Bobbin

 Hi friends!  How is summer starting out for you? Hot? It is here. I have a patriotic finish to share with you.

💖🤍💙United We Stand 💖🤍💙by Trail Creek Farm. 

Thank you for this pattern Robin 🥰

 I left off the words. I also used my own colors. I just love these colors for our flag, so realistic. I stitched this one over one on 36ct cream linen. I painted this paper mache house midnight blue, waxed and buffed it. Then mounted my flag on the roof. I made a tiny wool strawberry and hung that with cording around the chimney. This will make a wonderful addition to my July displays.

💖🤍💙💖🤍💙💖🤍💙

🐭🧵💕"Bobbin" by Stacy Nash Designs.

I knew I wanted Bobbin for the cubby shelf. After playing around in the house a bit, even with Cally!, she has found her home in the very first spot, the upper left opening. I retired the old stitch that was there. It was the first one I put there many years ago. I was going to throw it out. Brian is keeping it. 🙄

Little Bobbin is stitched one over one on 46ct Oat Bristol Zweigart Linen. I used DMC of my own choices. The needle and the floss are #VMSS Her whiskers are sewing thread. There is a slight glue stain between her tail and rump. I glued Rhubarb velvet to the back, and it stuck to that spot and bled or something. I tried to spot wash it. No go. 😒 These things keep me humble.

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I am now stitching Maggie Mae. 🐰

I dropped off my two State Fair entries yesterday. I have seven days to wait for the judges results.😬 Have you ever entered your State Fair? Have you ever entered your stitched pieces in any competition?

📚🎧Are you a fan of murder mysteries? Are you familiar with Anthony Horowitz? I have not read all of his books, so I cannot speak for all of them, but the Hawthorne and Horowitz Mysteries are super! This one is the fifth in the series, so if you are going to read them, don't start here. You could, but it is better to start with number 1. Anthony Horowitz reinvented the classic crime novel, writing a fictional version of himself as the Watson to a modern-day Holmes. Daniel Hawthorne is the brilliant, eccentric investigator. The writer and the detective form a strange partnership. I have enjoyed every, single book in the series. Especially since these mysteries are hard to figure out. I love that!

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  Psalm 91:1

Thank you for stopping by today my friends. I appreciate your lovely comments. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. 

Stitching and praying,

Vickie

Blessed

 Hi friends! Today is my birthday. I am blessed to have so many caring, wonderful friends in my life. Thank you dear friends! I would like to share with you gifts that I have received from friends in our community.

From June:

Thank you June! Such sweet charts. And I can always use another bookmark for my many, many books I read. Thank you June!

From Martina this beautiful handmade card. Thank you Martina!

From Manuela this lovely hand stitched card I will make into a small pillow. Thank you Manuela!

From Robin, a gorgeous chart that Madeleine and I both love and think will look perfect on the corner shelf. The pink pom pom trim will be used in future finishing. I love the perfectly stitched and finished Wisconsin ornament. Thank you Robin!

From Carol I received this perfectly stitched Spring card. I made it into a display for my cubby shelf. I will use the trims for future finishing. Thank you Carol!

Brian came home with this variegated turtle vine for me the other day. It is so pretty. We went shopping for the pretty pot and I planted it up right away. It sits in the center of our kitchen table now.

He knows I love pink. Don't you all? Ha! He gave me these for my birthday. He always, always gives presents early. 

I have to say, those placemats look really good with that plant on the table.😊

I admittedly have an Anna Lee problem. I told everyone NO MORE! I told them, I will NOT buy any more. We went to HomeGoods recently  and I saw these. Are they not adorable?! We left without them. I was strong. Brian went back and bought them for me.

Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.  1Thessalonians 5:11

We are going to Bible study this morning. Then Brian says he has something planned for me. 😃 After that, I am stitching on something pink today!

Thanks for stopping by and supporting me all these years. I am so very glad to have you as my friends!

Stitching and praying,

Vickie

💗🧡💛💚💜💐💗🧡💛💚💜

 Hi friends! We are having lovely Spring weather here. I thought I would post one more time in the month of May to catch you up on what I have been doing.

💗This is Eliza M Stone 1881💗 by Whilst Iris Naps.

This sweet, little sampler was stitched and given to me by my lovely friend Justine Justine stitched Eliza on the called for 40 count Ballet Slipper by Fox and Rabbit using WDW Cinnabar and Classic Colorworks Used Brick. I just love it! I decided not to frame this small sampler, but make it into a pincushion. I had the perfect match of velvet for the back in my stash. I decided against a trim. I love it plain. It is stuffed with wood shavings.

💐The Flower A Day Stitch Along💐 by Carolyn Manning Designs. 

I began this pattern in 2019. 😮😬 It is stitched one over one on 28 count Bo Peep Pink linen with the called for DMC. I lost steam back in 2019. It got shoved away in a closet. I pulled it out last week and decided to finish off the right edge and bottom edge and be done. Carolyn says in the pattern to change up colors and tweak the flowers, make them your own. Well I ended up doing that a bit along the edges to make it work into a nice rectangle finish. I am actually very happy with this finish. 😁 It is packed with wood shavings and backed with a solid light green cotton.

The gorgeous bouquet, is huge, and is from Emerson. 🤗

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I am now stitching a patriotic piece. I am taking a little break from my ornament stitching. I still need to make up the few pieces I have stitched into ornaments. 

📚You know the kind of book you read that you cannot put down? That you read for hours and hours and it consumes you? This is that book! I loved it. The author simply describes it as a book about fortune at the end. Yes, that and more. It is a love story, it is a story very much about science, a story about family.

Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.  Isaiah 1:16-17

Thank you for stopping by today friends! I hope you have a wonderful day!

Stitching and praying,

Vickie

State Fair Entries

 Hi friends!  Well my State Fair entries for this year are ready. I would like to share them with you. I have one cross stitch piece this year. This is God Bless America by Artful Offerings. 

I stitched this one over two on 40ct Vintage Country Mocha. I used the thread conversion by Jeanne Horton of Country Sampler. I made changes to the pattern. I got rid of the alphabet under the American flag. I put in Land That I Love instead. I got rid of the circle of  13 stars and put in the 30 stars that would have flown in 1848, the year Wisconsin became a state. The pattern originally showed 1776 on the side of the barn. Since I am from Wisconsin, this has special meaning to me. 

I bought this barn wood frame from Hobby Lobby and Emerson cut it to size for me. The lower left corner may appear to be cut "off", but it is not. The barn wood is uneven at the point. The corner does meet perfectly, just not directly at the top. 80% of the corner connects perfectly. I love it in this frame.

Bowl of Pansies

This is my entry for Punch Needle in the State Fair. These took me three and half months to create!!

I bought a miniature punch needle to create this project. The needle is the size of a needle you get an injection/shot at the doctor. You insert one piece of embroidery floss in it at a time. 

I used this book bought for me by my Mother 10 years ago, to create these pansies.

As you can see, I changed all the colors of the pansies. I chose my own colors, and boy, that was not as easy as I thought it would be!!

I punched each pansy piece or leaf on a matching colored cotton fabric. Then seam sealed it with Fray Check. Twice. Then sealed the back with Gem-Tac. Then the nerve wracking part. Cutting each part out directly next to the stitching. 

I then had to use Madeleine's water colors to mix and match the perfect color to paint the small white wires for the backs. Once these were dry they were also glued. I bought green wire for the backs of the leaves. 😉😊

I had never done floral work of any kind, so this was a learning experience. I had to construct the pansies by layering, twisting and connecting the wires to a stem and adding the leaves. 

I inserted them in foam. And rearranged. And rearranged. And DONE! 😵

And now I am VERY MUCH ENJOYING stitching Christmas ornaments for my family once again!

And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?  But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled.”  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.  For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 1Peter 3: 13-17

Thank you for stopping by today my friends! Thank you for your kind words. I hope you have a wonderful week!

Stitching and praying,

Vickie

Punching Pansies

 Hi friends! I have not been cross stitching at all since January when I stitched God Bless America. I have been punch needling my three-dimensional miniature pansies for the State Fair this year. I grossly underestimated the HUGE amount of work it would take just to punch these! 

The punch needle itself is much smaller than a normal punch needle. It is only the size of a needle you would see at the doctor's office. I place one strand of embroidery thread inside the needle to punch with at a time. 

The book gave bold, purples, yellows, whites, and burgundy colors. I wanted my pansies to be pinks and lavenders. I chose my own colors. 

I might have enough pansies punched now for the milk glass bowl I plan on using for the Fair. I am not sure. I will not be sure until I have assembled them all. Here are all the parts and pieces punched up. 

I began with leaves. That is why there is a practice outline on the right.

This color green is not showing up accurate. None of the leaves have been trimmed up.

I made two of these, but only took one picture.

The next step in the process is to surround each piece with Fray Check and let dry. Repeat. Then coat the back of each piece with Gem-Tac with a paint brush and let dry. Then remove it from the hoop. Once I have them all done, I will move onto the next step, which is cutting them out, directly next to the stitching, leaving as little base fabric showing as possible. 

That is as far as I am sharing for now. This will keep me busy for a while! What a project! 

This has cured me of punch needle for a while! It is easy, but I miss cross stitch dearly.

I just wanted to share what I have been up to lately. 

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  John 8:31-32

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

Punching and praying,

Vickie

April Displays

 Hi friends! I forgot to tell you that the whiplash pain is gone. Hooray!

Here is my 🐥April Cubby Shelf Display🐥 Almost all of these are stitched over one.

Here is my 🐰April Corner Shelf🐰 I will leave this display set up until Orthodox Easter, May 5th.

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🐩🐩This is the first time ever that Little Henry and Flossie have played together. They are using Flossie's new Trixie Dog Activity Mini Mover she got for her birthday. It is a brain game. 

Flossie was afraid of it until Henry came over and just started doing it. I had it loaded up with Flossie's dog kibble. Henry is VERY motivated for that! He is on a prescription diet. A little bit of hers won't hurt him. Once Flossie caught on, she had fun sliding the doors with her nose too. Only Henry also uses his little paw and nose to work it. He is the only one who has the string with the hidden compartment figured out. Neither has figured out the knob and hidden compartment yet. There are also 2 cone -shaped covers that fit over any of the center holes. I don't think Henry is even strong enough to remove them. I will wait a while for Flossie to master this to bring those out for her.

📚I have an extremely different book to share with you today. It is not going to be for, well almost all of you? I felt I must share this though. I found this book by looking at my online library website. They promote the new books coming out and I nab them. This was one of them that caught my attention. I am so very glad I did. I have never felt more understood in my life by anyone than this author. My Dad abused my Mom , my brother and myself years ago. I am not going into details. I will just say, Mom almost died. Things were very bad. Things like that do not leave you. They do not.

This sounds impossible, but this book helped me SO MUCH, I had to expose myself and share this here in case someone else needs this book also.

If you are suffering inside from post traumatic stress from abuse in your family, this book is a good help to healing the hurt inside. God bless you. 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

I am a punching maniac. I am happy to say the leaves are all punch needled. They are not trimmed up though. I am waiting to do that until all punch needling is done. I am now going to begin punch needling the pansy petals. I will show pictures soon. I hesitate, because it does not look like much yet friends.

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

I hope you have a great week friends! It has been raining all day here. It turns to snow tonight and into tomorrow. We will be getting 3 to 5 inches. How fun. NOT.

Punching and praying,

Vickie