Winky

Hi friends! Nice warm days here with cool nights. The leaves are turning and beginning to fall.

I finally finished up the Winky ornament for Madeleine's Christmas stocking this year.

He is stitched one over one, using DMC, on 28ct pale blue sponged evenweave. The fabric has a very nice sky effect, but I had one heck of a time making it show up in pictures for you.

I used the perfect color blue ribbon Jacquie sent me a few months ago in the finishing. :) I had a pretty piece of felt I bought from JoAnn last year. I did not know what I needed it for, but now I do. It looks great on the back.

This pattern was a freebie you can find right HERE. I did change the shades of blue to match Winky better. Here is a picture of Madeleine's parakeet, Winky, for you.

I left a comment for Tricia this week on her last post. I told her the LK piece she stitched up was sweet. :) Then she asked me if I wanted it! Oh yes! And it came today. With an adorable, sweet card Tricia made, AND an additional chart for me too! Thanks again Tricia. :) I have pulled the threads for the Thankful String already.

Yesterday, I took time away from stitching and got a bit organized. Brian bought me this lovely antique sewing stand last month.

If you recall earlier this year, I showed you how I store my DMC. In that small sewing basket from Woolworths. I just layer cardboard and stack them up in numerical order. Well, I can't part with it. And the system works. BUT I have no more room for DMC. I had gone on to continue stacking my floss in this box.
 
Well, I just didn't think BIG enough with that! HA! I will find another use for that lovely $3.00 box from Goodwill. I made my cardboard layers yesterday and stacked them up in the sewing stand. The Woolworth's sewing basket holds the lowest numbers of DMC through the 900's. The sewing stand begins with the 3000's of the DMC and goes on up. Lots of room left. ;)

I finished reading Good Call by Jase Robertson. What an excellent book. I read it in two days. :) So very much more than I was expecting. I have an increased respect for Jase.

I also read Water Walker by Ted Dekker in two days. :) Yeah, I have been reading a lot lately. This was also an excellent book. If you know Ted, then you know he writes some wild fiction. I just couldn't stop reading it. I have never read a book by Ted that I did not like. The man has GINORMOUS talent!

Off to pet a poodle or two now. tee hee! Have a fabulous weekend my friends. Thank you for stopping by.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

This Is How I Store My Floss

Good Morning my friends! How are you? Things are going pretty well around here. I had a finish yesterday. This pattern is from the April 2010 issue of Cross Stitcher magazine.

This is called Live My God by Margaret G. Kohl. I stitched this in DMC 422 , two over one on 25ct cream linen. I framed this in here. I use the pinning method when mounting my needlework on acid free foam core boards. If you frame your own pieces, do you lace or pin your framed pieces?

I found this box at our Good Will store this month for $3.00. =) Yes, it has a few scratches in it, but I touched them up and it is all better. The purpose of this box is to store my DMC floss. You see, a while back my sweet sister in Christ Shirlee posted how she stores her floss. She encouraged me to show all of you. And so, I knew I needed to find the perfect box for my floss. BECAUSE, my original floss basket is filled to maximum capacity! This is where I have been storing my DMC since I first purchased this, back when I was 19 years old. I bought it at Woolworth's Department Store. =) Do you remember Woolworth's? Do you still have one? I wish we did!!

I came up with a system back then, and it has worked for me just fine ever since. ;)

See? I cut numerous pieces of cardboard over the years to fit the inside of the basket, to make layers. I just stack them on top of each other in numerical order. The new floss box is starting off with DMC in the 3000's.

Perfect? No, probably not. But it works just fine for me. Plus, I am kinda nostalgic about it I suppose. I will just cut cardboard to size for this box and start stacking again as needed. ;)

Now as for my few Anchor, Victorian Motto, Wisper and other specialty flosses (I am truly a DMC kinda girl), well they are stored in my vintage, wooden, accordion sewing box. I have one drawer that works for that.

Last week I made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. This may be the season for pumpkin num nums for a lot of you. Every season is pumpkin season in this house! Mama loves me some pumpkin. Pumpkin anything! ;) You can find this recipe I have used for many years here.

Emerson went to the Homecoming Dance last night. It was in the Pius XI Fieldhouse. He went solo all 4 years. You never did that when I was young. But it is very acceptable now I guess. At least at their school I know. Jacob went 3 of the 4 years with a different young lady each time. Always as friends. Neither boy has had a girlfriend yet. Jacob wants to date carefully and wisely. I think that is great. Emerson reminds me of Brian. Very timid with girls. I had to ask him out! ;)

Finally, I will show you a new game that has been going on in our home. Henry and Mabel have discovered they can play tug-of-war with each other. =)

Now, I do realize that this isn't the best activity for Mabel with her SEVEN slipped discs! I know, I know. Brian doesn't like it. But, Mabel WANTS to play with Henry. It only last less than 2 minutes, honest!

Henry only weighs 4 lbs. Mabel is 14 lbs. So she ends up pulling him and the bed around and around the room.

They have played this way two times. I am thinking this will be a rarely played game. I do not know of any humans that would play tug-of war with such back issues. It is a blessing from God that our Mabel continues to do so well. Her last "episode" was in the spring. We are still very careful with her and her back. I have allowed this game twice, because, well I do believe she wants to have fun sometimes too. She only goes on a 2 minute walk once a week. Otherwise, all she does is chase her toys in a game of fetch daily, down the hall. Henry is a real bundle of energy. He runs and plays with us daily. Hard to believe Mabel is 4 1/2 yrs old and Henry will soon be 4. He seems to be 1!!

I am giving away the pattern for Flora McSample Heart Sampler this week. If you should like a chance to receive it, take a look here.

I began a seasonal stitch last night. Lots of orange and brown. I hope this day is wonderfully relaxing for you. Thank you for stopping by today. I appreciate YOU! I do! ♥

Stitching and praying,
Vickie