Special Stuff

Hi friends! I hope your Christmas was wonderful? Ours was, despite Brian and I still trying to get rid of this cold that came directly after the flu. I did go to the doctor on Christmas Eve morning and get antibiotics. I have a sinus infection.

Here is my favorite Christmas present this year. It is from Brian. ♥

He gave this to me now, because we draw names on my side of the family. And he drew mine. We probably will not give gifts again on Orthodox Christmas. I think that will be a celebration of Jesus' birth alone. And that is great!

Look at what I received in the mail yesterday from our sweet friend Annette.

What a pretty card and gorgeous fabric! I love it Annette. I do! Thank you my friend. :)

Brian bought me this lovely Christmas bouquet.

My in-laws gave me this most exotic poinsettia.

Oh yes! I did finally make up my mother's  present into a flatfold. I always use Vonna's technique. Here is the link to this freebie pattern.

(It appears misaligned in these two pictures. I assure you it is not)

My mother loves it! If you recall, that is supposed to be her kitten, Sweetie, up on top of the pile there.  Honestly, it is a bit frightening how Crazy Cat Lady my mom has become. I thought I knew what people meant by that phrase. Now I really do!

Okay! Who has seen The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies?!?! We saw it yesterday! So good! Also, so hard to believe it is over. Going to these movies every year as a family has been great. We went with my BIL yesterday. He is home from Cambridge. He is getting his Masters in Divinity there.

I picked up the needle once again last night on Theotokos. I took a five day break from stitching, due to Christmas and being ill. I think I may have told you, but when Theotokos is completed and framed, I will give it to Father and his family. It will not be for Orthodox Christmas as I had wanted. They do not know I am making this, so it will be a fine gift whenever I end up giving it.

Thank you for stopping by today friends. Have a lovely weekend!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Friends Are Like Angels

Good Morning my friends! I am so glad you stopped by. Thank you for your kind words on my tiny Henry design. Even such a small attempt at designing gave me a real appreciation of the hard work our cross stitch designers do.

I have forgotten to mention that I gave the small poodle tin to the mail carrier last week. She was actually amazed. She was very happy with it, and told me she has just the place for it with her mail work. Well, that made me happy. She is really such a very, very nice person. =)

I would like to show you the two different ways I made up Friends Are Like Angels. This first one I am giving to my friend Heather. I made it to be a door knob hanger.

The trim I chose may appear to be red and white here to you, not sure, but it is dark pink and cream. It matches very well. The back is a dark  pink. I agonized over the perfect pink fabric. And I have small quantities of many pink fabrics in the hundreds I have to admit! tee hee!

Here is the flatfold. I had a pale pink organdy ribbon in the perfect shade to match the pink cross stitch border. So I made a bow for the top.

I used the same dark pink fabric as the "knob knocker".

Take a look at what I just received in the mail from the UK.

This came from our wonderful friend Mii. =) I was chosen as the next stitcher of Love Notes. I am a true chocoholic, so the Cadbury really hit the spot!! I even shared a tiny bit. ;) Now I am not a tea drinker, but never fear if you have ever sent me tea! My husband and Miss Madeleine are. Ha! You should have seen! BOTH of their eyes lit up for this tea packet. They both wanted it. So, they made two cups from it. ;) And they both liked it very much. Thank you Mii. That was very kind.

I really took my time choosing the linen for this one. I have decided to stitch the long french pattern you see at the bottom. I will not be making a pin pillow however. I have something special in mind. Not sure of the exact outcome quite yet, but I have ideas rolling around the old noggin. We shall see. I began stitching just before bed last night. Looks to be quick, but I am busy, busy with the garden too. So hang in there. You will be seeing this pattern posted for the Traveling Pattern Giveaway soon. =)

Last night, at church, our pastor opened his sermon with a story that is really sticking with me. I did a search just now, and found the story. It really is not long at all. I have no connection with this site, but it has the exact same story our pastor used last night, so this is the link I am giving you. If you care to read this short story, click here. We sang the exact song mentioned, after pastor's sermon. I am still singing it right now. =)

Have a wonderful day in the Lord my friends! Thanks for stopping by. See ya soon!

Stitching and Gardening and Praying,
Vickie

The Easter Finish (and cow pies!)

Hello people!  I hope you are having a fantastic day.

I finished stitching Rejoice on Good Friday.  I decided to finish it in a flatfold.  So that meant refreshing my memory with Vonna. :)

Rejoice by Plum Street Samplers

I am hoping someone is appreciating these pictures I took yesterday morning,in the shade , in 38 degrees, with a very cold north wind blowing!

stitched 2 over 2 on 28ct cream Meran linen

I went off to the quilt shop to look for backing fabric.  My husband helped me decide on this very different one called Figgy Pudding by Moda.  It seems to work well with these colors.  This was a hard piece to find a good, pleasing match.  The husband says I am too picky.  I told him after I put so much into a piece I do not want to just schlup the finish together.

From dusk to dawn, from start to finish, from death to life, from cross to throne... Jesus is risen!

I am very happy with the results considering I finished it on Holy Saturday and on Easter Sunday in a narcotic induced trance.  Let me just say, I almost cried.  I almost destroyed the mounting completely.  Much prayer, chocolate and deep breathing saved it.  For fear you think I am a druggie, I tore and stretched ligaments in my left SI joint(hip joint) 7 years ago in a bad fall.  I have been living in pain every single day since.  I have tried many, many procedures, injections, physical therapy, gizmos, gadgets, creams, whatever!  I take two different meds to basically trick my body and nerves.  When I slip, trip, get bumped, or misstep, my pain level spikes.  Then I need the percocet.   Blech!  Let's not talk about it!

Okay, so, have you ever heard of Cow Pies?  I mean this kind.  My youngest brother gave each of us one of these on Easter day. :) Oooo! Yummy!

I finished the new book from the library, Barn Quilts.  I enjoyed it pretty much.  It was a bit of a document or it seemed a little like a research project.  The pictures were great.  There were also touching personal stories from farm families.

I just began reading Hush Now, Don't You Cry another new book, and another one by Rhys Bowen.  Two books ago I read  Naughty In Nice.  That was a good mystery in a different series by the same author.  This one I am beginning is from the Molly Murphy Mystery series.  Very good series.  I have been reading along through a few years here, since the beginning when Molly fled Ireland to come here to America.

Thank you for your comments.  I am so glad you are here. :)

stitching and praying,
Vickie

Hello out there!

Hi everyone!  You have probably seen me around the cross stitch community commenting and following. :)  I finally began my own blog to keep track of my cross stitching and quilting and life.  
The stitching picture I will share today is my first finish of the year from January. 

I made this very small, between 2 and 3 inches square, framed flatfold for my husband.  It was a freebie that I do not remember where I got it from.  I stitched it on white 28 ct evenweave.  He likes lions.  It is an Assisi embroidery design called "medallion with a lion".  I used the tutorial from Vonna's blog for help.