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!

:)

crafty fun . . .

Ellie and I had a play date on Thursday.  I called it our "A is for Acorn" day!

We started with some basic crayon coloring.  That it was an "A is for Acorn" sheet made me smile.  That it was an Elmo "A is for Acorn" sheet made Ellie squeal!

Next, we moved to a different textile.  Paints, to be precise!  This time, the object of our attention was a squirrel with acorns (on paper).

You see she holds that paintbrush like a total pro, right?  In fact, Ellie did such a good job with her painting, we went ahead and graduated from paper to actual acorns . . .

She's a natural!

Aren't they pretty?  I'd seen painted acorns on pinterest and followed the link to Home Stories:  A to Z.  I didn't have acrylic paints, so Ellie and I just used what I had (which was non-toxic, washable poster paints).

I did some, too.  And even though they aren't quite the same as the original idea, I still think they turned out prettily, especially once we (I) added the glitter! Glitter, the bane of a pre-school teacher's existence.  But it does make everything prettier!

After we cleaned up from acorn-painting and had lunch, it was nap time (but not for me, though I could have used one). While Ellie napped, I tried out my new acorn cake pan!

I used the recipe that came with it.  They turned out so prettily!

Even prettier when dipped in chocolate and brushed with a maple glaze . . . and dusted with the sugar equivalent of glitter!

I also worked on finishing up Ellie's *super hero* cape (she needed it today for a friend's birthday party). Since Ellie was napping, Leia very graciously volunteered to step in and help me out.

I think it turned out quite nicely!  Thank you, Leia!  (And ... linking her on up to the Feline Friday linkup at Sarah Did It!)

Ellie was happy to test out both the cape *and* the acorn cakes when she woke up from her nap . . .

And she gave me her definite seal of approval!

It was a fun day . . . but I hope I didn't do myself a disservice and set the bar too high!  Hahaha!  And lest you think I've completely lost it and gone over to the dark (acorn) side, let me share what I'm playing with this weekend.  My sister picked up a couple of darling felt projects when we were in Texas.  She got home to NJ and went to work on this one:

Didn't she do a great job?!!  I totally love it!!

She shared the pattern with me and I've got these wools picked out for it . . .

I substituted that blue and black  houndstooth for the solid black . . . because it makes me happy!  So, off I go to start cutting and stitching!

:)

quilting in greece . . .

Yup ... I can now say I've quilted amongst the architecture of Athens, Greece.

Or at least I can say I've quilted amongst the VBS setup of Athens, Greece! Semantics, right? Our Stitchers group got together at our usual meeting place (Epworth UMC) and found ourselves immediately transported to another time, another place!  It was kind of fun to be stitching (or snipping, as the case may have been) around the columns and tents and drapes!

I had a *finish* to show off, too . . . 

YAY!  And before the 4th anniversary deadline, too!  Hahaha!

Front.

Back.  I'm debating on whether or not to stick it in the washer before I present it. I'm a little afraid.  All that hand quilting.  LOL!  I guess I should just put it in on delicate and go with it!

Last night I finished removing all the paper templates from my little apple core piece . . .

Seriously, I think that's the most difficult (or perhaps tedious is a better word?) part!  It's even kinda fun to look at from the back . . .

Now that it's pieced, I'm not sure what to do with it next.  Hmmmm.  Need to get on that.

I also worked on my Starburst block . . . 

Got the reds all finished, so now all I've got is the oranges and yellows.  

The oranges will take the longest, because there are eight of them (they go in the empty spaces).  Still, I'm loving the way this original-to-me block is shaping up!!

My darling friend Ronda, from church (and Ronda Quilts), was manning a fund-raising yard sale last weekend and found these goodies and thought of me:

Wasn't that sweet?  More hexie templates!  Yay!!

My sister and her crew left on Wednesday -- we had a marvelous, marvelous time and I've got lots of pics to share, once I sort through them all.  For now, I'm off to bake some bread (thank you Kim and Pinterest)! And since it is Feline Friday, I'll leave you with this little tidbit:  Jocelyn is moving this weekend.  Ellie's doing her part and making sure her most important treasures make it to the new house.  

Leia, stuffed owl, and apple tv remote.  Way to pitch in and help, Ellie!  Leia's relieved she makes the moving cut.  Whew!  (Linking up to Feline Friday at Sarah Did It!)

:)

busy, busy, busy . . .

Today will probably be my busiest day before Christmas, with lots of events.  I'm busily making these this morning . . .

Aren't they pretty?  And super easy.  The recipe can be found Cooking Classy - with a sprinkle of fancy.  I'm taking some of them to our staff party at the Madison Baptist Association.  Usually we do a pot luck kind of thing, but this year we are having lunch catered in by Connor's Steak House!  Whooohoo!!  Then we'll do a dirty Santa gift exchange.  I had fun putting together a gift basket of hot chocolates, Starbucks coffees, assorted teas, chocolates (Hershey's cordial kisses and Ghirardelli peppermint bark squares) and a cute mug.  Todd bought a 'man tool'.  LOL!

I'm also making some peppermint cookies to take with the oreo truffles to tonight's guild meeting.  It's our annual holiday meeting ... the board members all bring dessert and the hostess committee (of which I'm an unofficial member) does the program.  We're all supposed to bring a Christmas quilt for a 'merry show and tell'.  I'm bringing my Christmas Star topper and my Holly Jolly topper. It should be a fun evening!  Everyone who did the gingerbread house workshop is supposed them for a show . . . 

This is the one Karen (the hostess of our Stitcher's Etc. Christmas party) made.  I have my camera ready and charged (and will make sure I find out about a pattern, too)!  And in-between the two events?  I'll spend some quality time with my Ellie-belly-baby!  Yay!

I finished my doll quilt swap for Barbara.  This is the absolute earliest I've ever finished a swap!  Since Barbara and I are both local to Huntsville ... and in guild together ... and are friends, to boot, Barbara suggested we swap out at tonight's guild meeting.  I agreed, but the whole time I was thinking, "WOW!  I need to get BUSY!"  LOL!  

This is the little sneak peek of the swap quilt I provided on the swap blog.  This is such a fun swap group!  It's open to new members, too, so if you have any interest, head over to Doll Quilters Monthly and check it out!

Okay ... I still have some gift wrapping and baking and quilt gathering to do, so I need to get on with it!  Have a GREAT day!  I'm linking up with Favorite Things Thursday!

:)

a motley crew: owls, cupcakes, and swings . . .

What a happy day yesterday was!  I got backings prepped for several pieces and got my mini-fence rail piece sandwiched and ready for quilting.  I also decided on the drawing I wanted to try out the crayon art . . .

It's all traced and ready for me to color!  I was inspired by seeing Judy's (Gramma's Quilting Room) finished, stitched piece, which was gorgeous--you really should click over and take a look!  I've had this pattern for a while (haha, let's be honest -- I've had a LOT of stitchery patterns for a while), but seeing Judy's stitched out in color made me really fall in love with it!  I'm going to try a combination of crayon-coloring and then stitching in the details (similar to the faux applique, I guess) and see how it turns out!

I also made this happy find . . . 

A pretty little stand to hold my Kindle upright!  I love to use it as my recipe book -- it takes up less room of my [incredibly] precious counter top space.  Oftentimes, if I've got a written recipe or one I've found online, I'll convert it to a pdf and send it to my Kindle.  I also trimmed up a ziplock bag to slip over and protect my Kindle from any spills or drips (or flinging batter when my beater goes crazy)!

A couple of weeks ago I came across a marvelous Kindle freebie on Amazon, Cupcakes for Two.

It's not a freebie now, unless you're a Prime member, and just want to borrow it, but if you're an empty-nester or small family or living on your own, it's well-worth the $2.99 they're listing it for now!  [Edited to add:  if you're a Kindle owner and Prime member, you'll have to go through your Kindle to "borrow" the book from Amazon.  Thanks, Penny, for letting me know!]  We had Kim, James, and Sawyer coming over for dinner and I wanted to make some cupcakes ... and there's not point in making a box mix which leaves me with two dozen cupcakes for five people (which means five cupcakes get eaten and nineteen cupcakes get left for me to figure out what to do with).  And homemade is so much better (and better for you)!  These recipes are perfect for such situations and SOOOOOO easy!  And with normal ingredients, too! 

I doubled the German Chocolate cupcake recipe and made the milk chocolate frosting and ended up with six cupcakes. Just right. Joc had tried a recipe earlier in the month and said it was great, too. It's nice to be able to just make two cupcakes ... and have them be fresh and wholesome!

We had a little play time before dinner was ready. I need to brag on my darling hubby here. Not only did he bring home the fish last Friday, he also cleaned them, cooked 'em up for us for dinner last night, and cleaned the dishes afterward. What a guy! And his fish fillets are the best!

Anyway, while we waited for the fish to fry, Sawyer took us out to the playground where he hit the slide (with a little help from daddy) . . .

Enjoyed the swings . . .

Just look at that precious, happy face!

And pretty much just enjoyed the space and freedom to RUN!

After dinner (and a session of family frisbee up in the big meadow), we finally got to the cupcakes--much to Sawyer's (and consequently, my) delight . . .

I have Aunt Jocelyn to thank for this shot.  ;)

I think the cupcakes were a happy hit.

:)

that was then, this is now . . .

I had mentioned, when I chatted about my trip to Virginia/Maryland, that I would be meeting up with a fellow quilter.  And then I forgot to say anything about that when I got back!  What's wrong with me?!

This is she, Cecilia Noel, my darling niece.  

She's an award winner, even!  Her first-ever quilt won first place in their county fair! (Which you can see was actually some time ago!)

Here's a bit of what she was working on while we were there . . . 

A sweet baby quilt for her boyfriend's newest sibling.  Isn't this darling?  I love her handwork!

And the beginnings of a quilt for her own bed.  

Love her color scheme for this!  I'm not sure if it was going to stay on her bed at home, or go off with her to George Mason University, where she'll be attending as a freshman this year.  

Speaking of love, she'd also made a darling little quilt for Ellie-belly.  Ellie loved it dearly.  :)

And speaking of quilts, here's a shot of the one I made for my sister, hanging in its spot in their dining area . . .

And here's a couple of shots from Julia's yard, which show why it was oh-so-appropriate for my sweet sister:

She's definitely a free-range gal!

Fast-forward to the present.  Todd and I were out and about taking care of things.  We stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch and as we browsed through the store while we waited, I found this darling sweatshirt . . .

I can tell I'm ready for the cool crisp autumn air and all things pumpkin!  This was waiting for me when I got home.  Yay!

We'd also gone by the house.  Wouldn't you know that our Granny Smith apple tree produced more apples this year than it has in the past seven years combined?  I grabbed enough for a cobbler.  

They weren't the prettiest on the outside, but they sure did make a yummy cobbler!  So good, we'd eaten half of it before I remembered to take a picture!

We did eat dinner first ... I must have been in a baking mood -- we had Taco Pie.  

It was pretty darn yummy, too.  Yummy enough that we're also having it for lunch today.  Which I'd better go fix!

:)