Eye on the Sparrow

This is a piece I got back from the framer the day before my husband lost his job. Just a little heads up from someone up above I would say. It had been stitched for months and away a the framers for a while. It was a fresh surprise when I got it from the framer. It is under glass so it had a bit of glare in on my camera unless I placed it at an angle. Things are still going amazingly well with my husbands new business. Matthew 7:25-34 is always one of my favorite passages.My husband would rock our son and sing Eye on the Sparrow when he was a baby at night. 

This is my fourth quilt attempt. I practiced free motion quilting on it. The pattern in the fabric was very forgiving to my learning and so I just relaxed and enjoyed it. I am sure in a few years I will not be happy with the work but the little girl it is for will have enjoyed it still and I will have learned something new. 

We went to Jamaica last week for a vacation and had a wonderful time until the after vacation in the airport in Charlotte.  We were snowed/iced in for 3 days. But once again we were blessed! We got one of the last rooms in the city that night. It was not one but two bedroom suite. God gives more than we ask for! We had a friend call looking  for a hotel and had been told there were no rooms by 18 different hotels. My husband called from his phone and the second one said they had the suite. We booked it and then were told no taxi's were running. We went outside the airport to find a skinny string of taxi's running ( of 800 in the city only 50 were still active per the cab driver) We got in line and I stood in line praying for them to keep coming as they were being taken faster than they were coming. We were in the middle of the line when a driver stopped right in front of me. They took the person from the front of the line and then the driver spoke and said I want to take another fare at the same time and asked where we were going. It was the hotel next door. I laughed as I got in the car. You see, anyone could tell by her accent she was from Russia. I was quite nervous about driving in the ice, sleet and snow with someone unskilled so God sent a driver who could drive in the frozen mess better than most! She became our taxi driver back and forth to the airport and hotel for the 3 days. The second day we took this poor young girl, barely out of her teens, who had been trapped there for 2 days before us. She was from our town and had a break down in front of us in line when they said again all flights were cancelled. She had not had a change of clothes or bathed in 4 days and had been sleeping in the airport for days with strangers all around. She got to the hotel, took the spare room, bathed and slept to wake up and eat and then go back to sleep. We were able to get clothes washed and everything at the hotel. The next day we were all able to fly out after lunch when the temperatures went above freezing. It was so fun to realize all the little ways we were blessed to bless someone else in the middle of a difficult situation.

Thanks for stopping by,

Pam

Upside Down

I've been quilting! This is the third finished quilt top. It is not big enough to be a twin but larger than most throws. I used up the scraps from another project. I just loved the colors and when I pulled out my fabric to start something else I decided I still wanted to play with these fabrics. This is what I ended up making.The best part is the only money spent was for the backing fabric. 

This is the second quilt I have been working on, I have tried two new techniques on it. I bought some templates a while back and used them for the circles on the green blocks. There was just too much green when the top was pieced so I added the circles for a little whimsy. The fabric is very fun and the circles and squares worked well together. I tried by hand a free motion quilting on this one too. The fabric has lots of fun scrolls so I was able to try scrolls on the quilt top. It is not as nice as I would have liked but not too bad for a first attempt. I am down to the binding at this point and if I make it home from the current snow/ice storm I'll work on finishing that tonight and quilt number four will be complete.

One last update on the goodness of God. Just to remind us all things are not always as they appear. My husband was fired from his job on Thanksgiving eve on his way out the door. He had never been fired and was very upset but I was at perfect peace and assured him God had always provided a better situation when he changed jobs and this would be no different. There was no real reason. He had been in the job about 9 months and done everything that was expected of him but the owner just struggled with him. Before the weekend was up he had 4 job offers. (over the Thanksgiving Holiday) We decided to partner with one of the offers and moved forward with his new venture. Within the first week unexpected money started flowing into our savings account. I say unexplained but his job change did not take God buy surprise. Jehovah Jireh- The Lord Will Provide, had a the deposits all mapped out. We have had money is savings to carry us through 3 months of bills to see if this job route was right for us. More than we have had in 18 years of marriage. Just so you understand how much God provided in this gloom and doom economy, when we started we were on dead empty. Over the years we have tried to save but there always seemed to me an emergency that kept us a ground zero for savings. We would take care of some thing that broke for ourselves or others or take a vacation when we probably should have stayed home. We really stink at storing up for that rainy day. Well God has blessed and each month as the bills have been paid more money has come in for the self employment venture. So a reminder to myself and anyone thinking things are upside down in their life to hold on to some of those worn out verses for guidance.  

Jeremiah 29:11-13
      For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to ME, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. 

I had a friend who used to say our God is and upside down God. The principles of His word are upside down to the worlds way of thinking. When you find yourself upside down in life know He is up to something.....

Thanks for stopping by,
Pam 

all I got

I know it is a small finish but it is still a finish! I was able to finish up this 2012 SB fob last week. I picked the kit up when I went to the shop a in 2012. The ribbon is a bit of a battle bit it is on there. 

I managed to loose the bead back that came with so I substituted a button from my tiny stash. I was just lucky that I had one that matched the style of the piece. 

And just how cute are these boys? They are so handsome standing looking out on the lake. Both of them have had a surgery this year to remove mysterious growths. The small one had a fatty tissue under his front arm and the larger one had a tumor removed from his front leg. They are 2 years apart and the bigger one is actually the baby of the pair. 

What to stitch next? Suggestions?

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving state side. We are going to have the traditional beef brisket. I have never cooked one so we shall see. My peeps don't love turkey so we are always trying something a bit different for the holidays.

Thanks for stopping by,

Pam 

Small Ta-Da

I know it isn't a big finish but they all count! Right? This past weekend was so lovely at the lake I was able to get this small finish complete. I only modified it a tiny bit to calm it down a bit. It was just such a fun stitch to me with the patterns. Who knew I could be so amazed by blocks of color. I am not sure if I am going to finish it into a needle book as I originally thought or do a framed piece for my son. You know teenage boys are not really into moms needlework but I think he would like this piece.

Look at these lovely thread I ordered from Nancy. The ladies at the Pals retreat we sat next to really seemed to love them. I ask her to send me 10 and I love all of the colors she pulled for me. Can't wait to work them into a chart or two. I have a small SB fob I am trying to finish this week and then maybe I can pull a chart that will work with these yummy colors.

The wind was so strong today driving home I about blew off the road. It is going to drop into the  20's tonight. This weekend it was in the 70's. Gotta love the weather in the South.

Saying prayers for the people and now rescue workers in the Philippines. How difficult their lives are after the storm that blew through. The pictures are almost too much to believe.It brought back memories of when my husband and I were stuck in hurricane Wilma a few years back in Cancun. It was like a military zone with all the destruction and the marshal law.We were able to return to normal after a few  days trying to figure out how to get home. I held it together until we got on the plane and took off. I started crying when we were in the air. I remember my husband asking why I was crying when we were on our way home. I told him I could not break down while we were in the middle of it all, only when we were on safe on our way home. How difficult to face that as life for the next few years... Pray for them to have strength that only God can provide in that type of crisis.

thanks for stopping by,
Pam

Fabulous Fall

This photo does not do the amazing fall colors now showing off on my back deck justice. I am sure I will blink and they will be in dire need of raking, but for now they are just lovely. I looked and there was yellow, red and orange all showing. Couple that with the crisp air and oh so pleasant temperature and you have a very nice fall season. There was just a slight amount of wind today when I walked for lunch. Such a welcome change from the thick, hot, humid air of late August and September which respiratory distress syndrome when you exit the air conditioned comfort of home. Just walking outside leaves you with a total body sweat wave. 

 This is my progress on Soil and Sand. I am working it in Sampler Thread Midnight rather than black. It is really a fun stitch. I am loving the positive and negative space effect from the pattern. Beth Ann really came up with a nice idea in this piece. I can so see stitching it in a nice red or tropical ocean colors. My son has been really into drawing lately so I may make it into a gift for him.I think he would appreciate the patterns in the piece.

While at the Pals Retreat I sat next to Anne from Iowa. She has just started her blog so hop on over and give her a nice welcome into blogland. She promises to be an interesting read and really does some lovely stitching.Click on link for Anne's blog .

Thanks for stopping by,
Pam

Bad to Good

Every seem to be having one of those days? You know the one where you should have stayed in the safety of your home, possibly the safety of your bed and had a gown day. I had one of those days Monday. It was not pretty. I spend most of my day in my office with the door shut and fighting back tears. Then I came home and found the most wonderful stitching pick me up. It as from April who loves fall and Halloween. I had been planning to stitch her a little something Halloween but due to the departure of stitching mojo in May I had not gotten my act together enough to do so.After feeling even more guilty for not getting it done, I opened my prize of squirrel pin cushion, floss tags and pumpkin card. Stitchers make the sweetest friends. Really.

And now back to our regularly scheduled blog post.... STASH! There were several vendors at the retreat. I got 3 charts from Hands on Design. Cathy was fun to meet and had some get models to enjoy.

Beth Anne with Summer House stitche workes was so very nice and I enjoyed her historic/primitive pieces. 

The ladies from Praiseworthy Stiches were also there. 3 more charts to collect! I will not insult any of you fine readers by implying they will ever be stitched by me.

Thanks for stopping by,

Pam

Pampered with Progress

My trip to Myrtle Beach for the pals retreat began with pampering.I drove 2 hours east to Atlanta to pick up Teresa. After driving another 2 hours and stopping to eat at Cracker Barrel we stopped for the night. On my bed I found to belated birthday gifts with my favorite fall them. Squirrels and acorns. How cute are these little goodies. A mug rug and cup wrap, pin cushion and pattern or recipe holder, dish towel and clings for the window. My vacation had began with spoiling.The next morning we got up and after breakfast headed out. We only found one shop to pit stop at along the way and it didn't have needlework. It was an Antique/junk store.It was at least very interesting.  

This place was huge and had it all.There were 2 parrots squawking when you pull into the parking lot that alert the shop owner of fresh targets arriving. I don't think I have seen such a wide variety of stuff in a shop in a very long time. From a disco ball to a bear skin rug, every decade of glassware and dishes to collect. There was a stack of golf balls 3 layers high in egg trays and furniture from really bad thrift to great pieces. It was a fun little stop to stretch the legs the on the 4 hour frive from Augusta to Myrtle Beach. 

More pampering awaited as we got to the retreat Teresa made this cute beach themed table set complete with mermaid needle minder and By the Bay stitch and inch scissor fob. How nice is that? Drink holder for hot or cold beverage and snack plate to offer chocolates for visitors who stop by our stitching nest. Notice none of the chocolates made it to the picture:) 

This is my one lone finish from the weekend and it was already started. How sad is that? It is a freebie from the City Stitcher from 1997. I stitched it for an exchange a while back. Hope you are still liking it Catherine... and had to have it too.

Good progress was made on the Fred's I added some color and a bit of the filling in has begun. The boarder may break me but hopefully I can fill in as I add color.

This is a silk gauze piece I finally started. Gail introduced me to silk gauze a couple of years ago at the New England Stitchers Retreat and I have collected a few charts but failed to start them. I am really enjoying it and glad I finally built up my courage to start on them.I fear this post is so long I may have lost some of you. Next post promises to be filled with .....stash! You didn't think I would be that good as to not buy on this retreat! 

Thanks for stopping by,

Pam