Saturday Stitching

Today I am sharing a quick and easy finish for you.  I stitch a lot of small seasonal things, because basically I am a child who decorates for each holiday and I like to finish things. But I do not like to spend a lot of money on finishing unless it is a special piece.

I was strolling through Target this morning and came upon this in the Dollar Spot.

I looked it over and noticed the pumpkins stick out from the frame. In other words, you could slip something down inside.

It was only $3.

I immediately thought of this stitch...

Also in the dollar spot I found some sticky backed vinyl.

Lately I have been using sticky backed felt and vinyl to put on the back of small pieces to keep from having to fold and miter corners. I know...lazy but this looks much neater and as I said, this is not a piece that will be treasured forever.

I ironed my stitch, placed the vinyl on the back and cut it to fit the frame.  I had to do a bit of trimming to get it to fit perfectly.

I did take some burnt umber and dry rubbed it over the pumpkins to make them less shiny. It is personal preference. It would have been fine as it was but as my stitch is rather rustic  I thought the pumpkins needed to be rustic too. ( Oops Jack o Lanterns!) I used some black pom pom for edging and for a final touch I glued the felt bat in the corner. You can find a package of bats, owls and jacks for one dollar per pack at The Dollar Tree.  This design is Hocus Pocus Halloween by Heart in Hand.

I have it displayed on my kitchen hutch for now.

I also finished a Christmas Ornament for myself.

I am not sure how I will FFO this one. It is Christmas Eve by Hands on Design. I took a page from Priscilla Blain's book and made the church red instead of aqua as charted.  If you need some inspiration on finishing Christmas ornaments, check out  Just Stitching Inc. On You Tube from last Sunday. Shelley shared a lot of cute Lizzie Kate ornaments.  I am going to have to use some of those good ideas in finishing. Thanks to the professional finishers who are glad to share their ideas with the stitching community.

And finally....

I moved my empty dough bowl to the bedroom and just tossed in a few random small stitches. I will add some fall greenery eventually but I though it was cute for a last minute design.

Several people have contacted me about designs they are looking for and it has been fun to play Sleuth.  Here are a few places you might find those unicorn charts. ETSY often had old charts. I have found a few Prairie Schoolers there that were out of print. EBAY....usually Ebay prices are higher than ETSY but it is worth a shot. Stash Unload is a Facebook group you must join to access but you never know what you will find there. To be honest, I left that group because it was just too tempting.:) Hope this helps you ladies who are looking for an elusive chart.

Marvin and  I are headed to the Gulf next week so I am just going to say that posting will be sproradic. I want to take this time to relax, read and stitch. I will have my laptop with me so I will be reading and commenting on your blogs while at the beach.  Have a wonderful week Friends.

Friday Five

1. Yankee Candles Fall Scents

I saw these at Cracker Barrel but I resisted as there is a Yankee Candle Outlet in Foley Alabama where we will be visiting next week. There is also a Krispy Kreme in Foley near the outlet mall. Dont ask me how I know!

2. Cards

The pretty pink card in the middle is from my friend, Linda. She never forgets a special occassion. Her picture should be in the dictionary where it defines a life long friend.

3. Beach Reads

I picked up these two books to take to the beach. I also have Before We Were Yours that I picked up at the Library book store. I hate to take Library books to the beach because I do not want to lose a book or damage a book.

4. My Favorite Pumpkin

I was up in my craft room and spotted Mr White Pumpkin looking all forlorn. So I brought him downstairs He is resting on a pedestal I found for $3 at Hobby Lobby when they had their big clearance on home goods. I added a candle ring around the bottom of the pumpkin to add some fall color.

5. Big Bubba

A good sale price at Publix on a Yeti look alike. I have become addicted to these insulated cups as they keep everything hot or cold for a LONG time.

More from the Apple Orchard

Charles and Nancy got the rest of their photos from their family photo shoot at the Orchard. So I am going to share them too because....Well I am a Nana.

The whole family.

I love this natural laugh!

Bubba and Sissy.

I love this one...to me it says, "Come on over here and give me some sugar." That little half smile is precious.

Hope this post encourages you to eat an apple today to keep these beautiful orchards in business.

The Stream

   This morning I am thinking of all the people who perished on 9-11. Truly it was the scariest day I have experienced in my 64 years of life. Take a moment to say a prayer for the families who lost their loved ones on September 11, 2001. Never Forget.

1 Back to the Chick Fil A Mac and Cheese. I guess I am in the minority here as most people just love the dish from our favorite chicken eatery. I prefer Panera's myself.Do a taste test and let me know!

2. Have you ever had a stretching year? I feel this has been one for me. I have had several hurts lately that make me want to lash back and defend myself.  But God is telling me NO so I am trying to be patient and let HIM orchestrate the endings that will bring Him Glory. How easily we are offended....well I sometimes am. I tend to have a tender heart ( My children would debate that.:)) But I do hate to cause anyone pain. I want to be the first to apologize even when I feel I was not in the wrong. What is all boils down to is pride. I could use a bit more humbleness and God is giving me opportunities to practice that fruit of the spirit. Is is easy? No I have to make a decision every day to keep my mouth shut and carry on.  Confrontation has never been my style but somedays I wish it was!! I remember the movie You've Got Mail where Kathleen could never remember a clever come back for Joe Fox. He told her that when you do zing someone yo have an instant regret That is so true. Better to just keep silent.  So if you have any extra prayers today, say a few for me.

3. I had to run to Hobby Lobby for some white DMC...how I ran out of that I do not know. I have been doing a lot of Christmas stitching that involves snow so I guess that answers that question.  Kroger is next door to Hobby Lobby and they had a huge pile of Pumpkins for sale. It was my first pumpkin sighting for this season. They are so cheery, you cannot help but smile when you see them.

4.One bright spot on the horizon is a trip to Gulf Shores on the 13th. It is truly our happy place. In a perfect world I would have a little condo at the beach and just travel from mountains to Alabama to Gulf Shores.Fingers crossed there will be no hurricanes in the Gulf that week.

5. If you want a good description of what it is like to live in Alabama aka Tornado Alley, read the Book, What Stands in a Storm by Kim Cross. It is a story of the super cell outbreak that raked Alabama in April 2011. While we had not physical damage here, our major power grid was wiped out an we were without electricity for five days. We faired much better than most so I am not complaining. Fortunately we had a Gas Hot Water heater and we were able to bathe comfortably.

6. I received my Fall Mrs Meyers Scents and I have to say that Acorn Fig is my favorite. It reminds me of an old Aromatique Fall Scent called Peppercorn. One of my all time favorites with Smell of Christmas coming in a close second. I seldom see Aromatique items any moe but they were popular in the 1990s.

Well that is about all that is rolling around in my head this morning. Hope you all have a good week.

Cracker Barrel Ornaments

I was at Cracker Barrel having breakfast with the girls when I took a stroll around the store to check out all the Christmas ornaments. I have found to my regret, if I do not purchase them early, they march out with door with someone else.

Christmas Cookies.

These reminded me of Marshmallow World.

What a cheery snowman with a REAL scarf.

Know a dog lover?

Thought of my brother in law, Farmer Bruce, when I saw this one.

Cardinals are my NC friend, Sharon's favorites.

Campers were in abundance as well.

And the beanie boos reminded me of my Margaret...

I may need that sequined reindeer for under my tree!!

And I hav to share the gingerbread house that Cracker Barrel does each year.

I own one of these and they are done so well. I was thinking this one might be cute at Grimmwood.

Hope you enjoyed a walk in this winter wonderland. Even though it is still in the 90s here....fall will come and then Christmas before we know it.

I Won a Giveaway from Stitching Friends Forever!

RJ and Mary are best friends who stitch and blog. You can find their blog at Stitching Friends Forever.  I have come to think of both of these ladies as dear friends even though we have never met. We email each other about our stitching and we are faithful blog buddies.

On Thursday afternoon I felt as though Santa had come early to Nanaland. What a box full of goodies arrived on my doorstep.

 A very large project bag...who can't use one of those? Along with assorted charts, a beautiful graphic of a sewing machine and a lovely card that will go in my journal to remind me of this special gift. I save all my blog correspondence. It means a lot to me.

 A large sled and a cute notepad for my purse.  I told the gals that I did a lot of sleds last year for the grands but I did not do one for myself so now I have the perforated paper and a chart so this year a sled will adorn my tree.

 Needle minder....charms, trim and look at this scissors. I will not be looking everywhere for my scissors. This cute pair will be easy to find.

Just lovely and look at that big spool. I am a spool lover. So when the trim is gone, this will be used for a finishing piece.

A cute tin that could hold a gift card but I am going to use it to hold my charms that RJ and Mary sent to me.

I had been searching for some fabric to finish my Hocus Pocus Halloween. Now  I need search no more.

Ladies you went above and beyond in your generosity and I will treasure all these goodies. Thank you just doesn't seem to be enough but Thank You from the bottom of my heart.

Saturday Stitching

Good Morning Stitchy Friends!!

First of all let me congratulate Georgia, who is the winner of the Giveaway. She will receive Horse Country Christmas and the Market Release Cookbook featuring recipes from many designers we know and love. Georgia if you will email me at agrimm55@hotmail.com with your snail mail address I will put it in the mail on Monday. Thanks to all who commented. One of my long time readers Mrs T mentioned that she has a lot of old charts and magazines. If there is a chart or magazine you are looking for email me and I will contact her for you. Stitchers are such generous people.

I did finish Marshmallow World but decided to cut the motif short as the ornament would have been huge unless I was stitching on 40 count and we all know that aint happening.:)

And look at this finishing fabric I purchased from Fat Quarter Shop.

Either of these prints will be nice with Marshmallow World.  I am doing a cute pink and purple ornament for Audrey and I am thinking the cupcake print will be perfect with that one. Fat Quarter Shop has so many pretty fabrics and they will sell in smaller amounts so that is perfect for us stitchers.

Hocus Pocus Halloween by Heart in Hand...Maybe I will have this one finished by next Saturday. I have been doing some of these smaller pieces as refrigerator magnets. A good way to display a seasonal small.

One of my favorite stitchers, Meg, at Live to Stitch, emailed me this week and we were chatting about our favorite things to stitch and both of us love villages. We are also Prairie Schooler fans.  I was telling her about my wall of villages and I sent her a picture of it. I thought I would share here as well.

I love the Christmas village at the bottom so much that I keep it out all year.  I think it looks great against the cinnamon colored wall.

I was the lucky winner of the Stitching Friends Forever Yearly Giveaway. Come back on Monday to see all the wonderful goodies I received. I was having a bad day and this totally lifted my spirits. Thanks so much RJ and Mary.