Jo's 500 Followers Blog Hop

Hi friends! I am participating in Jo's 500 Followers Blog Hop today. This is a new, creative blog hop Jo came up with for her 500 followers celebration. Each of us participating in the Hop are to dedicate a post to our assigned person. I was given Anna. Go ahead and click on her name and check out her blog.

Anna is a very  creative woman.Yes, she is a stitcher, but she also likes to stamp and makes cards. And knit. And quite a variety of crafts can be seen on her blog when you start scrolling back and back and....

I found out Anna and I both have purple flower gardens.  Here are some pretty pink and purple fuschias from my past gardening for you Anna.
 
 We are both dog lovers I discovered also. We seem to both appreciate nice, old fashioned names for our pooches. Her dog is Stella, and as if you did not know, my dogs are Mabel and Henry. ;)

I really smiled when Anna shared in an old post that she took "wood and metal shop classes in the 70s when we brought girls into the shop and boys into the kitchen and sewing room." I did too. I can see her long-ago-learned skills from shop classes are still useful to her in crafting today. Me too.

I am also to share a stitched item made by me for Anna in this Hop. I chose this Barbara Ana design called 'Autumn Delights' that I made one year ago.

I hope you have enjoyed today's fun and different post. I will be back soon with a finish and a chart giveaway.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Mega Mini Month Madness

Hi friends! I, along with 21 other stitchers, have signed up for a SAL, called Mega Mini Month Madness. It is hosted by Pull The Other Thread. You can click on that link if you like. I do have to tell you the final date for sign up has come and gone though.

All 22 of us stitchers are going to work on only mini projects for the month of October and see what we can accomplish. :) We each need to post once a week, 5 times in October, to show you all our mini progress. There will be a drawing for us at the beginning of November for a €25 voucher (or equivalent in your local currency) for an online store of your choice so long as they do e-vouchers. whoo hoo! How fun!

So here we go. I thought I would show you what I have kitted up to work on this month. As you know, I just finished Madeleine's  "Winky" Christmas ornament. I will now do one ornament for each of our sons.
I am going with MU for Jacob and CUW for Emerson. Yes, their universities. I am using my 365 Alphabets  book by Donna Kooler  to stitch them up.

I plan to frame them in the 2 inch frame charm squares you see above.

Since I can only stitch on the guys' ornaments during the day while they are at school, I will start on this sweet chart recently given to me by Tricia. I will begin the Thankful String for night time stitching. ;)

I usually make my mother an angel ornament for Christmas. I won't be doing that this year. Their dog died several months ago, and my mom got a kitten. She has now become "crazy for cats". I spied this freebie a while back and knew I had to stitch this for her. I plan to make a flatfold. My mom' favorite color is blue. Not sure what color flosses I will be using yet.

When I received my JCS Ornament Issue last month, I  knew I wanted to stitch up "Just One More Stitch" by Victoria Sampler.

Yes, the fabric is a bit lighter and the colors.... Well, I changed those up quite a bit. I took a long time deciding over the colors. I admire the finish the way it is, but the colorway is just not me. I imagine that little stitcher being me. I would just never make a quilt in those colors. Silly? Maybe. But that's how my brain thinks about things like this. ;)

I am thinking these will keep me plenty busy for October! Besides stitching I want to get some much needed work done in the garden. We will see what I can do. I am not going to get myself injured and in pain for days.

With the cooler weather I seem to be baking a lot more often. Lots of breads. We love bread around here. :) Here is a loaf of challah. I think it is my favorite kind of bread I bake.

Well enjoy the day my friends! I plan to. Even when I am stitching, I enjoy looking out the window and watching the daily color changes of the beautiful leaves in the trees.

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

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

Poodle Silhouettes

Hi friends! Warm days and cold nights here. The squirrels are very busy around here. :)

I took a break from stitching up Winky and worked on a small quilt to hang in the front room on my candle screen. I have been wanting to make up poodle silhouettes for a few years now. I used this idea I found here. This is the first time I have done reverse applique. I purchased the blue solid cotton and the pink ric rac. All the prints are from my stash. :)

 Perfect? No. But I don't always have perfect work and finishing. ;) I love the way it looks though. :)

Our JoAnn put the variegated DMC on clearance. I grabbed up every color I liked. They were 25 cents a piece. :)

I read The River by Beverly Lewis this week. A very enjoyable read, as always. She is truly a talented author. I have now begun Good Call by Jase Robertson.

I am so excited! A brand new Hobby Lobby just opened this week in our village! whoo hoo! Love it! :) Couldn't find a frame for my French Knot Henry there though. Yeah, still looking for one.

Well, back to Winky. He is almost done. Then I will make myself finish it off into an ornament right away.

If any of you are in need of prayer, let me know. I pray for friends every day. ♥

Take good care of yourselves my friends! Their is only one you!! ♥

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

The Top Five

Hi friends! I got my Just Cross Stitch Christmas Ornament Issue a few days ago. I remember last year I posted my top five favorite designs. Why not show you my top five for this year's issue too?!

Home for Christmas by Gentle Pursuit Designs

Joy by Lindsay Lane Designs(1. above) and Faith by Nikyscreations (2. above)

Down Jinglepot Road by The Victoria Sampler-Designs by Cathy Jean

One More Stitch! by The Victoria Sampler (6. above)

The last one is my favorite. ;)

What are YOUR favorites from this year?

Reading and stitching and praying,
Vickie

Just Winging It ;)

Hi friends! I am still stitching on Winky during the school hours. I made a mistake somewhere in his wing. So I am "just winging it". Ha! Real funny. Not. So, I guess no one would have ever known, had I not just told. ;)

I made a trip to JoAnn to buy every blue in "Winky" color. Of course none are a perfect match. His tail/back and tummy are the brightest blue. That I created with DMC 996 and 519. What you see in blue above, are those two colors tweeded over one on this 28 ct. Fun right?! Not. It's for the birds! Ha! I am so funny today. ;) I made the first half of every X in 996. I then came back and crossed them all in 519. The color is good. I will do his tummy that way too. All the other blue parts will be stitched in 519 alone.

I finished reading a devotional I have been reading over the past few months. It is called When I'm In His Presence by Anita Corrine Donihue. What a wonderful, inspirational book this was.

I also finished reading  The Living God volume 1 by svs press. This is a catechism for the Christian faith. A very good book given to Brian and I by our deacon. I am now just beginning volume 2. This will most likely take me months to read as well. I can only read so much catechism at a time. These are very informative books, that are answering quite a few questions.

Things are going pretty good around here. Hope they are going good for you too. :)

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!  Psalm 34:8

Stitching and praying,
Vickie

Guess Who?

Hi friends! I have been stitching on my secret project daily, but it is a big one. So I also began this.

Can you tell who we have here? A hint would be that I need to work on this during the day while Madeleine is in school, as this is going to be her Christmas ornament. It is Winky! Her pet parakeet. ;) I am stitching him one over one on a pretty pale blue sponged 28 count evenweave by True Colors.

I drew the name of the winner for the Bent Creek Snapper Dinner's Ready. Gracie you are the winner! I have emailed you. :)

I am grateful the cortisone shots given in my hip bursas (outer, upper thighs on both legs) worked to relieve the pain.That is gone. For now at least. It is the usual hip pain on the left side that is the pits. Oh well. Whatcha gonna do?!

Thank you for your kind words and friendship. I hope you have a wonderful day in the Lord!

Stitching and praying,
Vickie