Tales of a Wonderful Trip

Hello all!  Thanks for stopping in to read about my life, loves, and the relentless pursuit of finding time to stitch. And welcome to a couple of new followers! Hope to check in with you soon-ish.

I've been back a few days from the trip to take our 3rd child to college with lots to report. It was a very blessed trip and I am so proud my girl pursuing her dream of worship and music studies.

First is a bit of stitching progress. Despite bumpy interstates, especially in Indiana, and the windy, mountain roads of West Virginia, I was able to frog my goofs and finish this one on the way out.

 Lizzie*Kate ~~ Time for God

Weeks Straw linen 30ct.

WDW threads

 

I already have a frame for this one and will get to that once the wedding is over and life settles into the fall and homeschool routine.

 

Of course no trip taken by our family is complete with a stop here and there. On the way to VA we saw New River Gorge Bridge, the 5th highest bridge in the world and the 4th longest. It is also the one depicted on the back of the West Virginia state quarter. (Just call me Vickipedia : )

 

As expected, I was sad and prayerful after we left Kase at college. Thankfully though, I had some fun to look forward to. You see, Peggy Lee from Kentucky Sampler and I had been emailing about lovely spots in Kentucky for us to see on our way home. She also graciously offered to meet us if it would work out. What an honor it was to meet her and her husband!! Lovely couple! They did not mind driving to Cumberland Falls where we had spent a night 

and gave us a warm welcome to KY.

 

We were so blessed to visit this spot and make new friends!

Me and Peggy Lee

Peggy is so kind and thoughtful with gorgeous blue eyes and a warm, friendly smile.

It was a true joy to meet a fellow blogging, stitching sister!



Look what she made me!

A lovely little needle book made out of a really neat piece of pressed paper from a journal she had that even had hair in it. She added one of her rusted pins as well. : ) It was such a sweet gesture that I treasure. Thanks again, Peg! So great to meet you!! : )

 

A historic spot we stopped at was the Mary Todd Lincoln house in Lexington. I have been on a bit of a Lincoln theme this year. That was interesting to see and I came home with these designs.



And we viewed a little bit of the gorgeous horse country.

 A peek at a wealthy race track

 where this famous horse was being exercised.

Not the best view, but these century plus, old stone fences line the roads.

Kentucky truly is a lovely state. We wished we would have had more time to see some other attractions there as well. A return trip someday...with hopes of meeting another stitching sister!! (Next time, Shirlee, if you are still there!)

 



On the way home, I worked some more on The Old West.

I jumped around on this one so I wouldn't have to struggle with the counting which gets a bit crazy in the car. There were times when we were rocketing down the road and I just wanted to tell BNH to pull over so I could find the right hole to start an "x."

 

As I did say I had lots to report, there's a little more. When I got home, a little gifty was waiting for me. I had guessed that the Poodle Princess, Vickie, had a fuchsia purse.

She sent me two little charts and some of her pretty counting pins.

Thank you, Vickie! So very kind of you!! Hope you don't mind me using Shirlee's nickname for you. : )

 

September 1st is the big wedding day for my oldest child and daughter. Here is a little glimpse of what I worked on yesterday:

I haven't done anything with florals in ages, but the bride was pleased with what I created!

That's what counts! : )

Now to figure out what to do with grapevines and silks on a cross...

 

Not sure how much time I will have in the next week or so to keep up with you in blogland. I shall do my best to catch up with you when I can.

Have a wonderful and blessed weekend and week everyone!

Joy to you!

Victoria

 

 

***One last thing to mention is that Miss LindaLee is having a giveaway until Sept. 26. Please stop by to visit her and her southern hospitality!

 

 

 

 



Stitching? And Counting? What's that?

When summer started, I made a very conservative goal of stitching 30 minutes a day.

I started out keeping up with that.

Then an engagement happened and a son moved home and summer fruits needed processing. (stitching time had to play catch up on the weekends)

 

Next, addressing invitations and bridal shower planning and summer camps transportation added to the busyness. (stitching time happened once or twice  a week, counting errors crept in)

  

And college prep and wedding clothes shopping and late night discussions joined the fray. (stitching time - maybe weekly and errors multiplied)

 

Before I knew it, I was going to Michael's to find some silks to help de-stress the bride and offer to decorate for the ceremony.
(stitching "time" only existed while at Michael's in picking up that DMC thread that I ran out of )

 

 And this week it's been more summer camps and stressing out over buying a 6 yr. old a black suit and a free ballroom dance lesson - now that was fun.
(stitching time consisted of 15 minutes of frogging, more to do)

Today it was practicing updos and curling-dos and making 5 gallons of refrigerator pickles.

This is the back of my head. I've been practicing how to curl it in order to know how to make my middle girl's updo as the gorgeous maid of honor. 

Her whole head needed to be curled first and then I pinned it up.

Still needs a bit of polishing but not bad. She likes it slightly messy anyway.

And, joy, it is still holding together by the afternoon!

We are taking her to college next week and there will be no time to practice this style on her after she flies home for the wedding.

 

So, on the long drive to VA and back home this is what I hope to fix and finish:

The last "times" and "God" are one hole too low.

Marvelous, I know...

And I have to finish pulling out the "h" by the "T".

With such an easy pattern goofed up and still not finished, you can tell that my head space is definitely not too clear.

I am hopeful that a nice long car ride will help with that.

However I don't think that I will be able to see too well on the way home...I will be crying after dropping off our beloved Kase.

 

Talk with you all in a week or so!

The MOTB and soon-to-be mourning mama of her college girl

(who incidentally should have her kids teach her counting this fall in homeschool math class)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One more thing:
Just to give credit where credit is due, if you or your daughters want to learn how to do hair beautifully, you must check out the very talented Kate at The Small Things blog.
She is absolutely darling and has fabulous hair tutorials. (She also blogs about fashion and makeup if that's your thing.)

Life Lessons from the Berry Patch

Some Saturdays there is a plan in place.

Some Saturdays the plan comes in the moment.

Like yesterday when my oldest daughter texted me from her favorite place of employment - the local vegetable farm.

Did I want to come pick raspberries? They have more than they can sell.

No need to ask me twice!

Raspberries are my favorite!!!

 

BNH, the chili peppers (our 8 and 6 yr. old kiddos), and I headed out to the patch.

We were given a section in the best row of the patch.

 

The peppers started out just skimming the tops and outside.

That was easiest for them. It was eye view and not a lot of work. 

I told them that picking raspberries is like being on a treasure hunt.

Some of the treasure was hidden and we needed to search carefully underneath the leaves to find all the berries.

We had to show them how to find more by not being in a hurry to move on.

 

How like life!

We can breeze along and think we are getting the best and most out of it by just
 skimming along the surface.

It's easy and we like to look ahead at where the next big berry is.

Wanting quick treasure.
 

Sadly doing that makes us miss much of life.

We miss being in the moment.

We miss the hidden treasure--
Always wanting what's next that might be better.

We get only a small portion of God's blessings because we are too impatient to see
what He has for us if we stay in the same spot.

 

Staying in place and going deeper for the treasure.

Pushing aside the foliage.

Each dense leafy layer.

Knowing that the prickles will scratch us.

Bending down and rising up again. Despite the aches.

Reaching and stretching for each berry - each blessing.

Looking and searching carefully.

Yielding a greater produce because we had lessons to learn right where we were.

So much so, that some spills out of our hands - unable to hold it all.

 

 

Sometimes it is even necessary to look back.

We may think we are ''done" in a certain spot and not want to go back there. 

After all, there can't be much left behind that's worth the trouble.

But when we do, we see a few more berry (buried) blessings.

And a certain sense of satisfaction comes, knowing that looking back can bring it's own treasure - that of seeing healing and wholeness which comes from thoroughly picking through a section.

Some people came to pick while we were finishing up.
They spent 15 minutes. They skimmed.
Maybe that's all they wanted.
But for me and for my family,
I want more than the skimmings.
I want all that God has for me - for us,
even if that means sometimes feeling stuck in the same spot,
  getting scratched and bloody, and hurting from the stretching process.
I want more than 2 pints.
I want 22 lbs.

 

I want all of His good measure of great treasure.
~~
Victoria

 

Mom, You Have a Letter From South Africa!

Those were the sweet words I heard last week when my daughter called

up the stairs to me!

 

In this age of email and texting, getting "real" mail is such a treat.

But getting mail from South Africa is like frosting on the cake and sprinkles too!!

 

Sweet Cucki sent me a little love!

Sweet little notes, a post card of an African kitty ; ) and a lovely doily she made.

 

She was so thankful for a couple of things I sent her that she gifted me back!

It was so thoughtful and completely unexpected.

 

When I was a freshman in college, we got a new student the second semester. Since it was such a small school, it was a big deal. But it was an even bigger deal that she was from South Africa.  I think she came from somewhere near Johannesburg. She had blue eyes and blond hair - a German African, who spoke English, German, Afrikaans and a couple other languages as well.

She was a few years older than all of us girls and we looked up to her godly character.

One thing I distinctly remember her saying in her very unique accent was,

"You are a gem!"

Ooohh! Being called a gem, implying being precious and of great value, when you are a young and rather insecure 18 year old does your heart some good!

 

I don't know if calling someone a gem is a South African phrase, but I am going to use it for a certain South African we know and value.

 

CUCKI, YOU ARE A GEM!!!

Thank you, again, for your gift and kindness!

Love you, Girl!

 

Victoria



Friends and Friendship

Do you see that little intro over on the side on my blog where it talks about me

 being an amiable who likes to get analytical?

Well, this is one of those posts.

Purely analytical.

 

I have been pondering friendships lately. And I have been wondering what really constitutes a friendship and calling someone a friend. 

 

My husband calls everyone his friend. It's "my friend Paul" at the garden center, "my friend Glenn" our state senator, and "my buddy Steve" in the admissions department at our 2nd daughter's university. I gently chide him that none of those guys really are his friends.

BNH gets what I mean and agrees, but he is a friendly guy.

So to him, if he is friendly to you, then you are his friend.

 

For me, it's a different story. I think that in order to call someone a friend it's got to be somewhat of a two-way street. It's not just what one person can get from another. The relationship is intentional and mutual. It is giving and nurturing a friendship as well. I am just more...hmmm, what's the word...cautious? guarded? hesitant? careful?

 No, those aren't quite right...measured, that's the word.

I am more measured when calling someone "friend."

In talking with my oldest son about this just now,

we concurred that the difference is in the way the word is used.

Using the word "friend" generally, like: "Hey friends, thanks for reading my blog today."

Or personally, like: "Hi friend. I've been thinking about you a lot."

 

So being the personal term user that I tend to be, 

I have been analyzing and questioning my friendships - my current ones,

my changing ones, and my new ones. 

Like, how can a friend of 9 years come over and spend 2 1/2 hours

in my living room and never ask me a single question?

 

How do I respond to a Facebook message of  "I'm so glad to hear from you"

 when I am the one who always initiates the contact?

 

How can I keep from crying whenever I think about a special friend in my life who just moved to Rome on Saturday to do ministry with her husband there for forever? Who is going to talk God stories with me while working on my granite shoulders once a week?

 

And what about Janet with her sweet Mexican spirit who drew several of us ladies from church together for fellowship and movie night every few months?

She is moving back to AZ as I type...

 

Having and losing friendships is painful.

But in the midst of all this heart hurt, God is blessing me in ways only

He could create and show His tender care.

My oldest and dearest friend is virtually shopping with me from states away

for my MOTB dress. It's been really sweet!

And, He has given me the friendship of you blog followers.

Who would have guessed that a kind reply would cheer one along so!

 

I'm really grateful especially for the couple of you that have

become dear to my heart in the recent weeks.

You, ladies, have become gifts to me and I count it a joy to be used to bless you as well.

 

With thanks for your friendship, both generally, like a big bunch of flowers:

 

and personally, like one special flower from the bunch: 

Victoria



Make It Snappy!

Good Day Everyone!

Two years ago, my middle girl and I took a sewing class at our church. Neither of us had ever done any type of quilting project. We learned all kinds of things like French seams and prairie points. With all the steps involved, we were not able to complete the carry all bag after the two evenings of class. Sad to say that while the project was called "Make it Snappy!" we did not make it in a snappy time fashion at all!  Something about it seemed daunting...but I did want us to finish them up before Kase leaves for college. So I borrowed my friend's machine with the necessary quilting foot and found it wasn't so intimidating after all.

          Here is mine:

Sewing through all these thick layers was almost impossible.

The machine really pushed at the layers and it didn't end up quite even

but I'm ok with that.

 Prairie points

          Kase chose swirled and striped fabric:

 Here is where the "snappy" part comes in. Pieces of metal tape measure go in the channel of the pocket top. It sort of snaps shut when the pocket closes.

 My daughter's still needs to be finished by sewing all the layers together which my friend offered to do. Thanks, Joyce!

If any of you are interested in the  pattern it can be purchased here.

I'd share my copy but it is just Xeroxed and not legit  : /

Well, I'd better get moving snappy here and pick up my youngest from his afternoon camp.

 

Many thanks for reading and commenting. Your blogging friendship is a joy to me!

Simply,

Victoria

It's For Freedom

Today, freedom has allowed me to enjoy: 

Love

Family

Friends

My Faith

Forgiveness

and Food  ; )

Basil Limeade

 

Caprese Salad

 

Barbequed Chicken

 

and Flag Cake

 

Hope you are enjoying the day and the gift of freedom!

 

 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Gal. 5:1

 

With gratefulness,

Victoria