💗💗💗

Hi friends! I have been blessed with an amazing gift by our friend Robin
She sent me all of these patterns!

Is this NOT a super, generous gift?!?! As with all patterns that Robin so generously passes onto me, once I stitch them, I pass every, single one of them on to you! I have already sent two of them to our friend Stasi, as I knew I would not be stitching them and I thought she would like them. And she does! She has already stitched one up!😊  THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN ROBIN!!


Now I would like to show you the gift that I made for Robin.

I don't know if you can see or not, but I have the green eyes and Robin has the blue eyes.😉 This free chart is available HERE  There are several other sweet charts available for free on this blog too. Check them out!

Well by now you know what is coming right? A book by Adriana Trigiani means I liked it a lot, and I did! It was a very good story.
It’s 1949 and South Philadelphia bursts with opportunity during the post-war boom. The Palazzini Cab Company & Western Union Telegraph Office, owned and operated by Dominic Palazzini and his three sons, is flourishing: business is good, they’re surrounded by sympathetic wives and daughters-in-law, with grandchildren on the way. But a decades-long feud that split Dominic and his brother Mike and their once-close families sets the stage for a re-match. Amidst the hoopla, the arrival of an urgent telegram from Italy upends the life of Nicky Castone (Dominic and his wife’s orphaned nephew) who lives and works with his Uncle Dom and his family. Nicky decides, at 30, that he wants more—more than just a job driving Car #4 and more than his longtime fiancée Peachy DePino, a bookkeeper, can offer. When he admits to his fiancée that he’s been secretly moonlighting at the local Shakespeare theater company, Nicky finds himself drawn to the stage, its colorful players and to the determined Calla Borelli, who inherited the enterprise from her father, Nicky must choose between the conventional life his family expects of him or chart a new course and risk losing everything he cherishes. From the dreamy mountaintop village of Roseto Valfortore in Italy, to the vibrant streets of South Philly, to the close-knit enclave of Roseto, Pennsylvania, to New York City during the birth of the golden age of television, Kiss Carlo is a powerful, inter-generational story that celebrates the ties that bind, while staying true to oneself when all hope seems lost. Told against the backdrop of some of Shakespeare’s greatest comedies, this novel brims with romance as long buried secrets are revealed, mistaken identities are unmasked, scores are settled, broken hearts are mended and true love reigns. Trigiani’s consummate storytelling skill and her trademark wit, along with a dazzling cast of characters will enthrall readers. Once again, the author has returned to her own family garden to create an unforgettable feast. Kiss Carlo is a jubilee, resplendent with hope, love, and the abiding power of la famiglia.

I have switched to Spring stitching.That means 🐇 and 🐥! We will see how long I go without 🐩. HA!

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.  Galatians 5:22-23

Have a super weekend my friends! I am so glad you stopped by. God bless you!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

🍀Happy St. Patrick's Day!🍀

Hi friends! This is my last St. Patrick's Day stitch for this year.

This is a brand new free pattern offered by Danybrod and you can find the pattern HERE
Dany finished the pattern with a golfd four leaf clover charm in the center. I thought I had a four leaf clover button in my stash. Once I finished stitching, I went to check and found I only had three leaved clover buttons. That does not work, as it says: LUCK! You need a four leaf clover. So I stitched one. I hope it looks okay? I am pretty sure it does.

I stitched this two over two with DMC 4045. I LOVE  this variegated floss! I used almost the entire skein!

Now I am stitching the April Rainbow Gallery pattern for the cubby shelf.

I hope you have a wonderful week ahead! Thank you for your encouraging words. Thanks for stopping by!

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds…” Hebrews 10:24

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

💚💚💚

Hi friends! I would like to share a new design I created.

A leaping leprechaun poodle! HA! A friend from Instagram and Flosstube, Leanne from Lost In Floss, had stitched a leaping leprechaun and told me she thought I could design a leaping poodle. Well, I got to work! What do you think? I think he is rather cute.😊

I guess you never know what you will see here do you? Mer-poodles. Leprechaun poodles. Well, you do know you will see poodles. HA!🐩🐩🐩

I have to ask. Is anyone else reading The Cat Who series? Or have you read this series? I just love it. I actually dread running out of these books.☹️Every time I read these books I think of Astrid and her two tonkinese cats! Now the main character in this book, Jim Qwilleran has two siamese, but it still makes me think of you Astrid!😉

In this charming Cat Who mystery, a misused mansion sets the stage for a strange caper for Jim Qwilleran and his cats Koko and Yum Yum. Qwill’s moved into the old Gage mansion—and the cats are on a treasure hunt. The house’s fifty closets are crammed with several generations of junk, and while Qwill investigates two recent deaths—those of the mansion’s former occupant and a local potato farmer—Koko investigates the contents of the closets. Qwill and the cats wind up unearthing some surprising skeletons—and bringing long-buried secrets to light...

Jim Qwilleran and his cats scramble for clues when peaceful Breakfast Island is turned upside-down by murder in this mystery in the New York Times bestselling Cat Who series. Qwilleran and the cats are visiting an island known by many names. Qwill has always called it Breakfast Island, but to the taciturn natives, it’s Providence Island. To the rich summer resident, it’s Grand Island—and to the developers and tourists who are turning this once-peaceful place into a circus, it’s Pear Island. But when some odd “accidents” occur, including a fatal boat explosion, Qwill suspects sabotage and sets out to investigate—because murder by any other name is just as deadly...

I was not planning on it, but I am stitching up yet another St. Patrick's Day pattern! I found a new freebie and I really like it. I happen to be a little Irish, so why not??🍀

I hope you have a wonderful, stitchtastic weekend! It has warmed up around here! For us that means in the forties! Exciting, huh? Warm, right?😉 For us, we will take it!!

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”  John 16:33

Stitching and praying,

🍀🍀🍀

Hi friends! I have a little shamrock finish to share with you.

I have had this free chart printed off for many years, but I checked and am happy to say that the freebie is still available HERE The blog is called Passion Creative. There are very many free charts on this blog! Take a look! I have used quite a few over the years!😊

I stitched this two over two with DMC 986 on light green linen.

Black Rabbit Hall by Eve Chase was a different, very odd story. I thought I had the story line figured out, and was pleasantly surprised by the twist.
Amber Alton knows that the hours pass differently at Black Rabbit Hall, her London family’s Cornish country house, where no two clocks read the same. Summers there are perfect, timeless. Not much ever happens. Until, one terrible day, it does. More than three decades later, Lorna is determined to be married within the grand, ivy-covered walls of Pencraw Hall, known as Black Rabbit Hall among the locals. But as she’s drawn deeper into the overgrown grounds, she soon finds herself ensnared within the house’s labyrinthine history, overcome with a need for answers about her own past and that of the once-golden family whose memory still haunts the estate. Eve Chase's debut novel is a thrilling spiral into the hearts of two women separated by decades but inescapably linked by the dark and tangled secrets of Black Rabbit Hall.

I am now working on final finishing on a present for a special friend.

“But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.” Psalm 59:16

I am so glad you chose to stop by my blog today my friend. Many friends have decided to stop visiting blogs. And stop posting on their blogs. I just wanted you to know that I appreciate YOU. Thank you! God bless you.💗 Have a wonderful week!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

🧜‍♀️🐩

Hi friends! Our friend Astrid sent me a  very generous gift.

Yes! ALL TWELVE OF THE PATTERNS TO THE MY GARDEN JOURNAL SERIES BY COTTAGE GARDEN SAMPLINGS! Astrid stitched these and passed these charts on to me. I am not beginning them quite yet. Hopefully very soon. Once I have completed them, I too will pass the charts on.😊

I wanted to thank Astrid in a special way. I remembered a chart that our friend June sent me from England. I knew it would be perfect! So I immediately began stitching it. And then I found a gold frame at Micheal's and send it across the country to Astrid.  I am happy to say that she is happy!😁

This was a hard one to let go! You all know how I am with my poodles. But I know that this little mermaid is in good company with many other mermaids at Astrid's home and makes her happy. Thank you June for sending me that chart! Thank you Astrid for your gift of this new series. I will be stitching them up to display on my new corner shelf.

I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me. Psalm 57:2

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

🍀March🍀

Hi friends! I had this strong desire last week to design another poodle pattern. Here are the results!

Yes, I used all three of our precious poodle pets in this March design.

Miss Mabel with her green collar and a flower in her hair.

Little Henry with his Leprechaun's hat.

And Ol' Man Murphy with his extra large, extra lucky four leaf clover.🍀

I stitched this two over two wtih DMC (except for Henry's body. I use GA Lambswool for Henry. Perfect match.💗) on pale mint green 26 count evenweave.  I used Vonna's tutorial for the cube finish.

I am now working on another little St. Patrick's Day stitch.🍀

Sadly, Jane and the Twelve Days of Christmas appears to be the last book in the Being a Jane Austen Mystery Series. I really, really enjoyed this series!!!

Jane Austen turns sleuth in this delightful murder mystery set over the twelve days of a Regency-Era Christmas party. Christmas Eve, 1814: Jane Austen has been invited to spend the holiday with family and friends at The Vyne, the gorgeous ancestral home of the wealthy and politically prominent Chute family. As the year fades and friends begin to gather beneath the mistletoe for the twelve days of Christmas festivities, Jane and her circle are in a celebratory mood: Mansfield Park is selling nicely; Napoleon has been banished to Elba; British forces have seized Washington, DC; and on Christmas Eve, John Quincy Adams signs the Treaty of Ghent, which will end a war nobody in England really wanted. Jane, however, discovers holiday cheer is fleeting. One of the Yuletide revelers dies in a tragic accident, which Jane immediately views with suspicion. If the accident was in fact murder, the killer is one of Jane’s fellow snow-bound guests. With clues scattered amidst cleverly crafted charades, dark secrets coming to light during parlor games, and old friendships returning to haunt the Christmas parties, whom can Jane trust to help her discover the truth and stop the killer from striking again?

I am hoping to share with you next time a gift I have stitched for our friend Astrid. She gifted me a most excellent, generous, stitchy gift! I will share this next time too. She should have received my thank you gift by my next post.

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 1John 4:4

Have a stitchtastic week my friends! I am so very glad you stopped by today! God bless you!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

☘️☘️☘️

Hi friends! I have finished March-Shamrock from Rainbow Gallery, the 2005 Cross Stitcher's Surprise Series. I chose my own DMC colors and once again omitted the charm since my finish is so little. I stitiched this one over one on 25ct cream evenweave.

At the end of this week, it will go into the cubby shelf.😉

I am now getting close to a finish on a special gift for a special friend. I am really enjoying stitching this gift! It is going to be hard to give away!! Cannot share a picture just yet.

I really enjoyed this book! If you like Clark Gable and Loretta Young, two of the main characters in this book, you will enjoy this book. This book takes place during the golden age of Hollywood. Really interesting and really good.
Adriana Trigiani, the New York Times bestselling author of the blockbuster epic The Shoemaker's Wife, returns with her biggest and boldest novel yet, a hypnotic tale based on a true story and filled with her signature elements: family ties, artistry, romance, and adventure. Born in the golden age of Hollywood, All the Stars in the Heavens captures the luster, drama, power, and secrets that could only thrive in the studio system—viewed through the lives of an unforgettable cast of players creating magic on the screen and behind the scenes. In this spectacular saga as radiant, thrilling, and beguiling as Hollywood itself, Adriana Trigiani takes us back to Tinsel Town's golden age—an era as brutal as it was resplendent—and into the complex and glamorous world of a young actress hungry for fame and success. With meticulous, beautiful detail, Trigiani paints a rich, historical landscape of 1930s Los Angeles, where European and American artisans flocked to pursue the ultimate dream: to tell stories on the silver screen. The movie business is booming in 1935 when twenty-one-year-old Loretta Young meets thirty-four-year-old Clark Gable on the set of The Call of the Wild. Though he's already married, Gable falls for the stunning and vivacious young actress instantly. Far from the glittering lights of Hollywood, Sister Alda Ducci has been forced to leave her convent and begin a new journey that leads her to Loretta. Becoming Miss Young's secretary, the innocent and pious young Alda must navigate the wild terrain of Hollywood with fierce determination and a moral code that derives from her Italian roots. Over the course of decades, she and Loretta encounter scandal and adventure, choose love and passion, and forge an enduring bond of love and loyalty that will be put to the test when they eventually face the greatest obstacle of their lives. Anchored by Trigiani's masterful storytelling that takes you on a worldwide ride of adventure from Hollywood to the shores of southern Italy, this mesmerizing epic is, at its heart, a luminous tale of the most cherished ties that bind. Brimming with larger-than-life characters both real and fictional—including stars Spencer Tracy, Myrna Loy, David Niven, Hattie McDaniel and more—it is it is the unforgettable story of one of cinema's greatest love affairs during the golden age of American movie making.

Our weather remains the same here in Wisconsin. Cold with snow.☹️ Oh well. Nothing new. That is to be expected around here. Spring is a ways off for us.

I do hope you have a great week my friends. I thank you for stopping by. I am so glad you did!

“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool."  Isaiah 1:18

Stitching and praying,
Vickie