a little vacation time

This was the view from the Blue Parrot on St George Island FL. Weekend before last a few friends road our motorcycles down to Panama City Beach for Thunder on the Beach Fall Rally. We took one of the days to ride over to ST George and Apalachicola for some great time on the Forgotten Coast. I just love this slow placed area of FL. It is the beach as I recall it without all the high rise condos and a much less crowded coastline. We were blessed with a condo in PCB for free so we stayed the nights there but my heart is always in SGI. 

 This is sunset from our condo. Amazing views from the 21st floor. It is down the beach a bit and not in the middle of all the biker business and was quite peaceful as well. All in all a fantastic trip with friends. 

I was also able to work on DNW piece while on the coast. I am down to the bird and a little vines and berries. Hopefully I can finish it up this week. I also mailed of and exchange piece that I can't show for a while but will as soon as I am able. It turned out really cute. Can't wait to show and tell it!

Thanks for stopping by,
Pam

Blessed

Do your stitching friends ever make you fill just so Blessed? Today when I got home there was a wonderful package from April . She lives less than an hour away but we are still working on a stitching gathering, Life is too busy. Isn't this a wonderful fall surprise? She sent me some Sullivan's threads I have been wanting to try but not able to get down the dreaded 280 to the store that carries them. Also some finishing extras perfect for a fall finish. And who could not love the cute owl? I suspect the card was made by her as well. April's package was within a week of the one year older mark so technically Birthday or Fall. Actually I believe it was sent to pick me up after recovering from moving my mom this past weekend. 35 years in one house plus she is a touch of a hoarder. 4 seems to be her magic number. 4 brooms, mops, yard sticks, dish sets, and multiples of  4 for things like bath gels(36), pots for plants (32), quilt sets(16). Y'all are getting the picture of how much fun that was. Thanks April for the moving recovery/fall/birthday gift.

Next up is the amazing birthday package from my retreat companion Teresa. She knows of my love of acorns and squirrels and had me on a theme overload. Three wooden acorns. The green acorn is the back is packed with cookies!!! A acorn spatula for my love of baking. Prayer books and some lovely mother of pearl cross charms(another love of mine is MOP) Some Lady Earl Gray tea to go with that box of cookies, a squirrel mill hill pin and 3 charts. How could that not be a happy birthday? 

Last up is my stitching progress on Do Not Worry. I am getting to practice this as I stitch it with a fair amount of uncertainty about my job. God as always allowed me to be in a better place when He makes a job change so I will trust Him that that will occur again. I saw a quote on FB the other day that I really liked. It wasn't new to me but it was a good reminder of who is really running the show. God Shuts Doors No Man Can Open and Opens Doors No Man Can Close. I will leave you all with that to chew on for a while.

Thanks for stopping by,
Pam 

Weekend Progress

Don't you hate when blogger isn't user friendly? I cannot get the shot of my weekend progress on Do Not Worry to turn the correct direction. It is not a huge amount but small progress is better than no progress I think. Hope you all had a bit more luck with stitching time than me. Saturday Josh had a meet 90 minutes away. Driving time alone stole 3 hours of stitching time. I did work a few stitching while we were waiting on his race but very small progress. Hopefully this week I will find some stitching time in the evening. Today was spent helping my mom with some stuff. I do think this will be a fast stitch. It was really lovely stitched o/o when I saw it at The Silver Needle but a nice older eye friendly 28 ct is looking nice too. 

Thanks for visiting,

Pam

A FINISH!

I am so excited! I have just completed a really big project. Ironing and framing to follow with larger photos but there she is! I have worked on this piece since 2001 off and on, clearly mostly off, but it is finally completed. I cannot wait to wash and get this one to the framer. I want to see it one the wall. 

Hope everyone had a relaxing weekend and was able to stitch a bit. 

Thanks for stopping by,

Pam

Do not Worry

I started this piece Saturday and  was able to work on it a bit Sunday as well. Most of my weekend went to the ever dreaded cleaning. I did a pretty good run at the dust monsters and clutter piles that seem to regenerate faster than any normal person can possible beat them back. Hopefully a bit more stitching ahead tonight. There are so many things to steal our focus in life. Work, family, busy activities abound. I love this piece because it is taken from one of my favorite passages.
 Matthew 6: 25 through 34 is always good to refocus a distracted life to God's lessons:
1. God takes care of the birds of the air. How much more valuable are you than them. He will take care of you too.
2. What good is worry? Does is solve any problem? God takes care of you needs better than you can imagine. Look at how he clothed the lilies. Will he not take better care of you?
3. God knows all your needs. Why seek and strive for them? Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. 
4.Do not worry about tomorrow, Each day has enough trouble of its own. 
Can you tell I have had a troubled day, full of striving, worry about material things and worry about other things? Always good to reground yourself with God's lessons. Focus on Him and His ways. 

Thanks for stopping for a visit,
Pam

Glory House

I was able to work on the box assembly for Glory House last night. It was a retreat project from the Silver Needle retreat earlier this year. A bit awkward to assemble but it is in the done pile now! Looking forward to working on another piece tonight. I really need to finish up by BAP. I am so close to completion even with all the recently found need to frog out a section. I am down to the small section where so sign your name and date and a few flowers around the vine that encircles the name and date. Maybe I should just keep working on assembling pieces I have the stitching completed on since I seem to be hot with them right now....

We have had so much rain this summer it hardly seems like time for the dog days of summer but August is rounding down and September is breathing down its neck so the thick heavy humid air will surely be on its way.

Have a great day and stitch a bit.
Pam  

Finally a stitching weekend!

First up is the quilt I have been working on. I got 3 rows all sewed up and have 4 more to add. I took a picture of the pattern after paying with it for a while on my bed to help me recall because it may be a while before I can work on it again. My pinwheels are clearly a beginners effort but they will improve with time hopefully. 

Next up is two small pillows. I had stitched the lady with the umbrella for an exchange a while back. I loved it so I stitched it again for myself earlier this year in Tulsa. Just got the beads on and finished the assembly this weekend. The other pillow is a freebie chart "my heart is fed by needle and tread" by X-stitch appeal. I turned it into a little roll pillow for my basket. It was raining all weekend, sorry for the photo quality but I was just so excited to stitch again! I really calms your troubles soul. 

I was also able to almost finish assembly of the Glory house box we made at camp in Tulsa. My husband gave me the crazy eye as I brought it to bed to sew while he was finishing the Extreme Makeover weight loss show last night on ABC. If you missed it go to ABC and check out Jarvez Hall. Very motivating person. I got the side walls done and the front attached before my eyes gave up. I hope to finish it tonight after work. 

Hope you all got some stitching time in this weekend. 

Thanks for visiting,
Pam