Gentlemen, Start Your Engines.....

...It's That Time of Year.

And so it begins - the first hustle and bustle of the holidays and all that comes with it. So often, Thanksgiving comes and goes in a rush as the wild dash for shopping starts after the unbelievable eating sprees (and we love it!)

This year is no exception; in a few days the family will roll in and we'll take off on the obligatory food frenzy and dash through the malls, having a blast. If you had told me a few years ago that I'd venture outside on Black Friday, I'd have asked you what planet you were from. However, it has become a family tradition including my two SIL's, DD's, and nieces. The fun and bonding we share is actually worth it. :)

I don't want to leave out the important part of Thanksgiving, though....giving thanks to God for his faithful provision, as the Pilgrims once did. My prayer is that I will remain thankful for the joy (and sorrow) I've had, regardless of what the future holds. Let me be a better person tomorrow than I am today, in His eyes.


So I invite you to join me and reflect during this Thanksgiving time; maybe to not only give thanks, but to aspire to be....

Kind....to strangers and loved ones alike, especially in this hectic time
Hard-working....let the days not be wasted
Honest.....let our words and dealings be true
Principled...may we be known as straight-shooters
Loving......may we show love to our neighbors as ourselves
Hopeful......that we can start afresh today, let the past be past, and leave it in God's hands
Thankful....for the small miracles in life, along with the big


Do you have someone in your life that was an example to you? I will be forever thankful for my parents, who were all of the above and more. What a legacy to leave behind. I'm also grateful for my faith, family, and friends -seen and unseen.
I count you all as such a blessing - your willingness to bring laughter, tears, smiles, appreciation, and a glimpse of your life into mine and others. Thanks for sharing your time.

Please feel free to share your own story - I'd love to hear about it. God bless you all and I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Carolyn

Stitching Time

Started off the week with finishing up some of the Friendship RR's.
First is Simone's....


Second is Ann's....


Then Zentangle pt. 9 was finished....


Worked on Secret Garden 3 - right now it's confetti, confetti, confetti....I'm not so pleased with the coverage, but using two threads over one was just so bulky.


And lastly, Mom's travel sampler is showing some progress...


Hope you all have a great weekend!

Verification and Other Sundry Items

Word Verification - to verify or not to verify; that is the question. Nancy M recently posted about this and the comments were very interesting. I agree with her view; I dislike WV. Now please don't inundate me with outraged or defensive replies; I'm not saying there's no need for WV. This is totally self-centered here - it takes me forever to reply to blogs when I have to fill in WV or worse yet, it pops up after I've posted and moved on, only to lose the comment.

I know that some of you have been hit with spammers. I originally had my WV turned on and when a friend questioned why - I thought I was supposed to. I turned it off then and never looked back. Could be famous last words, but C'est la vie. It doesn't stop me from commenting on a blog, just takes longer. I comment because I want to, so I'll continue going through WV. But I'm interested in what others think, and if a by-product is that someone's WV is turned off, all the better! -BEG-

On to stitching, I have Zentangle pt. 8 done.


I also would like to post another new design I found. I promise that Jan has nothing to do with her pics on my posts; I just love her designs. Here's the latest from Tree of Life Samplings.


I think this one is my new favorites...and yes, I'm ordering it as we speak. LOL

One last thing - I read one of the sweetest posts around; it has a giveaway, but that's not why I'm posting it here. It brought tears to my eyes; check it out - Jolene's blog. If you take the time to read the comments too, you'll be doubly blessed. :)

Stitching Jubilee

The Stitching Jubilee in Lancaster, PA, was an absolute blast last week! Kathy and I made it Wed. evening. It was a dream poring through PTP's fabrics and spending time at Gitta's. Then off to all that we could get to - spent much time with HDF fibers the first day. There was a Mosh pit of threads that were tangled, which Kathy dubbed the Floss pit..LOL. Whatever you could stuff in a small bag was yours for $4.00. Deal of the century - I must have at least 30 threads or more in one bag, though they have to be untangled.

This is the Believe fabric painting class with Catherine Jordan. It was fabulous - we learned how to paint these beautiful landscapes (with little or no artistic ability, I might add) and then stitch the trees, etc.

My progress so far... haven't stitched too much on it yet; specialty stitches go a little slower. The paints are permanent, washable, and so soft. You can't tell the fabric has paint on it; but one restriction is the paints can't be ironed.

I also took Make it-Take it classes and hung out half a day at the Brenda Kocher Designs booth. They were all so sweet and helpful.
Deb from Half Moon Handwerks taught several designs and needle/shuttle tatting/bobbin lacing.

Mary Bluge from A. Fox Original taught Swedish Huck-Weaving, which is really cool and very fast. Since my SIL is Swedish, I hope to do a little for him. Deb also has all the Threadworx, which is where I spent a lot of time. And if you like unusual and beautiful needlepoint and specialty stitches, check out Brenda's site - gorgeous.

Mary's Huckweaving....I only have the first line, so I'll show mine later.
I could go on and on about all of the booths. The hosts/hostesses were all truly so welcoming and flexible.
Suffice to say that I went into the mart all three days and found plenty to see and do--and buy. :)
Both Kathy and I bought this kit for Pat Hartman's Secret Garden, as we had to leave before the class began. Isn't it lovely?

I met several people in my online groups/blogs and some new friends, too.

Friday evening I spent a little while with Nancy M. and her friends. Such a fun group of girls! We went to eat at an authentic Amish restaurant and I viewed all their masterpieces. And they really had some beautiful needlework! Here is Nancy with her Tuscany Town Mandala framed. Stunning, isn't it?

and Nancy and me...
Then back to the stitching lounge to talk, laugh, and stitch.

My partner-in-crime, Kathy...

Kathy, me, and my LMD of 2muchXS, Anita...

Kathy, Anita, Judy, Debbie, and Teresa...

I also met Queen Vikki, but don't have a picture yet (hint, hint, Vikki...LOL)
Seeing as it poured rain the entire three days we were there and longer, it was good we spent our time inside. I hate rain -yes, I know we need it- and love sun, so it was a pleasant way to spend three gloomy days! Until next year...

Zentangle has an update - now through pt. 7.

Hope to finish this one pretty soon.
All in all, a fabulous time and hope to repeat it next year!

Speak Not....then again...

Isn't this the coolest design? I absolutely love this design and verse - what a thought provoker. As it was a must-have, I ordered it immediately from Jan of Only One Ewe Needleworks and asked if I could post about her on my blog. The design part of her ONS is new and can be found at Tree of Life Samplings. Check out the blog for more upcoming new designs. :)

It's been a busy week; Mom is improving, though still dealing with some pain. But the scooter is gone and she's walking and going through physical therapy. Thank you all again for the well wishes and encouragement you've all given.

Is it me or has anyone noticed that having a pet is like having a kid, literally? We just paid the bill for Montana's possible eye, ear, and bacterial infections; we're to give him Activia yogurt...if you get my drift. He also strained a muscle trying to move on tile floors at his Puppy College, as my DH calls it. You can tell we were slack during the summer; he's a little unruly. The vet informed us that while he might be an obedient dog, he would always retain that "wild" factor (Big sigh). However, as long as he's sweet and loving, that's ok. Haha I loved his take on it; he's not the one trying to restrain the 76#and still growing "puppy" as he LOVINGLY greets new people. Somehow I don't think loving is the word the recipient would use; more like licking and stomping. LOL He looks happily innocent, doesn't he?


Stitching progress includes the next heart for Karin's Friendship RR...

Sara, Deborah, and I met to exchange our Friendship RR's in person. What fun! Deborah and I are friends already, but discovered that I'd actually met Sara at another stitch-in two years ago. Who knew? And she's such a sweetheart, just like Deborah. I'm continually amazed how stitchers are universally nice and we all share this common thread (no pun intended).

Sara and me with Karin's RR...

Sara and Deborah with Diana's and Lisa's RR...
If you remember, Lisa's RR was kept and she started over again, but she's catching up.
Here's the progress on my own RR somewhere out there in the world; I love it!

I've been stitching as much as possible on Zentangle; I'm through pt. 5 and hope to finish it before it's taken off the website.

Zentangle pts. 1-5
design by Kirsten Schmitt and Elke Reiss for the Marquoir Yahoo Group
Zentangle is being stitched with permission by the designers

And the newly engaged couple came home this weekend; they're soooo happy. We talked into the wee hours of the morning and caught up on life. DFiance', DDIL, and DH have BD's, so we celebrated everything this weekend. In honor of this fact, DH has a new bike that we can both enjoy. Gotta love these colors; I did mention that I wanted bright. He traded in his beloved Fat Boy (sniff, sniff) for this spiffy touring bike. Away we go!

If you click on the picture, you can see the look of satisfaction on my DH's face. It looks as if he hunted it down, killed it, and hauled it home. Men are too funny.
Happy Birthday to my Sweetie today!
Hope all of you have a great week and stitch to your heart's content. :)

MOB OM

Yes, that stands for Mother of the Bride once more! My DD's boyfriend drove down Sat. to have dinner with us, discussed marriage and showed us her ring. It is really beautiful and uniquely made for her. Plans are to marry in the fall next year. This is my baby, though I doubt she'd appreciate being referred to that way (my dad still called me baby at 30). They are so excited... DBF planned to ask later, but I guess he couldn't wait - he asked her today and managed to pull off the surprise. :)
At least I'm a little more experienced this go round - dang, I should be - we just finished two weddings in six months earlier this year (not that I'm complaining LOL) So here they are together at some point in time recently.....

Good Things!

Where to start? Well, Monday my mom had a sacroplasty (inserting bone cement into the sacrum for fractured areas). Since then, she has put her electric scooter up and is walking with the walker once again. Today she walked unaided, with me by her side - hallelujah! Things are looking pretty good for her to get back to normal fairly soon. I can't tell you how thankful I am for her improvement.
Charlene had mentioned that the Stitch and Frame shop in Rock Hill, SC, was having Clara Blalock of The Stitching Parlor in for a weekend retreat, "Tea with the Queen". I love her designs and fell in love with the project, and away I went last weekend. I met Charlene for the first time and another friend, Angel, was also there. We had such a good time. And talk about a small world - Clara taught my nephew in high school last year. How small is that?? She was a wonderful instructor and her project is beautiful.....

"Tea with the Queen"....

A few pictures from the retreat....

Charlene and me....

Beverly and Jeanne....

Carol with one of her many ornament finishes....

Helen and Peggy...

June and Angel....

Angel with her "take" on the Measure twice, cut once rule - look closely..... cute story. :)
Charlene with her finish; she took out the black at the top and added red metallic - it was really cool.


Charlene also does tatting and showed us a few of her finishes - very pretty.

The three of us with our completion of the needleroll inside...

Isn't it amazing how you can form new friendships through stitching and blogging? Twenty years ago, who knew?

And speaking of stitching, I saw Ann stitching this beauty with a gorgeous over-dyed thread from Vikki Clayton and HAD to find the chart. And they've designed another one that I plan to stitch also.
So I joined this German group, a lovely group of speedy stitchers. This pattern disappears Oct. 15, and I have 8 more parts, so I'm working on it mostly. Luckily, it's a quick and fun stitch.

Zentangle, parts 1-2 of 10
design by Kirsten Schmitt and Elke Reiss for the Marquoir Yahoo Group

Zentangle is being stitched with permission by the designers in the
Marquoir-Gruppe.
Stitched with Rainbow Gallery's Bravo A56 and Weeks Confetti

Tea with the Queen needleroll - inside....


I was the lucky recipient of Carol's giveaway and an award from Bagira. Carol gave me the cutest kit with needles and the lovely background fabric here....

I am not passing this particular award on, as I know many of you already have it, but I am grateful to be remembered.


Thanks to both Carol and Bagira.
And some shots of Beauty and the Beast (JK).... alias Mya and Montana from their weekend together, from Mya's point of view.....

"I do look ferocious, don't I? Don't worry, I'll go easy on him."

"Is that where they hide the food?!"

"Oh no, wait, here it is. Good thing you like to share - I'd hate to have to hurt you..." :)