Fabulous Feather: From UFO to WIP

It's been a whirlwind since I came back from camp. I had a bit of time at home - primarily spent unpacking from a summer at camp and packing for a semester of college. Then we drove up to New York to move my brother into college - he's a freshman this year! It took two days to drive each way, so it was a bit of a tiring trip. Then I moved into school, and I've finished my first week of classes! I've had some time to stitch, since I can listen to some of my school books as audiobooks while I stitch.

Here's the progress I've made since coming back from camp. I'm not sure why I was so drawn to work on this piece, which had been almost untouched since I started it as part of the Crazy January Challenge in 2013. I suspect it's because my grandmother, who is the intended recipient of this piece, has been sick lately, and she's been on my mind. Hopefully I can finish this piece up as a gift for her without many more years of delay!

It's called "Fabulous Feather," and it appeared in the January 2013 issue of the Cross-Stitch and Needlework Magazine.

Happy stitching!

Coming Down from the Mountain

I've returned from the mountain; I've left a "place apart," the real world, home. Here I am back at my permanent address after a summer that was more amazing and blessed than I could have imagined. I adored each and every camper, I was in God's beautiful creation all summer feeling closer to Him than ever, and I was awash in His joy and peace. I'm still trying to find ways to bring that world back with me from the mountain and let it seep into every part of my life here.

I've started and finished listening to The Old Maid, by Edith Wharton, while working on Love One Another, the famine relief chart. I've started reading The Giver, by Lois Lowry. I've also been singing camp songs, doing camp crafts, and engaging in vespers (evening worship) and praying out-loud. Thus go my attempts to blend my two lives now that I am (nominally) "home."

Here's Love One Another, before and after:

Happy stitching, and may God's peace wrap you up like a warm blanket!