"Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head........"

Oh what a day of heavy rain we are having today, although it remains still warm and very humid outside......not especially a day that to venture out, but a perfect day for stitching!

I am a wee bit behind in my posting, but want to thank all of you very dear friends, who sent me so many wonderful birthday wishes. Last week, my sweet friend, Cucki, from South Africa, sent me a lovely package of of wonderful goodies!  I feel so blessed.

                            A precious silver bird charm.

                          Look at these beautiful scissors!

Now for a little more stitching progress on Quaker Christmas II. Stitch by stitch, I am happy to say that there was no 'frogging' this week!  Yea!

It was a bit tricky, trying to find a smooth 'stitchy journey' for these two motifs, but I love the way they look, especially the woven looking triangle in the middle.

Isn't this  motif a beauty?  I love it!

Last week, the 'bug' hit me to go through all of my stitching albums and sort everything, and put the patterns that I don't need anymore into bags to donate.  I think that my stitchy blog friend, Carol, inspired me, after I saw how she beautifully organized her stitching stash.

We bought this cabinet when we moved into our condo, to put near by sewing machine in our family room, so that I could have my stitching books nearby.

We live in a condo, with not a lot of storage space.  This is my little corner in our tiny furnace room, packed with boxes of threads, ribbons, etc.  I keep sorting and reorganizing, but my stash just seems to keep growing!  You know how that goes:)  Tee-hee-hee:)

It is always wonderful sharing with all of you here, and I count myself as very blessed that we have all become connected to one another, through the threads of friendship of our love of stitching.

May you be blessed every day!

                 

Let There Be Peace On Earth

'Let There Be Peace On Earth', and let it begin with me.....  Such a beautiful sentiment, and so much needed in this very troubled world.  This was the verse that I finished stitching last night on my 'Quaker Christmas II' sampler, and I thought, "How very appropriate, and so beautiful."

It is truly a joy to stitch each little motif of this sampler, and I finally crossed the "half way" mark last week!  Maybe there is hope that I will have it finished in time to have it hung up for Christmas!

I know that a lot of my stitching friends say that they like starting a lot of different projects, but I prefer to only work on two at a time, and not have a lot of unfinished ones calling out to be stitched.  That raises my anxiety level, and stitching, for me, is my favorite way of getting in touch with the more peaceful side of my life.  

Here is some more progress on  my  'Spring Morning Sampler'.  

Our family surprised me with a birthday celebration this past week.  Birthdays are just so much fun with excited little grandchildren to share in blowing out the candles on the cake and helping you to open your presents!

My dear friend, Martha and I made our annual birthday trip to Mrs. Bridges Pantry to celebrate both of our birthdays in our most favorite way.  

Just look at all of those delectable pastries!  Believe me, it was not an easy decision, for us to pick just one dessert!

Well, dear friends, as we try to keep our Sundays as a day of rest, from the busyness of the week, I believe that it is time for a cup of tea and some stitching time.  

Where ever you are, what ever you are doing today, may you take a little peaceful time for yourself, and maybe join me for a cup of tea and some stitching time!

Blessings In Stitches & Friendship!

GOD BLESS AMERICA ON THIS INDEPENDENCE DAY

We who live in this great nation, have countless blessings that have been lavished upon us.  Every day we need to give thanks to God,  for providing us the freedom to live freely, and independently from tyranny and with freedom to practice our religious liberty.  May we continue to be a country whose lands are deserving of God's blessings upon us.  God Bless America!  

This sweet little bear reminds me of the way I feel lately....not all bandaged up, but a little out of sorts, as I have been experiencing a lot of pain in my left  hip and leg for about 6 weeks now.   After a lot of tests, I had an epidural steroid injection last week, but the effect was not successful, so I will have a second one on July 9th.  I am praying for it to relieve some of the pain, as it is interfering with my ability to sit comfortably for very long!  Imagine my distress of not being able to stitch very much every day!!!  

Anyway, I have persevered with brief periods each day, and managed to make a little progress on 'Spring Morning' and 'Quaker Christmas II'.  

     "Spring Morning Sampler" by Rosewood Manor

Each evening I try to stitch a little more on these beautiful motifs.  With a some perseverence, just maybe I will finish this wonderful sampler in time for Christmas!  

Last Saturday afternoon, a new animal hospital, right across the street from our neighborhood had an Open House.    Since 3 of our grandchildren were visiting for the afternoon, our daughter decided to walk with Ella and Emerson in her double stroller to it.  Bruce drove me and baby Harrison.  Each  one of the children took their stuffed doggies for the occasion.

                 Miss Ella with Clifford the Big Red Dog & Ernie.

           Emerson with a  toy poodle.

                 The 3 doggies having a pretend xray!

The grandchildren thought that this was wonderful.  There were so many people, children and little pets on leashes all over the building, and Ella, Emerson and Harrison loved it.

Blessings to all of you, my very dear friends.  Thank you for always keeping in touch with your very special comments.  I love every one of them, and treasure the friendships that we have kindled with one another.

Have a lovely & blessed day!

A VERY SPECIAL GIVEAWAY FROM KIM!!

This morning, I discovered that Kim is having a wonderful giveaway to celebrate her followers.  Look at the gorgeous handpainted Limoges, petite hinged box that she is so generously offering along with a beautiful scissor fob too!

This porcelain hinged box is 3 inches long by 1 inch wide.  Kim will also hand paint the winner's initials in 24 karat gold on the inside of the box to make it extra special!  

Just look at this beautiful scissor fob that Kim has also announced that she will be giving away with the sweet little porcelain box.  Kim is incredibly kind and generous to offer two such special gifts to her winner.

Welcome to our Stitchy-Bloggy world, Kim.  Wishing you love and happiness in stitching and sharing with us your wonderful needlework treasures and bits and pieces about you.

Blessings!

If anyone has wondered where I have strayed these past many weeks, it has been a journey on many paths, some leading to joyful things and some with some more difficult pathways to traverse.  

Among many of the happy journeys was a wonderful trip to meet our little granddaughter, Kyleigh, who celebrated her FIRST birthday many thousands of miles away, but we were blessed to be there with her and our son and daughter-in law for the celebration!

It was such a joy to spend time with little Kyleigh, who is such a precious child, and is already toddling around the house, happily playing, and loving all of the attention of her two Grandmothers and Grandfathers and all of the realtives who came for her birthday party.

Earlier in the month, I hosted a wonderful class for our Stitching Group with Teresa Lyman, who designs the most unique and beautiful miniature knotted designs.  It was an absolutely fabulous day and Teresa is such a very special and gifted designer.  We loved having her with us, and are already looking forward to having her come back to teach another class for us.

"The Girls" & Teresa Layman (wearing periwinkle blue shirt)

This is teaching design, Teresa's "Spring Flowers" Scissor Fob Teaching Piece.  It has has another lovely flowered design for the back.  Isn't it beautiful?

My progress so far.  Hope that mine turns out as beautifully as Teresa's!  

And just before we left on our trip, we splurged and bought the most magnificent stitching frames in all the world, called the Millenium Frame, made in England.  

I am a stickler for having my linen tight and smooth when I do my needlework, and I couldn't find any frame that would make my work the way I like it.  Then I saw one of my blog friends, Nicola, demonstrating the Millenium frame on her blog, and decided that I must purchase this frame for myself.

My husband and I purchased both the Necessaire Floor Stand and the Aristo Stand (shown above), and we purchased several sizes of scroll rods so that we could interchange them for different sizes of projects.  I absolutely love my new frames!

Progress on "Spring Morning Sampler" by Karen Kluba of Rosewood Manor.

Well, dear friends, I promise to be a better stitchy-bloggy friend and try to catch up with my reading about what all of you have been stitching and doing, in the weeks ahead.  

I have been having some very painful problems with my left hip and leg, down to the ankle since our trip.  Hence, lots of doctor's visits, medications, and some other treatments in the coming weeks. It has made it much more difficult to sit and stitch for very long, but I keep persevering, as it one of my favorite pasttimes and I just can't stop stitching!!

But, I know the One who hold us during difficult times, and am always thankful in all circumstances...  

Blessings Filled With Hugs!

Happy Mother's Day!

Hello Dear Friends.  I want to wish all of you a very Happy Mother's Day!  

It has been the most wonderful blessing for me to have a very precious Mother, now 84 years old, who has always loved me and my siblings unconditionally all of our lives.  She  has been my role model as a Mother, wife and now a Grandmother, and I am so thankful for her example in how to love and care for my own family.  

              God Bless You My Very Dearest Mother!

Our own sweet children and grandchildren gave me beautiful and funny cards for Mother's Day.  

On Friday night, our daughter, Carra, stopped by with Miss Ella to show us the winning cupcakes from a cupcake contest earlier in the afternoon.  It seems that Carra's 'Cookie Monster cupcake was the winner, but Miss Ella ate the winning cupcake on the way to our house.  So they brought some of the other very special cupcake entries for us to sample.

My favorite one was the cupcake with a Dogwood flower in the middle.  The one at the top of the dish was supposed to be a "Mashed Potatoes With Butter" cupcake.  (It was really frosting, but it sure looked like mashed potatoes!)

If you have wondered where I have been hiding these past weeks, I can honestly tell you that I have honestly meant, every day, to write a post, and the days have just slipped away.  But here I am at long last....

Quaker Christmas II is still on my stitching frame and will be for quite a while until it is finished.  I love all of the beautiful little motifs and songs in this wonderful design.

 I love the way this Stacy Nash "1802 Biscournu Pinkeep" turned out.  It is a most unique biscornu design, which I won from Anne of          Doll's Musings.  So, in the spirit of giving, I also held a giveaway of the design, when I was finished with it, for the girls in my Wednesday morning stitching group.  

Last week, a most lovely surprise was waiting for me in my mailbox, from my very special friend, Donna, (no blog).

Isn't this a very special treasure?  I love the little bees buzzing about above the flowers, and the beautiful marking pin that Donna stuck in the top right corner.  Thank you so much, Donna!  I absolutely love it!

Well, dear friends, it has been a very long, but happy day today, and it is time for my favorite cup of tea and some stitching time before I say, "Nightie - night".  

May you be be blessed with with love, joy, peace, contentment in the little things in life, and comfort in the midst of the trials and sorrows that are part of life.  But most of all, God Bless You every day!

Blessings & Hugs!

Good Morning, Dear Friends!  What a beautiful spring day it is today, with the sun shining so brightly and the sky a clear blue.  Yesterday the temperatures here reached 75, which was very welcome after a few very very cold and rainy days.

As many of you know, Google Reader is going away, so I wanted to tell all of you, who would like to continue to follow my blog, that I am now signed up with Bloglovin, so that I won't lose touch with all of you, my very dear friends.  I hope that we can continue to share our love of stitching and friendship there.

Blessings & Hugs!

Sharing Thoughts & Stitching With You

Friendships bloom amidst the threads of time, connecting all of us into a lovely tapestry for all time.  I am so thankful for each one of you, dear friends!

Though I have been terribly out of touch with all of you, I have thought of you every day, and treasure all of the wonderful things that you have written to me here.

Stitched last spring, I love this cheery little April Wordplay by Brenda Gervais, of 'With Thy Needle'.

The past few weeks have been filled with with it's bits of busyness. But, thankfully, in between those busy hours, I have also enjoyed stitching with my Wednesday morning stitching friends at our LNS.  We have such a wonderful time, stitching, chatting away and laughing until our sides hurt.  It is such wonderful medicine for the soul!

Although I can't claim any incredible progress on any one project, I have found many peaceful hours with a few things.

'Quaker Christmas II' is coming along.  I am almost finished stitching the top 3 sections, and will soon begin on the 4th page!


Last week, I received this wonderfully unique design from Anne, who had stitched this biscornu and then offered the design as part of a giveaway.  I love it!

I was so thrilled and started stitching it this week at my Stitching Group.  Thank you so much, Anne!

Typical of a stitcher, we always have another wonderful design, calling our name to start something new, right?   Because I adore Samplers, and would love to create a collection of some very special ones, I decided to start a new one.  
        

             'Spring Morning Sampler'
                      by Karen Kluba
                 Rosewood Manor
         

As you can see, I haven't made a lot of progress yet, but it is a beautiful design, and I am really looking forward to stitching it so much.  It calls for all DMC threads, but could be stitched in silks too.  

On a more somber note, this past week, our country has suffered  terrible terrorist bombings at the Boston Marathon.  Our hearts go out with prayers for comfort and solace to all of the innocent victims and their families, especially to those who lost loved ones in this senseless and evil attack.  Last evening, we watched, on TV, as the second terrorist, was captured alive in Watertown, MA.  It was a tremendous relief for our country, and epecially for the residents in the towns around Boston, who were on 'Lock Down' for the past 24 hours.  

It made me think about so many people in other countries, around the world, like Israel, who live in terror every day, because they are threatened on every side by evil that threatens to take away their very lives and savage their countries.  We are so blessed in America, that we do not live under that fear every day of our lives.  But we must hold fast to our faith in God and live according to His  principles, the same principles, upon which our Founding Fathers created our great nation. 

This morning, this scripture was with one of my devotionals, and seemed so appropriate for those who have lived with fear, and those who are now living with fear.

'Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you.  I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'  (Isaiah 41:10  NKJV)

'For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but Joy cometh in the morning.' (Psalm 30:5)

Blessings for You!

I want to thank all of you, my dear friends, for your very thoughtful and caring messages to me, while I was sick.  They lifted my spirits so much, to receive them, and each day, I was a little better, and now I am feeling just fine!

This week was my first good week, and just in time for Holy Week and Easter Sunday preparations.  

I love putting out my favorite Easter decorations, and bunnies must indeed take their part!

"Easter Frills"

By

With Thy Needle & Thread

Shepherd's Bush

(Messages - Mine)

This week we celebrated Miss Ella's 3rd birthday, with a wonderful birthday party.  Emerson and Harrison were on hand to help celebrate with a few friends.

On the occasion of  Miss Ella's 3rd birthday, Grandma-ma made a quilt, with the motifs from Tasha Tudor's wonderful book,  

"A is for Annabelle, Grandmother's Doll".

These are just a few of the beautiful drawings from the book, which originally belonged to our daughter when she was a little girl.  

When Ella opened up her quilt, she exclaimed,
"Grandma-ma!  It's a story book quilt!"  After we read each lettered block to her, she then wanted to take it upstairs to her room to put it on her bed.  She jumped into her bed, laid her head down on the pillow and covered herself up with it.  I was so thrilled that she loved it so much!

And now, dear friends, I must close here, but with a few words of blessings for all of you, who will be celebrating Easter.

May you be blessed with the joy of your faith in our risen Lord,  this joyous and happy Easter Day!

God Bless You All.  

Love & Blessings!