⭐Stars and Stripes Giveaway⭐

Hi friends! How about a nice patriotic giveaway courtesy of our friend Robin? 😊

This is LHN's 'Star's and Stripes'. If you would like this pattern you need to: be a sidebar follower of my blog,  and leave a comment on this post telling me you would like this pattern.  I will draw  the name of the winner on Friday, May 31st.❤️

I still plan to give away the pattern I just completed stitching that Robin also gifted me. However I cannot give that one away yet! I ran out of fancy floss with only about twenty stitches to go!😖 I had to order another skein and I am waiting for that. I will stitch that up and THEN offer that Trilogy pattern.

While I wait for the floss, I have begun a small patriotic stitch by Hinzeit, Love America.

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.’” 1 Peter 5:7

I hope all of my American friends have a wonderful, long weekend! We may or may not attend the parade right on Main Street. Too bad it does not pass by our apartment windows this time. Different route. There are supposed to be rain showers in the morning. We will have to wait and see. The afternoon will be nice, but I cannot be out in the sun. So..... maybe I can get out to the car show and events before the sun comes out. Maybe.

Thanks for stopping by my friends! 💖

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

You Can't Buy Love But...

Hi friends! Here is what I worked on last week.

I have had this poodle pattern for ages. I found it on a French blog. It was listed as a "free antique poodle pattern". The scan she provided was poor. The copy I printed off was so blurry the x's were wonky. I got a headache trying to decipher it. But I persevered and I LOVE this precious poodle!🐩

The phrase is something VERY dear to my heart.I desperately want to rescue another poodle. Our Murphy was a rescue.

 Our little Henry is a rescue.

Brian is not ready yet. And he is not sold on doing another rescue next time. I am working on him! I made the pillow for the top shelf of the corner shelf, which just happens to be in our bedroom.😉Oh? You will see it morning, noon and night every day? And I am not supposed to talk about rescuing another poodle? Okay.😆

The pink is VMSS 'Candy Pink'. This is stitched two over two on 28ct Confederate Grey Cashel Linen.

I am still stitching 🌸'Secret Flower Bed'🌸 by The Trilogy. A very, very cute pattern gifted to me by Robin. As soon as I am done I will be offering it to YOU! See my last post for a pattern I am giving away right now.

Well friends, one more Kate Morton book for you, and then I have read them all, as I tried to read her latest out and could not get into it. This one is The House at Riverton and I truly enjoyed it. It kept me in suspense until the end.

Grace Bradley went to work at Riverton House as a servant when she was just a girl, before the First World War. For years her life was inextricably tied up with the Hartford family, most particularly the two daughters, Hannah and Emmeline. In the summer of 1924, at a glittering society party held at the house, a young poet shot himself. The only witnesses were Hannah and Emmeline and only they—and Grace—know the truth. In 1999, when Grace is ninety-eight years old and living out her last days in a nursing home, she is visited by a young director who is making a film about the events of that summer. She takes Grace back to Riverton House and reawakens her memories. Told in flashback, this is the story of Grace's youth during the last days of Edwardian aristocratic privilege shattered by war, of the vibrant twenties and the changes she witnessed as an entire way of life vanished forever. The novel is full of secrets—some revealed, others hidden forever, reminiscent of the romantic suspense of Daphne du Maurier. It is also a meditation on memory, the devastation of war and a beautifully rendered window into a fascinating time in history. Kate Morton’s first novel, originally published to critical acclaim in Australia, and quickly becoming a #1 bestseller in England, The House at Riverton is a vivid, page-turning novel of suspense and passion, with characters—and an ending—readers won't soon forget.

Could I ask you a favor please? I have not mention my migraines in a long time. I have been suffering terribly lately. I still have the daily migraines for three years now. The Topomax I take does not seem to be working well any longer. I just did blood work on Friday. I expect to hear from the doctor today to see if we can increase my dose again. He put me on a prednisone(steroid) dose to hopefully get rid of this! I do have naratriptan to take when they get extreme. I am supposed to limit my use of that. The problem is that I am now in menopause. I now get menstrual migraines too. I get migraines before my periods, during and sometimes after! And I get more than one period a month sometimes.😭 So the favor is, would you pray for me? Thank you my friends.💗

“And you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.” 1 Corinthians 3:23

I hope you have a wonderful week! Thank you for stopping by and leaving me such nice comments. I appreciate YOU!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

🌼May Flowers🌼

Hi friends! I am stitching my June pedestal piece. I thought in the meantime I would offer this small chart courtesy of our friend Robin

If you would like this chart you need to: be a sidebar follower of mine on this blog and leave a comment on this post stating you would like this chart. The button is not included. I will draw a name on Friday, May 24th.

I will be back shortly with an adorable finish to share with you❣️

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”  2 Peter 3:9

I hope you have a wonderful weekend my friends! Thank you for stopping by!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

ABC Can't Catch Me!

Hi friends! I want to share another UFO I finished off into a pillow. This is 'ABC Can't Catch Me' by Nancy Turner/VMSS . I stitched this in 2015 with DMC one over one on 26ct cream linen.

Isn't it cute?

When we got together on Sunday at Mom's for Mother's Day, I asked Jacob to take a picture of my three brothers and me. Here we are.

What is so funny to me is that I am 5'11"tall. I look short in this picture don't I? We are all tall in our family except my mom and her husband. She is 5'2" now. She keeps shrinking. I don't know how tall Jim, my stepfather is. Not much taller than her! My father was 6'4".

Yes yet another Kate Morton book! And you betcha it is good!
A long lost letter arrives in the post and Edie Burchill finds herself on a journey to Milderhurst Castle, a great but moldering old house, where the Blythe spinsters live and where her mother was billeted 50 years before as a 13 year old child during WWII. The elder Blythe sisters are twins and have spent most of their lives looking after the third and youngest sister, Juniper, who hasn’t been the same since her fiancé jilted her in 1941. Inside the decaying castle, Edie begins to unravel her mother’s past. But there are other secrets hidden in the stones of Milderhurst, and Edie is about to learn more than she expected. The truth of what happened in ‘the distant hours’ of the past has been waiting a long time for someone to find it. Morton once again enthralls listeners with an atmospheric story featuring unforgettable characters beset by love and circumstance and haunted by memory, that reminds us of the rich power of storytelling.

I am stitching an adorable pattern for the June pedestal stand. It was gifted to me by Robin. So that means when I am done it will be offered to YOU!😊

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.”  Isaiah 60:1

Have a super day my friends! Thank you for stopping by and saying Hi!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

🌼🌼🌼

Hi friends! I have a finish to share with you. This is May-Bright Flower from Rainbow Gallery, the 2005 Cross Stitcher's Surprise Series.

I left the black and white, but changed all the other DMC colors, and now it really pops! I stitched this one over one on 25ct cream evenweave.

And this is where it is now. In the May cubby display.

I also FINISHED  THE LAST AUTOGRAPH on my brother's bluegrass bibs! THANK GOD! I will give them to him on Sunday when I see him when we go to Mom's house for Mother's Day. Problem is folks, HE IS GOING TO GET MORE SIGNATURES!!!!!!!! This project will never end I tell you.

I will share another UFO that I finally finished into a pillow next time. I have been stitching a very sweet piece dear to my heart. I can't wait to share it with you. I hope it turns out as sweet as I plan.💗

Okay, who has read The Lake House by Kate Morton? Didn't you love this book? I sure did!

Living on her family’s idyllic lakeside estate in Cornwall, England, Alice Edevane is a bright, inquisitive, and precociously talented sixteen-year-old who loves to write stories. One midsummer’s eve, after a beautiful party drawing hundreds of guests to the estate has ended, the Edevanes discover that their youngest child, eleven-month-old Theo, has vanished without a trace. He is never found, and the family is torn apart, the house abandoned. Decades later, Alice is living in London, having enjoyed a long successful career as a novelist. Miles away, Sadie Sparrow, a young detective in the London police force, is staying at her grandfather’s house in Cornwall. While out walking one day, she stumbles upon the old Edevane estate—now crumbling and covered with vines. Her curiosity is sparked, setting off a series of events that will bring her and Alice together and reveal shocking truths about a past long gone...yet more present than ever. A lush, atmospheric tale of intertwined destinies from a masterful storyteller, The Lake House is an enthralling, thoroughly satisfying read.

I plan to stitch this weekend. I want to finish this little design I am working on.🐩Yes. That is your hint.😉

Here is a picture of some of the tulips blooming across from our apartment in the village square. Yes, we just now have tulips blooming!

I hope YOU have a lovely weekend! I thank YOU for stopping by! God bless you my friend.

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God;  and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

💗💗💗

Hi friends! I came across an UFO over the weekend and decided to finish it off into a pillow.

I stitched this almost four years ago. Two over two on 27ct natural linen with DMC. This is a free pattern you can find HERE I just love this sweet little pattern. It reminds me of Madeleine. That is why I stitched it. Madeleine used to help me water the pink windowsill planters at our home. Not when she was this little, but still. 🤗

I am working on the LAST  signature on Jonathan's bluegrass bibs!!!

I absolutely flew through this book!!! I just cannot wait for the next Maisie book to come, and then when it does come I am so sad when I am done with it so quick! I just can't get enough Maisie!! Remember this? My own Maisie I stitched?

Beloved heroine Maisie Dobbs, “one of the great fictional heroines” (Parade), investigates the mysterious murder of an American war correspondent in London during the Blitz in a page-turning tale of love and war, terror and survival. When Catherine Saxon, an American correspondent reporting on the war in Europe, is found murdered in her London digs, news of her death is concealed by British authorities. Serving as a linchpin between Scotland Yard and the Secret Service, Robert MacFarlane pays a visit to Maisie Dobbs, seeking her help. He is accompanied by an agent from the US Department of Justice—Mark Scott, the American who helped Maisie escape Hitler’s Munich in 1938. MacFarlane asks Maisie to work with Scott to uncover the truth about Saxon’s death. As the Germans unleash the full terror of their blitzkrieg upon the British Isles, raining death and destruction from the skies, Maisie must balance the demands of solving this dangerous case with her need to protect Anna, the young evacuee she has grown to love and wants to adopt. Entangled in an investigation linked to the power of wartime propaganda and American political intrigue being played out in Britain, Maisie will face losing her dearest friend—and the possibility that she might be falling in love again.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also abounds through Christ.
2 Corinthians 1:3-5

Thank you for stopping by today my friends! Thank you for you kind words of encouragement! I hope you have a great week!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

💐💐💐

Hi friends! I would like to share my May finish for the pedestal frame with you.

This is "May Joyful Journal" by Heart in Hand. I think it is a really sweet pattern. I stitched this two over two on mystery 30 count linen with the called for DMC, except for the blue of the bicycle. I used VMSS 1795 Sky Blue.

I also completed one more autograph on my brother Jonathan's bluegrass bibs.

One more to go!

I am working on the Rainbow Gallery May piece for my cubby shelf. I will have that finished for next time.

Well I have been turned on to Kate Morton books lately! Are you one of my friends who also reads them?! They are good aren't they?!

A tiny girl is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913. She arrives completely alone with nothing but a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a single book—a beautiful volume of fairy tales. She is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife and raised as their own. On her twenty-fi rst birthday, they tell her the truth, and with her sense of self shattered and very little to go on, "Nell" sets out to trace her real identity. Her quest leads her to Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast and the secrets of the doomed Mountrachet family. But it is not until her granddaughter, Cassandra, takes up the search after Nell’s death that all the pieces of the puzzle are assembled. A spellbinding tale of mystery and self-discovery, The Forgotten Garden will take hold of your imagination and never let go.

“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!.” 2 Corinthians 9:15

I hope you have a wonderful weekend my friends! Thank you for taking time to comment. I appreciate that. 💗

Stitching and praying,
Vickie