My Needle Box

Two Christmases ago, my mom gave me this sweet little needle box. It's the handiest thing.

No more scurrying around and wondering, "Now where did I put those silly needles???" The base is magnetic so they're kept safely in their place.

"The LORD will give grace and glory." What a precious promise. I don't deserve either; I know I need grace  and experience it every day, but it's beyond my comprehension that one day God is going to glorify my worthless old flesh to be like my Jesus 100%! O blessed thought! I'll be changed from a "worm" to a "butterfly." =)

I've had this little box for two years but it wasn't until just this week that I finally finished cross stitching an insert for it. You wouldn't think I have a procrastination problem, would you? (chuckle) I found a simple pattern for the butterfly at EMS Cross Stitch Board, part of the Garden Alphabet fillers. I used different backstitch alphabets that I found by doing a Google search. Here are a few that referred to: one, two, three -- oops, can't find the third!

By the way, I found a gorgeous pattern on EMS Cross Stitch Board that I am definitely making one of these days to hang in my future kitchen: Rose Sampler (and here is a photo of the finished piece). It's reminiscent of blue and white china and old-fashioned charm. I love it! I'm thinking a Scripture verse would go well in place of some of the alphabets, or something like that.

If I could do it over again, I would probably use different colors or put the green toward the center, perfectionist that I am... but of course I'm not going to. (chuckle)

I have a story to tell you about this crocheted table cover. I've been doing a lot of book swapping through PaperBackSwap.com. It's a great way to get rid of old books you don't want in exchange for books you'd like to have. I've traded so many worthless, unwanted books for great Christian classics and biographies, wholesome fiction by my favorite authors Janette Oke and Beverly Lewis, and even some books on WWII aircraft for my brother. According to the system, I've saved $270 that I would have otherwise spent on buying used books (not new). There's not a single catch to it. I highly recommend the system to all book lovers!

One day I got a book in the mail (The Green Pharmacy, an excellent herb reference book) and it was all wrapped up in something soft and pretty. Whatever could it be? I wondered. Once I finally got all the tape carefully cut away, I was absolutely thrilled to discover it was a large, beautiful crocheted "doily"! Evidently it was machine-stitched. I've received an occasional bookmark with books, but this was amazing. Whoever sent me the book and lovely cover was such a dear soul! =)

This is my current cross stitching project. I began it over a year ago and finally picked it back up this week. I'd forgotten how enjoyable cross stitching is!