Gifts

Hi friends!  Our friend Cucki is still in need of our prayer. I told her that we all care about her and miss her. I told her so many of us are praying for her. She left a comment here on my last post. Here is what she said: "Thank you my dear friends..
At this time I really need your love and support. Please be with me. Big hugs and love. Cucki xx"

Prayer is directing our hearts outside of ourselves and towards God. Pray.

Our friend Ele has received the bookmark I made her as a thank you gift for the pretty cross stitch pillow and lovely pink fabrics she gave me. Here is what it looks like.

The "E" and the spool freebie are both stitched over one with DMC on 28ct white evenweave.

Our friend Maggee sent me some lovely pink fabrics for the Epic Pink Tumbler Quilt. Yippee! Thank you Maggee!

 This is one of the bargain dahlias I bought from Walmart back in July. It is finally blooming and so pretty!

I will be back soon with a stitching update. Have a stitchtastic day!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Just Stitching and Praying

Hi friends! Were you able to see the Blood Moon? All five of us watched the Supermoon Lunar Eclipse last night. Neat!

I have stitched a bit more on Henry. And embroidered a bit more on my brother's autographs. No pictures to share though.

I have been picking out the patterns to stitch up for Christmas ornaments for the three children. Pretty sure I know what I am doing for them now.

Do you sometimes wonder where friends disappear to? I do. I do not do Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, so I miss friends on Blogger. There is a friend of ours I have been missing. Our dear friend Cucki. I emailed her this morning. Our sweet friend is still not feeling well. She is staying with her mother. I know the love and care she will get from her mom will make her feel better. Would you join me in prayer for Cucki's health?

Winky says "Hi!"

I will have stitching pictures for you next time my friends. And I have a lovely, dark pink dahlia finally opening up. Remember the Walmart clearance pink plants? I forgot to get a picture of the one pink gladiola bulb that bloomed this year! So I will get a picture of the dahlia this week.

Let me know if you need prayer. I am always praying for friends! :)

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Gifts

Hi friends!  Hello new friends! How are you? Is it nice by you? It is warm and sunny here during our days and cool at night. Love it!

Our friend Brigitte had sent me pretty pink fabrics for the Epic Pink Tumbler Quilt. I was very happy to make and give a stitched bookmark to her as a thank you, since she has a collection of stitched bookmarks. :)

I stitched this sweet spool freebie (CLICK THIS LINK HERE FOR THE FREEBIE) two over two on 28ct white evenweave.

I stitched Brigitte's initial one over one.

And now I shall show you the gifts I received from our friend Nancy! She had another giveaway. Imagine that! ;) This giveaway was called Favorite Things Giveaway. She asked entrants to tell her our favorite things. Well, I told her pink and purple flosses. Imagine that! ;) I won!

Here's another shot so you can admire these pretties.

That is not all. Nope! Nancy asked me to browse her charts and pick one. Isn't this a sweet one I chose?

Thank you Nancy! Nancy sure is a big blessing to the stitching community.

This is where I am at on the stitching of Henry.

Mabel continues to improve. We are so thankful for that. She walks on all four legs now. Unless she is walking quickly. Then it is on three legs.

I hope you have a stitchtastic weekend my friends! I plan to!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Art By Madeleine

Hi friends! Not a lot of progress here this weekend. I stitched up half a dozen rows of Henry's body on Friday evening. Saturday morning I realized the color was too dark for him. I guess the light blue of the linen darkened it up. So I ripped all that out. The orts look like Henry's tight little curls.

After much decision, I have found the right colors and have begun stitching him again.

I completed the first embroidered autograph on Jonathan's denim overalls.

This is using 6 strands of 310 DMC. I will use less strands for many. This was a thick autograph. Not all are. Most are illegible. I started easy. Many are fading badly. I will have to get Jon to decipher most all of them. There are 31 autographs in total. o_0

This message is for Maija. I am unable to send you an email or post a comment to your blog for a few weeks now. I am sorry. I do not know why. Please know I appreciate you commenting here and value your friendship and prayers. I am praying for Kristiina.
 
Miss Madeleine is working on art. Always. She needs to have 10 art pieces completed in one month from now. A lot of pressure when you take Advanced Placement Art. Once she completes this class, she will have credit for one art course in college taken care of already. I took this picture of one of her pieces which of course is unfinished. I say of course, because she has a real problem with completing paintings. She gets them almost done, and then moves onto another. She is not currently working on this, but it is one of my favorites! Know who he is?

He is Art Garfunkel. :)

Have a super week! I am going to!

Make me walk in the path of Your commandments,
For I delight in it.
Psalm 119:35

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Miss Mabel

Hi friends! I finished stitching up Mabel. I just need to find two frames that match and fit! You knew I was going to stitch up Henry also, didn't you?!

This is stitched two over two with DMC on 28ct Bo Peep Pink Cashel Zweigart linen.

 I took a few different pictures in different lighting, hoping you could see the pale pink of the linen. I have a pale blue linen picked out to stitch Henry on. It is Dresden Blue Meran linen.

I did change a few things on this pattern besides the DMC colors. I gave her a smaller muzzle and filled her ears out just a tiny bit more, as I am not adding in the bows the pattern shows. I also am not stitching up the border or name underneath.

Did you ever take on a needlework project someone else asked you to do? And you KNEW WITHOUT A DOUBT you would not like doing it?! And because it was your baby brother asking you to do it, and he thinks you can do anything needlework related, you said yes?! AAAHHH! That is where I am at. Jonathan asked me to embroider over all the signatures he has collected from various bluegrass artists over several years. These signatures are in black sharpie ON HIS DENIM OVERALLS! Help! I knew this would be a time suck, but not this bad. I had put the overalls aside for a month and a half. Never touching them. I have begun. No way I can work on this straight without cross stitch relief in between. It took me one hour to embroider "Leigh"! I didn't even start the last name yet. I need to change the subject before I have a melt down here.

This is the sweet freebie I stitched up two weeks ago. I stitched her one over one one 27ct mystery natural linen. I call it the pink pots girl. BECAUSE, Madeleine waters my pink windowsill pots for me. And I know Madeleine is 17 years old, but it just makes me think of her and I love it! You can find this freebie HERE.

Precious, isn't it? I have not finished her off yet, as I am still undecided. I have this wooden display shelf. One of those knick knack things with lots of cubicles, or tiny square and rectangular openings. I had thought to make many smalls up and display them within. Like I am sure you have seen done with printer's trays. I do not know if I still desire to do this. I have one large, open wall in the kitchen. It is to be my sampler wall. That has been the plan since we moved into this home over seven years ago. It is still blank. Well my stitched Mabel and Henry are going there. I have all the patterns for BBD Anniversaries of the Heart and the linen. And no, I have never even begun them! That is real big when stitched together and framed as one big sampler. That is to go on that wall too. The wooden shelf thing won't work there then. And I don't think I have anywhere else in the house for it. Until kids move out. HA! Nothing like thinking way ahead, huh?

I hope you have a beautiful weekend my friends! Oh, by the way, Mabel continues to do well. She uses three legs mainly, but seems to be recovering very well. ♥

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Mabel aka Toots, Babes and Pretty

The Top Five

Hi friends! It has cooled down here considerably, with highs in the 70's. Nice. Especially since our two young friends were married yesterday at a Serbian Orthodox Church, not too far away.This was the most holy wedding Brian and I have ever attended. It was absolutely wonderful. A blessing to attend. What a lovely service and a perfect reception.

It is time for me to share my Top Five favorite Christmas ornaments from the JC 2015 Special Holiday Issue.
 
1. Noelle, a Christmas Angel by Brooke's Books Publishing

Is this not gorgeous?!? And big? And intimidating?

2.  Pure Love by The Snowflower Diaries

3.  White Christmas by New York Dreamer

4.  My Christmas Window by OMG!
5.  Little Christmas House by La-D-Da

Some day they will all be stitched.(I hope!) Could not tell you when that day will be. ;) Did you see the ornaments yet? Do you have a favorite? Do tell!

I made up and sent one gift on it's way to a friend. Hope to get the next friend's gift out in the mail tomorrow.

Still stitching up Mabel. So much shading and so many greys!


I enjoy pumpkin all year round, but most especially in the fall. I made this new-to-me recipe and it was a hit! Pumpkin Cream Cheese Brownies

I also bake bread year round. I know I have shown you this kind before, but it has been a while since I shared a loaf of bread with you. :)

 I hope you have a stitchtastic week my friends! I plan to!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Guess Who?

Hi friends! I have had this chart in my stash for three years. I decided that I will no longer put it off.

Wow. Talk about setbacks. The pattern is charted for a white poodle, now that won't do. So I grabbed my floss ring with the correct poodle colors, and away I began. The problem was in the face with all the shading. I stitched and unstitched almost every grey part of Mabel's face. I am happy with it now.

I am stitching this on 28ct Wichelt Bo Peep Pink, two over two with DMC. The linen is very pale pink. Can't even tell here I see. I am taking a tiny break on this piece to do up another few gifts for friends. I have to motivate myself to do finishing work. Do you too? I guess I just have to be in the right mood for it.

Our friend Catherine sent me pink fabrics last month. So I made her this bookmark as a thank you gift.

 Okay, so next time I will share the sweet freebie I stitched up last week. Maybe I will even do the finishing on it!! Maybe.

We have exactly two apples on our Espaliered McIntosh apple tree.

The garden is still doing well.

I tried a new recipe for baked eggplant. It was good! HERE is the recipe if you are interested.

Thank you for stopping in with me today. I hope you have a stitchtastic day my friends!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

"Good grief!" Mabel says.

Mabel Update!

Hi friends! It may have been a rainy, dark day yesterday, but it felt like a bright, sunshiney day for us! The vet had great news for our little Mabel. It has nothing to do with her spine! She has torn her ACL. Now that is not good news of course. However, this injury is  different in dogs as compared to humans. This injury is similar to a sprained joint we might have.  Painful and swollen, but not needing surgery. Non-surgical recovery using careful activity restriction is almost always the best first-choice treatment option for dogs. Small dogs almost never need surgery for these type of injuries. The vet told us it usually takes 2 months of pain medication and restricted activity to know if the dog has re-stabilized the joint.

The relief! Imagine our relief when told her holding her back leg up had nothing to do with her spine. Oh happy day! No euthanasia in the near future. Praise the Lord.

I want to thank you all for your well wishes and prayers for our little Mabel! You friends are so caring.

Now for my friends who are Packer fans. Guess who the vet compared Mabel to? Jordy Nelson. ;) Mabel's problem is not sports related though. Hers is degenerative. Jacob has a Jordy Nelson jersey. A little too big for Miss Mabel. Wouldn't she look cute in a tiny, pink Nelson jersey? ;)

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Gifts For Friends

Hi friends! I sent a small gift to our friend Annette last week. And I do mean small. ;)

This precious letter scissor fob is a freebie you can find HERE. Annette had sent me MORE pink fabrics and I wanted to give her a little something.

Do you recall this flatfold I made quite a while ago?

I was saving it to be a gift for just the right person, at just the right time. I mailed it off to our friend Barbara last week. She is a true friend. :)

I drew a name for the Lizzie Kate Dreaming Is Free Three Little Words pattern. The random winner of the pattern is Faith76. I sent you an email and I am waiting for your address. :) Always nice to have new friends here. I hope you enjoy stitching the sweet chart as I did.

Next time I will show you what I stitched this last week.

Sigh. So. Our precious Mabel. I will take her in to the vet tomorrow. He wants to examine her. She is staying on the full load of prescriptions to relieve pain indefinitely. She and I are both on gabapentin for our nerve pain. She has most likely slipped another disc. The veterinarian states that since she is holding her back leg up and not using it much, this usually indicates a slipped disc at L4 and/or L5. It is pressing on the nerve that runs down her back leg. She can live for months on three legs. She still eats, does her duty outside and wants belly rubs. She chews her bones and begs and wags her tail. It is possible the slipped disc is pressing on her spine instead. This will eventually lead to paralysis. As long as our girl is happy and on pain meds, we will cherish her. Let me tell you, this is rough! Especially knowing what I know about back pain and limited mobility from my very own body, well let's just say I am glad no one rushed me off to be euthanized!

Here is a great way to read John 3:16. God (the greatest Giver) so loved (the greatest motive) the world (which has the greatest spiritual poverty) that he gave (the greatest act of all) his only Son (the greatest gift), that whosoever (the all-time greatest invitation) believes in him (the greatest opportunity) should not perish (the greatest deliverance) but have eternal life (the greatest joy).

Thank you my friends for stopping in and saying hi. You encourage me.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Finally!

Hi friends! Hot around here again this week. The vegetable garden continues to do well. We still have tomatoes, beans, lettuce(beginning to bolt), cucumbers and zucchini. We ate our first acorn squash too. I am telling you, I have been eating them since I was a girl, but wow! This acorn squash was the best I have ever had. I am waiting on an eggplant. Boy are they ever pretty.

I have finally made up my first cube finish. I used Vonna's cube tutorial. Thank you Vonna! Easy to do. Putzy to make. Remember this LK Thankful String I stitched up almost a year ago?

This chart was a gift from Tricia that I passed on to Andrea. I stitched this on 28ct light mocha linen two over two.

I bought this fabric just for this finish. :) It is new fabric to JoAnn. It is made in America.

I received pink fabrics in the mail from our friend Brigitte. Thank you Brigitte! I continue to draw closer to my goal for that Epic Pink Tumbler Quilt. I cut more tumblers and pieced them in rows.

Our little Mabel has not really improved. She bears little weight on her back, right leg. I am waiting to hear back from the veterinarian today. Thank you for praying for her. You friends are so caring. ♥ Please continue to pray. We have not lost hope. She had a bad episode a few years ago when we thought "this is it for her", and it was not!

I am stitching up a sweet freebie and making up a few gifts for friends.

I am still reading the Holy Bible daily. It truly takes commitment!

Blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen. Psalm 72:19

Stitching and praying,
Vickie