a repeat stitcher . . .

What a great weekend I enjoyed in Hendersonville, TN!  We went up early Thursday morning for a Lifeway Women's Leadership event.  Three days packed full of fabulous speakers, great teaching, encouragement, fellowship and fun.  But whew!  I was worn out.  Hence my slow stitching post didn't get written for yesterday, and that's a shame, because I have some fun stitchy stuff to share!  So Monday it is.  ;)

Ellie (oldest granddaughter) had shown some interest in embroidery.  For Christmas two years ago I gifted her with a sampler kit that I put together for her.  Once we started working on it, she finished it in record time! I asked if she wanted another stitchery, and she said yes -- she wanted a monkey.  So I found a cute monkey coloring page for her, kitted it up, and handed it over.  I've blogged about all of this, but I don't think I ever shared a finished picture of her monkey stitchery . . .

She was very proud of her finish.  She did a great job!

We put it in a wood hoop and made it ready to hang on the wall over her bed. So cute!

I told her when she finished that she should let me know when she was ready and I'd prep another project for her.  I didn't press . . . I didn't want her to feel obligated . . . so I was thrilled when she approached me two weeks ago and said she was ready for another stitchery project! I asked what she wanted to work on and suggested something seasonal, and she decided on a snowman.  She even drew out a concept drawing!

I love how she included the hoop! She had a vision ... so I put it together . . .

And kitted it out for her.  I even got a spool of metallic light blue by Au Ver à Soie from The French Needle, which is perfect for snowflakes -- the asterisk snowflakes ... not the french knot snowflakes! If it were just me, for such a small piece, I'll probably be okay using a DMC metallic—but I wanted Ellie to be able to use a super easy to work with metallic floss!

Within a couple of days of receiving the kit, Ellie sent me this picture her mama had taken:

The girl really loves to stitch!  She still had the french knots to stitch, but she needed some hands-on tutoring for those! I did ask if she'd like to finish it out in a patchwork setting, instead of just in the hoop, like her prior two finishes. She was really excited about that idea!

I decided I needed to test the whole thing before I put it in her lap, so I stitched up the design for myself (taking a few liberties, like satin stitching his nose, and using metallic floss for the holly and berries, as well as the snowflakes):

Y'all, I'm so glad I tested this out, first. Yikes! But I worked through the design issues and it turned out okay. I stitched-in-the-ditch quilted it, and then quilted simple snowflakes in the corners. 

Super cute! Well, I think so, anyway.  :)

Ellie's picked out the prints she would like to use to frame her stitchery:

The blue (Fairy Frost) print will be the star, the snowflakes will be the background, and the dark, starry night will be for the backing/binding. All of them have a little bling. Not only can the girl stitch, she can pick fabrics, too! I gave her the option of hand-stitching the patchwork or machine stitching it.  She's still contemplating!  If I can publish this in time, I'll go ahead and link up to the slow stitching linky party at Kathy's Quilts!

Sawyer had his last soccer game of the season.  I love this action shot . . .

He's kicking the winning goal ... Go Sawyer!  He was voted MVP for this game!  What a great way to finish the season!!  (All the exclamation points!!!)

From oldest grandson to youngest . . .

Isn't this precious?!  Such a sweet baby boy!  He's growing, growing!! ♥

Have a fabulous week!

:)

increasing my fiber . . .

Over the weekend I was very thready. I sorted through all the floss I've accumulated (some from the estate sale) . . . it was a huge hodge podge in multiple containers (or not):

A mess. And even after I'd sorted most of it out, I still had this unsightly tangle to deal with . . .

And I actually did tackle and tame it!

Now I just need to purchase more floss cards so I can wrap it (and it can stay relatively tidy).

I also picked up (when I ordered it online and it was sent to my po box and I had to go the post office to pick it up) some new Cosmo Seasons floss . . . some autumnal colors.

I do love these flosses!

In my last post I told you that Ellie requested a new stitchery and she specifically requested that it be a monkey, so I got that taken care of for her and delivered it Monday . . .

I couldn't find a suitable embroidery pattern, so I had to adapt a coloring page. She's very pleased with it and was happy to be told that it's made up of all back stitching. She told me, "I'm really good at back stitching, Neesey. It's my best stitch." You go, girl!

This is the time of year when I get the itch to work with golds and olives and plums and oranges.  I saw this darling pattern by floralsandfloss on etsy and decided I wanted to try my hand.

I love the look, but it's a little out of my wheelhouse ... very chunky and dimensional. I can't wait to see it finished!

I was going through one of the other estate sale cases ... the one with all the oriental prints?

I counted up the T blocks that were in it and found there were fifty-six (56!!!) of them. Fifty-six 6" blocks (finished).  

So I got on EQ to see what one could do with fifty-six T blocks . . .

EQ Mockup

With a seven block by eight block layout, add a couple of borders and you've got a nice looking little lap quilt finishing out at about 54" by 60".  I love it when a plan takes shape!

You may (or more likely may not) recall me mentioning some time ago that I have had a 'sugar' person.  Actually her name is Sharon and she had an etsy shop called Simply Baking Supplies which I absolutely loved.  She custom mixed a blend of sugar crystal colors for me which were perfect for autumn cookies and even into Christmas.  Plus, Ellie loved to sprinkle it on her popcorn!  I realized last week that I was running dangerously low on my blend and it was time for another refill (I'm a repeat customer).  That's when I realized Sharon had closed up her etsy shop.  Gasp! I shot her an email and we went back and forth for a bit.  She's very sweet and offered to mix my blend from her leftover stock for free, if I paid the postage. She also mentioned that she had some additional supplies if I was interested and I said, "Sure!" So I paid for postage for a medium flat rate box and look what arrived yesterday . . .

Is that amazing or what?!  Jocelyn, the girls and I are going to have a ton of fun playing with all the different sprinkles and jimmies and edible glitters and dusting powders!  It was so very generous of her ... I wanted to share my joy.  :)

I had another sweet win over the weekend. Diane Knott of Butterfly Threads had a giveaway on her blog. The winner got to pick one of her choice of Diane's pdf patterns, and I won! I picked the pattern Under the Mistletoe of which she shared the original at her trunk show when she spoke at our guild meeting last year.  

It's gorgeous and looks complicated but she's assured me that it's not! She's gearing up for a Celebration 2020 SAL on her blog right now and it looks like a lot of fun! You should check it out.

So that's what I've got.  We'll see what trouble I can get into this weekend.  ^wink^

Happy Hump Day!

:)

happy crazy busy . . .

The crazy busyness of the season continues ... and probably will right up until Christmas Eve evening! But it's happy crazy busy, which makes all the difference in the world, right?!  Wednesday evening Todd and I went to the staff Christmas party for Essential, the church where we're currently serving.

It was a very fun, laid back evening. Except for the 10 minutes we had in Target (where we went as a group to shop for our dirty Santa gifts).  That was hilarious!

Thursday lunch was the staff Christmas luncheon for my work (it was also my last day of work until January 6, 2020).  We met at a very nice restaurant and I forgot to get a picture. Silly me.  After lunch, I ran some errands, including running over to Patches and Stitches (our LQS) to check out metallic flosses for future snowflakes. I wanted some blues, purples, and iridescents. Here's what I came away with . . .

Aren't they yummy?!  They're Kreinik brand. And they make me anxious to finish the one so I can start another! LOL!  It's the story of my stitching life.

I had a couple of more things to take care of and then it was time for our guild meeting (where I did NOT forget to take photos). It was set up beautifully and we had a great crowd!

My mini stitcher's group (my affirmation sisters) were all there, so a trio selfie was in order!

It was a fun night with a fabulous spread of desserts, games, prizes, and camaraderie.  I ♥ guild.

Friday was Todd and my traditional Christmas vacation movie date day.  We went to see The Rise of Skywalker and it was excellent.  But kind of bittersweet, too, knowing it was the end of the franchise. We had lunch out and did a little Christmas shopping, then came home and I did some stitching and went through Christmas cookie recipes. I think these are what I'm going to make to take to Joc's house for Christmas Eve . . .

Chocolate Ganache-Filled Mint Thumbprint Cookies.  Only I'm going to color them pink and call them "Peppermint" Thumbprint cookies.  LOL! I've got some other baking to do as well, and I've got Monday and Tuesday set aside for that.

This afternoon I'll concentrate on some slow stitching. I've got a variety of things to choose from. I'm not quite finished my holly snowflake, but it's close . . .

So that's definitely an option.  I've also got labels to print, iron-on, and blanket stitch to each of the three Christmas quilts.  And then Saturday I got a wild notion to quilt this UFO from April, 2015.  

Good grief, right?!  LOL! I backed it with purple flannel, got it sandwiched and did some simple straight-in-the-ditch stitching in the center.  

And I'm hand-quilting unicorns and stars around the outside, in a very pretty rainbow thread. So I can work on that, too.  And I probably need to, because I hope to have it bound and ready to take with me to:

Yup, California, here I come!  And it looks like I'm bringing the sunshine with me.  Whoop, whoop! I can't wait to see my Panter crew! ♥

I'll leave you with this charming shot of my local girls, modeling for the Spring/Easter trunk show for Mary & Grace . . .

Aren't they beautiful?  They make my heart melt!

Linking up today with the Slow Sunday Stitching post at Kathy's Quilts.  Happy Sunday! 

And MERRY CHRISTMAS!

:)

a stitch in time . . .

I've really been caught up in hand embroidery of late.  Not sure what has me so enthralled, but I *like* it!  I thought I'd share a few finishes and progress.

I finished the stitching on this little secret project . . .

I'll fill you in later.  Hahaha!

I started and finished this acorn . . .

Stitched by me; pattern from Kathy Schmitz, One Stitch at a Time Embroidery Club

I love this cosmos variegated floss; it's so soft and pretty! I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do with this stitchery, but I'll figure out something.

The tea-dying was fabulous on my pumpkin piece. It's subtly mottled (so subtle you can hardly tell), and it's just perfect with the colors of floss I've chosen for stitching . . .

Stitched by me; pattern from Meg Hawkey, Crabapple Hill Studios

This is probably how I'll spend my slow stitching time today -- getting a good bit of stitching in with my extra hour! ;)

While I waited for the dye to take and then dry, I quickly traced out and stitched up this little honey:

Stitched by me; pattern from The Needle Crafter

I used a Valdani hand dyed variegated floss on this one. It was so cute in the hoop, I decided to finish it that way and now it's hanging in the RV! Can you tell I have a thing for acorns? Heh.

I have this wintry sampler traced out, ready and waiting in the wings . . .

Ready to be stitched by me; pattern from Kathy Schmitz, Snow Sampler

But I can't decide which floss to use for it! I'm kind of leaning towards the Cosmos variegated with the blues and purples, but I really liked the dark teal Kathy used in her sample design.  She's doing a stitch-along right now with it, in redwork!

And while I was perusing Kathy's website, I went ahead and signed up for her One Stitch at a Time monthly embroidery club.  My first pattern arrived on November 1 and look at what it was:

Kathy Schmitz, Tea for Two

How appropriate, right?!?!? Right up my tea-loving alley! Please note: this is a picture of Kathy's stitching, not mine!! (Credit where credit is due.)

And before I head out (will share the acorn tutorial Monday or Tuesday), I *have* to share pics of the grands!  We spent Halloween at my folks' house with the grandgirls . . .

And the California crew celebrated June's October 31 birthday with a reptile petting zoo coming to their house! Yikes!  Check out that SNAKE (it's real, not a fake prop) . . .

June (center) had a blast . . . sweet seven years old!  Love my grands!

Linking up today's post to Kathy's Quilts slow stitching post!

:)

time well spent . . .

The association I work for had its 182nd Annual Meeting last Tuesday.  It's a big deal for me and a lot of prep work and a long day . . . but we get the Wednesday and Thursday following the meeting off, giving me a long, five-day weekend.

And I made good use of that time!

Wednesday, I met Joc and the girls at Tate Farms for my annual pilgrimage to the pumpkin patch.  I didn't bring home a single pumpkin (can you believe it?!), but we spent an hour or so hanging out in the corn crib!

Literally. 

We all sat (or lay, as the case may be) in the corn crib for an hour and talked and played (and napped). Needless to say, I did bring home some corn, though not intentionally.  I think we all did! LOL!

I also spent quite a bit of time cleaning, organizing and making the Nook habitable (again).  It was bad.  I have 'before' pics but I daresn't show it!  However, I'm quite happy to share a couple of 'after' pics:

I work so much better when my space has, well, space!

One of my quilty birthday gifts was Creative Grids 8" hexagon trim tool.  I wanted it specifically to make these fabric trivets . . .

So easy to make and such fun! These will make good hostess gifts over the holiday season!

I also spent a couple of minutes finishing up my little squirrel embroidery--just a simple border and in-the-ditch quilting.  Not a great pic, I know . . . 

I'll get another one (cuz it's really cute) before I gift it.

I spent some $$ on Kathy Schmitz's website and picked up a couple of patterns. I've already finished up one (that's some secret stitching), and am ready to work on this cutie . . .

Isn't that fun?  My whole reason for going there was to get this darling new pattern:

It makes me SMILE!!  And while I was there, I signed up for her monthly One Stitch at a Time monthly embroidery club!  I adore her designs.  ♥

If you're working on new stitcheries, you've also got to have new floss . . .

It's almost as satisfying as new fabric!  And costs way less! 😆😏

And finally, while I was cleaning the Nook, I came across a bag of felt and templates for the poinsettia pins.

So I decided I start working on those, too.  Because they also make a sweet (and easy) hostess gift or "tag-a-long" for gifts. 

So, there I am.  Stitching pretty much daily.  I've still got the bicycle stitchery that needs to be finished, as does the secret stitching project.  I'll share pics of that after the fact!  Have a great week ahead!

:)

niggling projects . . .

So.  I stayed home sick on Thursday. But one can only stay in bed for so long, right? Anyway, even as cruddy as I felt, a little playing around with EPP pieces could only make me feel better, right?

So I kinda wasn't kidding. I really did play and play and play. Turtles, frogs, cheerleaders . . . they're all in there.  I mean, you can see 'em, right??  All that playing left me with a niggling idea for some orphan blocks and leftover fabric from a swap I did a couple of years ago.

So I made myself a kit.

I'm well on the way.

Because I needed a new project.  Right?

Right?!?

And even though I'm still not at 100%, I did have a lovely time with my grandgirls over the weekend. I'll share that part later -- they deserve a dedicated post!  LOL! And I didn't play a single April Fool's joke on anyone . . . except myself!  I shared this on Instagram yesterday, but it's so fitting, I thought I'd let y'all in on the laugh, too . . .

When you go into the quilt shop just to pick up a single skein of DMC floss, and you come out with all this in your bag, you know the April Fool's joke has been on you.

Linking up to Kathy's Quilts for some sloooow Sunday stitching today. Goodness knows I've got plenty of it to attend to, now!

Happy Sunday!

:)