Stitching In The Dark

Hi friends! We are still below freezing at night here. No seedlings set out yet.

Our friend Christina(no blog) received the gift I made up for her. She shared pink goodness with me for the charm quilt.

I used fabrics from my stash. The "C" and the spool are stitched one over one on 28ct white evenweave. The sweet, little spool is a freebie you can find right HERE.


This is the latest pink motif I have stitched on my chocolate linen.

Very hard for me to see with our overcast days this week. And stitching at night on this linen is impossible for me. Until I thought of putting my Mighty Bright light BEHIND the linen. This works! Maybe you all knew this and I am a dunce. Don't know. Just happy to have time to stitch on this again.

 I got the second poodle groomed. :)

Still reading the Bible every day. This has left me with no time for fiction reading. That's okay. I have time for that, soon I hope.
 

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Two Hogs

Hi friends! It has been sunny and warm(er) here! Love it! Much of our snow is melting! Yay!  This has had me, my next door neighbor and the next neighbor down doing the same thing. All three of us ladies have been picking up dog poop in the backyards. Yucko!!

So I have two cute hogs to share with you. :) The first is a groundhog. This is a free pattern from Bent Creek. You can find the pattern RIGHT HERE. I found the pattern through our friend Yuko.

Isn't he just adorable?! I could not resist this stitch. Even though I could care less what a groundhog has to say about Spring arriving early or late!!!!

I used neutral, solid fabrics and my Sweet Liberty-Tuffets pattern to make up this pillow. It turned out the slightest bit wonky. Oh well. I don't know how that happened. I usually get freaky about stuff like that. This time I am letting it be. I still find it cute. :)

This little fella is stitched two over two on 32ct Lambswool linen. I used DMC 3865 and Crescent Colours Milady's Teal. Which I think is a dumb name. No teal involved at all. Just variegated grey. Whatever!

The only pretty sign of Spring around here is this orchid in bloom.

That is the same flower. I took the two pictures in different lighting. The first picture shows the color more accurately. I am so glad this and my other orchid have survived and thrived for almost one year now. I was given one by Brian and this one by my mom. Interestingly they were both given to me when I had cancer surgery last year. I should mention that I just went for another skin exam by the dermatologist and all is well, no more melanomas. I go for yet another exam in 3 months time.

This is the second hog.

The Margaret Sherry freebie you can find HERE. I found this perfect grey frame for him at Michael's. I will be giving him to my hairdresser before the end of this month. :)

Several of you generous, kind hearted friends are gifting me with pink fabrics to be used in my Epic Pink Quilt. I thank you once again. Because of your gifts, I will be able to start that Pink Charm Tumbler Quilt all the sooner. You can see how many different pink fabrics I still need, by checking above  in my sidebar.  I will keep the countdown over there. :) My quilt will be all the more special when fabrics from friends around the world are stitched right in.♥ June and Peggy, I have cut tumbler patches with the pink fabrics you have given me.

I have stitched up yet another freebie. This one is for St. Patrick's Day and it is for my mom. I will be doing the finishing on that today. I will share pictures next time.

I hope you have a really wonderful weekend my friends. Thank you for stopping by today. I thanked God for you today!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Miss Mabel snoozing away in Jacob's jackets. She is waiting and waiting for that young man to wake up!

Crown Of Life

Hi friends! Hi new friends! How are ya? We are feelin' happy 'round here. =) It is supposed to be in the forties this weekend! Melting snow! Sunshine! Yay! Oh, it will still be white around here for quite a while, but surely Spring is getting closer.

Remember Dear Rudolph I stitched and finished last month? Well I borrowed that LK pattern from our dear friend Shirlee. I sent it back with a small gift I made her. Since she has received it and thanked me for it AND likes it ;) I thought I would show ya.

I'm Christian, Shirlee is Christian, I knew she would appreciate this gift I made for her. This is one of my favorite Bible verses. I always envisioned the verse stitched up with one of these:

A crown of course! This is the backside of the bookmark. I stitched one over one using Nancy's Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe Floss "1795 Tarnished Gold". This is an antique crown pattern freebie from Sajou. The fabric I used is 28ct Country Blend linen.

I made this bookmark for Shirlee using all things from my stash. The large embroidered piece of linen on the front is vintage. It is from a tablecloth I bought off Etsy years ago. I made kitchen curtains with most of the tablecloth, and saved many pieces for future crafts.

I finished my Margaret Sherry piece. It was a freebie found HERE.

Squee! So very cute! I stitched this for my hair stylist. She is a wonderful lady. I will shortly find a perfect, small frame for it and give it to her at my next haircut appointment.

I stitched this using DMC equivalents and some of my own choosing also. It is stitched two over two on 32ct Baby Lotion Belfast linen.

I took this photo last night from our backyard. This is the beautiful PINK sky setting behind our village library on the other side of a park behind our home.

I will share with you next time the very pink and very epic project I am taking on. I have been planning this one for years. At least 7 years my friends. It is time!!

Thank you for stopping by! Thank you for your sweet comments! You brighten my day, truly.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Valentine Finishes

Hi friends! Very cold here. And of course, still blanketed in white.

I stitched up two Valentine pieces for Jo's Valentine Blog Hop I took part in. I did the finishing on them and want to share them with you. Did you spot this one on Jo's blog? This was a Valentine for her.♥

That is June the poodle on the right. A gift from, you guessed it, June.

This first one uses a freebie for the word LOVE. You can find this tiny freebie by clicking right here. Have a look around while you visit the blog. There a few more small freebies too.

How do you like the poodles? I designed them! tee hee! I am happy because I do NOT find designing cross stitch easy at all. And, I think I captured Mabel and Henry.

I stitched this two over two on 30ct Antique White linen. I used Nancy's/Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe Floss in Valentine Red ;). For Henry I used DMC and Anchor flosses. Mabel is in all DMC.

I also used Nancy's red rick rack in the finishing. I had the Valentine fabric, pink ribbon and poodle charm in my stash.

Just so there is no misunderstanding, Mabel and Henry are NOT in LOVE. I was expressing MY love of poodles. ;)

My second Valentine finish is also a freebie. I came across THIS FANTASTIC BLOG THAT HAS MANY FREEBIES FOR US. Click this link here for this next pattern. You have to scroll down the page a bit. Go check out this wonderful site if you love freebies. You will NOT be sorry.

So, isn't this sweet? I just found it adorable. This is the Valentine stitch sent to my partner in the Valentine Blog Hop. I stitched this one over one on 32ct Angel Blush ;) Linen. I used Nancy's 1795 Faded Sampler Red Light floss. I asked Miss Madeleine for fabric and floss input. She chose both. And no, she did not know the linen was called Angel Blush.  I occasionally ask her for input on linen and floss colors. I hope to keep her involved, even in just that small way, with stitching. She has stitched only a handful of items in her 16 years of life so far. I am hoping she takes stitching up again one day. How great it would be to sit and stitch with her.♥

I simply encircled this sweet pinpillow with some x's. The backing fabric is just pink linen fabric, slightly darker, I had in my stash.

I am not done sharing freebie links with you yet friends. If you love poodle freebies, wait. You do don't you? Am I REALLY the ONLY one who loves poodle freebies? NO, this cannot be. Well, in case there is one more stitcher out there who also wants to stitch up more than one free poodle pattern, yes, seriously!, click on this site link: Fearn Abbey Needlework. Take a look under designs. tee hee!

I did finishing on the Lizzie Kate ornament also. I will share that next time.

I finished Exodus. I am now reading Leviticus. Keeping up on my daily Bible reading!

I am so glad you stopped by today friends. Have a great week in the Lord!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Matroyshka and Poodles

Hi friends! It has turned cold, windy and rainy here. blech!

That darned frog came to visit over the weekend. Rats! Of course I noticed the problem AFTER I was halfway done stitching the back of the matroyshka. All over one on 28ct. puh! So after many frustrating sessions of ripping out and fixing it back up again, she is done!

I decided to whip stitch this little doll closed. I hand sewed the last matroyshka that was half this size. I think hand sewing the smaller one was easier!

This is the back I designed for her. I used the same flower pattern from the front. This freebie can be found HERE.

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I used a coordinating fabric to cover a little washer for her base. I hot glued this in place.

I used all DMC for her. I used B5200 instead of white,and also used 948, 894 and 304 instead of the called for numbers, because I liked them better. ;) Love this color combination.

I am trying to get time in on Jacob's ornament.

I finished Salt Of The Earth by Saint Paul Florensky in one week. It was a good book on the life of a saint. My favorite quote from this saint is, "A kind man will lend freely to God, and God will pay for everything." Father Isadore.

I found this fun pincushion from 1958 on Etsy. ♥

 I found these match boxes with matches still in them from the 50's/60's, on Ebay. ♥

Thank you for stopping by today. I appreciate your kind words and friendship.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Enchanted Needles

Hi friends! How are you? I want to thank you all for your very kind words on Theotokos. Your compliments truly encourage me. Thanks. =)

I finished this sweet, little freebie last week. This is called Enchanted Needles.

I stitched it on a small piece of mystery over-dyed 32ct linen. It is stitched one over one. I used DMC 4025 and Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe 'Tarnished Gold'.  I love it!

This is my second Mega Mini finish for the MMMM SAL I am in. =) Once again, I will do the finishing on this in November.

I will be back soon with another Mega Mini finish.

The giveaway for the LK Thankful String chart is still open. If you did not see that, check out this post here to enter.

I hope you have a fantastic day my friends! Thank you for stopping by today.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Jesus ♥ Me

Hi friends! This is one heck of a week so far!! Yesterday I had the surgery to remove the possible remaining cancer and all the surrounding tissue from the melanoma. The surgeon told me he would go deep and and wide. I have to say that after the surgery was done I was quite relieved. He came to me, put his hand on my shoulder, and said "Congratulations. You are cancer free." Whew. That feels very good. The nurse told me, after he had left that she truly believes just what he said. She said he took very wide margins and the pathology report will most likely show he got it all. Unfortunately we have to wait most likely a week for that pathology report, but I am not even thinking about it. I trust God.

Today I went to have the second round of cortisone shots in both my hip bursa. Yep. I may be crazy. This appointment was already scheduled before I even knew I had cancer, so I figured I was already in pain, let's just get this done. Not sure if that was the best decision, but what is done, is done. The cortisone shots I received two weeks ago helped reduce the pain. Now my hip and back pain has been high for the last 24 hours because I have to walk and rest and sleep in odd positions, due to limited knee movement. The melanoma was just barely above my left knee.

I stitched up Jesus Loves Me from My Big Toe Designs last month. This is a sweet freebie I wanted to stitch for a troubled young lady. She went to school with our Jacob from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, at our church grade school. I worked with her mother at my first job. Her mom died from cancer ( a long struggle) when this young lady was in the fourth grade. She has never been the same since. At all. She became pregnant this year, and is going to have a baby girl next  month.

I decided to made a flat fold. I stitched this on white 28ct linen, two over two. I used DMC 3687,340, 727, 799, and 341. I had the perfect match in pink, solid fabric to the 3687, so that is the fabric I used.

I had a recent Bent Creek finish (no pictures). I have what I hope is a fantastic finishing idea. I will work on that soon, but first I am making up Mandolin Santa by Mill Hill. It is a Christmas Ornament for my brother Jonathan. He plays the mandolin. I want to have it done for his birthday on the 21st. I think I can do it.

I see that I have 299 followers! That is super! :) When I reach 300 I am going to celebrate you all and my cancer removal with a giveaway. It is a large chart. Stay tuned. ;)

That is about it for now my friends. I am off to check out your wonderful, inspiring blogs before the crazy, bad pain from the  hip injections kicks in tonight. It lasts for about 3 days, if it goes like last time. Then the pain decreases. I hope it stays decreased. I do believe it will!

Thank you for stopping by. Thank you for your kind words of encouragement. Thank you for your friendship.♥

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Magnet Gifts

Hi friends! I want to firstly tell you that if I normally comment on your blog, I haven't stopped! My yahoo email is not going through right to your email accounts letting you know I left a comment. I get a message back telling me there was a delivery failure. If you take a look at your own blog, you will see all my comments! I cannot figure out what to do about this problem. Maggee is also having the problem. She is trying to figure it out also. If you know how to fix this trouble, by all means please share your knowledge with me!

I made up two magnets to give as gifts. They are for our Deacon and our Priest. They both have birthdays this month. I just wanted to make up something small. I thought a magnet was useful enough for men. ;)

This is for our Deacon. I used DMC, one over one on 32ct ivory linen.

This one is for Father. It is a little bigger due to the border change. This border is from a free pattern you can find here. Awesome free patterns to be found! ;) Again I used DMC, one over one on 32ct ivory linen. I used a layer of cotton batting underneath each piece of linen, and then glued that to the magnet on the back. I also used Fray Check on all the edges.

I am sewing currently. A neat pink project. Something new for me to try.

Thank you for stopping in. I love to hear from you. :) Have a beautiful day my friends!

Sewing and praying,
Vickie

Jura Point de Croix

Hi friends! Sunny and warm here. :) I want to thank you for all of your heartwarming comments on Theotokos. I took it to church on Sunday. Father sanctified and blessed it. We will have it framed soon and hang it in our home. :)

Last month Annette posted her wonderful stitching and finishing. She also posted a link to Jura Point de Croix blog site, for this lovely freebie. I knew right away that I needed to stitch this up. And I knew exactly how I wanted to finish it too. ;)

I received some spools of thread and a few sewing supplies a few months ago from my FIL. His Aunt, Brian's Great Aunt, died. She sewed a bit, and he wanted to pass along a few things to me. I used the thread from this spool to make the valances and foot stool in the front room. :) And the spool to make this little cutie for me.

I used 25ct unknown color linen, and stitched two over one. The heart I did stitch one over one though. I chose my own DMC colors.

I am sorry I do not have a link for the "V". I collect V's for future use, and I have had this one a while. I do remember it is from an antique alphabet pattern. I do not even have the whole alphabet printed.

I have begun stitching another small. It will be a Christmas ornament. I have put this one off tooooo long. Now is the time! It is my favorite stitching subject. Guesses?!

I have been reading The Burgess Bird Book For Children by Thornton W. Burgess. This was written in 1919. It is a very sweet book in which Peter Rabbit and many, many birds and critters converse. It really is to teach children all about many bird varieties. I got over a third of the way, and I just don't think I can read on. It is too sweet. It is a book for children. I just thought since we own the book (Jacob read it as a youngster) why not read it. Oh well.

Mabel is doing okay. She is still on her meds. We have had to begin backing off with the prednisolone.  It is a steroid. She was doing just a little bit better with the higher dose of the prednisolone. We will continue on with all her meds and hope she pulls through alright. She may just end up more like a geriatric poodle. She just can't run. She walks alright, just slow and steady. We have to play with Henry a bit more, since he misses playing with Mabel. We also try to stop this.

We have three  dog beds for them. He just loves to cuddle with her. You can see she is thrilled. ;)

I hope you have a splendid day my friends! Thank you for stopping by.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Happy Easter!

Christ is risen! Happy Easter my friends!

I stitched up this freebie, available from alita designs, for this Easter.

I used all of the called for DMC colors. I stitched it on this 14 count Charles Craft Hopscotch fabric I have had sitting in my stash for a long time.

I needed a little something to cover the goodies in my Easter basket. What Easter basket you ask? Well, this one.

I also created this Easter basket liner last week. It is not perfect at all. I will not even give you the link to the tutorial I followed, because I should not have followed it! It skipped steps and I had to wing it. I spent hours embroidering the pussy willows. I am not remaking it.

As soon as I set the basket down to get a few pictures, Mabel and Henry both had to come check it out. Of course!

One of the things I changed on the freebie from above is the cross. I made up my own Orthodox cross. Why? Well, last Sunday, Palm Sunday, Brian and I became Orthodox Christians. Brian has been considering this for years. The both of us together have been considering it for a year. All three of our teenagers live at home with us still. They are all Lutheran. Two of them have attended Orthodox church with us. We do not expect them to change. We will continue attending Lutheran church with them as long as they live in our home with us. We attend church every week. We always have and always will. We are strong in our faith and beliefs. We do not want our children to fall away from the church. We simply could not wait for many years to make this change in our lives. I just cannot describe the awesome reverence and holiness of Orthodox Divine Liturgy.

So this is what our Pascha (Easter) basket looked like on Saturday morning when we took it with us to church. Father blessed everyone's baskets after the Liturgy.

I embroidered pussy willows because our Orthodox church uses pussy willows on Palm Sunday instead of Palm branches. We were given the Pascha bread (Kulich) by a member. The kids and I made pastel Easter eggs this year. You can also see a butter lamb. Orthodox Christians fast from meat, fish, eggs, dairy, wine and oil during the entirety of Lent.

We have had this Lord's Supper icon for over 15 years. We put our pussy willows on top of it, in our kitchen.

Well, I am off to worship! Then lots and lots of family time. The kids last day off is tomorrow.

Oh yes. I have already attacked my chocolate bunny! mmmmmmm! And I had a pumpkin chai latte too! LOVE!

Thanks for stopping by. I am so glad you did! Be blessed!

Beading and praying,
Vickie