pick a pumpkin winner . . .

I PROMISE am almost sure that this will be the last post that begins with "pick a pumpkin" . . . at least for another year!! It was a nice solid run of seven. :)

I had the random number generator do my dirty work and it pulled number 36.  Congratulations to Karen of Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats!  Karen, I'll send you an email to get your particulars.  :)

So I did bake a batch of those Ginger Spice Cookies I blogged about yesterday. Oh they are SO good! 

I like the ones rolled in the chunky colored sugar best . . .

Isn't that pretty? It's perfect for both autumn and Christmas baking. And I have it on good authority from granddaughter Ellie, that it makes great 'prinkles' for popcorn.  I have it custom mixed for me by Sharon at Simply Baking Supplies on Etsy.

She's really great to work with and so pleasant! And when I emailed her today to say I'd used up all my supply and needed some more, she responded that she had saved my mix amounts and would send me out some more of the same right away.  That is customer service!

Anyway, once I'd finished baking, it was time to kick back upstairs with some handwork. And some cookies. (I mean, c'mon, right?!)

I've decided I'm going to stitch up each individual flower -- all of one color at a time -- then stitch the flowers together.  

There are a total of 45 flowers.  I finished three last night. Only 42 to go?!  Hahaha! 

This printout has served me so well at every stage of this project! You can see where I marked off the first flower. I'll X off each flower as I finish. Hopefully, by today's end, I'll have at least two or three more to go with yesterday's three.  That will make for some satisfying slow Sunday stitching. I'll be linking up to Kathy's Quilts for that!

Hey!  And don't forget to thank and hug a Veteran!  We have off on Monday in observance of the day, but today, November 11, is actually Veterans Day.  

If you've served our country in one of the armed forces, you have my gratitude.  Thank you for your service!

Have a great day -- and if you're off tomorrow, enjoy your Monday! 

:)

stuffed pumpkin history . . .

Literally *and* figuratively!  I figured I'd done quite a number of crafty things featuring pumpkins to date, perhaps it was time to do a little baking/cooking.  So I did . . . not just one thing, but four!  Aren't we all lucky?!

First, I did a little research on the pumpkin.  Pumpkin pie is generally a favorite of mine, and one of my favorite Thanksgiving treats!  But seeing as how pie crust was not around during pre-colonial days, chances are pretty good that pumpkin pie was not on the menu.  At first, the early Pilgrim settlers turned their noses up at pumpkins, but as winter came on and they were hungry and dealing with scurvy, pumpkins started looking pretty good!  One dish they probably enjoyed (which later evolved into our pumpkin pie), was a custard type dish that was baked in a hollowed out pumpkin shell, then cooked in the cooking fire ashes!  I read about it here and here, and modified this set of instructions/recipe  and this recipe to come up with this . . .

Fun stuff!

Next up, I saw this recipe of Paula Deen's for Spice Caramel Corn.  But in my infinite wisdom (and quest to change every recipe/tutorial/set of instructions I come upon), I subbed out the cinnamon and added pumpkin pie spice instead . . .

May I just say YUMMY?!!

Then there were some sugar cookies.  No recipe, no link.  Just sugar cookies, frosted with orange tinted buttercream, sprinkled with autumn sugar sprinkles and topped with a candy corn stem . . .

And I had help!  Both in the making *and* the eating!

Sweet kiddos!

And finally, another favorite of the season.  No link or recipe, though.  Since I had to scoop out the pumpkin innards for the custard, I thought I might as well roast the pumpkin seeds!  I separate them from the 'mush' and rinse them thoroughly.

I then soak them in salted water (about 2 teaspoons per quart of water) for at least two hours.  After soaking, I pour off the water and pat them dry.  Add a tablespoon of cooking oil and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and mix well.  Lay them flat on a cookie sheet (rimmed, if possible) and bake in a 450 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, or until lightly browned and crunchy!

I have a hard time allowing these to cool before grabbing a handful!!

In other news, my stash report for Week #42 is unchanged from last week. Not one iota.  Still holding strong at 19 yards net used.  I can't recall a time in my life since I started quilted when my purchase yardage was under 10.  Craziness!

And for my Slow Sunday Stitching, I thought I'd work on stitching together a few of my birthday chrysanthemums!

Although it seems kinda odd to have all these purples and blues in what's solidly an orange post!

Linking up to Patchwork Times and Kathy's Quilts today. And at some point I'll enjoy a cup of pumpkin spiced tea . . . and some pumpkin-y treats, too!  

:)

pumpkin pass . . .

So it's Thursday and I've not worked stitch one on any of the projects I shared on Monday.  

Life, right?

Not that I haven't been busy. I played around with the Truvia baking blend and finally settled on a combination of ingredients that Todd and I both liked for No-Bake Cookies . . .

These are such a yummy and easy-to-make treat -- it was nice to be able to make them for my hubby again (who works very diligently to not eat sugar).

I also *finally* got around to putting together the painted canvas pumpkin for Kim.

I love the highlights in this fellow!  Blending the oranges and yellows in the pumpkin body and the olive and brown in the stem is key.  Once I had it painted (and it had dried), it was time to do the single letter monogram. I learned a GREAT technique for transferring fancy letters onto canvas.  First, you pick your letter and print it out in real size (and I outlined mine to give it a definite shape):

Isn't that a fun, scrolly "P"?! Next, you flip it over, and with a piece of drawing charcoal, cover the outline.  I didn't need to do quite so much scribbling--you really just need to cover your letter's outline.

The next step is to center your letter on your canvas piece, charcoal side down. Then with a sharp pencil, trace your letter design. Once you've finished, remove the cheater paper and voila!

Outline your letter, if you can, with a sharpie (because the charcoal is a fickle medium and easily blows away), and paint as desired!

Once I'd finished painting and it had dried, I used a liquid gold sharpie to highlight my "P" and give it a little pizzazz . . .

Then it was a simple matter of hot-gluing the cotton backing, leaving a little opening to stuff it with plastic bags, and then sealing it shut.

Add a bow, and TAH-DAH!

Tomorrow we're doing Trunk or Treat at our church.  It probably won't surprise anyone to learn that I'm decorating my PT Cruiser as The Great Pumpkin!  Pictures definitely to follow!

:)

tea for two . . .

I had been looking at the books that Tea Time Magazine reviews and recommends, and this little gem on their site grabbed my attention . . .

Click on the image to see the book on Tea Time.

What a joy to find it, shipping Prime (which means for *free*), on Amazon for a ridiculously low amount! When I first got it, I was a little disappointed to open it and realize it had been marked in.

Then I realized it was the signature of the author (and not personalized), and it was a happy little bonus!! Ha!

There are a number of recipes in this particular cookbook that I find appealing, but two caught my eye right off the bat . . . I knew they'd be perfect tea party fodder for Ellie and me (and since we had a 'date' coming up, it was timely)!

These pretty little Meltaway cookies were divine . . . and so easy!  And then the pound cake in baked in the tea cake molds was fun, too.  Both recipes halved nicely, which was kind of important to me.

What I realized that day was that baking was fun again -- the new RV has lots more counter space, which is so critical when it comes to baking!  LOL!

I may have gotten a little carried away that day.  But the chocolate cupcakes were for Todd.  (wink, wink) They came out of my Cupcakes for Two e-cookbook.

Needless to say, we had a marvelous tea party and Ellie was, of course, a delightful guest . . .

Happy days, indeed!

:)

come and gone . . .

The snow, that is.  It did finally arrive late on Wednesday afternoon . . . and continued to come down into the wee hours of Thursday morning.  When we got up, it looked like this:

So beautiful!  I know it creates headaches for power and traveling (especially when, like ours, there's a good inch or so of ice underneath), but it's so lovely and peaceful looking out here at the camp!  I'll share a few pics from our trek out and about in it . . .

There were animal tracks everywhere!  Especially deer and raccoons.

Bamboo does not like snow!

The ol' homestead.  The metal cans are where we keep the bird and critter food!

My love and I.  ♥

And I couldn't resist a final shot of Midnight Snow in the snow . . .

I've made sugar free shortbread cookies for my sweet Valentine . . .

We'll celebrate quietly together, this evening, and then Todd's got *secret* plans for tomorrow!

Winners have been drawn for the Shades of Mercy giveaway!  The lucky readers are Gene Black, Happy Cottage Quilter (Jocelyn), Teresa in Music City, and Sarah! Congratulations to all of you -- as soon as I collect mailing addresses, I'll get these out.  Hopefully in tomorrow's post!

And speaking of Sarah, it's Feline Friday over at sarah did it!

And Leia says Happy Valentine's Day!  No she doesn't...she just doesn't.

But I do!  ♥

:)

wordless wednesday . . .

:)

the best laid plans . . .

Can sometimes be improved upon, trust me!  Because I'd had this yesterday set up to take care of some administrative stuff in the morning and then play in fabric all afternoon and into the late hours of the evening (well ... like 10 p.m.).  BUT ... I got a text ... a *great* text ... a text from Kim wanting to know if I'd like some company today.  

Ummmm....YES!!!

So mid-morning she, Sawyer, and June came over -- it was June's first visit over the river and through the woods to Neesey's house!  Kim and Sawyer went searching for some pine cones.  While they did that, June and I got better acquainted.

  

Isn't she just precious?!  She's two weeks old already!  [I almost laughingly inserted, "She'll be one in no time," but it's not really funny.  I was on the phone with Jocelyn today and she said, "Ellie's standing up.  Just standing there."  She'll be ONE in less than two months.  Boooo hooo!!!]  June needs to take it waaaaaaaay slow!

Then, when Sawyer and Kim came back, Kim fed June and Sawyer and I headed out for a RIDE! We finally got the golf cart fixed and so we went up to the upper field to chat with the cows and to see if we could find any more deer.

By the way -- we didn't find any deer.  I'm not sure why . . . Sawyer called and called and called for them . . . !!!

They left in time to get afternoon naps in, and so I finished up with my admin stuff.  I did bake some Oatmeal Raisin Cookies!

And I put on my orange border and have halfway quilted the top.  

I decided that I'll back it with the darker purple and use that to bind it, both. How's that for an awful lot of purple?  LOL!  I think the purple binding looks nice. 

And I've got to share this lovely, lovely squishy that arrived in the mail . . . 

Aren't these panels darling?  It's Sandy Lynam Clough's line, Friendship Tea, by Red Rooster.  I adore Sandy's tea books and have been a follower of her website for many, many years (long before I was quilting). 

The script reads, "For friendships sent down from above ~ May this tea be steeped with love."  Sharon, from Vrooman's Quilts, said she saw it and thought of me.  I'm so, so touched.  Sharon, it's absolutely delightful!!   And check out this coordinating print:

And I had to take some closeups of the little cups, too, because they're just so darling!

Oh gracious, the possibilities are whirling through my mind!!  I'm sipping a cup of tea right now ... totally inspired!

I'm not sure what today will bring . . . but tonight is guild!  I missed last month, so I'm anxious to get there and catch up with the gals.  Our program is a trunk show by one of our charter members, and I'm looking forward to it.  I'll have to make sure the camera is in my purse with a charged battery!

Happy Favorite Things Thursday!

:)