Happy Thanksgiving!

Come, ye thankful people, come, raise the song of harvest home;
All is safely gathered in, ere the winter storms begin.
God our Maker doth provide for our wants to be supplied;
Come to God’s own temple, come, raise the song of harvest home.

All the world is God’s own field, fruit unto His praise to yield;
Wheat and tares together sown unto joy or sorrow grown.
First the blade and then the ear, then the full corn shall appear;
Lord of harvest, grant that we wholesome grain and pure may be.

For the Lord our God shall come, and shall take His harvest home;
From His field shall in that day all offenses purge away,
Giving angels charge at last in the fire the tares to cast;
But the fruitful ears to store in His garner evermore.

Even so, Lord, quickly come, bring Thy final harvest home;
Gather Thou Thy people in, free from sorrow, free from sin,
There, forever purified, in Thy garner to abide;
Come, with all Thine angels come, raise the glorious harvest home.

well folks Thanksgiving is upon us!

We are having the traditional Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings and some friends over…and then on the weekend having hubby’s family for a combined Thanksgiving/Christmas reunion. It will be busy but fun!

I’ve managed to do a little stitching but nothing spectactular so far to show. So instead I’ll show more pictures of the kids 

these boys are all cousins:

and here are the girl cousins (some of them are my kids…)

and here is the whole gang! They all went on a hike together and had a great day for it.

I am working on getting the house ready for the holidays and I hope to get some stitching in this weekend.

It’s hard to believe winter is on its way…but it won’t be long.

Happy Stitching,

Theresa

Christina competed recently at the National 4H competition in Kentucky and came home with four ribbons! Go Christina! (she’s the one in the beige blazer standing in the back…)

She had to study so hard for this, three huge binders full of horse questions (anatomy, medical terminology and treatments, pharmaceutical horse info, etc!) not my cup of tea…

Here she is again:

And I’ve started Ex. Dames Quaker Black Swan. I’m using Vikki Clayton’s Be series of silk and her linen. The tulip color is faded roses, I really like that color!

It’s a gorgeous day here, the sun is out and it’s actually warm! Jennifer made us some banana bread…time for a coffee break.

Until next time,

Happy Stitching,

Theresa

Brr it’s November! Cool mornings, frost on the ground…snow is coming!

At least it’s good stitching weather 
Here’s my progress on Examplar Dames Quaker Honesty. Her samplers are all so lovely I want to do a whole wall of them! I’m close to a finish on this one:

I’ve started my Christmas shopping early this year. I do not want to end up like I did last year with last minute shopping to do! I want to enjoy the season this year and focus on the reason behind it all!

And Thanksgiving is coming also. This is a great time of year (despite the weather)!  We still have so much to be thankful for…with all the economy woes, those with illnesses, family struggles, all kinds of hardships…my heart goes out to those who are burdened. Often in our own strength, we are so helpless.  But we serve a mighty God who comes alongside of us with arms of love.

May you find time to feel His comforts and mercies this day!

Happy Stitching,

Theresa

I’ve been enjoying doing Sampler Girl projects. Here’s Netherfield Park done in Vikki Clayton silks:

And here’s Clara’s Sampler also done in HDF on antique ivory belfast:

I’m going to make them into pillows. The charts are easy and fun to stitch up.

October is almost over and I haven’t blogged all month! Just busy with the same ol’ stuff…Fall is passing. We’ve had lots of rain this year so it seems almost as though we haven’t had a Fall season to enjoy. But I still get out and walk every day and marvel at the beauty all around (rain or no rain!) My walking time is also my prayer time and I look forward to it every day!

Enjoy these last few months of the year before winter sets in! Winter time is a slow season when everything rests… and we are tempted to stay inside by the fire sipping our hot cocoa (or coffee in my case) and read, or stitch, (or watch Pride and Prejudice and other Austen dvd’s!)

Happy Stitching,

Theresa

My oh my it’s a wonderful day!

Plenty of sunshine headed my way…

“He set my feet upon a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” Psalm 40:2

By all these lovely tokens
September days are here,
With summer’s best of weather
And autumn’s best of cheer.”
-   Helen Hunt Jackson, September, 1830-1885

October begins tomorrow. Wow! What a fast year it has been!

Here are a few more canoe trip 2009 pictures:

Stephen and Michael are goofing off playing a scene from a favorite movie (guess which one…)

Well maybe that’s enough camping/canoe trip pictures for now!

The rain is holding off right now but I see the forecast calls for several more days of rain. Well, it had been a few weeks since we’ve had rain so I guess that’s good…

Three things I am thankful for today are 1. apple cider (which I haven’t had yet but am looking forward to the first cider of the year!) 2.  seasons 3. coffee. Oh I am so thankful for hot coffee on chilly fall mornings!

Bye for now. Stitching updates to come!

Happy Stitching,

Theresa

“Needle-work, in all its forms of use, elegance and ornament, has ever been the appropriate occupation of woman. ”   Lydia H Sigourney, 1837

Did you know that September is sewing month? I didn’t either…and I better get going on some projects. September is almost over!

My sewing room is a joke. Really. Which is partly why I haven’t sewn much lately…it looks like a bomb went off in there 

Now you may have noticed alsoI haven’t been blogging lately. Why is that you wonder. I wonder that too… seriously, school has started up again (September is back-to-school month…) and my days are very short now. I do stitch whenever I can fit it in which isn’t often. So I don’t have a lot to show right now.  Just dreams…

also the guys did their yearly-but-it-didn’t-happen-last-year-so-we-better-go-right-now canoe trip. Here are a few pictures of them:

Here is Jesse loading the van and checking off their list!

And here is Jonathan with Grandpa Dave.

And here’s the whole gang! Well I have tons more pictures so I guess I’ll show a few every post for a while! but here is a gorgeous fall scene with Uncle David:

It has been raining here all week. But rain is good! The leaves are gorgeous right now. These fall days are cosy and good stitching days, if I can just get there…and the light is changing. It’s hard to get used to the short days!

Meanwhile, happy stitching,

Theresa

Fall is here!

Are you ready for it?

At first I really grieved the passing of summer…summer started so late here in NY and we had a rainy midsummer. When it finally kicked in it was beautiful!

Now Fall is here already. I love Fall but it is too short :(

I have been taking trips with hubby down South and in between starting the kids up with school again, taking stitching breaks when I can. I have some updates to post later today.

Meanwhile,  I am so impressed by the many new samplers and things coming out! We are so lucky to live in a time when there is such an abundance of material to stitch with! And the creativity I’ve seen lately is just overwhelming.  Have you seen the pictures of some of the new samplers and things coming out at the St. Charles Market? Check out the pictures on MaryKathryn’s website (Handcrafts Online), Wasatch Needlecraft, or Shakespeare’s Peddler. Examplar Dames has a new sampler out also, and EVERYBODY is buzzing about the new Christmas at Hawk Run.

Hope you are enjoying this season and get some time to stitch something fun today!

Three things I am thankful for today are 1. pumpkins (one of my favorite growing things!) 2. rain (yup, nothing like a cosy rainy day to make one want to stitch or quilt)  3.  family (not everyone has family…if that is you I do hope you come to know the “Friend that is closer than a brother”.

Happy Stitching,

Theresa

“Her (Jane Austen’s) needlework both plain and ornamental was excellent, and she might have put a sewing machine to shame.  She was considered especially great in satin stitch.  –James Edward Austen-Leigh, 1871″

No time, no time, no time!

I have been running all week and had no time to stitch.  Today I have more appointments and a meeting.

I am so looking forward to tonight and picking up my needlework once again! I can feel myself getting jittery and impatient to do some on Sail Away, some on my Quaker piece and a little on my sampler…

I wish you many happy hours of stitching away with lovely silks and linens.

Happy Stitching,

Theresa