Cheetahs are finished

Good evening! And an early Happy New Year. Who isn't happy to see 2020 over? It's been a year to go down in history for sure. Only problem is 2021 isn't starting any better for most of the country. Here in MI the virus counts have been going down but it doesn't sound like it is in rest of country.

I finished the Baby Cheetahs a couple of days ago. They were so much fun to do, I hated to see them end. Now I'm doing Baby Pandas from the same book. They are going okay, not as fun as the cheetahs but the cheetahs didn't start out all that fun either. Once it comes to life, it'll be more enjoyable. The Cheetahs are going to Mya who loves Cheetahs, and the Pandas are going to her younger sister, Kylie, who loves Pandas.

Update on Mya is really good. Her parents finally got good news. The cancer in her tibia bone is shrinking, the cancer in femur bone and lungs has not grown at all, and the infection in her lungs is gone. I don't know at this point if that means she will have surgery next week or not. I think it depends on her counts which have been low.
Have a Happy New Year everyone. Hope it's better than 2020 was. Until next time.....Happy Stitching!

Christmas finish and start of Cheetah

Good morning! As usual I am up bright and early thanks to Saturn who seems to want to wake me up between 5 and 6 am these days. I stay in bed until after 6 though. I finished this a few days ago and kept forgetting to post it, so finally am. I really like the way it turned out. My sister was here a few days ago and she liked it so I gave it to her. This is last Christmas piece for this year because I have 3 other projects I am anxious to get going on.

I started this cheetah piece. I have done several other endangered young'uns from the book and really like them. This piece is going quite well. It will go to Mya, she loves cheetahs. The next piece will be pandas from the same book for her younger sister, Kylee. And the 3rd piece is a flag that will go to a child at Love Quilts. It's been a long time since I stitched for them.

Not much is going on. With the virus being so bad just about everything is closed down. So until next time....Happy Stitching and stay healthy!

Framed Wren piece and small new finish

Good Morning! I thought this Santa Bear was so cute. For now I am just doing small Christmas pieces. (Gets me closer to 25 challenge) but I just thought these pieces were cute. I'm doing a mouse piece with snowman from same book as the manger scene and this piece. From Leisure Arts Christmas Quickies. It's an old book but so many cute miniatures in it. I love it. Typical of Leisure Arts a lot of quarter stitching and back stitching. I use to hate back stitching, but it adds so much character to a piece, I really like doing it now.

I did this wren piece for a friend from the cat shelter. She had it framed and sent me a picture so here it is framed. I think it looks great in the frame.

Well....until next time.....Happy Stitching!

A small Christmas finish

Good evening. I finished this piece this afternoon. It's a small Christmas piece. I'm really not a person who likes Christmas season at all.....too much hoopla. But for some reason this year I'm more in the mood for it. So I started Christmas pieces very early this year. (Hope I'm not sick of them by time Christmas is here). Any way this piece and probably the next two pieces will be really small. I ordered some patterns from 123 stitch but as far as I know haven't been sent yet so will be end of week before I get them. That's fine.
Nothing is happening since I just updated 2 days ago. That's 4 posts in Nov. Can't believe Dec. is tomorrow. Until next time Happy Stitching!

In All Things Give Thanks

Good Evening! How was everyone's Thanksgiving. Mine was nice and quiet. I went to my brother and sister in law's and another brother was there. There was just the 4 of us as the kids did not want to get together with everyone with the Covid Virus gaining ground. We missed the kids but we had a nice time.

I finished this piece yesterday and one of my nieces pieced it together for me today. I had hoped to have it done before Thanksgiving but Thanksgiving weekend was fine. Now I'm doing some Christmas stitching. The piece I'm doing now is a small piece, and so will the next one. I should join the small finishes blog but don't know who does that.

Until next time Happy Stitching!

Hedgehog finished

I finished this cute piece today. I won it in a drawing on 123 stitch. I couldn't resist doing it.

Well things are getting bad with the Corno Virus again. The Governor shut down High Schools for 3 weeks, plus indoor dining and a few other things. Like most people I've had it with the virus. I wish people would take it seriously. I'm ready to move on.

Anyone have plan for Thanksgiving? I think I am going to my brothers. It's just going to be a small gathering this year. Actually may be just the 3 or 4 of us depending on if my brother, Tim, decides to go to our sister's or not which I really expect him to. I can't because my cat is Diebetic and I need to give him a shot in the morning and one in the evening. It's going good. He's so good about the shots, but I was giving them wrong for a while so his numbers rose. I'm hoping I'm doing them right now but not sure as I'm not seeing a big improvement in drinking less or using his kitty litter less, but the Vet said give it more time.

As far as Mya goes, her surgery was cancelled a 4th time because of her ANC and White Blood Counts being too low so she is starting chemo back up this week. It's been a roller coaster ride for her parents, they are still trusting Christ and know God has a plan for Mya.

Well....unti next time Happy Stitching!

Shouting HAPPY DANCE Happy Halloweenis finished!!!!!

Good afternoon! I finally finished this piece earlier this morning and so happy it is done! Do not let it's cuteness fool you.....it was a difficult piece. Lots of 1/4 stitches, lots of 1/2 stitches. In the end I just wanted it to get done. It's not my best stitching job either but here it is.

Now I've started a cute piece by Margaret Sherry. It's an adorable hedgehog in a box wrapped in wrapping paper. The hedgehog is popping out of it. No half or quarter stitching still a lot of back stitching but that doesn't bother me.

We are enjoying unseasonably warm weather. Earlier this week there were a lot of winds but still warm. I am enjoying my daily walks while I can.

Update on Mya She still has not been able to have her surgery. It got cancelled a 3rd time at the last minute last Wed. Her ANC was too low. So they are going to try for this Wednesday. Hoping and praying it happens. Mya and her family need this all behind them. She will face 12 weeks in a full body cast after the surgery and will most likely have surgery to remove the cancer from her lungs in future, but right now they need the cancer out of her leg. She still is in good spirits and keeping her faith as her parents are too. If you pray, please pray for this little girl.
Well.....until next time Happy Stitching

Happy Halloween

Good Morning! I'm an early riser. It's 7:15 and I've been up and hour now. I'm trying to make the paragraphs. Someone said push shif and enter at same time. So we'll see if it works.

I laid down the Friend piece to do a Halloween piece. I had hoped to finish it by today, but didn't quite make it....Hopefully Tuesday will be finished if not before. It's a cute piece but lots of quarter stitches and I hate quarter stitches. So I'm ready to be done with this piece. This is progress as of yesterday.

Our church is doing an Equip U Seminar the first 3 Mondays of Nov. They had us do an assessment quiz. And man was I shocked by my results. I took the quiz 3 times and all 3 times it said Pastor. Me? I'm not getting up front and preaching! Nor am I much of a leader. In reading what it said about Pastor the part that put me in that category was I do like to serve and help people. This was a totally different questionarie then I had ever taken before. So we'll see what happens. I also joined a Mission Group at church. The group has mostly younger people in it and at first when told that I was disappointed as I was hoping at least someone would be in their 60's but said I'd try it out. I liked it when I went so it may have been a good fit. Besides my mind is younger than my body. I always say "It would be great if my body was as young as my mind thinks it is."


Update on Mya. FINALLY good news! She has been declared stable enough to be able to have her femur bone removed, part of her tibia bone, and knee replacement. Praise God! It's been a long, rocky road with many set backs. But finally the cancer in her leg has shrunk enough and the lesions and the modules in her lungs are under control. She will have the surgery Wed. Nov. 4, so please pray for her and her family that all will go well and she will have a successful, fast recovery. Also that the pain will be minimal. She deserves something to go very well after all she's been through, so do her parents and family after all the tears they had. She will be in a full body cast for 12 weeks. Through all the setbacks Mya's and her parents faith have remained very strong totally trusting in God knowing He is in control. Mya's spirits and that smile of hers are still there. Just pray everything goes better then expected thank you.

Today is Halloween. My mom use to say outside of Christmas Halloween is the best and most exciting day of the year when you are a parent. She loved Halloween and Christmas.

Well....until next time Happy Stitching and Oh.....Happy Halloween.

Happy Dance!

I finally finished this piece. I loved doing it it's so pretty but after a month of working on it I was ready to get it done. Now I'm doing a cute piece of a cat and dog. Yesterday I went to a get together with some friends I graduated from High School with. Some I hadn't seen since then and it was like we had just seen each other yesterday. Some had been getting together all along but this was first one I actually went to. It was during the day, and we were outside. It really was a nice afternoon, a little cool but not bad. The lake was beautiful. I'll definitely try to go to future get togethers. I changed churches recently and really liking my new church. I get to work in the Food Pantry and I'll work with children, so I'm getting plugged in. Well...until next time Happy Stitching!

Eastern Bluebirds

This piece was so much fun to do. I had a hard time laying it down. When my sister-in-law asked me to do this for her birthday (later this month) I thought "Yea right! Of what year?" but once I started it I loved it. I also started my new piece a floral piece by EMS. I frogged a lot today on it but I think it'll be fine now.

Update on Saturn. I was right he has Diabetes. I took him to the Vet and right away she looked into his ears and saw yellow said that indicated liver problems. I still wanted her to do the blood work. But for two hours I cried I was so scared for him. She called me two hours later and said he did have diabetes. And his liver and kidney were off but thought insulin would take care of that. So I'm giving him insulin shots twice a day. He is such a good cat I couldn't put him down or just let him live with it. He really is good about his shots. But he's smart, he has figured out when he's going to get the shot and doesn't want to get on the bed to let me but I give him the treats and he's there.

This Friday is my birthday. My sister's coming in to town and we'll run some errands.

I made the hard decision to leave the church I grew up in for another church. There were a lot of reasons but I just wasn't growing. I couldn't hear the Interm pastor's sermons. Plus there really was little service opportunities since our church was so small now. Long story but we went from over 200 people to under 100 then when the Pastor, Worship Director and Youth Director all left the end of Sept. more people left and there were about 50 at most. It's sad and heartbreaking. That church will always have my heart but it was time for me to move on. I wrestled with it for over a year. This church I can start serving soon. Just need to have some training Aug. 31

Oh did anyone like the new blogger? I hated it, couldn't figure out how to post a picture so I reverted back. Plus I hated that it didn't take me right to my reading list sites.

Well...until next time Happy Stitching!
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Happy Dance Lady and the Tramp is finished

Good morning! Saturn woke me up at 5:30 again this morning just starving! Yet there was food in his dish but he wanted breakfast in bed. He isn't spoiled isn't he.

I finished Lady and The Tramp. Don't let Lady's cuteness fool you, this time she was a beast to do~! I don't remember her being so hard when I did it the first time years ago. I did make a major mistake but unless I tell you what it is or you have the pattern and compare it to what I stitched you won't know it so rather then frog I let it go. Besides by that time I had had it with the piece. It will go to a little girl at Needle Hearts and be put on her quilt.

We have had several days of 90 degrees or above, very unusual for West Michigan. In fact our county broke records by having 8 or 9 days in a row of 90 or above. We are getting a break if you call upper 80's a break now. We are all wondering what Aug. will bring as that is the hottest month of the year usually.

I don't know what to think or what is going on with Saturn. He isn't eating as much as he was and is drinking so much more. I'm thinking maybe feline diabetes. He's using his kitty litter a lot too. Anyway he has a Vet appointment in about 12 days. I called around to see if other Vets were taking new clients and could get him in earlier but no one could. He wouldn't eat for a few days but then I started hand feeding him and that got him to eating a little. He's a big 22 pounder so as long as he is eating a little he'll be okay. He won't like that Vet visit as he will be getting blood drawn.

Well....until next time. Happy Stitching! I'm going to start the bird piece for my sister in law and read some blogs.

A new finish and Mya with her quilt

Good afternoon! It is hot out there today, around 90. I watered my garden and got my walk in before it got too hot and now I'm enjoying the air conditioning!

I finished this piece early this morning. It will go to a friend in IN who's family is really musical. It was a bright, loud piece, not my usual choice but it caught my eye. I really enjoyed stitching most of it. That treble clef I didn't enjoy but the butterfly as intricate as it was, I loved stitching on it. Now I'm doing Lady and the Tramp for a little girl with cancer. I think it will be a Disney Quilt.

I do have a picture of Mya with her quilt. I was not there when it was given to her, but her parents said she really liked it. That little girl got 3 quilts in one week. Ours was different in that it was cross stitched and it's a lap quilt rather then a full size quilt. But she's so tiny it fits her perfectly as a full size quilt. The other two quilts she got that week, and the one she got earlier she gets lost in, but loves them too. As far as an update on her goes. A couple of weeks ago, she had a setback and landed back in the hospital. (So much for her two week break). She was taken to Grand Rapids and then the next night sent to Ann Arbor because of another setback. She was only there a couple of days, she got a blood transfusion went home day after that, and was in church the day after that. She is back in Ann Arbor now for another round of chemo. She is such a sweetheart, because her parents had to work, her grandma took her this time and the day she left she sent a text to her parents saying she loved them, she hoped they had a good day at work, she would be brave and she would be okay. That helped her parents. Today her mom posted Prayer changes everything but didn't say anything more, so I have the idea, that possibly Mya's cancer is responding well to chemo and her future looks better then it did. I don't know. But that little girl is a sweetheart and she deserves a miracle, the miracle of complete healing. Please if you pray, add her to her list. Thank you.

Well until next time....Happy Stitching!

Southwest Scene

Does this look like a Southwest Scene? I've never been Southwest, (just CA or CO) so I don't know. Anyway I finished this yesterday. I've been wanting to do a Southwest piece for a long time and this just never appealed to me until now. So I pulled it out and stitched it. It was a fun stitch.

Today my sister in law and I are making a meal for Mya's family and taking it over there with her quilt. I am anxious to see the quilt. I don't know if Mya will be there if she is I doubt we will see her. She just completed 5 weeks of agressive chemo treatments and was given 2 weeks off before it starts up again. She was doing well, the cancer in her leg was shrinking (they don't know if it is in the lungs), she was pain free and even walking again first time in weeks. She got home last Thursday and all was well until Wed. night when she ran a high fever so they took her to a hospital closer to home. I don't know if she's still there or if she's being discharged. We'll just give the quilt to her mother and her mother will give it to her when she gets home. She needs prayer. She is only 11 had just barely turned 11 when what they thought was a gymnastic injury to her leg turned out to be 4th stage bone cancer that spread to her lungs. She'll be undergoing chemo therapy the next 30 weeks at least (off and on I assume), plus will be loosing her femur bone after she's had 30 treatments then undergo 20 more chemo therapy treatments after that. Because of her immunity being so low her parents are being very strict on who sees her and I don't blame them. Hopefully they'll take a video or pictures of her with the quilt and put it on her caring bridge page.

This year I got aggressive with my garden. I got sick of the weeds being so tall and grass was growing in the garden and the roots were deep. So I asked a friend to come help me. She dug the grass out by hoping on top of the shovel and pushing it in, it all took about 2 hours. (I have a small garden). Then we went to the store and bought a few more plants to plant. Hopefully I'll buy 2 or 3 more Monday. There is lots of space. I've been able to keep ahead of the weeds.

Things are finally starting to open back up here in Michigan. Restaurants can open on Monday. They still are not opening up Hair Salons or Barbershops. Hopefully by end of the month.

Well...until next time.....Happy Stitching!

Two finishes

The first one My sister-in-law called me and asked me to do Jeremiah 29:11 as a center piece for Mya's quilt. No border, just the words. I searched my pattern books for good lettering then remembered I had a shortened version of the verse in one of my books I had done years ago. So I just used the lettering from that book (it had some other verses in it.) The difficult part was figuring out the centering and making sure it was within the size requirements. It's not washed or ironed here but my sister in law has since washed and ironed it. We will deliver Mya's quilt hopefully sometime next week. I don't expect to see Mya as her immunity is so low because of the chemo but we'll give it to her mother. Right now Mya and her mother are in Ann Arbor for additional chemo treatments. Anyways here is the piece

The second piece is a bird piece a friend at the cat shelter asked me to do. I loved every minute of stitching on this piece. It just went so smoothly and made me think spring! Here is the Carolina Wren piece.

Our weather has been very rainy. A couple of days ago a city in Central Michigan had a once in a 500 year flood. It was bad. Even here there is some flooding especially along Lake Michigan and Muskegon Lake. Lake Michigan reached an all time high on water levels last year and expected to be higher this year. I've been down there a couple times this year and the level is quite high. We've lost a lot of the beach and one of the roads is flooded so we can't go down it. It was a main road. We are suppose to get more rain in the coming days.

Since restrictions have been lifted a little we are able to go back to the cat shelter soon but still can't have open hours. If people want a cat they have to select the cat on line make an appointment to meet the cat and adopt it. Actually we've had quite a few adopted out considering the circumstances we are under. Don't worry, the cats have been fed, and taken care of, they allowed a handful of volunteers to come in and take care of them. I'm getting anxious to get back to the shelter and to the food pantry. Our food pantry remained open but because of being high risk and at request of my family I did not work in the pantry.

Yesterday my brother had lung surgery. Because of the restrictions no one could be at the hospital. They did call and say he was doing well. Was going to be in ICU overnight then moved to a regular room today and go home Sunday if all goes well.

Well.....until next time.....Happy Stitching!

Cat piece done

Hello! I finished this cat piece for Mya yesterday. Now I'm doing a bird piece for a friend at the cat shelter I volunteer at. I love working on that piece, it's so refreshing and the colors remind me of spring.



A lot of cute squares are coming in for Mya. We closed her quilt and my sister in law is going to start the quilt next week sometime. She was getting anxious and I do have 12 squares so that's enough for a lap quilt.

Well until next time. Happy Stitching!

Max is finished

Hi again! I just finished this cute dog yesterday. I have organized a quilt for a little girl who is only 10 years old and was just diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Her leg kept bothering her and they thought it was because of her injuring it in gymnastics. It got worse and worse so they ran more test found out she has stage 4 bone cancer, started in her leg and went to her lungs. She is an animal lover so her theme is animals. I asked people to do them soon as we don't know how much time Mya has. She is going through 12 weeks of agressive chemo treatments now. Anyway here is Max. The squares for her are just starting to come in. My sister in law is making the quilt as Mya is a neighbor of hers plus goes to her church. I'm now doing a cat that might go on Mya's quilt. My sister in law asked me to do a blue bird for her birthday so I may start on that real soon.

We are still basically under lockdown but some restrictions have been lifted. Hopeflly we can get back to normal by end of May hopefully May 15 but I don't see May 15 happening. Although our numbers are getting better. I'm ready to be back to normal go back to volunteering at the Food Pantry go back to the Cat Shelter.

Speaking of the cat shelter they can now take appointments to see a cat but the people have to know what cat they want and the cat is brought out to them. Last week 9 cats found new homes which was great. Hopefully that will get the momentum going. Not so much this week I don't think as next week Bissell Foundation is having empty the shelters all week and the animals are only $25.00 so I think people will wait.

Well....until next time! Happy Stitching!

Another small finish

Hello again. Like I said in my last post for now I'm just doing small pieces, to get back into stitching and to use up scrap material that I have. I'm not spending as much time a day stitching as I use to but that's okay. It took me about 4 days to do this really small easy piece. Because I didn't have the Specialty thread colors this pattern called for I just picked my own colors. I was trying to make it look eastery, and if I do it again I think I'll use a darker purple for the lettering and cross and maybe lighter colors for the border and flowers.

I just went to Meijers today first time I had been out in a month! It was nice to get out. It wasn't as crowded as it was when this virus first came out. No Bathroom Tissue but it had everything else I wanted.

For those of you who pray. There is a little girl named Mya who really needs a lot of prayers right now. They just found out last week she has bone cancer stage four. It started in her leg and spread into her lungs. This is devastating to her parents, grandparents, and siblings. They are strong christians and trusting God for healing and to get them through this. They have very strong support from their church and from the school Mya and her siblings go to.

Well, until next time.....Happy Stitching!

Long Time I know

Let's see if I even remember how to post a picture. I think I do. Anyway I know it's been well over a year since I have posted. Reason being I haven't stitched at all. A couple of months I dug out a pattern I did back in 2008 and started it but never picked it back up until yesterday. I finished it today. Since I have lots of scap material I am doing small pieces to use that up and to really get back into stitching again.

I quit stitching because of the neck pain and headaches and I still have them but I decided to push my way through them. Some days are better then others.

How is everyone doing during this quarantine period. I'm ready for it to end but I don't think it'll end too soon in Michigan. Actually it's Detroit area that is getting struck so hard the rest of the state really isn't. So maybe just the Detroit area will stay closed. The rest of us can slowly get back to business. I miss going to the Food Pantry, going to the Cat Shelter. (We were doing so well on adoptions until all this happened). The cats are being well taken care of by a few people but the rest of us miss them.

I;ve had You tube on a lot (nothing any good on tv during the day and not that much good at night.) I've watched a lot of Gaither Videos on it and some others. Also one of the former Kingsmen and his wife do a mini concert around 4:30 most week days but not every. I enjoy them. If you enjoy contemporary christian music and some southern, plus they talk a little to give encouragment just go to Facebook page and in search type in Friends of Bryan Hutson and you will find them.

My sister has moved to this side of the state now which we love. We see her more often, and she's not by herself on the other side of the state. Her husband died a year in a half ago. So she bought a condo only about 10 minutes from where her youngest daughter lives and loves it. She's doing really good.

On the other hand, our oldest brother moved from MO to TX so he's further away from us. We keep track of him on Face Book. So thankful for Facebook we get to keep in touch with family that has moved away. Our family is scattered all over.

Well until next time Happy Stitching!