it's a wonderful weekend . . .

What a wonderful, fabulous long weekend this has been!!  Wednesday kicked it off (really Tuesday kicked it off . . . my co-worker and I were the only ones there and it was soooo slow--we wrapped presents!) with a leisurely start to the day, a late breakfast/brunch for Todd and I, and then I got to the baking that was my part for Thanksgiving (an apple pie, a pecan pie, and cranberry quick bread). Todd and I had dinner together then he carried me to Joc's house, so Ellie and I could have a 'sleepover'.  Aaaaand, so I could get up early and help Jocelyn orchestrate the stuffing and turkey preparations.  :)

Thanksgiving dinner went off without a hitch!  Jocelyn set a gorgeous table . . . 

Ellie and Everley were just darling in their beautiful dresses . . .

The only thing missing was the Panter crew . . .

But they celebrated their first Thanksgiving in California making fun memories like eating Thanksgiving dinner on the floor of their new apartment, because their new chairs had arrived, but their new table hadn't! With littles, those kinds of mishaps are adventures and I know they'll look back on that meal with smiles!  We got to FaceTime with them that afternoon, and that was sweet!

Friday was a very quiet down day . . . some stitching in the nook . . . some Christmas movies . . . leftovers for lunch and dinner . . . my perfect way to spend the day after!  No shopping for this gal, unless it's online!

Saturday was busy and productive!  I baked a pumpkin pie for Todd's dad, gingersnap cookies for a church fellowship this afternoon, and chicken pot pie for dinner!  Plus I pulled out the Christmas tree, decorations and quilts and turned the RV into Santa's workshop!  

And while the Iron Bowl (Alabama vs. Auburn) game was on, [Roll TIDE!!!] I wrapped the rest of my presents.  So now I'm ready for Christmas!  LOL!  With a few exceptions . . . I'll still have a couple of things to finish and wrap!

My stash report remains unchanged from last week . . .

But my snowman doesn't!

I've still got to stitch his collar and scarf and the holly leaves in his hat, but he's made tremendous progress. I'll continue to 'slow stitch' on him today!

Linking up to Patchwork Times and Kathy's Quilts this morning. Have a blessing-filled first day of Advent!

:)

a plethora of things . . .

Happy weekend!!  I finally took my birthday hours on Thursday and we are closed on Fridays, so I'm enjoying a lovely four day weekend. I'll go back to work for two days before we shut down for Thanksgiving and a lovely five day weekend (for which I'm truly grateful)! I've had some good stitching time (as you might imagine)!  First off, I finished off the three snow buddies hanger . . .

It turned out so cutely!  I'm really pleased with it.  And even more pleased that out of the seven projects I had, I'm finished with four!  So next up I'll be working on this guy . . . 

My instructions?  This picture . . .

It's pretty self-explanatory, so  I shouldn't get too hung up!  It'll keep me busy on my slow stitching Sunday.  :)

I've been playing in fabric, too!  REALLY!  One crafty fabic project and one quilty fabric project . . . both gifts, so I can't show any of the quilt and all I can show of the craft project is this tidbit . . .

It looks fun, right?? Between the two of them and the 1/8th of a yard I used for my NOEL project:

[Which isn't finished (I needed "an ingredient" to finish it up that I can't pick up until Monday), but at least I know where it's going!] I've made a tidy little dent in my fabric stash this week!

Yay!!  I'd like to finish one more project before mid-month, so hopefully there will be an even bigger 'little dent'!

Last weekend Joc and her crew took their annual family trek to the Botanical Garden's Galaxy of Lights walking tour. As always, they finished up with a visit to see Santa Claus. These photos, through the years, have been a wonderful laugh and this year was no exception (and Ellie has proven consistent through all her four visits):

Ellie, 2012

Ellie (with Sawyer), 2013

Ellie (with Evey--and held by Jocelyn), 2014

Evey and Ellie, 2015

Are they not just priceless??  The Santa (who's the same all four years) simply makes the 2015 photo. Oh gracious, I just love them!

In preparation for our church's annual Thanksgiving fellowship tomorrow, I made an apple pie, crust and all . . .

It smells so good, it's all I can do to stay out of it tonight! It's a dry run through for Thanksgiving -- I'll do this all over again (and then some) on Wednesday!

I'll be linking up to Patchwork Times and Kathy's Quilts.  But before I go, I wanted to share one more thing.  I'll be starting this marvelous Bible study on Monday called Quieting Your Heart for the Holidays.  It's being hosted by Darlene Schacht of Time Warp Wife, and it promises to be wonderful.

I know I can't be the only one who struggles with keeping balance between the craziness that can come at this time of the year, wanting things to be just so, with remembering and celebrating what truly is the reason for celebration to begin with. It's a free study (with the exception of the prayer journal, which I purchased, and isn't required for the study) on her site and she provides lots of pretty freebies to make it fun.

And on that note, I'm outta here . . . I've got stitching to do before it gets crazy up in here!!

:)

stitch, stitching, stitchery . . .

I've been enjoying a lot of evening stitching this past week.  Since we changed our work hours to 7:00 to 5:00, I've had a little extra time after dinner to hangout and work on a project.  I'm loving it! This week, after making some good progress on the tree, I decided to take a bit of a break and work in wool . . .

I finished up this darling little "Snowbuddies" pillow.  It was a pretty easy, two-night project.

Then I pulled the NOEL stitchery back out and finished it up . . . 

I love the yellow stars and the metallic red french knots! And I'm very pleased with the clarity of the "NOEL".  It did pretty much finish out like I visualized it, which is always a good thing! I still haven't quite figured out how to frame it/finish it out. I've got time. I do know where I want to hang it though, when the time comes!!

Now I'm working on another "Snowbuddies" project . . .

I adore this one!  I finished up one snow guy . . . I've got two more to go.  Guess this is where I'll be spending my slow Sunday stitching!

My stash report hasn't changed.  Rather, my stash has changed, but I have no idea by how much and I'm not really ready to chat about it.  LOL!  Sounds enigmatic, right?  Maybe I'll 'splain next week. Until then, here's another 'nothing in, nothing out' report:

Five more stash reports until Christmas!  Six more until the end of the year! Whoa!!  I'm pleased with my stash intake, even though I wish I'd had a LOT more usage.  What about you?  Pleased with your 'near-the-end-of-the-year' totals?!

I'll be linking up with Patchwork Times and Kathy's Quilts.  Enjoy the rest of the weekend!!

:)

a stitch in time . . .

I haven't done a design wall Monday post in FORever, but I made such great progress on my Noel doodle tree yesterday, I didn't want to not post a pic!

I back stitched all the silver and then whipped stitched those stitches to (1) make it stand out nicely and (2) to help hide my pattern lines.  I love the look!

With the green, I'm either stem stitching or outline stitching, depending on which side of the letter/curves of the letters I'm working on.  Yes.  I use the two stitches interchangeably, depending on my need.  Don't tell the embroidery police on me. Ha!  Now that I'm seeing the word stitched in part, I think the NOEL will stand out quite nicely.  

My big problem (and where the design wall comes in) is what to do with this little stitchery once I've finished it.  I worked a red and green patchwork frame for a stitchery design I sketched out last week (based on the same design I used for my November cornucopia piece, last year) . . .

Here's the stitchery colored . . .

I'll probably raw edge applique the words and stitch the heart, manger scene, star and holly.  And gosh, the patchwork frame works rather perfectly for that, so I hate to use it for the doodle tree.  Plus I don't think it's the right shape.

Which brings me back to, "What do I do with it?!"  Hmmmmm....I may have an idea.  Just maybe. Just. Maybe.  Linking up to Patchwork Times.

Have a GREAT week!

:)

things november . . .

It's been a dreary, damp, chilly day . . . the kind of day that makes for the perfect backdrop for inside chores and projects!  I finally got around to pulling the few jack-o-lantern and candy corn pieces I had out and replaced them with more seasonally appropriate pieces . . .

Oh, and I baked my first apple pie of the season, too.  It was *quite* yummy -- and hopefully will continue to be for the next several days.  I love apple pie for breakfast -- especially with a slice of melted cheddar cheese on it!  It's my Yankee roots.  :)

Earlier in the week I finished my little pumpkin stitchery.

It's very sweet -- I really enjoyed stitching that particular pumpkin pattern and may stitch it again. But I'm tired of stitching, crafting, and baking pumpkins (I can't believe I just typed that!!!!) for the time being, so my goal was to find something more Christmassy to work on.  I rooted around in the RV's basement space (after going through every storage tub and drawer in the Nook) and finally found the jackpot of wool projects in various stages of completion . . .

Mostly wool, anyway - the project on the far left is a reindeer dish towel.  The rest are wool snowmen!  Yessssss.  I'll be working on several of these over the next few weeks.  I've had 'em for ages (seriously -- since 2007) and it's time to get 'em finished!

But that's not what I'll be working on for my slow Sunday stitching . . . instead, I'll be working on a little stitchery of a doodled Christmas tree I saw on pinterest . . .

But instead of the solid, bold lines making up the right side of the tree, I wanted to put the word, "NOEL".  Not in your face, but a subtle gliding word down the side.

I think I've got it!  I'm stitching the 'doodles' in silver and will stitch "NOEL" in a bright metallic green.  I'm not sure about the stars, but I'm thinking gold.  Or a satin stitched yellow.  And the dots will be in red.  

I'm not sure how I'm going to use it, in fact, I'm not sure that it will finish out on fabric like I saw it in my head. But I wanted to stitch a little Christmas whimsy, and this seemed to fit the bill! Plus something about working with things that sparkle just makes my heart happy. 

My stash report remains unchanged.  Again.  For real.

What can I say?  I'm evening actually thinking of clearing out some of my stash.  I need to do SOMETHING with what I've got sitting there.  Seriously.  It's not stitching itself together.  Where are the cobbler's elves when you need them??!

Linking up to Patchwork Times and Kathy's Quilts!  Enjoy the remainder of the weekend -- you know what I'll be doing!

:)