It's Great To Be Back!

Hello dear stitching friends......
It's good to be back with all of you in blog land after my long, unexpected absence. As I'm sure we might agree, life has a way of changing abruptly and in its wake, we sometimes find ourselves stunned and confused facing unexpected crossroads.

Such is what happened to me and my family recently  but we are blessed by God, strong and continuing on together. My daughter and 3 sons have certainly been blessings to my dear husband and myself.
My husband suffered a very serious injury last year and it has taken a full year for his miraculous recovery. Thank you for your prayers, emails and cards. We sincerely appreciate your thoughtfulness.

As for my stitching..  my time and interest for it have returned!  I usually prefer stitching smalls and an occasional "big" project. Well, I've done a little bit of both.

Once the "bigger" piece is finally finished, don't you just feel a sense of accomplishment and pride, even though it takes a while (and sometimes stamina) to complete? 

When I started this post, I realized that the 3 finishes shown here are framed. While most of my stitching isn't framed, these 3 pieces did lend themselves to such a finish.


My latest "big project" is My Shade by Erica Michaels. The verse is taken, in part, from Psalm 121.

My Shade

I stitched this as a birthday gift for my second oldest son who is in the novitiate studying to become a priest. Ironically, I started stitching this before my husband's accident and it's message has brought hope and comfort to all of us as a family. Yes, God is Good!

It is stitched on 32ct ivory linen with the suggested Weeks and Gentle Arts threads.
This piece was a joy to stitch and although it had many specialty stitches (none too complicated), I looked forward to completing each section. Among these were smyrna crosses, padded satin, lazy daisy and modified Rhodes, just to name a few. Each one gave the piece such depth and variety.

My Shade

I chose to omit the animals and birds as charted and added two of my own details (seen in the larger picture)...AMDG is the latin translation "For the Glory of God" and is the motto of my son's religious order.  I couldn't miss to add my signature "xo" (the hugs and kisses that I have always sent on all of my treats to our children)
I chose a simple brown frame with white trim and a green mat that seemed to offset the stitching perfectly. My camera wasn't cooperating so the pictures are darker than I had hoped.

We were fortunate to have a visitation day with our dear son to celebrate his birthday!
He found the perfect place for his gift on his bedroom wall.....xo

A Very Happy Birthday

Time Has Flown By.....

Speaking of Erica Michaels, Peace was the next finish on my list.

Peace

This reflects simple beauty and peacefulness to me. I stitched it on 28ct raw linen with the suggested threads. I added flecked blending filament to the threads and interspersed tiny beads on the snowflakes.The snow just seems to glisten with the added fibers. I framed it in a very simple brown frame.  Doesn't it remind you of a quiet snowfall?


Another framed finish that I completed was a birthday gift for my dear friend, Carol
This is Happiness by Brooke's Books, a part of the Bride's Tree Collection.

Happiness

It is stitched on 32ct Patina Lakeside Linen with the charted Weeks and GA flosses. I omitted the heart on the nest and opted for tiny clear beads dotted throughout. Tiny white and pink centered beaded flowers replaced the stitched ones on the chart. 
 I chose a gold, branched frame with a green mat.  
Carol seemed to enjoy her gift as much as I did stitching it for her.

Happiness

And now, may I introduce you to Rosie. Isn't she sweet?  My oldest son bought her as a SURPRISE birthday gift for my husband, not to mention ME.  My husband had a St. Bernard from high school through med school.

Rosie at 7 weeks

Our previous pets have been Labs and now Rosie has full run of the roost as our other pups have passed on. What a sweetheart she is but a powerhouse of strength. I really believe that she doesn't realize her strength OR her size! She can walk me and if a squirrel comes around, all bets are off...and so is Rosie!
Rosie is now 135 lbs of pure, sweet disposition, very similar to our other dogs except in size!
She is a constant, adoring  and fun companion for all of us. Good things DO come in bigger packages :) 

Sweet Rosie

I look forward to getting back to following all of your blogs and seeing your beautiful stitching.

Welcome to my old and new friends. 
It's good to have you visit me here in my little corner of the blogging world.

Thank you for your kind comments and emails. I appreciate each one and invite you to stop by often. You can also follow me on Bloglovin'

See you soon with some new spring finishes!

HUGS and STITCHES,
Mary