Christmas was coming and a very special person was also about to turn 50! My aunt Jeanne (affectionately called "Auntie Jo Gracie" by my children) has a December 14th birthday. That is a wonderful celebration to look forward to and I had been...for a couple years.
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| Jo and I circa 1976 |
Back when I was in the middle of cancer surgeries and preparing our house to go on the market, Mom and I went into a local Needlecraft store and I saw a beautiful pattern of a featherweight sewing machine with a quilt draped over it. At the time, I was sitting in the recliner a lot recovering so I was excited to find the perfect thing to go into her new sewing room and keep my hands busy at the same time.
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| Here we are with my baby sister |
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| Jo reads to me and my little brother |
Originally I thought I had a year to get it done before they moved into their new house that they were renovating. As the year quickly passed, and my cross stitching wasn't as quickly coming together, I realized that she has a big birthday coming up the next year. PERFECT! I would finish it up and give it somewhere in the year between as a "housewarming/50th birthday" gift.
Fast forward to November 2015...I still had a quarter of the project to do and December was just around the corner. Resigning to the idea that I wouldn't get it done in time, I packed it in my Thanksgiving trip things and decided I would do as much on it as I could.
I love stitching. I had forgotten how relaxing it had been back in the days I had more time. There was a perfect chair in our condo in Gatlinburg for cross stitching. I got a lot more done there than I expected but knew I wouldn't have time to get it framed.
Armed with a frame, foam board, exacto knife and a 12x12 frame, I decided to tackle the framing so I could give it to Jo at her party. It was amazingly much easier than I expected it to be and I was thrilled to be able to have it ready. (I would like to thank YouTube for the instruction videos on framing...I couldn't have done it without those!)
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December 19, 2015
Still looking good after all these years! |
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| Framed and ready to give! |
Happy Birthday Auntie Jo Gracie!
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Jo and I on her wedding day
July 1986 |
