Memorial Day Stitching

I can't think of a more appropriate stitching project for our Memorial Day weekend.  I started on this with my Bestie, Leslie Jackson, on November 17, 2018.  I am using all the called for floss with one substitution with the beads.  It is being stitched on the Declaration of Independence written by my Uncle Thomas Jefferson, yes I am descended from greatness!  I am related to the Adams also, they are cousins, John, Samuel and John Quincy. Henry Adams, their grandfather is my 13th great grandfather thru his son Peter.  I am so proud of my heritage.  Anyway here is a picture of my beginning on May 26th.

Here is a picture of my ending on May 26th, 2019. On the left I began filling in more of the flag and top left I began her elbow in over one.  The red gridding thread is the center of the whole project, horizontal and vertical.  I have extended the flag a bit over the horizontal line.  

Progress is slow but I am not in this for speed but for joy and peace in my life.  Stitching is my mantra!  God Bless you and God Bless America!

Progress with Lady of the Flag

We have barely 2 weeks left in 2018. I am not sure if I am filled with happiness or horror at how quickly it has gone.  This weekend has brought us unusually warm weather, in the 50° range.  The sun is shining so brightly and cheers us all up.  I wish there were bright green leaves still on the trees. The sky is amazingly blue today with no white clouds at all.  Yesterday morning our cedar tree in the backyard was festooned with red cardinals.  How beautiful they look perched in those deep green boughs.

I want to share the progress of my Mirabilia "Lady of the Flag".  The first photo is the last image taken on December 5th.  The second image is my progress as of today.

Progress is slow but steady and I am enjoying myself.  Leslie and I stitch via Skype every Saturday morning and the time just speeds by.  

That is all I have for now, just sharing the progress.  God Bless all of us!

Cross stitch tags and Lilac Dreams

Tis way too chilly here in the gentle folds of the Lilac Thicket for these old bones.  My lilac trees have lost all of their leaves and stand naked and bare.  They are asleep and dreaming of the beautiful fragrant blossoms they will give me when the ground turns warm again.

I have been stitching on my Mirabilia "Lady of the Flag".  Here is my progress:

I am planning on giving it some of my attention today.  I am off today for the National Day of Remembrance for our late President George HW Bush.  I have enjoyed this piece more then I had thought I would.  This was something my bestie, Leslie, wanted us to stitch together.  Every Saturday morning we Skype and stitch and chat.  She lives way too far away in the wilds of Edinburgh Scotland.  We have plans of her moving here when I retire in 5 years.  She is going to occupy our spare bedroom for the rest of our lives.  Pity the victims of Leslie and I as we tear up Missouri careening wildly through our senior years.  It will be pretty darn awesome.

As I was perusing my PInterest page, I found darling ideas for cross stitch tags.  I followed one of the links to a site which offers a few free patterns for some cute tags.  It is a German site (I think) which seems to deal with card making. 

Marianne Design has 3 free cross stitch sheets available as PDF downloads.  You could use these as small ornaments or charms to wrap around a candle.  They are really sweet little designs.

Orin and I send out to you and yours all the beautiful sentiments of this spiritual season.  We rejoice in the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  

Tis the Season (of stitching of course!)

I've got my stitch on...do you?

Life here in the Lilac Thicket is beautiful as the holidays quickly approach.  We have had our first snowfall of the season.  The weather has been warm and the weather has been frosty. Mother Nature just can't decide what she is aiming for here. I think she is a typical woman.

I found myself a couple of great little bargains, one being the pumpkin basket pictured above.  I love the double handles and the touch of bittersweet around the opening.  It was 70% off at Michaels as was the sweet plaid ribbon.  The "Home" was a $3.00 find at Dollar General.  It is simple yet has a touch of bling for the winter season.  You can also see some progress on my "Autumn Still Life".  

Saturday my bestie Leslie, a true Scottish lass, and I Skyped and we started our stitch along on Mirabilia's "Lady of the Flag". We are both stitching it on  Primitive Hare's "Constitution" 30 count linen.  I am stitching it as charted. Leslie on the other hand being a rebel has reversed the pattern.  She also is going to make the head of the lady a wee bit bigger.  I think her head is fine. By the way the blue and white hoop cover on my Lady is a steering wheel cover from Dollar Tree.  I bought 3 of them when the new location opened and have yet to find them since. They had honest to goodness project bags up there and I bought 6 of them.  Again, haven't seen those since either.

I gave into temptation and purchased Mirabilia's new Lady Justice.  I absolutely love her.  I had Sue Hillis' "Hello Halloween" fall into my cart.  I just couldn't resist all those skeleton's in a pick up truck heading off to rattle their bones at some spooky haunted cemetery any longer.

Leslie and I were talking about how my stashing habits have changed.  I have been to the LNS only once this past year.  I really have been making due with what I have.  I have so very too much stash and have a lot of bills stacked up as we are still paying off Orin's medical bills from his cancer scare/miracle earlier this year.  I still have more spending I need to cut out, waste less, do without or whatever. We live in such a consumer driven culture, it is hard sometimes to not get caught up in it.  I have found myself more and more being really critical about things I want to purchase.  I ask myself do I really "need" it.  Will I use it or will it just sit for years before being given away or thrown away. I find Orin and I eating more at home and really cutting down on processed foods, making more and more from scratch.  Last month I tried my hand at making laundry soap. Tide pods are 22¢ per load and my from scratch detergent is 8¢ per load.  I cannot tell the difference in the clean laundry. I am looking at this as a challenge and a choice, a new life style so to speak.  God is guiding me well so far.

I am so thankful for those who read my blog of nothing.  I know others think I a boring person, which I am but I am really a boring BLESSED person and honestly that is DAMN terrific. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and give all your gratitude to our Creator.