Saturday Stitching

 Wow, I had a lot of stitching and finishing this week. First I want to answer a question from my regular reader, Terri in Lakeland, FL. She wanted to know what an ORT Bag was....

Terri, this handy dandy bag sits on the arm of your stitching chair and holds the tiny bits of floss, called ORTs, that you snip off of your stitching. I used to just pile mine up on the arm of the chair before I found one of these. I was just thinking that this would be handy for people who like to eat peanuts, put those hulls right in the bag...or candy wrappers or....OK, I am getting silly now!!

I did an FFO on the exchange piece I am doing for North Alabama Stitchers. They are to be mailed the week of the 19th of November so WHEW, I have time to find a few goodies to add to the box when I mail it off to the recipient.

This is an old Heart in Hand Design but it meets the criteria of a small piece about Thankfulness. My stitchy friend, Robin in Virginia, says she did this for an exchange some years back. 

This week I worked on finishing some Christmas ornaments. I will say I am not perfect at it. I look at other stitchers finishes and wish I was as detail oriented as they seem to be. And it is messy. Check this out.

I get out all my stitched pieces, fabric for backing, embellishments, interfacing and batting to name a few things.

I have found two things that are very helpful..

.These are silicon thimbles I purchased from Tonya's Sewing Room on ETSY. I do not use them for sewing but I use them to keep from burning the fingerprints off my fingers when using a glue gun. These are perfect for putting on a finger to hold the piece in place until the hot glue sets. The glue will peel right off these thimbles and you are ready to craft again. I wish they made a silicon glove that was easy to maneuver in when crafting.

I also purchased some sequin pins at Hobby Lobby.

These short pins are perfect for using to pin and lace a piece of needlework.

One more hint...

These small signs are perfect to use as bases for ornaments. I took the wire hangers off the be grateful sings so use them more easily. Just a snip with a wire cutter and they are gone. Hobby Lobby has all their ornaments on sale this week for 50% off so stock up!

On to the finishing.

This is a modified Brenda Gervais piece.  Who doesn't love a red house and a cardinal?

An Erica Michaels piece. This is a gift but I am working on Mistletoe Kisses and Candy Cane wishes for myself.  Did you know that you can peel the ribbons off these little candy canes from HL? I thought I would give it a try as the ribbon that is on the cane makes it impossible to put the candies back to back. I saved one ribbon and glued it on the bottom of the two candy canes. I added a snowflake for the base to give it some color....those can be found at Dollar Trees

Now the one that gave me fits. It is going on my tree so I am okay with it but it reinforced my hatred of borders. Never again....

Rack Stack by Plum Street. I fiddled with this for an hour trying to make it perfect. Part of it is the border and part of it is my inability to cut foam core straight. If I had left off the border it would have been perfect. Lesson Learned. Plus the stinking border was not really necessary anyway!! I mounted this on one of the little signs I purchased at HL.

Here is one that I think is my favorite.

I used some antique buttons from the button jar I purchased at Yesteryears in Tennga, GA. 

And finally one for my neighbors as we share desserts all the time.

This one is showing up more red than it is in person. The bowls and the cookies are pink.  Country Cottage Needleworks is the designer.

If you are looking for a good tutorial on finishing, check out Live to Stitch, September 5, 2019. ( Apparently I also stink at adding links....sorry Meg) Anyway, you can find Meg on my blog roll. I miter my corner's like Priscilla Blain, but where she advises using hot glue to perfect the corners, I use Meg's whip stitching method. It saves my fingers,it looks neater and it truly pulls those corners tight. I must admit that sometimes I get carried away and pull too tight....so just be careful.:)

I will be doing more finishing today so look for more ornaments next Saturday.

Happy Stitching.

Friday Five

 1. Instagram   I have recently been using Instagram to keep a collection of photos of my finished Cross Stitch Pieces. Now when I want to show someone a photograph of a completed stitch, I can quickly find it on Instagram instead of scrolling through pics on my phone. This also allows me to keep my phone storage at a minimum. 

2. Ornament from Eddie's. Some of you wanted to know what I purchased at Eddie's. I got his menorah  as I like to think of the Jewish roots of Christianity.

3. Another ORT bag for Grimmwood. I had been on the lookout for another one of these to take to Grimmwood but they are hard to come by at Hobby Lobby.  I had a lucky find yesterday.

4. Pumpkin Pie Essential Oil. I have been diffusing this fall oil in my living room and it smells so good. I add a bit of orange oil to it and it smells like Thanksgiving Morning.

5. Needle Threader It has become harder and harder for me to see to thread my needle. Hoping this cuts down on the time I spend licking and poking that thread into the eye of the needle.

The Stream

 The Stream is very shallow today friends. Sorry!!

1. I am having a bit of writers block this morning. Nothing really important comes to my mind to share with yall.

2. Marvin had a nice birthday. He heard from all the children and grandchildren. Amelia came by while Ben and Charles face timed their dad.  Elliott showed off his reading skills. He is one of the most charming children. He makes us laugh a lot.

3. Amelia and her family went over to Grimmwood for the weekend. She posted some lovely pictures of Fort Mountain. The kids were very happy to see that their GREAT Aunt Leta had left a big stash of snacks for them.  Nana did fill the candy jar for them but apparently Aunt Leta beat me out on this one.

4. I sent out cards to all the out of town grands with a little Halloween treat money tucked inside. We do a lot for Kendall and Landon as they are here in town so I like to try to make up a bit for that on special days. Aunt Mimi sent all the nieces and nephews Donut gift cards. Dunkin Donuts for the Canton Grimmlins and Krispy Kreme for the Bham Bunch. 

5. I went to a local gift shop today and picked up some ribbons for the top of my Christmas tree. We have a smaller tree and I thought I needed a smaller scale topper to keep things in the correct size range.

6. Have you made your Christmas list yet? I sat down in my cozy chair the other day and made a list of ALL the Gifts I need to get...birthdays and Christmas. I need a list these days to keep up with things. I also need to be looking for Christmas cards. I used to send personalized cards but now that most people see my grands on the blog or on Facebook, I have gone back to a more traditional Christmas card. I usually get mine at TJ Maxx or Tuesday Morning. 

Sorry this post is short and sweet. Hope all of you are doing well and enjoying the beauty of fall.

The Grandest

 I have some new pictures of the grands. First off I want to give a big shout out to Granddaughter, Margaret, who won The Golden Rule Award at her school for this semester. It is given to students who make kindness a priority. As Katy put it, she won this award at a difficult time, moving to a new school and making new friends. So proud of our sweet gal.

 And here is Elliott, out helping Mom collect sticks for the fire pit.

Landon will be turning 12 this month so the Roberts fam went out for pizza so he could celebrate with Hampton and Hudson.

Todd took the kids on a hayride.

If you look carefully you can see Hampton over Landon's shoulder.:)

Mom caught Kendall in spite of the HAND!

Meanwhile in Canton, Charles did not hear the kids and thought he had better go check on them.

Every now and then it is nice to find the siblings enjoying each other. We all know what we may find when it gets too quiet in a toddler household.

And a Big Happy Birthday to Marvin....He still looks this dapper at 69! If only I could get him to wear a bow tie again!

Thanks for letting Nana brag this morning!!

Saturday Stitching

Throwback to one of the first Prairie Schooler finishes I attempted after watching the first Priscilla and Chelsea video. I have progressed with those corners since then...thanks to some helpful hints from Meg at Live to Stitch. 

I finished up this small for an exchange. We were to stitch a small that featured gratitude for November the month of Thanksgiving.  I need to get it fully finished and packaged to mail by November 2nd. This is an oldie but goodie. My exchange partner said that she liked primitive things. 

Riley's Harbor

I finished the  row of houses on the top right.  Just two more rows of houses and I will be done. 

My skeins of Rain Shower came in and I am busy finishing up this dress.  Just need to add the hill of grass at the bottom of the chart and this one will be ready for an FFO.

Haul

I ordered the paper chart of Up on the Housetop but I doubt I will stitch it this year. I am still recovering from Trick or Treat. My vlog friend, Shelley at KeyXstitch on Floss tube stitched the gingerbread house and people and I just had to have that one. She stitched hers on a dark blue and it was too cute.  So I got on The Stitching Housewives ETSY shop and ordered the download. Oh my goodness, it is very dangerous when I can order a chart, print it and have it in my stitching bag in a matter of minutes. 

Happy Stitching Friends! 

 

Christmas at Eddie's( NO, not THAT Eddie!)

 When we think of Eddie and Christmas most of us think of Cousin Eddie of Christmas Vacation fame. But the Eddie I went to see owns Eddie's Florsit in Henegar, Alabama.  My sister, Leta, had visited Eddie's last year and she told me I needed to see it to believe it.  I was skeptical....Henegar, Alabama is not exactly a shopping mecca. It is basically a stop on the way from Scottsboro to Mentone.  But yesterday on our way home from Grimmwood we decided to stop and check it out. It was so good that I decided to override Friday Five today and feature Eddie instead. 

I did take off my mask for the picture....sorry that I had on no lipstick. ( Pandemic Problems)

This little shop looks very deceptive on the outside.

But when you step in the door it is a Winter Wonderland. There were people there from all over the south....one lady was visiting from Branson MO.  It is a bit overwhelming. Marvin and I walked through several times and saw something new each time. Please click on the pictures to see the ornaments and decoration up close. 

All kinds of baking ornaments...even pieces of toast and peanut butter bread to use as props in a Christmas kitchen. 

The Disney Fan tree.

Sesame Street.

This tableau greets you as you enter the store.

A beautiful creche.

This would be Audrey's favorite tree....Frozen.

Another Nativity scene.

All kinds of garland and picks to decorate your tree.

A Purple Tree would be friend, Susan's favorite.

Cheerleader pompom tree.

Barbie and princess tree.

Harry Potter.

Alabama shelves....

I really liked the picks on this tree. 

An Autism Tree.

Another pretty vignette. 

Even Marvin who is usually playing the role of the Grinch, enjoyed seeing everything in this great store. We had a chance to chat with Eddie and he was so gracious and told us how he brings this to life each year. They start receiving their merchandise in June but this year it was delayed due to Covid. For the first time ever, he closed the store for one week and his elves( workers and volunteers) went to work to decorate  the trees. He changes the trees yearly as he wants his store to have new things each year to bring in the customers. And a bonus of Eddie's store is that there was no music playing....at least on our visit. I found that refreshing as it allowed us to really look at everything without being distracted.

So if you are in this area, this is worth the trip. Feeling like the Grinch yourself? Take a trip to Eddies!!

Here and There

 We got our ceiling repaired in the kitchen where the old fluorescent light was and you cannot even tell there was ever a hole there. Thanks to Frankie Diaz for his great job repairing the ceiling and giving it a coat of paint. He and his brother painted our ceiling as well as Marvin's man cave. Again, a wonderful experience as they arrived on time, did their work and were done by 5:30.  We chose Sherwin Williams Lattice for the man cave.

It is a cool gray that has a lot of blue in it and Marvin loves blue so we are very happy with the results. I first saw this color at a friend's house and I had to know where I could find it when it was time to choose a color of paint for my home.  It is hard to get a good picture of the man cave that really shows off this color. It is a big improvement on Builder Beige. With the new LEDs and the new paint, the upstairs is looking spiffy. 

This was made before we moved all the furniture back in place and hung up the art. I am going to change some of the locations of pictures etc. Marvin said he is ready for a change so some of his Retirement memorabilia is going into the attic storage room. It is where I hang all my out of season cross stitch and other things that we have grown tired of but we are not ready to make a decision on getting rid of it entirely. 

Meanwhile at Grimmwood...the colors they are a changing. Thanks to my sister, Kristi, for these shots.

We will be visiting there as you are reading this post. Last year we missed most of the color there....fall is busy here in Decatur and with picking up the kids at school we cannot go as often as we did in the summer.