Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother's house we go!

** I dedicate this post to Mary , Quilt Hollow , with whom I share an inside joke about stitching! Big waves to you Mary! "**

Greetings all! ~ I hope you all are having a wonderful week so far. I know most of you must be getting ready for all of the hustle and bustle the season brings. I am amazed at how many people I have heard that has already gotten their Christmas shopping done! Now , there's some busy beavers for you! I have yet to start mine!

Though I haven't gotten any Christmas shopping done, doesn't mean the smell of evergreen, fresh baked cookies and a sloo of things to add to the Yuletide fare, have not entered my brain. Those thoughts have been really heavy on my brain. Those that were readers of my blog last year may recall that I had simple gift ideas posted on Fridays. Though I would love to do that again this year, I just simply don't have the time. I am not good at labeling my posts, but if you go to my posts in the archives from this time last year, you'll find them. I also have another blog that I will be adding to the top of my sidebar for ideas for the season.

Ok, so now on to what's been keeping me on my toes. First up I absolutely fell in love with a new design by Brenda Gervais of With Thy Needle and Thread titled "Sweeping Snowflakes". That little snowman is just the cutest! It is the second design in her broom series. Though I wanted to stitch it so bad as a band for a wisk broom ( I even picked one up) I simply can not see to stitch over one very well anymore. I opted to stitch over two which made it much bigger, too big for the broom. I must now come up with another idea to finish it off. I have one or two , so I 'll do some thinkin' and see what I come up with.

Here he is in all his cuteness!!!

Next, I have really been wanting some new Christmas decorating accessories . In my last post I showed some fabric I'd been squirreling away and I fianlly found the projects I wanted to do with some of it. I pieced a table runner . It is from the book I showed the other day, "Cardinal Season" from Gathering Friends. It's called 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. This worked up so quickly. Cutting and sewing I think was about two hours. Probably less, but I had to take time out to make coffee, and put wash in and take it out of the dryer. You know those pesky things called household chores? LOL . I still have to layer, baste, and quilt it but I will be doing it on the machine and it should go fairly quick.

Here is a companion piece. It is called Sweet Inspiration , from the same book. It can either be a table topper or a tree skirt. I will transform it into a tree skirt. After I have it all quilted and before adding the binding, I will cut into one side , then a hole in the center and bind. YIKES! The cutting is making me nervous! It will match our new tree nicely!

I also pulled out the Pinion Pines blocks from last year to work on this weekend. Did I ever get around to piecing on it? Nope! As you can see above, I had too many other irons in the fire!

I did manage to pull off Mexican Casserole for dinner Sunday night. It was a nice treat after being so busy on the weekend!

Well, this will be the only post this week as we will be heading down tomorrow to my mother-in-law's house for a few days. I hope YOU ALL have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving that will be remembered for years to come!

'til next time,

don't be a stranger,

Sharlotte

The thoughts are churning.....

Greetings dear friends and blogging buddies! ~ Brrr, it's getting cold here! Ok, granted , I'm not out in the deer woods where it would be even colder , especially since it's been raining here. The temps have dropped quite a bit here though. This morning it is 35 degrees and last Thursday it was in the 70's. No wonder I am starting to get scratchy throat!

Well, I have been doing lots of pondering on what to do for Christmas. How to decorate this year and what projects I want to work on. Then a light bulb went off in my head and I remembered that I had stitched up a BBD stocking this summer from the December stocking book. So I went searching for it to finish into a stocking. But then .... what fabric do I use for the back? Did I already have something suitable or do I need to go shopping. Well the breaks came to a screeching halt on a shopping trip when another light bulb went off. I remembered that my sister had just given me some fabric and in it was some Christmas fabric. But again, would it be suitable? So I went searching for the bag and found it. Bingo! It was just perfect! So here is the stocking and that is the print that I used for the back.

I also decided last week that I needed to pull the flannel quilt out again that I was working on last winter for my son's bed. For those that didn't see it last year, here it is again.




Now I have been trying to come up with something to do with this fabric that I have held on to for the past few years. I decided that THIS was the year it would get transformed into something. Just got to do some more thinking on this!

I am considering a project from the book below for the fabric above. The book is Cardinal Season by Gathering Friends. I just love their pattern books. Those two are geniuses !

I will spend part of the day trying to plot and plan what else I can come up with! LOL . I also have a couple of pieces that I have been stitching on as well. I hope I will get it all done!

Thanks so much for stopping by and for all of your wonderful comments!

'til next time,

don't be a stranger,

Sharlotte

We have a winner!!!

Hello all! ~ Just a quick note to announce the winner of the Bent Creek chart Gobble. The winner is April Mechelle!! Please send me your address via email as soon as possible!

I have been doing a little planning for Christmas decorating and stitching and I plan on showing some of that sometime before the week gets totally away from me!

Stay tuned for some more giveaways!

Hope you all have a great day! Thanks for visiting!

'til next time,

don't be a stranger,

Sharlotte

Holiday finishes...and a giveaway!

Greetings all!~ I hope everyone is doing well. My, we are having some wacky tempertures here in the Ozark Mountains! Cold at night with temps in the 30's and 40's, and warm during the day with temps in the 70's. I fear I am going to catch a cold from this! I feeling better than I was the other day though.

To answer a question from the other day about the quilting. The Turkey is a banner that will go on the wall. I still need to hang it as I still have not gotten a dowl rod for it.

The last couple of days I have been finishing up some projects and can now get them framed this weekend. First up is Gobble from Bent Creek. I have stitched it using the recommended threads and I stitched it on 32 ct. Country French Latte' linen. I think it turned out nice.

Next up is Long Winter , also Bent Creek. I used the recommends threads on this as well. It is stitched on 32 ct. Lambswool linen. I wanted to use the called for Mount Vernon Mist but couldn't find it anywhere. The lambswool isn't too bad though.

Well , so on to the giveaway. That will be the chart for Gobble. If you are interested in a chance to win the chart, just leave a comment on this post only. I will draw a name .... let's say ... on Wednesday. That should give everyone a chance to enter that wants to.

I have tons to do today so I gotta get crackin'! Hope you all have a great weekend! Thanks for the visit and come again real soon!

'til next time,

don't be a stranger,

Sharlotte

Dancing with a turkey!

Greetings dear friends and blogging buddies!~ I hope you all are doing well today! I on the other hand, am starting to feel like I am coming down with something. I sure hope not, but it feels like it!

I did a little baking yesterday . Nothing elaborate. Just in the mood for something so I decided to make a German Chocolate cake. I had to substitute the icing as the store was out of the typical icing for that sort of cake. I used caramel and then sprinkled cocunt on top.

I am doing a little happy dance with my turkey! I finished him up last night and I really like the way he turned out.

I'm sure you can't tell well in the picture, but I used a different red for his wattle than what I did for his tail feathers. It has black in it and was more appropriate.

Well friends, that's it for today. Thanks for stopping by! And to all of my new followers. if you have a blog that you would like for me to follow , just post a link in the comments. Hope you all have a great day!

'til next time,

don't be a stranger,

Sharlotte

Giveaway winner!!!

Greetings dear friends and blogging buddies!~ I am back to shar with you all the name of the winner of the Bushel & A Peck chart. The winner is....drum roll.... FAYE of Carolina Stitcher! Congratulations Faye! I will get this out to you shortly! Now for the rest of you who entered, have no fear. I am culling out my charts and there will be more to come for giveaways. Want to know just when ? Well, stay tuned and you'll find out! :)

I got the Gobble Gobble Turkey Banner, pieced, quilted , and now it is just ready for the binding. I hope to finish that up today. While we are on the subject of gobbling... there were a few that guessed my mystery piece that I am working on. Yes, my fellow gobblers... it is indeed Gobble from Bent Creek. I did work some on it this weekend, but I spent the majority of the time working on the turkey banner, shopping for jeans for the boy , who is trying like the dickens NOT to stay in his clothes longer than a couple of months at a time. Boy those teens can grow fast! We also spent some time at a new location for a grocery store that we have in town. Way ot busy in there right now. We also went shopping for a new Christmas tree. I know you are probably all gasping at how could a buy a fake tree! Well, see, I get really tired of running those pine needles in my feet all year. Why IS it that they stick in the carpet so bad? We found a tree. It's a little different , but it's pre-lit and we like it.

Well folks, I will go and let you all get back to your lives as usual. Hope this week brings you some joy to brighten your days!

'til next time,

don't be a stranger,

Sharlotte

A new blog on the block!

Hey kiddos! There is a new blog on the block that I just had to let you all know about. It belongs to Miss Catherine. Many of you know her by her comments she leaves on your blogs. Some of us have gotten to know her a little more through emails we exchange. You must go check it out and become a follower because I just know she'll have wonderful things to share!

Have a great rest of the week everyone!
Sharlotte

New Projects and an Exchange

Greetings dear friends and blogging buddies! ~ I can almost hear you all from here saying that you can hardly believe that I have posted almost everyday this week! I'm surprised myself. Isn't it amazing what little things that happen in life can really change how much time you have for something? Well , at any rate, I'm glad you all stopped by today and will stick around a little while to see what's going on in my world today.:)

I received a wonderful exchange this week from Melissa. We were in a Fall Exchange. She stitched an awesome piece and turned it into a lid for a basket. I think the design is a JBW one. Anyone know for sure what this one is? Then as an act of kindness she sent some Ghiradelli chocolate, a little pumpkin figure, a pair of black and white stork embroidery scissors, a couple of fall colored fat quarters, and a cute little pumpkin plant pick. I enjoy it ALL Melissa, thank you very much!

Ok, I mentioned that I was going to be starting another project yesterday. I began stitching and this was as far as I got.

I didn't take a picture of the chart, so I thought I would leave you all guessing on what I am stitching. Anyone know???




I used to have a subscription to McCall's Quilting Quick Quilts. I just love the little sseasonal banners by Pat Sloan that they always publish. This particular one of this little turkey, I have wanted to sew up ever since it came out. Well, that was 11 years ago, and I am FINALLY going to make it this year.

Here are the fabrics I purchased for it. I put them in the wash and now they are just ready for me to get my hands on my rotary cutter and get cutting!

Here's a couple of the fabrics upclose.

I hope you all stay tuned for how these two projects turn out. If you want to sign up for the drawing for the Bushel & A Peck chart from yesterday, be sure and do so before Monday morning as I will be drawing the name then. Thanks so much for stoppimg by today!

'til next time,

don't be a stranger,

Sharlotte

A Bushel & A Peck Finish and a giveaway!

Greetings dear friends and blogging buddies!~ Well , as promised yesterday, here is the Bushel & A Peck all finished! So without further ado....

I really enjoyed stitching this ! I also enjoyed hearing all the stories from some of you of what this little ditty of a song meant to you. I figure with that in mind, and the fact that I received it as an act of kindness, I would pass it on to one of you. So , here goes....if you are interested in being included in the drawing for this chart, just leave a comment on this post . Then on Monday, Nov.8, I will post a winner. Pretty simple I think.

Yesterday I received a wonderful exchange in the mail, which I will share more on tomorrow. Gotta have a subject to post about you know. *wink* I may even have a picture of a new piece that I will be starting today!

Well, thanks all for your visit today and for the wonderful comments! Please come back and visit again soon! Oh, and don't forget to sign up for the drawing! Good luck!

'til next time,

don't be a stranger,

Sharlotte

Fall Exchange

Greetings dear friends and blogging buddies!~ I learned yesterday that my partner, Marie W., I stitched for in the HOE/HOE II Fall Exchange had recieved her stitched piece. I stitched Turkey Flatbed from Bent Creek on natural linen, and used a cube finish. This was the first time I had used this finish and I hope I did it correctly as I was just guessing! LOL I really like the way it turned out and may have to do this one for myself.

I am planning on being back tomorrow to show my progress/ possible finish of Bushel & A Peck that I have been working on.

Thank you so much for all of your visits, comments, and emails. I appreciate them so much! :)

'til next time,

don't be a stranger,

Sharlotte

Jolly Santas

Greetings dear friends and blogging buddies! ~ Well , here is another quick little post from me to show that I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth! Been busy with a party we had this past Friday and then of course I was doing more knitting. With that out of the way for a little while , I have had some time for stitching. I have worked quite a bit on Bushel & A Peck , but I was also in the mood to do some Christmas stitching.

Up first is re-post of a piece from last year. I am re-posting it as I have a lot more followers this year that haven't yet seen it. It is Lizzie*Kate's Just Be Claus.

This next one is one that I just finished. It is another one of Lizzie*Kate's , By Golly Be Jolly. I have stitched this one before and wanted to stitch it again.

I will be finishing these two into pillows for the couch. I would like to eventually stitch LK's To All A Good Night, but I still need to purchase the pattern.

Well, that's it for today . I will try to get caught up on some blog reading. Thanks so much for stopping by and for the comments. I appreciate them so much!

'til next time,

don't be a stranger,

Sharlotte