Lately

There has been a Continual Riot of Color...

and fun times with Grandma...

The Bulldozer and Farmboy have been hard at play...

we've seen a little bit of Blue Sky...

and a Whole Lot of Rain...

there have been Walks in the Woods...

some Seasonal Stitching...

a Multitude of Mushrooms...

a depleted Garden overrun by Chickens...

Flower Beds putting out one last Burst of Effort...

and best of all, there has been time together...

I am thankful each and every day for the gifts I have been given in family, friends, home, and community (both local and cyber). May you also find thankfulness in the simple moments of your life.

Ever Blessed Stitch Along Finish

I finished my version of Ever Blessed! I decided to turn mine into a needle roll. I made it pretty simple, by backing it with a single piece of reproduction cotton. Nothing fancy, just a little invisible hand stitching around the edges, and a long piece of wool whip-stitched to the inside. Oh, and a strip of wool to wrap around and keep it all closed.

How about you? Are you working on yours? I'd love to see your progress photos!

If you're new to this blog, its not too late to join. You still have most of the month to finish if you want it done by Thanksgiving. Click here to be redirected to the Ever Blessed Stitch Along page for rules, the free chart, and pictures of our progress so far.

*Ever Blessed* Free Chart and Stitch-Along

Who wants a free Autumnal sampler chart?

You do?

Well, how about a free sampler chart that you get to customize and stitch along with me and hopefully lots of other people?

You can find and download the chart by clicking right here.

Welcome to my very first official Stitch-Along. I can't wait to get started!

This little design came together pretty quickly, in just an hour or two this weekend. My intention was just to offer it as I usually do my free charts, just a stand-alone that you get to do whenever you want. But then I started to think that I really want to stitch it too (I often don't get around to doing up my free charts), and thought it would be fun if I could get a few others to stitch along with me.

I decided to chart it in all one color, with the intention of letting you make color changes and choices so that all of our finishes are as unique as we are one from another.

You could stick with the monochromatic color scheme if you want, but you could also go with a variety of Fall colors. I currently have six colors pulled that I want to use, and plan to make it up as I stitch, where the colors will land. Here are a few examples of ways you could lay your colors out...

There's even enough space in there for you to sneak in a few favorite motifs from your arsenal, change the initials to your own, or leave out the initials and date so you can add in more motifs. And then comes the fun of deciding how to finish it! Will it be framed? Turned into a pincushion? Appliqued onto a piece of wool to make a wall-hanging? Stitched to some cotton fabric to form a pocket or needle roll? Let's be creative together!

I added a page especially for sharing our progress. You can find it by looking up under my blog header; click on the words "Ever Blessed Stitch-Along" to be re-directed. Once you're there, you'll find more complete instructions, and that page is where I'll be posting photos of our progress.

Ready, set... GO!