It's like the South...Carolinas

ARE YOUR FLOWERS BLOOMING?

I have a few daffodils .....or as Mom always called them...."Easter flowers"  .  Each Easter morning she cut buckets of those beautiful yellow flowers and carried them to church.  At the foot of the cross in front of church the children would come get a flower and put it somewhere in the mesh that had been attached to the cross.  I have a picture of her with her red shoes on helping a little boy place his flower on the cross.  Under the picture is written.....

A Living Testament

Eleanor Ott helps a boy place a flower on the cross outside St. Andrews United Methodist Church on 20th Street in Parkersburg Sunday Morning.  Members of the St.Andrews congregation  and residents of the neighborhood filled the Easter cross with daffodils, jonquils and hyacinth in celebration of the holy day. 

I have been stitching away......finishing Token of Love and just about ready to get it together and to the shop.  It is on 32ct. lambswool and I am using the overdyed red checked fabric for the back and for the strawberries.  Work in progress......it is nice!

This is a shot of the cover .....I hope it shows.  It has two strawberries....what else...hanging from the corner  to the right  .

I not sure how to finish the edges. The picture above is with the checked  fabric folded like a binding and then I'll have to miter the corners....stuff it with something before I close it up.

I'm going to use the checked fabric for the berries.

When I complete something for the shop....I walk around and look for something else to do next.  Sometimes they "ask me" to stitch this or that....sometimes I do and sometimes not.  Well looking around I found this new Blue Ribbon chart with finishing on a Shaker box.....and the words are

Hands to work.......Hearts to God

This is the words that 4-H groups symbolize.....I remember 4-H from West Virginia.  

Do they look similar. ....

I thought I really like this so gathered the "stuff" to get started.  As I began I thought, "It seems to me that Beth stitched something from Blue Ribbon that was delightful.." ....but couldn't remember it being finished. After poking around in the drawers here and there, sure enough I found her beautiful stitching  and made up my mind that I'd do this first and then work on the other.  It is almost done.....the directions are very good, but think it might be a good thing to offer a simple "watch me do this" so you can learn some tricks to finishing.  I will bring it Friday night to Stitching at the Ford for you to have a look.

Beth does a beautiful job laying out her work....basting threads.Lower left says   BED   2010

The inside of the box.....the sea

Now some more pics of as you go.    The sides of the box are now sewn together yet....just basted.
Now maybe I'll get ready for Hands to Work....Hearts to God

 Yet another find.....and something you will love!


I have enough lights .....from over the years.....to have one in each room and yet this one above has become my very favorite.  It is called Mighty Bright.  It doesn't stand quite as high as the Dazor or ...Ott-Lite....notice that label....I was an Ott for a long time....still am...
Now the other day while at the shop.....Lisa who is "just the framer" wakes me up to yet another thing I like about it.......It can be plugged in.....or it runs on 3 D batteries.  I like that feature as I tend to move stuff around alot.  It is also reasonably priced at about $100. It has LED lights....and very pliable "neck" or post.  Sometimes I put it between my legs in front of my chair.   

Some other shots

I'm going to close while I think this is working correctly.  During my years of challenges and survivals I recalls some of the most meaningful gifts of words that others have given me...one below is special

Please give me a few friends
Who will love me as I am
And keep ever lit before me 
A light of hope
So that if I do not come within 
the castle of my dreams
I will still be happy
with the life God has given me!


And I have been given those few friends and so much hope that even tho it wasn't supposed to be like this when I got big  (The title of the book I will write one day)....I can still hope, meet the challenges, and gain strength I need from God as others share the load.....the bricks I call it.
The girls at the shop are like family....we share with each other...and many of our friends who come thru that door looking for something to keep their hands busy.....because of the challenges they are encountering......leave with hope having shared a few bricks to unload the weight of it all.
AS I ALWAYS LIKE END WITH...


MAKE A DIFFERENCE........share the love when sometimes it is not too easy...and remember that God uses each one of us on this journey through life.....even if we don't really know Him.  
This too is written on my heart....


Jesus loves me.....this I know for the Bible tells me so.
He won't dump me, abandon me, or reject me!   He's there at my lowest and highest moments.  And when I go to bed at night...I know for sure that he is in charge and I can sleep.


BELIEVE