Boom! It's July!

 Hi friends! Here we are in July! I hope my American friends had a nice 4th.

I wanted to let you know I received the results from our Wisconsin State Fair on my two entries. I have received 1st place in the Punch Needle category for Bowl of Pansies.

I received a third place ribbon in the counted cross stitch pictures of this size category for God Bless America by Artful Offerings.

🖤💜Viola/Signs of Spring💜🖤 

This little viola is a combination pattern. I took the free body from October House Fiber Arts free Signs of Spring pattern, with my own choice of DMC greens, and placed the Viola pattern on top from Wildflowergarden Cross Stitch by Kazuko Aoki. I chose her dark blue/black colorway. I just LOVE it!!

🤩 I stitched the viola in the called for DMC colors. It is stitched one over two on 45 ct mystery hand-dyed lavender linen. I made cording so this little beauty can hang from my corner shelf. The pansy fabric for the backing is from my stash. 

Pansies and violas are my favorite flowers!😁

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⭐Stars and Stripes⭐ a free pattern by Sapphire Mountain Handcrafts It is the perfect July addition to the cubby shelf. 🇺🇸 I stitched this over one on 32ct white even weave with my own choice of DMC.

💖🤍💙July Cubby Shelf💖🤍💙Almost every one of these are stitched over one. How do you like my new Annalee dolls? Brian surprised me❣️ I said I was not going to buy anymore. Well I did not! HA! 🐭🐭🐭

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📚This Wisconsin Memoir by Beuna Coburn Carlson was a true joy to read. Wholesome reading. She wrote this book at the age of 94. Her strong farm family survived the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl.

📚🎧I finished this, the latest in the Maisie Dobbs series, and friends, I have to admit, I do believe it is my favorite of all eighteen books in this series. It is such a heartwarming conclusion to a beloved series. Yes. You read that right. I did NOT know that when I listened to this, but I definitely figured that out pretty quick. 😭😭😭 Oh how I will miss Maisie so very much. You see her stitched in my cubby shelf every month with a hat kind of like this one on this final book cover!

All I can say is, if you have not read this series, do it! It is fantastic historical fiction.

I am stitching a special piece for my brother Jonathan. His birthday is August 21st. I am giving it to him for his birthday. I follow daily cross stitch on Instagram. They give one free cross stitch pattern daily. A few years ago they had a dancing chicken (rooster) pattern. I printed it off. I knew I would stitch it for Jon. He dresses up as the "Chicken Man" in the Bluegrass world at events. Don't ask me. It is a thing. It is very, very, very weird. He is, ahem. very overweight. And to see a HUGE man dressed up in a yellow shaggy chicken outfit is WEIRD! But he does it for years now. So I modified the pattern and drew Jon's face into it and am starting to stitch it. I also printed chicken wire onto lugana fabric for the background.

Here is a picture of Jon. He is with Del McCoury here. I will show you my progress soon. I have only just begun.

“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love."  John 15:9

Have a wonderful weekend my friends! Nothing but more rain here. So much rain. Makes my migraines so bad. Boo! Take care now. Till next time! 😘

Stitching and praying,

Vickie

I have taught Flossie to jump through my arms in the shape of a hoop! She is afraid of the hula hoop!

Bobbin

 Hi friends!  How is summer starting out for you? Hot? It is here. I have a patriotic finish to share with you.

💖🤍💙United We Stand 💖🤍💙by Trail Creek Farm. 

Thank you for this pattern Robin 🥰

 I left off the words. I also used my own colors. I just love these colors for our flag, so realistic. I stitched this one over one on 36ct cream linen. I painted this paper mache house midnight blue, waxed and buffed it. Then mounted my flag on the roof. I made a tiny wool strawberry and hung that with cording around the chimney. This will make a wonderful addition to my July displays.

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🐭🧵💕"Bobbin" by Stacy Nash Designs.

I knew I wanted Bobbin for the cubby shelf. After playing around in the house a bit, even with Cally!, she has found her home in the very first spot, the upper left opening. I retired the old stitch that was there. It was the first one I put there many years ago. I was going to throw it out. Brian is keeping it. 🙄

Little Bobbin is stitched one over one on 46ct Oat Bristol Zweigart Linen. I used DMC of my own choices. The needle and the floss are #VMSS Her whiskers are sewing thread. There is a slight glue stain between her tail and rump. I glued Rhubarb velvet to the back, and it stuck to that spot and bled or something. I tried to spot wash it. No go. 😒 These things keep me humble.

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I am now stitching Maggie Mae. 🐰

I dropped off my two State Fair entries yesterday. I have seven days to wait for the judges results.😬 Have you ever entered your State Fair? Have you ever entered your stitched pieces in any competition?

📚🎧Are you a fan of murder mysteries? Are you familiar with Anthony Horowitz? I have not read all of his books, so I cannot speak for all of them, but the Hawthorne and Horowitz Mysteries are super! This one is the fifth in the series, so if you are going to read them, don't start here. You could, but it is better to start with number 1. Anthony Horowitz reinvented the classic crime novel, writing a fictional version of himself as the Watson to a modern-day Holmes. Daniel Hawthorne is the brilliant, eccentric investigator. The writer and the detective form a strange partnership. I have enjoyed every, single book in the series. Especially since these mysteries are hard to figure out. I love that!

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  Psalm 91:1

Thank you for stopping by today my friends. I appreciate your lovely comments. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. 

Stitching and praying,

Vickie

Blessed

 Hi friends! Today is my birthday. I am blessed to have so many caring, wonderful friends in my life. Thank you dear friends! I would like to share with you gifts that I have received from friends in our community.

From June:

Thank you June! Such sweet charts. And I can always use another bookmark for my many, many books I read. Thank you June!

From Martina this beautiful handmade card. Thank you Martina!

From Manuela this lovely hand stitched card I will make into a small pillow. Thank you Manuela!

From Robin, a gorgeous chart that Madeleine and I both love and think will look perfect on the corner shelf. The pink pom pom trim will be used in future finishing. I love the perfectly stitched and finished Wisconsin ornament. Thank you Robin!

From Carol I received this perfectly stitched Spring card. I made it into a display for my cubby shelf. I will use the trims for future finishing. Thank you Carol!

Brian came home with this variegated turtle vine for me the other day. It is so pretty. We went shopping for the pretty pot and I planted it up right away. It sits in the center of our kitchen table now.

He knows I love pink. Don't you all? Ha! He gave me these for my birthday. He always, always gives presents early. 

I have to say, those placemats look really good with that plant on the table.😊

I admittedly have an Anna Lee problem. I told everyone NO MORE! I told them, I will NOT buy any more. We went to HomeGoods recently  and I saw these. Are they not adorable?! We left without them. I was strong. Brian went back and bought them for me.

Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.  1Thessalonians 5:11

We are going to Bible study this morning. Then Brian says he has something planned for me. 😃 After that, I am stitching on something pink today!

Thanks for stopping by and supporting me all these years. I am so very glad to have you as my friends!

Stitching and praying,

Vickie

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 Hi friends! We are having lovely Spring weather here. I thought I would post one more time in the month of May to catch you up on what I have been doing.

💗This is Eliza M Stone 1881💗 by Whilst Iris Naps.

This sweet, little sampler was stitched and given to me by my lovely friend Justine Justine stitched Eliza on the called for 40 count Ballet Slipper by Fox and Rabbit using WDW Cinnabar and Classic Colorworks Used Brick. I just love it! I decided not to frame this small sampler, but make it into a pincushion. I had the perfect match of velvet for the back in my stash. I decided against a trim. I love it plain. It is stuffed with wood shavings.

💐The Flower A Day Stitch Along💐 by Carolyn Manning Designs. 

I began this pattern in 2019. 😮😬 It is stitched one over one on 28 count Bo Peep Pink linen with the called for DMC. I lost steam back in 2019. It got shoved away in a closet. I pulled it out last week and decided to finish off the right edge and bottom edge and be done. Carolyn says in the pattern to change up colors and tweak the flowers, make them your own. Well I ended up doing that a bit along the edges to make it work into a nice rectangle finish. I am actually very happy with this finish. 😁 It is packed with wood shavings and backed with a solid light green cotton.

The gorgeous bouquet, is huge, and is from Emerson. 🤗

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I am now stitching a patriotic piece. I am taking a little break from my ornament stitching. I still need to make up the few pieces I have stitched into ornaments. 

📚You know the kind of book you read that you cannot put down? That you read for hours and hours and it consumes you? This is that book! I loved it. The author simply describes it as a book about fortune at the end. Yes, that and more. It is a love story, it is a story very much about science, a story about family.

Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.  Isaiah 1:16-17

Thank you for stopping by today friends! I hope you have a wonderful day!

Stitching and praying,

Vickie

State Fair Entries

 Hi friends!  Well my State Fair entries for this year are ready. I would like to share them with you. I have one cross stitch piece this year. This is God Bless America by Artful Offerings. 

I stitched this one over two on 40ct Vintage Country Mocha. I used the thread conversion by Jeanne Horton of Country Sampler. I made changes to the pattern. I got rid of the alphabet under the American flag. I put in Land That I Love instead. I got rid of the circle of  13 stars and put in the 30 stars that would have flown in 1848, the year Wisconsin became a state. The pattern originally showed 1776 on the side of the barn. Since I am from Wisconsin, this has special meaning to me. 

I bought this barn wood frame from Hobby Lobby and Emerson cut it to size for me. The lower left corner may appear to be cut "off", but it is not. The barn wood is uneven at the point. The corner does meet perfectly, just not directly at the top. 80% of the corner connects perfectly. I love it in this frame.

Bowl of Pansies

This is my entry for Punch Needle in the State Fair. These took me three and half months to create!!

I bought a miniature punch needle to create this project. The needle is the size of a needle you get an injection/shot at the doctor. You insert one piece of embroidery floss in it at a time. 

I used this book bought for me by my Mother 10 years ago, to create these pansies.

As you can see, I changed all the colors of the pansies. I chose my own colors, and boy, that was not as easy as I thought it would be!!

I punched each pansy piece or leaf on a matching colored cotton fabric. Then seam sealed it with Fray Check. Twice. Then sealed the back with Gem-Tac. Then the nerve wracking part. Cutting each part out directly next to the stitching. 

I then had to use Madeleine's water colors to mix and match the perfect color to paint the small white wires for the backs. Once these were dry they were also glued. I bought green wire for the backs of the leaves. 😉😊

I had never done floral work of any kind, so this was a learning experience. I had to construct the pansies by layering, twisting and connecting the wires to a stem and adding the leaves. 

I inserted them in foam. And rearranged. And rearranged. And DONE! 😵

And now I am VERY MUCH ENJOYING stitching Christmas ornaments for my family once again!

And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?  But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.”  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.  For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 1Peter 3: 13-17

Thank you for stopping by today my friends! Thank you for your kind words. I hope you have a wonderful week!

Stitching and praying,

Vickie