Happy November

Good evening to y'all.  I pray that this post finds each and every of you happy and thankful for all of your blessings.  It seems like time flies by between one post and the next.  I have been busy, working on cards and swaps and having a great time.

I did take a break last Friday evening, Nov.1st. and went to a local event  that is the official start of the Christmas shopping season.  It was a great time with one of my friends.  When we left the event, we went to a restaurant and had time to get caught up for a little bit.  I do so enjoy getting together with friends that make a difference in my life.

Then on Monday afternoon I was fortunate enough to be able to get together with another friend for a couple of hours to just hang out and catch up.  It is kinda like fuel for your vehicle when you have been running on fumes!  You just can't wait for the next time you get to re-fuel. ggg  It is always great to catch up with these ladies.

So, a lady on one of the Yahoo forums I am on was interested in seeing some of my embroidery that I used to do.  I don't have any digital files and I did not have any intention of scanning in all the pics, so I took pics of pics.  Before hand, they are not great, but, I hope that they are good enough, at least, to give a good idea of some of the stuff I've done.

The first four pics are of stuff I have in my kitchen.  I really enjoy them.  They are certainly not fancy, neither am I, so it's a perfect match. ggg  I also have some coffee cups and saucers in frame just like these.

This next pic is of a small baby quilt that I made.  I actually made two and then I have the sample ones that I made at the same time.  So, when I decide to make a baby quilt, I already have the blocks.  I made these in 1999.  I put buttons at each intersection and I tied them on with 1/8 inch gross grain ribbon.

I don't know why these pics loaded wonky, but they did.  At any rate, these are Old world Santa's.  They are embroidered on restaurant quality napkins.  These were a labor of love and each one has about 35 thread changes.

These are coasters and Christmas kitchen towels.  The coasters are what is called "in the hoop" projects.  They have fruits and veggies in the center.  The kitchen towels were also a labor of love.  I hand cut and sewed the topper to the towel and everyone always loved them.

This is a Christmas denim shirt that I decorated all over with diff snowmen.  I made this one for my brother.  I also made one for my hubby and me, and we love wearing at Christmas.  I have made many, many shirts.

This is a set of seasonal birdhouses that I cut and sewed the topper to the towels.  These were for my mother.  She always enjoys them.  The other pic is of a set of seasonal Overall Sam napkins.  They are also on the restaurant quality napkins.

These are the Southern Belle towels.  They were really whimsical.  Again, I hand cut and sewed the topper to the towel.  I believe I put a button hole at the top and sewed a button to the back so you could lap it over a drawer handle and button it.

These are my bird totes and my Indian totes.  I had several yards of the canvas material and I started making totes out of it.  The birds were a big hit with all the recipients.  I kept the Indian totes.  The one that is a full body designs took 24 hours of nothing but the embroidery machine running.  It was actually three separate design files with each one taking eight hours to sew.  With probably 100 to 125 thread changes in all.

This is another couple of sets of Christmas kitchen towels.  Both sets are of south west designs.  They were lots of fun to make, but again, labors of love.  Lots of thread changes.

This last pic is of my crock pot covers and then another set of kitchen towels with butterflies on the top and beautiful flowers on the bottom.  A friend I went to church with at the time, her daughter was getting married and this is what I gave her.  She said it was the perfect color for her kitchen.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing another part of my crafting experience.  I have always enjoyed working with my hands.  I have said I come from a long line of crafters.  If you will notice in the above photo, the one with the butterfly and flower towels, there is a crocheted spread on the back of the loveseat made by my mother.  When she wasn't cooking, she was crafting.

As I leave you today, I am reminded that Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  I do hope and pray that as the days tick off and Thanksgiving gets closer, that you will evaluate all the reasons you have to be thankful.  1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, "give thanks in all circumstances".  This is actually a command.  It does not say we get to pick and choose when we give thanks.  It say, "give thanks in ALL circumstances".  So, God is reminding me, that no matter what comes up, be joyful, pray continually, and thank Him all the time.  When times are good, thank God!  When times are not so good, thank God!  God is at work in all of our circumstances!  Circumstances change, God doesn't!!  Thank God He never changes!  So, what are you thankful for?  Praise Him for that.  God bless you.

hugs, y'all, Patty