The Gift Given

Hi friends! I bet you forgot. Or you think I forgot. Nope. I have been waiting patiently?! (ha!) Father Vasyl is our only priest. He serves our church and the mission church in Madison. There are only 5 Russian Orthodox Churches in the whole state of Wisconsin. So he is very busy.

Do you recall me stitching a certain needlepoint Theotokos icon? ;)

 Yes, this has been framed for months. It is not a size that is ready to be framed. We could not afford a custom frame at this time. So, I mounted it as I usually do by pinning to the mat board. Then I taped down the excess canvas. Brian wanted to help, so I asked him if he would cut a "custom mat". I bought black scrapbook paper and he cut it to fit exactly to the edges of the needlepoint. Once that was all done and in place, I covered the back with the brown craft paper. Then Brian mounted one of those picture hanger things on back.

Well, we had thought to give this to Father and Matushka when he came to bless our home. We did not realize it would take this long, but they came yesterday. It was wonderful. The highlight of my Mother's Day! :) After the blessing, I invited them to sit for tea and the cupcakes, brownies and rice krispie treats I made. We had nice conversation for half an hour. First I first gave them the icon I stitched for them.

To say Matushka was happy is an understatement. She began to rip the wrapping paper, could see what was inside, and exclaimed, "Oh!". She jumped up and squeezy hugged me. I would never have expected that. She hugged me tight three times in all during our visit. Thanking me profusely. She told me I could not have done a bigger or better thing for her. :)

Kazan Mother of God

I cannot tell you how happy this makes me. To put months of work into a piece, and have the recipients overjoyed, well, it feels fantastic my friends. I have gone over that scene in my mind a few times now. Each time I feel so glad and have the biggest smile on my face.

Maybe you recall I told you last year that when we had gone to a graduation party for their oldest son, back in June, I had admired two different cross stitched icons in their home. I asked Father's wife if she made them. No, an old woman back in Ukraine had made these for them. She told me she would love to have a Theotokos also some day. AHA! And so I decided to make one for her. I am so very glad I did!

I am stitching another pink Quaker motif on the black chocolate linen. A challenge today for sure. It is raining and quite overcast.

Thank you for stopping in. I hope you enjoyed the story I shared.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie