Check This Out

This is my all-time favorite Christmas song. Enjoy it!

Sweet P

Foodie Friday

Thanksgiving has come and gone and I have the leftovers to prove it.The meal was our best Thanksgiving dinner yet.

The star of the meal was Bacon-Wrapped Turkey with Pear Cider Gravy. Accompanied by Sausage and Potato Stuffing, Butternut Squash with Caramelized Onions, Gorgonzola and Crispy Fried Sage Leaves, Fresh Green Beans, Cranberry Sauce, Black Olives, Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls and Apple Pie with ice cream for dessert.
I also made a pot of Thanksgiving Wassail and enjoyed it all day long.

Now it's time to think about Christmas. We are having an early Christmas Dinner next weekend as my mom will be here visiting. Time to put my thinking cap on and plan the meal.

Have a great weekend!

Sweet P

Happy Thanksgiving

May your day be filled with family, food, fun and football!

Sweet P

Wednesday Works

A few of this week's projects in the works . . .

My snowflake is ready for beading

I crocheted a hat to go with a scarf I made for my DIL

Side view of the hat

A new needlepoint project . . . Tahiti by Kathy Rees of Needle Delights Originals

What are you working on this week?

Toddler Tuesday

If you are a regular reader of my blog you probably know by now that on Tuesdays I take care of my grandson, Mr. E. In an effort to keep blogging on a regular basis and not overload you on Mr. E, I'm going to make Tuesdays my Toddler Tuesday posts.

Today, he found a box of floral marbles while we were doing laundry in the basement. The box came upstairs and within a few minutes the marbles were all over the floor. Mr. E had a blast playing with them off and on all day.



In case you're wondering, nearly all of them are picked up, or at least the ones anyone has the potential to step on in the the next few days.

Sweet P

Miscellaneous Monday Musings

Random thoughts and questions on Monday morning . . .

1. Do you wash your laundry in a certain order? I wash my bedding on one day. The next day I wash the loads in this order: underwear and socks, lights, darks and then all the pants.
2. On a typical day off do you have a morning routine? I'm generally awake by 7. I eat breakfast and drink coffee and watch Good Morning America until 9. Then I spend my day playing with fabric, yarn or floss with spurts of cleaning and cooking in between.
3. How do you feel about projects with zippers? I struggle with zippers and try to stay away from projects that use them.

Well, the clock on the wall says it's almost 9 am. Time to get sewing.

Sweet P

My Winter Tote Bag

I received my Winter Tote Bag package from Sabine the other day. Unfortunately, the postal service was not kind to the box. It arrived smushed on one end of it. The result was moisture got into the package and caused the red floss in the box to bleed on a few of the pressies and the tote bag.

Luckily only one side and the corners of the stitchery are red. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to clean it. I'm going to be using it anyway. Isn't the stitchery adorable? My favorite winter scene - a snow man!

Here is the back of the bag. I love the fabric she chose to use.

Here are the rest of the goodies: there is a package of teddy bears to stitch, red floss, a package of sewing themed buttons, pins, a stitchery calendar, a beautiful red plate and Christmas candle, an adorable angel and chocolate. The cookie recipe sounds yummy and I hope to try it soon. Thanks, Sabine!
Have you received your Winter Tote?

Sweet P

Me and The Process Pledge

I took the Process Pledge because I love to think about my process when I am creating. I love the feel of the fabric as I work with it. Cutting it, pinning, sewing, snipping and pressing until I have a finished project.

I had every intention of documenting my process as I worked on swap packages. What I learned is that when I'm sewing I get into a Zen-like state and the last thing I want to do is stop to take a photo or jot notes about the process. So I though I would share a few random photos of what I've been working on the last week.

I made a puppet theater curtain for Mr. E.
I found the fabric in the remnant bin at the store and it jumped into my hands.

Here is my SSCS present . . . don't you love surprises?

This is not Coffee Time Studio,
but Coffee Time kitchen temporarily being used as a sewing space.

Yesterday afternoon I took an afternoon off from Christmas sewing and had ME time. On Sunday I found a gorgeous set of snowflakes to embroider at Polka and Bloom. I had to order the set and when I came home from work on Sunday night I transferred the pattern and yesterday started stitching it. I'm using a over-dyed blue and lavender thread. I'm thinking of adding beads to it instead of the french knots the pattern uses.

Well, the mailman just brought my 3-2-1 Winter Tote Bag package from Sabine. I'm going to sign off for now and open the package.

Sweet P

Finishes, Gifts and Smiles

Recently I joined Finn's New Year's Eve UFO Challenge. I pledged to finish at least 4 projects by Dec. 31. So far I've finished two projects. First up is Mr. E's Pumpkin Sweater. It was his Halloween costume, but it's big enough and warm enough for him to wear all winter.
My second finish was a coffee-themed table topper. I bough the panel about three years ago. The borders were added about two years ago. I was going to hand stitch it, but when I was cleaning out my stash closet I decided to machine quilt it and finish it. It is now on our dining room table.
I received two swap packages recently. The first one was a Scavenger Hunt package. My partner sent me four balls of Knit Picks allspice yarn, two hanks of hand spun yarn, At Knit's End book, spice drops, jelly beans, crochet labels, coffee and a small round frame.

I also received my FRIENDS swap package from Pam at Versana.
The gifts were gorgeously wrapped and were too pretty to open.

And here are the gifts: F was fabulous fabric. R was jar filled with red buttons and chocolate and topped with a red pincushion. I was an Indigo Bag and a skein of blue yarn. E was an embroidery book (and a Fair Isle crochet book). N was "Needful" things - two skeins of Caron Watercolor floss I need to work on a project. D was delightful cinnamon jelly beans.

S was this stunning silk painting Pam made for me. Isn't it fantastic?

And, just for fun, here is a recent photo of Mr. E and I.

Tomorrow I'll post about my Process on the Swap packages. I've been able to sneak in work time between working and taking care of Mr. E.

Have a Happy Monday!
Sweet P