excessive stitches . . .

I've got a couple of different hand-work projects in progress right now.  Because I can't focus on just ONE thing.  No, I have to have THREE things (or more) going on simultaneously. LOL!

In yesterday's post I talked about a dream quilt (literally, a quilt I designed in my dreams).  I (day)dreamed up another little piece ... a hexie mat.  I'd done one years ago for my mom (the pattern for it was in a magazine, but I don't remember which one--I blogged about here in 2012!) . . .

But I ran across some really cute teapot embroideries that I thought would be darling in a similar setting. They were from an older pattern called a Catnip Tea Party by Betty Alderman.  

It was a freebie I recently found on the AQS blog.  I printed out the templates and then reduced them by 70% so they'd fit in my hexies!

I'm trying something a little different with the hexie templates for this project (if you look closely at the hexie templates in blue, you might be able to figure it out) and I'll share more on that if my idea works out.

Anyway, I'm working away, stitching my hexie pieces together. 

Not sure what colors I'm going to use on the embroidery, yet -- maybe by Monday (I'm off for Veteran's Day), I'll be ready to start stitching on those.

I've also made some progress on my pumpkin . . .

I love this piece! (Though I haven't decided how I'm going to finish it out.) I'm waiting on a variegated floss I ordered to stitch up the leaves in the center which are unstitched. I want all of the center finished before I stitch the pumpkin outline, the leaf and stem.

Sometimes you just need to stitch Christmas stuff . . . 

I love these felt poinsettia pins!  These have been a go-to Christmas hostess gift for several years!  They are fairly straight forward and easy -- and you can keep them simple or glitz them up.  The pattern and tutorial can be found on the lil fish studios blog. I've shared them before, but it's worth repeating. Good stuff!

If you follow Mary Corbet of Needle 'n Thread on Instagram, you'll know she's been stitching up the most glorious snowflake embroideries!  I asked her about those and she told me they'd be available sometime around Thanksgiving.  I can't wait!

Linking up to Kathy's Quilts and her slow Sunday stitching post.  Happy Sunday!

:)

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!

:)

family traditions . . .

This time of year . . . what I like to refer to as the holiday season . . . seems to be a time of enjoying family traditions, or starting new ones, as the case may be, for a lot of folks. It's no different in my family. We enjoy reliving past Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings and introducing new family members (either by marriage or birth) to our 'ways'. But one of my absolute favorite NEW traditions (and I say new because it's just been the past five years) is the annual Merkel Santa photo.

Jocelyn and Jason take the girls, and with a gathering of their friends--and their friends' children--do the walking trail through the Galaxy of Lights at the Botanical Gardens. (Just FYI, I wait until we can drive through). And at the end of the trail, there's Santa Claus. And the children happily, even eagerly, climb in Santa's lap and share their list of Christmas wishes.

Well, all children but the Merkel children, that is.  Without further ado, I share our family's funniest tradition:

Ellie and Santa 2012

Ellie (with Sawyer) and Santa 2013
Love Sawyer's holding his ears!

Merkel Girls and Santa 2014

Merkel Girls and Santa 2015

Merkel Girls and Santa 2016

Oh gracious, I love these girls! And the Santa is precious -- I'm sure he's had years of practice. Maybe next year we'll have our happy, smiling picture?!?  Or maybe not . . .

It occurred to me this morning that I'd like to make some kind of special ornament for each of the grands.  Hmmmm.  I need to get busy on that. I didn't make a whole lot of poinsettia ornament progress -- I finished two big ones and one little one:

I do love these! I have two or three more cut out that will be a good, slow project for some Sunday afternoon stitching!

Ellie, on the other hand, made FORTY ornaments this past week (with the help of her mama). She crafted these darling little Christmas trees . . . and then sold them for $5 a piece.  She made this one especially for me (it has an extra bead on it, because she knows how much I love beads).

Her mama posted them on facebook and instagram, and Ellie's sold *all* of them. With her proceeds, she's going to go through one of the organizations that helps families in need in third world countries, and send goats and chickens and water wells.  Pretty smart thinking on the part of that mama, is what I'm thinking!  :)

The grandbabies (and their mommies and daddies) are all together in California this week . . .

Look how grown they all are!  The only one missing is Evey.  It may have only been 7 o'clock local time, but it was 9 o'clock Evey time!

My stash report remains an unchanged melody . . .

Same song, second (or twenty-second) verse. A little bit louder and a little bit worse!

I'll be linking up with Patchwork Times and Kathy's Quilts today.

Enjoy this beautiful day that the Lord has made; rejoice and be glad in it!

:)

insert clever title here . . .

It was another busy week, but different in several ways. Todd and I started Weight Watchers on Monday, and of course I had lunches scheduled for each of the working days and dinners for two of the nights! Yikes, right off the bat I was facing hurdles, but I handled it like a pro (and no cheating), though tomorrow morning's weigh in will determine just how well I handled it! At Judy's recommendation, I looked up Dr. Michael Vanderschleden's The Scientific Approach to Intermittent Fasting. The book is available for free on kindleunlimited, so I went ahead and borrowed it.  It's a fascinating read and debunks most of the food myths I've embraced for years. This week I've played around with fasting times and I think I've found a system that works.  Again, tomorrow's weigh in will tell!

We had Thursday off because we are closed on Friday, but we still get the Veteran's Day holiday.  I'll take it! Anyway, Miss Ellie came home with me Wednesday night for a sleepover. She loved her scarf of sparkly red, but informed me that it should have tassels . . .

Good enough!  Sawyer's did not have tassels, but since "he's a boy, he shouldn't have tassels." Ha! Thanks for that word of scarf fashion wisdom, Elle. She also had fun creating her breakfast masterpiece:

Though she was a little disappointed that I didn't have any blueberries (like I did last time). Note taken.

Friday was too windy to take the pontoon out, so Todd and I bummed around and ran errands. We went to PF Changs for lunch (where I'd looked up the entrees and knew we would be okay with points). Plus, veterans got a free entree when an additional entree was purchased, so I ate free! 

I got some fun squishies in the mail this week, too.  The first was from a "mug rug" swap I participated in. Dana doesn't blog, but we have enjoyed getting to know each other through emails. She sent me this pretty little mug rug:

Along with a parcel of fun goodies . . .

What a sweetheart Dana is!  Her package has been received, too, so I can show you the 'out-of-the-box' mug rug I sent her:

Very seasonal, I know, but I like changing out my mug rugs as much as I like changing out my hanging quilts for the seasons!

My second squishy came from Sarah and contained my 'houses' from the Hexie Birthday Swap!

Plus a couple of 'kites' from last year's swap -- and some happies from Sarah (who knows me so well)!! I will have fun playing with these! :)

My stash is silent . . . nothing in and nothing out.

Ugh. I know it's a matter of making time . . . perhaps as the days grow colder (if they do) and darker (which they are), I'll be able to sneak away more quilting time!

I did a quick inventory of my ornaments . . .

So far I've got sixteen, which is a little off course (I should have twenty-two), but it's a sight better than what I had last year at this time, which was ZERO! Today I'll do up a couple more poinsettias, both in the tiny size and the brooch size.

These are my go-to stitch-ups because they're so easy and I can make them so diverse with a change of color or button or size. Variety is the spice of life, right? These will be my sloooooow stitching this afternoon!

Aaaaah . . . and before I forget, last week I issued a challenge!  My favorite quote for this picture:

was Janet's, "Hands back in your pockets, guys!"  It made me LOL! Especially since Marilyn and I both look like we've been goosed!

And only a handful of folks got it right.  Jocelyn got us all together for a group picture on Evey's second birthday.  She then said, "Everybody say, "Evey's going to be a big sister!'" It took a couple of seconds for it to register, but Marilyn and I must have worked it out before the men, judging by the picture! I let the random number picker do the work and Mary's "You're pregnant?????" won the prize!  I'll send a happy little something to both Mary and Janet!

Linking up today to Patchwork Times and Kathy's Quilts!  Enjoy a beautiful day -- regardless of the weather!

:)

stash report and *so* much more . . .

This past week has been so busy . . . probably the busiest of the season so far!  And even though today has been busy too, it was good to stop and celebrate my favorite Sunday in Advent . . .

The Sunday of JOY!

My Stitcher, etc. Christmas party was Tuesday evening and that's where the nominal change in my stash report occurred.  (And can you believe we're at week 50?!?)

The bottom line didn't change, because there was an even exchange of fat quarters. We do an ornament exchange and the "wrapping" is a fat quarter of Christmas fabric.  Here's mine ready to go in Christmas plaid (with a bonus yo-yo candy cane ornament):

And here's the pretty fat quarter I received:

I also received a darling little teapot ornament from my darling friend Kari:

Isn't it sweet?!  I opted to 'spruce' up my tea corner with it, instead of putting it on the tree. This sweet little thing may stay out year 'round!

With regard to stash, thanks to all of you who share input on de-stashing.  I've got thirteen days over Christmas, and I have decided for sure to spend at *least* one of those in the Nook, sorting and reorganizing (and de-stashing)!

I had a little time to get in some handwork in spite of the busyness.  For example, the yo-yo candy cane ornie was finished, and I stitched up another wool tree . . . this one in pinks, white and red.

I think I like this one even better!!  The white and blue one I gifted to our hostess on Tuesday.

I also will be working on some more felt poinsettias.

I've always done these in regular craft felt, but I think they'd be pretty in wool felt. I may have to try one out. The hardest part of finishing these is trying to decide which button to use for the center! I'll probably do a little slow stitching on those to carry me through my Sunday evening!

Wednesday we had church and packed Lunches of Love, Thursday we had our MSC missionary Christmas dinner, Friday I finished wrapping anything that had come in late, boxed it all up and got all my out-of-town gifts in the mail!  Whoa!  Is this really me?!?  Ha!  Speaking of gifts for out-of-towners, we also got to do a little FaceTiming with this crew . . .

Their first California Christmas tree!

Sawyer and June were busy 'working' on colorings for us.

Liv was happy to blow kisses to Neesey and Pawpaw!

Saturday was an outing to Miss Mary Bobo's, in Lynchburg, Tennessee.  A group of ladies from Wears Chapel have now made this trip two years in a row!  

The food is always excellent, and it was fun to walk around the square of Lynchburg (home of Jack Daniels), too!

Then today, after church, I met Jocelyn, Ellie and Joc's mother-in-law, Marilyn, at the Von Braun Center for the matinee performance of The Nutcracker!

Ellie was really excited to see it again and told us her favorite part was the Mouse King!  She really was entranced with the ballet and watched through the whole thing quite intently!  I think this year was even more enchanting for her, because she's been taking ballet lessons!

And she was able again this year to wear the pretty little Nutcracker dress that I hand-embroidered the "E" on!  In another year or two, Everley will be able to wear it, too!

I'm linking up to Patchwork Times and Kathy's Quilts.  And I'm off to see what little stitches I can make before bedtime!

Have a fabulous week!

:)