"She seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands." ((Proverbs 31:13)

Monday, July 7, 2014

Oh For the Love of Friendship and Stitches


They say that friendships can never be truly be broken, but that sometimes we just lose touch with one another, and must find our way back to them again, to mend the threads of friendships and make them new once again.  And so it is, dear friends, that I have found myself missing you, and now I have come to find you once again.

Would you care to spend some special time with me, and we can share a cup of tea? Maybe we'll share our needlework and some sweet words with one another, of times gone past and new times here and those yet to come another day.

At long last, after a year and a half, Quaker Christmas II is finished and framed!  This was a true labor of stitching love, as I stitched each one of these beautiful Quaker motifs.  Janet and I have been working on it as a SAL.

Another work in progress is 'Giovanni's Alphabet', by Tempting Tangles Designs, another SAL with Donna (no blog) from Tennessee.

"Buckleberry Sampler" is my newest love, by Rosewood Manor.  It is done in all DMC threads, and is a lovely design.

I find it nice to be able to switch off with the various pieces that I am stitching.....makes it more relaxing and fun.


 A few weeks ago, my husband and I went on a roadtrip to Pennsylvania, one of our favorite places in all the world to go.  We call it "God's Country" there, and enjoy visiting the Amish farms, shops and restaurants, where we love the homestyle meals.



 I alsolutely fell in love with these cute little fluffy chicks!
The goat family was so sweet, and this little fellow was quite a character!  He had everyone laughing at his antics!


 This fabulous old fashioned candy and soda fountain was in a wonderful old historic shop in Stausburg, Pennsylvania.  It reminded me of a shop in the little town where I lived when I was a little girl.  We even had the delight of watching the staff make fudge right before our very eyes.  Yummy!  Delicious!


 On the last day of our trip, we went to Winterthur, tucked in the beautiful Brandywine Valley of Delaware.  Here are a few of the gorgeous pieces of needlework that we saw in the incredible Dupont Family House of Winterthur.

 I would love to be able to interpret the German words stitched inside of the beautiful heart.

 Each of the large letters are all stitched in Queen Stitches.  Imagine all Queen Stitches!!

 This antique lace is all handmade, and each stitch is every so beautifully placed.  Imagine the patience required to make it!

Oh dear, this post is ever so long, and I so much want to share with you one of the big highlights of visiting Winterthur.......The Downton Abbey Costumes Collection is on display at Winterthur, and wait until you see the costumes I photographed.  We were able to get right up close to them and see every detail of each one.  It was thrilling!!

It has been a lovely time with you dear friends.  I hope to visit soon with you on another day, and sip some tea and share a thing or two.

Blessings in Friendship & Stitches!




22 comments:

  1. Congratulations on such a beautifully done and framed piece. Lovely work. That would be a wonderful trip to take. :)

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  2. It has been a while, hasn't it. It is lovely to see you and know that your thread and needles are moving and creating beautiful things. May we meet again soon.

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  3. Your Quaker Christmas is breath taking!! What a pretty start on your next project. I loved the Pennsylvania pictures. It looks like it truly is "God's Country."

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  4. You have been busy! Your trip looks delightful!

    Congratulations on finishing Quaker Christmas II!

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  5. Lovely finish! I have it in the stash but haven't started it yet. I did the first on when it came out and this one is so much larger I haven't convinced myself to move it up the list yet!

    I am working on Gio right now too!! I just started it so I am much farther behind you but I hope to get some work in on it later this week.

    So wonderful that you made the trip to Winterthur!! I am hoping to be able to make it up for the seminar in October. So many lovely things on exhibit!! Laura

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  6. My dear friend me so happy to see your sweet post..
    Well done for a lovely finish and your other projects are so cute too..
    Lovely photos of the farm
    Big hugs x

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  7. Congrats on your huge finish, it's lovely.
    Great start on Buckleberry also.
    It's fun to SAL with someone.
    Thanks for the pics of Amish Country, so pretty.
    The needlework from Winterthur is gorgeous.
    Marilyn

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  8. How lovely to see a post here... Hello dear Kathy.
    Quaker Christmas turned out so beautifully, such a perfect frame for it. Your new designs are superb too, such pretty colours in the Tempting Tangles design.
    Wonderful pics of your trip, the needlework on show is very impressive.

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  9. Kathy Ellen! It's so good to hear from you. Congrats on the finish, it looks gorgeous. Your WIPs are coming along beautifully too :D Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

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  10. I love the Lancaster area of Pennsylvania also! I love the simplicity of the Amish. Looks like you had a great time.
    I think I may need a trip there soon. Thanks for sharing.
    Pam

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  11. Oh my goodness - what a great post! Your stitching is so pretty and your trip looks so relaxing - memories of days gone by. I love it. I'm a Downton Abbey fan - looking forward to seeing the costumes.
    xxx

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  12. Beautiful stitching! Love your finish and your WIP. Looks like a lovely trip too. We went to Amish country years ago, before kids. It was so much fun. I want to get to Winterthur for the Downton Abbey collection, but I doubt that will happen. Lovely pieces you saw there!

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  13. Quaker Christmas II looks awesome! Its so nice to have some lovely pieces to stitch along with friends!

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  14. Kathy Ellen , I love your Quaker Christmas piece! You were just a few minutes from me! I am glad that you had a great time in this area. We love it here! I love Pennsylvania, I was just up there yesterday having lunch with a friend. :-) I am glad to see you blogging again. :-)

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  15. So nice to see a new post from you, Kathy. Welcome back to the blogging world.

    You've been very busy with your stitching and oh, what a beautiful finish you have to show. Quaker Chrsitmas is a wonderful piece and certainly not doable in a couple of weeks. Very nice progress on your other projects. I also love to have different projects that I can work on, it's so nice to change from one to the next and to enjoy all the different styles and threads and colours.

    You brought some gorgeous pictures from your trip to Pennsylvania. And I'm totally in awe of the wonderful needlework you could see in Winterthur. I'll send you a translation of the text in the heart. The antique lace is just stunning, so fine and delicate. What a chance to see that all.

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  16. Look at you back at blogging! Your Quaker Christmas is beautiful. I'm about 1/2 way through the Celtic knot band now. I'l send photos soon. Your Amish country photos are great, especially the quilt on the clothes line. What wonderful things you saw at Winterthur. Can't wait for the Downton costume collection photos. Have a wonderful stitch day tomorrow.

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  17. all of your stitching is looking beautiful. Love the Quaker Christmas piece. Wonderful photos of Pennsylvania.

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  18. Your photos of Amish country make me want to hop in the car and head east, Kathy! Such great reminders of a simpler and humbler lifestyle...

    Your Quaker Christmas finish is so lovely--congratulations!

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  19. Such a lovely post, Kathy! Congratulations on a beautiful finish! You have inspired me to make a visit to Winterthur. It's really just down the road, yet I've never been. It looks like I have missed seeing some beautiful things.

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  20. Oh my dear Kathy Ellen. It's good to read a post from you. Like you, I feel I've been out of touch with our stitching friends but now have some time to reconnect and it's nice to do that! Your Christmas Quaker is so beautiful, a real masterpiece and I'm glad it's framed after all those lovely stitches you put in. Your other WIP's are lovely pieces too and will be wonderful to hang on your walls to admire. The trip looks like it was fun for you and your husband. Especially coming across the exhibition and finding those beautiful samplers. I wish we had more of those here in BC but I don't think the needle arts are that widely appreciated here, or rather that popular. Hugs to you my dear!

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  21. Congratulations on finishing Quaker Christmas, it's stunning!

    Great progress on your other projects and your trip sounds amazing

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  22. Your Quaker Christmas II is a work of art. It is stunning and I love the frame you chose for it.

    Beautiful photos from your trip.

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Consider the Lilies of the Field

Consider the Lilies of the Field
"So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the Lilies of the Field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you, that even Solomon in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these." Matt: 6: 28-29)