Friday Finish :)

Hey there everybody!

Wanna see the Friday Finish I have over at Primitive Betty? 

my nifty, new purse :)

I bought this purse on clearance at J.C.Penney a while ago.  I loved the quilted front on it.  I did not like the plastic label on the front. I immediately thought that I could cover it with a small stitch.

I used 28ct black linen and stitched over one.  It is a free pattern from Betty, called Simply Stitch.  I used a grey DMC and DMC 4170, a light variegated floss.  I love it.  It is so unique and all mine!! :)

Have a fabulous weekend everyone!  Thank you for all your wonderful comments.  You make me smile. :)

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

A gift for my first follower! ♥

Good morning everyone!
Thank you for visiting, and thank you for your lovely comments.  I appreciate you!

One week ago I sent this sweet little chart to my first follower, Nicola.

If you haven't visited her blog yet, WHY NOT?? :)  Hop on over there.  She has an amazing talent with her camera.  You will see birds you have never, ever seen before.  Such a joy when she shares with us.♥ I am so glad she received her gift and likes it!

I decided to set my small stitch on 28ct black aside for right now.  It is not an urgent gift and the black, over one stitching is making me cross eyed!

I just pulled linen, bought the missing flosses and began an Easter stitch.  You will have to wait a bit, gonna leave you wondering for right now. ;)

So, I finally got my new glasses.  You can kinda see them in my new profile picture to the right.  They are rimless.  This would be my second pair that I have had that are rimless.  I like them.  I have worn glasses since I was 12.  I wore contacts for 20 years.  Didn't want to mess around with those anymore, but I didn't want loud glasses.  This type works for me right now in life.  I just kind of wanted them to be as invisible as possible I guess.  As my teens say, "Whatever!!" ;)

stitching and praying,
Vickie

I HAVE been stitching, Really!

Hi Ho!
How are we all doing?
Unfortunately I have begun to get arthritis in my fingers.  A few months back it was my right index finger.  It stayed swollen, stiff and painful for a week.  Now it is my left index finger.  I pray it goes back to normal in a few days time.  It has been bad for half a week now. It sure slows down any stitching progress.  Gardening is painful also.

Speaking of which, this is the small garden on the side of the garage.  I got it cleaned up.  As you can see, the grass needs mowing.  Not my department!  My husband and 2 teenage boys take care of the lawn.  The peonies and irises and columbine are coming in nicely.  That is foxglove under the chairs and table.  I planted a few purple pansies. :)

spring time in the garden :)

 Do you see the tea cup and saucer I mounted on a copper pipe?  I made this years ago.  Many little birds come each year for a nice drink. :)

Mr. and Mrs. Duck by Madeleine

This sweet little photo of the duck couple was taken by Miss Madeleine on her exploring adventure this weekend.  We have a park with a pond behind our home.  We also have a river a few blocks away.  She took this photo on the river's edge. I thought it was cute how they aligned themselves.

I have been stitching, but do not have pictures to share right now.  Just did finishing  on one project yesterday.  Began a new small last night.  Hard working on black 28ct at night!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

An award and some gardening pictures

Hey everybody!
So glad you are here!  I received an award from Dana at maplecottagestitcher.  Thanks Dana. :)

Some background:
Liebster is a German word meaning favorite, dearest or beloved and the Leibster is awarded by Bloggers to other newer Bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers to spread the word and help the new(er) Bloggers gain wider recognition. The award comes with four conditions which each recipient must satisfy when accepting:

1. Choose five up- and- coming blogs (with fewer than 200 followers) to award the Liebster to.
2. Show your thanks to the Blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.
3. Post the award on your blog. list the Bloggers you are giving the award to with links to their sites. Leave comments on their blogs so they know about the award.
4. Share five random facts about yourself that people don't know about you.

And the award goes to these favorite, dearest and beloved blogs:

1. Tricia at Tricia's Craft Box
2. Lucie at Lucie's Stitching Journey
3. Krista at Just Stitching Along
4. Joanie at Joanie's World
5. Terri at Rosy Stitches

Five random facts about me:

1. I am 5'11" (or slightly under nowadays, as I seem to be compacting!)
2. My husband Brian and I have been together 26 years.  We began dating when I was17 and he was 18.
3. I went to college and became a certified veterinary nurse.  I stopped working when Jacob was 6 months.
4. I danced ballet when I was young.  Stopped when I was a teen. (Remember the 5'11"??)
5. My youngest brother Jonathan was the McDonald's Monopoly Millionaire winner two years ago.

Congratulations to the winners - please visit their blogs.

Maggie in the lambs ears outside the kitchen

You can see how the dogs help me with gardening. :)  The lambs ears and sedum are coming in nicely.
Madeleine and I purchased this sweet little tea pot birdhouse at JoAnn.  Hubby hung it from garage.  We will see who moves in.

pink pansies on kitchen window sill

pink pansies in pink window planter

 I have 5 of these pink planters, we won and collected off of ebay a few years ago.  They are in the windows seen from the street.
That's about it for today folks.  I am trying to get gardening work done.  Quite a few hours put in, many more to go. :(  I planted some zinnia seeds.  Gotta do the lettuce seeds as well. 
Thanks for visiting and your sweet comments!
still reading and not really stitching,
Vickie

Knock knock!

Who's there?
Irish
Irish who?
Irish you a Happy St. Patrick's Day! ♣

Two days ago, at our church school, where Madeleine is an eighth grader, I saw a young group of Irish dancers perform.  One of the girls, now a high school senior, used to attend our school.  The group is called Glencastle Irish Dancers.  It was a fun time.  My favorite part was a march actually.  I had never seen this performed at our school or at Irish Fest or at Riverdance.  This group has performed it, just never at our school, so I have just never seen it.  It was called "Guarding the Glen".  It is to emulate the guards marching and protecting the castle hundreds of years ago. My hair literally stood on end from it.  So loud!  And this is just with 32 students!  

reading and not really stitching,
Vickie

Pansies and books

Spring has sprung.  Here is a picture of one of the pots in front of our garage.  Unfortunately the pink pansies are barely visible.  You can see the beautiful lavender and purples.  Pansies make me happy. :) 

I was on a concrete poodle kick last summer. I bought a rubber mold online.  Followed the simple directions for making concrete, and made um, well, a dozen of them. tee hee  Hey, I did make one of them for my mother okay?  The kids helped me paint them too.  So they are all different.  Again the husband had a few sighs.  Oh well if I am a nut, at least I am a happy nut!

Am I the only one who loves to check the new book shelf when you go to the library?  I love that section.  My problem is too many new books at one time. You only get two weeks with each one.  So of course I checked out 3 of them!

I just finished reading What We Saw by CBS News.  It was new to our library, and I have interest in books on 9/11.  I have read quite a few of them.  This one was based on mainly what news reporters experienced that day and the weeks after.  As you can imagine, a lot of sadness.  Some pictures just about tore my heart apart.  The most distressing quote was from a woman who lived not far from Ground Zero.  She was asked what was the most disturbing thing you witnessed.  She said it was the jumpers, jumping in pairs holding hands.  Oh dear God!

Well, sorry!  Let's move on shall we?  Um, I read both of the punchneedle books you see listed below on the right.  I think I can do this.  However it will have to wait a bit.  Since I have two more books to read and QUICKLY!

Which means I am not stitching anything quite yet.  I have plans though.  I pulled the fabric and a few flosses.  Need to get to JoAnn to get a few missing colors.

Welcome all new followers!  Which is all of you!  HA HA  Since the blog is now a month old!  You are so kind to me with your thoughtful comments.  Thank you ever so much!  I read them all and am grateful for you all!

trying to speed read,
Vickie

Why shouldn't you iron a four leaf clover?

Because you don't want to press your luck!  ♣
Want another one?   Sure you do!
What do you call an Irishman bouncing off the walls?
Rick O'Shea!  HA HA HA
These are the jokes folks!

Has spring sprung by you?  It seems it has here.
This is a beautiful St. Patrick's Day bouquet my husband just got me.♥   And this is the St. Patrick's Day small I have been working on.  I stitched both sides of this pin pillow.  I used 32ct white Belgium linen.  I stitched over one on both sides.  It is filled with crushed walnut shells. This side is a free chart from Erica Michaels, found here.  I replaced the flosses called for with what I had on hand.  I used gold embroidery thread from DMC.  This was a pain in the neck to use.   I used green beads bought at JoAnn for a dollar and change.  I chose DMC 986 for the green.♣ 

"Irish Eyes" by Erica Michaels

The other side is another freebie found here.  It is called bunch of lucky clovers.  Isn't is sweet?  I used the DMC called for.  I am a DMC kind of girl. :)
The ruched ribbon is a lovely Irish green and gold from JoAnn.  This is the first time I ruched ribbon.  It was easy enough, just fiddly.

"Bunch of Lucky Clovers" by DMC

I have more St. Patrick's Day patterns of course, but I just don't have the time now.  That is why I set a goal in my mind to make one seasonal small a month.  That is very attainable.  I have a small for a birthday I need to do next.  Then one for my mother's birthday.

How do you like my concrete poodle on the front porch.  I can't decide if it's a girl or boy.  I think boy.  But then I decide it's a girl, because I dress her neck for every season.  Sometimes with pink ribbon!  Not very boyish. :)  I suppose he/she would be a miniature poodle, as she is just a little too big to be a toy.  Bigger than Mabel. :)  I found this at a store called Tuesday Morning.  Have one of those by you?  They are a little like Home Goods I think.  When I get to that store in that town I sometimes pop in for a look.  You never know what they will have.  I think I got this poodle for $15!  And it is heavy.  Hubby just kinda sighs .:)

We went to the garden center yesterday and bought pansies. They are my favorite flower.  They had pink!!  Imagine that!  The mix I got was called cotton candy.  Pinks and blues.  I also picked lavender and purple ones too.  I filled the window planters(pink) on the house with pink pansies.  Need to get a picture soon.

 If you look close enough at the picture above you can see our home is mostly white brick, with....wait for it..... you guessed it some pink bricks.  The couple we bought this home from built it in 1960.  She was obviously a lover of pink also.  We have a pink bathtub and sink in the bathroom.♥  Once upon a time it was painted pink also.  A nice creamy white now. Although our bedroom is the palest pink.♥

Well that's all for now.  Well no, maybe one more.

Why do people wear shamrocks on St. Patrick's Day?
Regular rocks are too heavy! ♣  tee hee

praying and stitching,
Vickie

Look what I got! ♥

Hey everyone!
Take a look at what the hubby bought me. :)  I thought I might just give punchneedle a try sometime soon.

I went over to our library and checked out these two books to learn all about it. 
Then off to the fabric store for some pale, pale pink linen.  I am in the thinking/planning mode right now.  Looks like fun!  Will have to wait just a bit.  Still stitching up the Irish small.  I should finish that today. 

So who else has given punchneedle a try?  Tell me about it please. :)
Vickie

Books, books and more books ♥

Hey Everybody!

Check out the new picture in the sidebar to the right, that was once again taken by 13 year old Madeleine.  We gave Mabel my Samplers and Stitches by Mrs. Archibald Christie to read.  Isn't that a sweet picture she got? ♥  This is a wonderful old book my husband got me.  It was published in London.  It is a second edition from January 1929.  It gives great directions for so many different  stitches.

In February I read Guardian Angel House by Kathy Clark.  This was a very good read.  It is the story of two young Hungarian Jewish girls during World War II.  They were hidden by nuns, with over 100 other Jewish girls, in the local convent.  It is a true story.  I do not prefer fictional World War II stories.  There are so many true ones out there that are truly fascinating.  I have a great interest in World War II and have read many books on it.  It comes from my early childhood.  My father was very much a war buff.  He had great interest and collections from many different wars.

This weekend I finished Traditions From Elm Creek Quilts  by Jennifer Chiaverini.  It gives many quilt patterns that appear in her novels.  She also gives a recap of the novels that this book covers, with short excerpts.  I like that.  It helps me to remember each story again.  Since this would be the 23rd book in her Elm Creek Quilts Series, it is nice to have short refreshers to help me remember each novel.  I enjoyed every single book she has written.

Which leads me to the 24th book, Sonoma Rose. I am reading it now.  Will be done tomorrow probably.  It is a very good read.  Which has slowed down the St. Patrick's stitching.  I will get the pin pillow done before the 17th.  I am stitching on both sides.  The first side is complete.  No pictures of that today.

I may stitch a tiny bit today, but I am into this book. :)
Vickie

The Stained Glass Denim Quilt

Good morning everyone!  How are ya?

I made this quilt in January.  I had been saving worn out or out grown jeans from our family for about 2 years.  I knew I wanted to make a denim quilt but was not happy with any patterns I found for over a year.  I found the tutorial for this quilt online here.  It is called Stained Glass Denim Quilt.  It was a pretty easy quilt to make. 

Stained Glass Denim Quilt

I used black Kona cotton for all the strips and the binding.  I used a light blue flannel for the backing.  I had to chase around to different fabric stores, but finally found a large JoAnn's that carried flannel wide enough, so that I did not have to piece the back, but have one whole solid piece.

This is a comfort quilt.  It is approximately 52"x56".  I made it to lay on the back of my husband's recliner.  I always use cotton batting, so this one is nice and warm.  I quilted it with straight lines on the black strips.  I did not want to wreck the stained glass look.  I love it. 

Stained Glass Denim Quilt made with our family's jeans

The best part about this quilt is that I used denim from every one of us 5 in the family.  The largest blocks are 12"x12".  That was a challenge, as none of us have jeans that wide.  So I used a denim dress that I have not worn in years. 

I will leave you with another picture taken by our 13 year old daughter Madeleine.  Mabel is of course one of her favorite subjects!

Still stitching,
Vickie

Fellow Readers Out There ?? And Stitchy Stuff Too!

Good morning everyone!
How are you all keeping?  We received at least 4 inches of snow last evening.  The thick, heavy, wet stuff.

Do any of you enjoy Beverly Lewis books?  I have read every single one of her adult books.  I am sure her many, many children's books are great too.  The topic for her fiction is the Amish.  I was interested in the Amish about 10 years ago, and came across her fiction at the library. 

She is a talented writer.  She loves to write series.  Yes, eventually the young Amish Miss ends up happy, but I enjoy the insight into a lifestyle we do not know a lot about.

How about Susan Wittag Albert?  I had never heard of her before last year.  I came across a book of hers in the library.  I went and searched for the first in the series, The Beatrix Potter Mysteries.  They are innocent fun.  They are based on Beatrix Potter.  She happens to have a gift for solving mysteries. And the animals talk in these books. Only to each other I might add. :)  Well, they are a fun read, not  truly challenging in the mystery solving department really.

Which leads me to the next book I read this year, Forbidden from the Book of Mortals.  This is a new book from Ted Dekker.  He is a very talented writer.  He does write very challenging mysteries.  I love that.  I think I have something figured out, and then he gives you a big twist, and a few more turns.  This latest book has left me wanting to read the next RIGHT NOW!

I am currently stitching an Irish piece.  I am hoping to get this finished off in time for St. Patrick's Day.  I have been trying to get one small seasonal piece finished completely for each month.  So why don't I show you the piece I finished for February. 

Valentine Poodles

back of Valentine piece

I found this pattern online as a knitting pattern actually.  It is decades old. It was to be the front of a child's sweater.  I fell in love with the two of them. :)

It is stitched on 28 ct rose evenweave.  I found that perfect trim at JoAnn's.  Tiny, little white pom poms.  It makes me think of poodles. :)  The backing fabric I had left over from a blouse I sewed for myself this last summer.  I lined it with interfacing and filled it with crushed walnut shells.

Thanks for visiting today.  I read every single comment and appreciate every one too.  Thank you. :)
Vickie