7, 2017

Sweet Summer Gift

Hi friends! I was able to go to the 4th of July parade. Our parade is at 7 in the evening, and it was cool that night and I did not get a headache either!😄

I received the most sweet surprise in the mail from our friend Stasi. Stasi had a piece of her stitchery that she wanted to give a good home. She offered this to anyone who wanted to make it up into something.  I entered this giveaway as it is cute and PINK! Well  our friend RJ won the giveaway. I congratulated RJ and that was that. Not so! Sweet RJ told Stasi she would like her to give it to me since she knows I love pink and RJ is now gone on a 2 month long trip.  THANK YOU RJ! THANK YOU STASI! Here is the piece. I have made it into a pin pillow.
I am working on Happy Birthday, the  next chart in chronological order for AotH. As you know, the DMC suggested is not always matching up to the pattern cover pictures. So over the long weekend I stitched up the house. I had a bad feeling about the color. I should have stopped. Yes, SHOULD have. I told myself it will be okay. I don't know why!! It just kept eating away at me. Here is how it DID look. I took a picture of it next to the pattern picture for you. My stitched house is on the left. Pattern on the right.
NOT THE SAME. NOPE. So.... I stared at that completed house for two days. And then ripped out all that recommended off brown/612 and put in 3864. I used this in Pink Hill Manor with these same pinks that are being used here again. It looks good there, it looks good here. Take a look. Here is the new, improved house.
I am now working on those trees! Oh lazy daisy stitches don't go quick for me.😵

A few of you recommended All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doer to me so I put myself on the waiting list of Over Drive, our digital library. I borrow all my audio books from my library.😊 I like free!😉 This was an excellent book. I was very surprised by what I thought was an abrupt ending. Maybe I was too immersed in the story while stitching? I actually went back to the first five minutes of the story and listened to it again for the sake of clarity.
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE
From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the beautiful, stunningly ambitious instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

Marie-Laure lives with her father in Paris near the Museum of Natural History, where he works as the master of its thousands of locks. When she is six, Marie-Laure goes blind and her father builds a perfect miniature of their neighborhood so she can memorize it by touch and navigate her way home. When she is twelve, the Nazis occupy Paris and father and daughter flee to the walled citadel of Saint-Malo, where Marie-Laure’s reclusive great-uncle lives in a tall house by the sea. With them they carry what might be the museum’s most valuable and dangerous jewel.

In a mining town in Germany, the orphan Werner grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments, a talent that wins him a place at a brutal academy for Hitler Youth, then a special assignment to track the resistance. More and more aware of the human cost of his intelligence, Werner travels through the heart of the war and, finally, into Saint-Malo, where his story and Marie-Laure’s converge.

Doerr’s “stunning sense of physical detail and gorgeous metaphors” (San Francisco Chronicle) are dazzling. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, he illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another. Ten years in the writing, a National Book Award finalist, All the Light We Cannot See is a magnificent, deeply moving novel from a writer “whose sentences never fail to thrill” (Los Angeles Times).
I do hope you have a wonderful weekend whatever you are doing my friends! Thank you for stopping by and leaving me such nice notes of encouragement.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie
Miss Mabel sunbathing





32 comments:

Robin in Virginia said...

Love what you did with the piece from Stasi via RJ! What perfect backing fabric you use, Vickie! I am sorry you had to rip out the house and re-stitch it, but it definitely looks better. Glad you were able to get to your 4th of July parade. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Angela Tucker said...

Good morning, Vickie...yes, your house is much, much better with the new threads. And that pin pillow is absolutely perfect...and it's pink. LOL

I am not a lazy daisy girl...when I do that stitch, it's a lot of lazy, not a lot of daisy. LOL

Have a wonderful weekend, sweetie.

Maggee said...

First of all, so glad you managed to go out on Tuesday evening and NOT get a headache! Great! Then... love the little pin pillow... what a really nice piece! And as for frogging out the house... I understand your quandry, and would probably have done the same. Glad you did it and like the substitution colors. Looking good! Hugs!

MartinaM said...

I am glad for you that you could participate in the parade without a headache.
A beautiful little pillow has been created, and pink fits perfectly to the whole pattern. I also like the change at the house, It looks better so.
Martina

Maggie said...

Glad you managed to enjoy the parade without getting a headache :-) Love the little pillow finish, so kind for it to be passed on to you too.

Goofin' Off Around the Block said...

I'm glad you were able to enjoy your 4th of July parade. The weather was quite comfortable around here for the holiday. There was no parade but lots and lots of fireworks down the street that went on until about 2:00 a.m. I love what you've done to finish the stitching into a pillow. It is very pretty. Have a great day! --Andrea

Manuela said...

I'm so glad, that you have seen the 4th July parade.
You have a made a wonderful little pincushin.
Have a nice weekend.

Stitchy Mc Floss said...

To me, all of the stitching you did looks great. It is odd how sometimes the photos don't always reflect the true floss colors. I see that a lot in the hand dyed flosses. The photos will show a vibrant color and when you see the floss in real life, it's drab. You did a wonderful job. Yay! On your winnings. It looks great what you made it info. Ahhh Sweet little Miss Mabel enjoying the sun, so cute. Awesome that your headaches are better. ((hugs)). Hope you are having a lovely day sweet friend. :)

Kerryp77 said...

Miss Mabel is certainly enjoying her sunbathing! She's so sweet. The house looks lovely and I'm glad you are happier with it now.

Jo who can't think of a clever nickname said...

Well done on getting out for a trip without a headache, you'll have to become a night owl now.
The pillow you won is lovely, perfect for you and so sweet of both RJ and Stasi to think of you.
The new colour for the house looks so much better, trust your judgement!

Pam in IL said...

It was so nice of RJ and Stasi to gift the pink pillow. The changes you made to the house look better. I hate when the colors don't match the cover photo, especially in a large piece like you are doing.

Christina said...

What a nice surprise, great job on your finishing. Trying to match floss with the photo of the model is never the same. They usually use the hand dyed and the dye lots are always different. Looks great!

diamondc said...

Hi Vickie: Mabel is so cute, I love how she is on her back, maybe looking at clouds and asking Murphy does that one cloud look like a dog?
RJ is such a sweet lady, I hope to meet her and Mary someday.
Love the pillow you are so lucky.
I have also found the model never seems to look like what I stitch, I am not sure if its the camera or the color of the threads, I make changes all the time.
I am happy you were able to go to the parade, we did not have fireworks we had storm warnings and loads of rain.

Blessings
Catherine

Blessings
Catherine

Barb said...

So glad you made it to the 4th of July parade and no headache!!! I do like the house better. I have done the same sort of thing. I always say that next time I am going to listen to my inner voice. I finally got Women in the Castle from our library. So far I am really liking it.

marly said...

Well look at Miss Mabel soaking the sun. Oh that pinkeep is darling. What a sweet surprise. On my monitor all the houses look similar in color!

The Knitting Cross Stitcher said...

You made your gift from RJ and Staci into a beautiful finish Vickie.It is so,you:)
I like your changes on your house.
Glad to hear you could enjoy the 4th July parade.Hope you are having a good weekend.

JuciKa said...

Beautiful summer!

Hilda said...

Oh that was quhite a nice thing that RJ let you have the win. It is perfect for you!
I love your "Happy Birthday" so far. It looks great.
As my birthday is in June, I was very proud that the BBD-Designers called their June-pattern "KHappy Birthday".
Something totally aside: Poppy seed is almost ready ;-)

Hugs
Hilda

Stasi said...

Oh my Vickie, the pincushion turned out so sweetly. I am glad you were the final recipient and were able to turn the piece unto something quite adorable! RJ was very kind to pass on to you...stitchers are the best!!!

Stasi said...

P.S. The fabric on the back is perfect!!!

butterfly said...


Love how you finished your pillow that you won , so pretty .

Jenny said...

Hi Vickie,
I am finally catching up on my blog reading...lol!
Congratulations on your beautiful, PINK giveaway win! Your finish is just adorable....love it!
Your house on the Happy Birthday block is just perfect and looks really great! I had to smile when I read that you looked at the house for 2 days before you ripped it out...that is so what I do!!! I keep telling myself it will be ok and lol... after days of going back and forth I FINALLY just rip....grins...
I hope you are having a good weekend my friend! It will be VERY hot in my corner of the world so air conditioning for me today!
Sending lots of hugs and love to you my dear friend!

Ann at Beadlework. said...

The book sounds very interesting Vickie. Oh, I do love that little poodle face, I'm so missing mine.

Karyn said...

I love your sweet pillow, Vicki, and love how you got it. The colors are so you, and the back fabric is so pretty...perfectly finished.
I love the house color, I agree the new color looks perfect with the pink, tho I did like the first color too. I hate lazy daisy stitches...good luck, I look forward to more pics ;)
Miss Mabel is too cute...give her a kiss from Teagan and Leo.
Hugs

Karyn said...

Silly auto correct left out the "e" in your name...sigh

Инна said...

Summer cushion is very beautiful!

Vicki said...

The pillow is so cute! And your AofH is coming along - beautiful!

Mii Stitch said...

What a delightful little pillow!!
Great stitching update too :(

Beth said...

A wonderful pink gift - I think that is a Ewe and Eye and Friends design.

Sarah in Stitches said...

That's a beautiful little pillow - enjoy! I read 'All the Light We Cannot See,' and I found the writing wonderful but the plot was a little unsatisfying. Have you read 'The Nightingale'? It's also a WWII book but I liked it so much more!

Brigitte said...

So sweet of RJ to let you have that wonderful little piece from Staci.
I think it was a good decision to rip out the house and stitch it with a different colour. I love the new colour so much better than the 612 brown.

Lili said...

Such a lovely gift, and your new pillow is to cute and perfect for the Summer!
I love your changes on your house. Lovely progress!