Well Then!!

Good Morning friends! I missed you. I am back!! We have been without internet service for 7 days. We decided to switch providers to save money and increase our connection speed. Well!!! THAT did not work! The imbeciles somehow screwed up the order. Brian and I spent a total of 8 hours ON THE PHONE over the last week trying to get somebody, anybody to help sort this out and correct it. We were without service AND blocked from anyone else being allowed to service us!! Brian and I prayed all week for help.This morning I decided to pray and get on the phone before Brian even got home from work (he works third shift). THANK YOU GOD, I got Richard. A very nice, very helpful man. He did it. After 2 hours and 15 minutes with him.

So anyways, I made this cute little mug mat a week ago.

This is for myself. =) Brian makes me about 5 hot Tea Chai Lattes a week. My favorite flavor is pumpkin spice. mmm! I used this freebie I have had in my stash for 2 years!! I just knew it was time to make it! I gave up chai lattes for Lent. ;) This is the back.

You know what I think is cute? He won't let me place a mug on it! He has it propped up in the tea cabinet. He said it is too great to use. He thinks all my stitching is perfect! Isn't that great?!! I think so. ;)

I have been stitching on a small sampler. I have had limited time to stitch since it is on wild raspberry colored linen. These aging eyes cannot stitch on a looser weaved linen in a dark color. A dark evenweave is not as bad. The squares get wonky shaped, or as Marly has referred to them, "honeycomb shaped". More to tell on this sampler, I will wait til it is done. Almost. ;)

We took Miss Mabel to the vet yesterday for her  distemper combo and rabies shots. Well, a few hours after returning, I noticed this.

And this.

Do you see the pink skin and swelling of her face? The poor thing had a reaction to one of the shots. Don't know for sure which one. Took her back right away for a shot of benedryl and a steroid injection. Gave more benedryl before bed too. She is all better today. She will need benedryl before all shots in the future now.

I read the book Guardian by Beverly Lewis last week. I highly recommend it. I love her books. I also read books 2 and 3 in the Eyes Wide Open series by Ted Dekker this weekend. I am on number 4 right now. LOVE these books! I have loved every single book I have ever read by him. And it is almost 40 now. =)

Thank you, Lord, for ears that hear, for a heart that receives your mystery.

That's it for today friends. I am glad to be back with all of you! I missed you.♥

Take care and have a wonderful evening in the Lord.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Two Finishes

Good Morning friends! The snow continues to melt and we have lots of robins about finally. We enjoyed wonderful family time yesterday at my mom's for Easter dinner. We all ate too much!

I made this the other day for Mabel. The basket we had used for the dog toys was very old and worn out.

I used the tutorial I found here. I changed up the size, to make it shorter and wider. Works great. Only problem is, I wasn't counting on Mabel thinking she could use it as a bed!! She drags it to where she wants it, and pulls out most the toys. Then plops her little self right in. Oh dear! That fusible interfacing is not going to hold up to repeated squashing. I hope this new fad wears off.

I also am glad to say I got the Paschal Lamb made into a framed flatfold before Holy Saturday. So I enjoyed my Lenten piece in it's finished state for one whole day before Easter Sunday when He arose!! I used Vonna's tutorial on a flatfold.

See the little toy lamb? That was my mother's when she was a girl. It is a Steiff. It is rather dingy and well loved, but it is precious to me.

I am going to make up a mug mat today. I finished the embroidery for it last night. It is a sweet, little pattern I have had printed out and waiting for me for two years! Glad it is finally stitched.

Oh, so many treats are calling my name! I simply must get on that treadmill, even if I move at a turtle's pace.

Have a wonderful day in the Lord my friends.

Stuffing my face with chocolates, stitching and praying,
Vickie

Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop

Hi friends! I hope you are well. My pain has been decreasing. Yay! And the sun is out! Yay! And the snow and ice are melting because it is in the 50's for the past few days! Yay! ;)

I am happy to be taking part in the Easter Treasure Hunt Blog Hop. You can find out all about it here. I had another Easter stitch planned to show you from last year. Instead I am going to show you the stitch I just completed 2 days ago.

I took a picture of it like this because I am working on the finish. I am going to make it into a framed flatfold. I need to get to JoAnn for some backing fabric. This Pascal Lamb is a freebie you can find here. I stitched Him two over two on 36ct Light Sand Edinburgh linen.

If you are a Treasure Hunter looking for the next letter to solve the Mystery Phrase, my letter for you is "N". And now you need to go visit Kevin!

When I ran out of the DMC 746 for the above Pascal Lamb, I stitched up another quicker freebie in the mean time. I stitched this on plastic canvas, because it is a self portrait for Winky's cage. ;)

This "birdie freebie" can be found here. I changed it a little to look like Winky. =) I think he loves it.

Now I want to show you a surprise RAK that came in the mail the other day.

SWEETNESS!! Isn't it just adorable?!  Did you see the message on the box? ;) This is from Shirlee. What a sweetheart. Thank you my friend.♥ I love them.

I am currently sewing. It is supposed to be a fabric bucket to put Mabel's toys in. The current toy basket is over 20 years old. It has seen better days. Hope to finish this up quick. Of course it is not going smoothly really. =(

If you celebrate today by going to church, then I hope you have a very meaningful Good Friday worship service.

Take care my friends. In case I am not back before Easter:

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

ooOoo!

Hello friends! I have been having extra pain this week. So this surprise could not have come at a better time! Looky, looky!!

Isn't it gorgeous?!? I MAY have an ebay problem. ;) I check for poodle thimbles. They certainly do not come up often. This Kirks Folly beauty was just for bid. I knew it would be more than our budget. I am a penny pincher. Brian, not so much. ;) So I showed him it and said "Oh well!", and I truly, honestly meant it. None of this hint, hint stuff. I love to get deals on ebay.

So I was completely and utterly stunned and speechless(this is hard to do to me my friends) when Brian presented me with this. He said he was so happy it brightened up my day. I was feeling rather blue from the pain.

He had just gotten me this beautiful pink rose before the thimble came. I was so happy with just the rose. =)
Brian takes very good care of me, and I love him.

I baked this challah bread yesterday. I use the bread machine for the dough and then braid it up, let is rise and bake it. num, num, num. It is a Jewish recipe for Sabbath bread. I have been making it for almost a dozen years now.

Hey Trace! This picture is for you. =) This was my maternal grandmother's rooster. This pretty violet, which matches the rooster, blooms in the spring for me every year.

I wish I had my Easter stitch to show you. I used up a whole, new skein of DMC 746. Thanks to percocet, I had to unstitch a bit. Now, I need just a tiny bit more and I will be done. I went to our JoAnn, which is liquidating.It is closing. A new and bigger one is opening soon. ALL of the DMC 746 was gone. It was there last week!!  Off to Michael's today then.

I will be back soon with the finish and maybe more. Have a happy day friends! So glad you came by.♥

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Happy Birthday Mabel!

Good Morning friends! Welcome new friends!  I am so glad you stopped by today. It is Mabel's 4th birthday! ♥ She is recovered from this last horrible bout of disc pain. We hope and pray that she stays pain free for a long time now.

I wanted to share with you the wall quilt I made of her two years ago.

I saw a quilt like this three years ago on the internet. Not from a pattern. Made from a poodle lover like me. I have tried and tried to find it again, and cannot.

So I used my book,How To Make An Amish Quilt by Rachel and Kenneth Pellman. I call it Amish Mabel In A Square. I used the Diamond in a Square pattern from the book. I used plain colors (my favorites, pink and purple) as the Amish would. However, I am guessing they have never added a toy poodle in the center of a quilt!! ;)

This hangs in our front room. =) The quilting isn't the best, but I am very happy with it. It is the best that I can do.

Jo asked me to show a picture of all the poodles I have stitched. I believe this is all of them. I may have missed one, I don't think so though.

The collection will grow of course. ;) I always find another poodle somewhere and then HAVE to stitch it. Gotta say, the French Knot Poodle is probably still my favorite.

**EDIT** Yep, I forgot one. And I just stitched it too!! Geesh! Here it is.


Ready for Palm Sunday? We are!

But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

Have a fabulous weekend friends!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

The Smiling Birthday Girl

It's Mabel!! ♥

Good Morning my friends! Has Spring come to you there? Not here! It is 10º (-12ºC) right now. Oh yes, we need to remember the wind chill values of -5, the 30 mph winds and the snow coming this afternoon. AGAIN! 0_0 But hey! The sun is shining brightly.

Have a look at what I finished on Friday. =)

 This is a freebie you can find here. Well kind of. It originally had a sleeping cat. I designed MABEL. ♥

Gotta say, I am VERY happy with her. ;) I think it is just adorable. SQUEE!

This is stitched two over two on Zweigart 28ct Bo Peep Pink. Love this color. I had never finished anything like this before. But I figured, it is just backstiched and then whip stitched together, so why not?

This now sits on the windowsill above the kitchen sink. I love to look at it when I do dishes and throughout the day. Yep, poodles make me soooo happy.

I had just been thinking that maybe, possibly I am driving my friends and followers bonkers with all the poodles. And what do you know? Jo sent me the nicest email the other day. She likes seeing my poodle work. She actually asked to see a picture of my stitched poodles together sometime. I told her I was worried people were thinking enough with the poodles already!! She reassured me, and told me that is what makes my blog special and unique. awww, thanks Jo.♥

Here is what I am stitching right now friends. It is for Easter.

Lots and lots of DMC 746, off white. Nope. Not gonna tell you what I am stitching yet! ;)

God loves you and offers a wonderful plan for your life.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Here's my model in her pink bed. ;)

Flashback Friday

Hi friends! How are ya? Doing pretty good here. The landscape is still all white. Plenty of ice and snow still frozen out there.  0_0  So, no robins yet!!

I made this neat little owl leprechaun into a pin for Madeleine a few years ago. She is growing out of the owl phase. But I still think he is so cute. So I just plunked the pin into my bread bowl with my other smalls.

I got this pattern from a group I belong to, Oakhaven Designs. I stitched it two over one on 28 ct evenweave.

Take a look at this fabulous tote that Barbara made.

She had asked if anyone wanted it?!? Are you kidding me?

It is just so wonderful. The details make me smile. And now I don't have to make a large project pouch! ;) Thank you Barbara. You have a wonderful creativity and talent. You were so kind and generous to share it with me. ♥

I am still stitching a small that has been in my "pile" for quite a while. I should be doing something for Easter. Oh well! I am enjoying it and it will be a new finishing technique for me. A sweet finish coming soon.

I read another children's book from the library. =) This one is titled First Mothers by Beverly Gherman and Julie Downing. It is a book about the mothers of our presidents. It's filled with fun facts and great illustrations. A neat book actually.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie