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January 1, 2026 from Ravelly1

Hello everyone and Happy New Year!

When I was little, I never thought about ten, thirty, fifty years in the future, did you? And now, it's 2026!!!! Goodness me.

I've missed you all so much. What have I been up to in the past two or three years???

Well for one thing, I've been researching my family history, going through my mom's old photos, asking some of my cousins about the "old days." This has taken quite some time and when I looked up.....time has flown by.

I found this photo in a friend's ...

added by Rhonda 3 days, 6 hours ago. under 2026 , family history , happy new year , junk journals , old photos , photos

every little thing . . . from Count it *all* JOY!

I can hardly believe we're already halfway through the month of November. Where did the first half go?! Well, actually, I have a pretty good idea . . . I have a lot to show for the last two weeks!

First off, I do enjoy decorating my doorway, so when we moved from October to November, I re-staged my front door accordingly . . .

It makes me smile every time I come home!

Lots of stitching. Ellie has been working on ornaments for her table at Advent Market next week. Originally she thought Everley would be able to do half, but Evey is still ...

added by Denise :) 1 month, 2 weeks ago. under 3-yard quilt , autumn , cats , cross stitch , embroidery , photos , sal , thanksgiving , wool

rabbit, rabbit from Count it *all* JOY!

Trifecta day . . . not only is it the first of the month (hence the rabbit, rabbit), but its the end of daylight savings time! Hurrah! I look forward to falling back every year, and in fact, have turned all my clocks back already. LOL! That's only two things, but twofecta sounds dumb, so there's that.

It's been a fairly productive week. I finished out three projects. Two were the cute little nine-patch cross stitch designs that Ellie and I stitched in tandem . . .

Aren't these cute? Ellie did such a fabulous job ... I had a really hard time ...

added by Denise :) 2 months ago. under cat , cross stitch , embroidery , granddaughters , halloween , photos , pumpkins , quiltfusion , scissors , thanksgiving , wool

a decluttering story . . . from Count it *all* JOY!

Do you remember when you first started quilting (or any craft, for that matter), and all the tools and gadgets that seemed so necessary were overwhelming in both the scope and the cost of it all?

I do.

The biggest for me was the rulers and squares. They make such a difference in cutting pieces accurately! And while you can get away with a few select sizes, it's just easier to have the range. It just is. So over the last twenty years or so, I've been diligent in collecting. Let's face it; I've never been ...

added by Denise :) 2 months, 1 week ago. under cats , cross stitch , declutter , halloween , nook , photos , rulers , slow stitching , wool

birthday hijinx . . . from Count it *all* JOY!

Whew! What a wonderful birthday week/weekend it's been!!

It started when I got out some of my fall decor and decorated my front door . . .

I kinda miss having a front porch ... and the back patio really isn't big enough (or seen well) to do more than a bit for me.

Then I met my Cross Stitch group on Monday. Remember how I'd made such great progress on my Lady Halloween piece? I looked at it Sunday evening and realized I'd stitched two complete elements in the wrong place:

UGH! Don't you hate it when ...

added by Denise :) 2 months, 3 weeks ago. under birthday , cats , cross stitch , family , guild , photos , presents

when we last met . . . from Count it *all* JOY!

Gosh, I can hardly believe that September has come and gone and it's OCTOBER!

We spent an extra long weekend at Guntersville Lake (the Merkel crew and I). We came home on Monday, and I left for my sister trip to Alaska! It was glorious. We stayed with my nephew and his family in Kodiak, and checked off *all* the Alaska boxes! We saw bears . . .

I caught a salmon (pink) . . .

Took a three sisters photo in front of the Three Sisters mountains . . .

And saw a LOT of incredibly beautiful scenery . . .

And did a LOT of shopping. I even found ...

added by Denise :) 3 months ago. under alabama , alaska , cross stitch , football , photos , sisters , slow stitching , sunset

pilgrims, paws, and packing . . . from Count it *all* JOY!

With VBS in full swing this week, I didn’t have much time to stitch . . . but I did finish all my boat pilgrims!

Whoop, whoop! Next stop: sails. But that’ll have to wait because—Aloha!—I’m headed to Hawaii on Tuesday! And this boat trip doesn't require sails. <wink>

Back to this past week—I got some fun, happy snail mail . . .

Don't know how I'd missed this Simply Sweet offering from Kathy Schmitz!

Etsy's Pixie Fibers (aka One of the Flock) is clearing out all of her inventory. Among other things, I got this ...

added by Denise :) 6 months, 3 weeks ago. under coming to america , cross stitch , embroidery , kittens , photos , vbs , wool

sloooooowly stitching . . . from Count it *all* JOY!

It was a relatively slow week, stitch-wise. Our church's VBS started today, and I spent a lot of the preparing for that! I did get some stitching in, though. Almost finished up the standing pilgrim on my Coming to America piece . . .

I have about 90 minutes of free time from my last VBS music rotation to the closing rally, so I'll take this project with me and work on it each night. Maybe I'll have all *three* pilgrims on the boat finished by week's (or VBS's) end.

I am still unpacking and organizing things from ...

added by Denise :) 6 months, 4 weeks ago. under christmas quilt , cross stitch , embroidery , family , granddaughter , photos , snowflake , sunset , vbs

brevity is not my strong suit . . . from Count it *all* JOY!

This is going to be (relatively) short and sweet . . . I'm still in the wilds of Yellowstone, having a wonderful time with my daughter and her family!

I did manage to work out my next 3-yard quilt before I left. Fabric Cafe has a new pattern book out and it's BIG Block 3-Yard Quilts . . . for those quilts where you love a fabric so much, you want good chunks of it in your quilt!

I chose this design, "Felicity" . . .

And these three fabrics . . .

I'm sure you can work out what's going to go where! I'll plan on ...

added by Denise :) 7 months, 2 weeks ago. under 3-yard quilt , mayflower , patriotic , photos , wool

whirlwind moments . . . from Count it *all* JOY!

Well. That didn't go as planned! I knew I wasn't going to be an every day blogger, but gosh, I sure hadn't planned on more than three weeks going by! C'est la vie. Life has been so busy! Lemme share . . .

I finished up my March 3-yard quilt. Whoohoo! Of course, I never got to the April quilt, so March and April are just going to share this one . . .

The girls immediately gave their seal (cat hair) of approval!

And while it doesn't look like a lot, I finished the waves and started on the ship ...

added by Denise :) 8 months ago. under 3-yard quilt , ballet , cross stitch , easter , girls trip , guild , marie bostwick , photos , quilt , todd

well, would you look at that . . . from Count it *all* JOY!

Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya . . .

Wait, that's not right. This isn't Princess Bride. It's me . . .daNeesey, from Count it all JOY! (Which has been a real challenge over the last three years. But I digress.)

So lemme try this again.

Hey, this is Denise. I'm a crafter of an eclectic mix of stitchery crafts (think wool applique, quilting, needlework, cross stitch, crochet, etc.), a Neesey (my grandma name is Neesey), a cat mom (that's new!), an apartment dweller (also new), a violinist wannabe (practice, practice, practice), a widow (which is still so sad and ...

added by Denise :) 8 months, 3 weeks ago. under apartment , cats , cross stitch , photos , quilts , wool

secret stitching sweetheart blog hop 2024 from Count it *all* JOY!

Happy St. Valentine's Day!

This post is all about the L O V E! Jo, from Serendipitous Stitching, hosts the Secret Stitching Sweetheart Blog Hop every year, and it's such good fun, I couldn't resist.

Here's how it works: all of the participants send Jo a photo of a stitched Valentine . . . and then once she's collected them all, she mixes them all up and sends you someone else's Valentine to post ... and that's your Secret Stitching Sweetheart! Doesn't that sound like fun?! Here's the Valentine from my Secret Stitching Sweetheart:

Awwww ...

added by Denise :) 1 year, 10 months ago. under blog hop , cross stitch , photos , secret stitching sweetheart blog hop , valentine

hop hop hoppin . . . from Count it *all* JOY!

Hello!! Welcome to my contribution to the Hallowe'en Trick or Treat Mystery Phrase Hop, hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching! I'll scare...errrr....share some spooky stitching with you, along with a letter, and a link to the next blog! You collect all the letters and guess the mystery phrase!! Doesn't that sound like fun?

Fall has definitely found its way to the camp . . .

I love the changing leaves! We have such a variety of trees, we get all kinds of color when the season arrives!

I love to decorate seasonally, and this is my favorite time ...

added by Denise :) 2 years, 2 months ago. under autumn , blog hop , fall , grandchildren , halloween , hexies , hop , photos , trick or treat , wool

battlecry: retreat . . . from Count it *all* JOY!

LOL! Sometimes you just need to retreat . . . on a retreat . . . to a retreat. That's exactly what I did last weekend! But it was my favorite kind . . . the kind I don't have to drive to. A Camp MACOBA retreat! This was my Sassy Affirmation Sisterhood Sister's (SASS's) third annual summer retreat at the camp. It was originally scheduled for July, but Todd's surgery happened, so we pushed it to August. GOOD thing those cabins have A/C!!

It was Gail's (center) birthday weekend, so of course the appropriate signage was put in place!

I didn ...

added by Denise :) 2 years, 4 months ago. under birthday , camp macoba sass , cross stitch , embroidery , handwork , photos , project , retreat , ufo , wool

is it the thought that counts . . . from Count it *all* JOY!

So I know it was just last week when I stated that Mondays were good for blogging days. I was doing so well with two Mondays in a row . . . and then this past Monday hit. I had every intention of posting. I even knew what pics I'd share and what I'd say . . . but life. You feel me, right? And then Tuesday was a chemo day.

Look at Todd smiling for the camera! Tuesday night was tough and Wednesday I stayed home with him, so here it is on Thursday and I'm playing catch-up. Harrumph. Thursdays just feel ...

added by Denise :) 2 years, 4 months ago. under afternoon tea , cancer , chemo , cross stitch , grandchildren , lake , mug rug , photos , picnic quilt , pumpkins , sunflowers , tea

tah dah . . . from Count it *all* JOY!

Monday mornings just feel like a good time for a new post. I've accumulated a week's worth of doings, the weekend is fresh behind me, and the coming week stretches out like a blank canvas before me.

Well, not entirely blank, but you know what I mean. :)

Our trip to Vandy went well. The prognosis didn't change, but we left feeling lighter-hearted and better educated about what exactly we're dealing with.

Todd was supposed to have chemo this week (the part of the canvas that isn't blank), but when he went in for labs this ...

added by Denise :) 2 years, 5 months ago. under baking , cancer , cross stitch , grandchildren , lake , photos , rv decor , stitching , sunflowers

trifecta . . . from Count it *all* JOY!

My blogging reliability has been incredibly negligible this year, and I really debated at some point whether or not to just give it up. But I really enjoy writing, and I *love* having this pictorial/word summary to look back on; whether it's for remembering a trip or a particular project. Or just to reminisce. ♥

This morning I debated on whether to add a third post to July, or save this for tomorrow and start off August well. Eh. We'll be traveling to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville tomorrow (about a 2 hour drive), so why put it off ...

added by Denise :) 2 years, 5 months ago. under cancer rv decor , cross stitch , grandchildren , photos , sunflower , wool

lo and behold . . . from Count it *all* JOY!

It's almost August! How did that happen??? July started with a bang ... pun intended ... with our July 4th holiday and a lovely day with the family on the boat!

This crew loves being in the water ... it's hard to get them back out of it when it's time! Little man thought he was big stuff, hanging out in the Captain's lap. LOL!

Todd's surgery was scheduled for the 5th, so we came in early . . . unfortunately, the surgery ended almost as soon as it had started. We knew the surgeon was going to use cameras to ...

added by Denise :) 2 years, 5 months ago. under boat , cancer , cross stitch , family , hearts , holiday , patriotic , photos , sunflower , wool

May 2023 from Ravelly1

Warning: Loads of photos!!

Hi everyone! Well, it's been a very long time since I've posted. Good grief, where did the time go?!

I've been quite busy doing all sort of things. I'll do a show and tell to show what's been going on in my life.

First, I'm sure you all have seen this quilt. I entered it in our local county fair. It won best of show and then went to the Houston Stock Show. And now it's on the way to the Houston Quilt Show this November. I couldn't ...

added by Rhonda 2 years, 7 months ago. under barns , chit chat , fire , junk journals , lilies , list , march , photos , youtube

new year, new post . . . from Count it *all* JOY!

Are You there God? It's me, Margaret.

I pulled this Judy Blume book off the shelves at the library in Oak Hill Elementary, my third grade year. I remember reading it over and over, during the course of my two-week check out. The contents, which were so gripping to me fifty-plus years ago, have long been forgotten, but the title grabs me in different circumstances ALL the time, to this day.

Are you there fellow bloggers? It's me, Denise. :)

My niece, Megan, who is owner and founder of Two Tales Editing, sent out a clever gif on her ...

added by Denise :) 3 years ago. under bible study , care , embroidery , family , grandchildren , new year , photos , quilt , stitch , word

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