And the Winner Is...........

The winner of my first giveaway is ............................. Barbara of Mainely Stitching!http://mainelystitching.wordpress.com/ Congratulations! Hope it gets to you in time for some fun Christmas stitching.

Ornies and Give away

I've been busy getting my Christmas ornaments stitched and put together for our guild's Christmas party. They are hung on trees at the party. Here's a picture from last year's party:

If you participate in the secret stitcher program for the year, it is ended with an ornament exchange also. You give your ornament to the person you sent gifts to all year and that's how they find out who their secret stitcher 'gifter' is. It's a lot of fun. I had started a scissor keeper for my secret stitcher but I don't think the colors are right for her. I'll finish it later for myself or my new secret stitcher for next year. These are the two ornaments I finished for this year's exchanges.

They are a Hands to Work pattern. I did the smaller of the two over one. Both were done on linen scraps using NPI silks. A silk ribbon and button finish them off. The larger is open so I can put something inside of it but the little one I fused shut. It was giving me fits to try and finish open so I quit fussing with it. Love steam a seam. Here is a picture of each separately.

I took a class from Ellen Chester (With My Needle) and learned quite a few stitches. They will be incorporated into a needlebook. The needlebook goes with a Huswife but I want to do it as a framed piece instead. My queen stitch started off wonky but ended up pretty nice. I decided to keep the wonky parts in as it is a learning piece for me and will show me where I started. So, here's the start of that and what the finished piece will look like.

OK, you've stuck with me this far in the post so, now is the fun

part. I am going to give away a Stacy Nash Christmas booklet, 'A Simply Early Christmas'. Welcome to Stacy Nash Primitives

I ordered it for myself but it's just not my cup of tea even though

I like her work. I'm sure someone would love to have it all to themselves and make things from it. If that would be you, please leave a comment on this post. I will draw a name on the 1st of December. Be sure I have your email address so I can let you know you won.

Last pretty days of fall

Halloween was a beautiful day and evening. Here's Evan, my grandson, dressed as Ironman.

This is his family's pumpkin display - isn't it cute?!

Here's Ryan, my son, scaring small children when they tried to get candy. Poor little children. Actually, he always lifted his mask and spoke to them.

Guess what I did today?

Yeah, that's a lot of bulbs. I'm sure glad the weather is still warm. I was sweating by the end of it all. The best part will be next spring when they are all in bloom.

Only 3 weeks to Thanksgiving. Hope you're enjoying a beautiful fall too.

Fun at the pumpkin farm

Rich, Dana, Evan and I went to Blooms and Berries to enjoy a fall weekend. It was hard to say which was the most fun. The big vat of shelled corn,

the hayride in Scarecrow Woods,

Picking a pumpkin,

Sliding down the huge corrugated slide,
or, just fooling around.
Happy Halloween everyone!

Scaredy Cat

We had a chance to celebrate this weekend. Sunday night to be specific. Rich participated in the Columbus, Ohio marathon. He set a new personal record for himself. He finished in under 4 hours! 3 hours 59 minutes and 8 seconds, at an average pace of just over 9 minute miles. What an accomplishment. I made a pineapple sage pound cake to celebrate. Pineapple sage is one of the last plants to bloom in the garden - always right before the first frost. Their flower are perfect for hummingbirds, red and tubular. I was thinking that I should bring in the hummingbird feeders since I hadn't seen a hummer all week. While I was out picking the blooms and leaves for the cake, who showed up right in front of me - a hummingbird. So, from plant to cake here are some pictures.

While Rich was driving to Columbus to spend the night, I made some Halloween cards to send to my family.

In between chores, I finished a small Halloween stitch by Sisters and Best Friends - 'CAT'. He's cute and fits in between the bat and pumpkin on my kitchen shelf.

I didn't win the quilt

So, I didn't win the quilt, but it was fun trying.

Been looking at blogs again, nice way to wake up in the morning, and found this..... Pigtails and Snails So go leave a comment and maybe you can win a gorgeous fall quilt. (Except that I'm going to win it 'cause it goes in my new guest bedroom that's going to be painted in these exact soft yellows)

That's a lot of apples. They are from our own tree and they've never looked so good, especially since we don't spray them. Good thing I left the canning pot out and all the supplies. 12 quarts of applesauce later there were no apples left in Evan's red wagon. I also put up 12 pints of salsa. I haven't canned that much in years. It felt like a great accomplishment.



Sarah's wedding is today! This was from last Saturday. We enjoyed a lovely fall afternoon at Judy W's house celebrating a wedding shower for our coworker. We hope Jason and Sarah have a wonderful life together.

I finished my letter Z last evening. yeah! Now I can return to my other works in progress and start a Christmas ornament for our guild's exchange. I also signed up for a paper piecing class at the Quilt Cabin. I have a pattern from Crabapple Hill Studio that I can't figure out because it requires paper piecing (Wild Rose Sewing Wallet). I've read it and read it but I need someone to show me. Hopefully, after my class next Thursday, I'll be able to make it.

Have a great weekend.