Black Cat Hollow, Autumn Leaves and a Freebie

Hi, stitching friends!

I hope this finds you all enjoying the last warm days of autumn, with plenty of time to stitch. Our weather is typical for Idaho this time of year - frost in the mornings, then mid- to late-60s in the afternoon, with blankets ready for curling up in the evenings. I can't decide how to dress each morning. A hoodie is great for staving off the cold in the morning, but by midday I'm sweating and asking, "What was I thinking?" So lately, since I have the luxury of being able to do so, I've been staying in pajamas until late morning (or early afternoon, if I'm working!). Problem solved.

I have not been able to do as much stitching as I would like lately. I have put in some long (up to 12-hour) days typesetting. I have never been so thankful to have cross-stitch as a hobby. It's such a great way to relax and unwind.

"Black Cat Hollow"
by Barbara Ana Designs
Stitched on 32-count Dark Cobblestone Lugana
Called-for DMC threads

I'm excited to show you "Black Cat Hollow," a 3-part sampler by Barbara Ana Designs. I purchased the PDF downloads from Creative Poppy as they were released. I mounted the stitched piece on sticky board, then mounted some black-and-white homespun on cardboard and attached the layers with magnets onto a metal sign I picked up at Hobby Lobby. (The metal sign was originally white with metal words attached that said "Good Things Take Time," but the word "Things" was mounted upside down! I bought this "defective" sign on purpose because I knew I would be taking the words off and painting the sign with black chalk paint.) I made a bow - Priscilla and Chelsea style - with some black plaid ribbon and some fall foliage picks. I'm thrilled with how it turned out.

Taking a cue from Priscilla, I hot-glued the bow and foliage to the stitched piece, rather than the black sign, so I can reuse the black metal base to display another seasonal project.

Don't you just love those mischievous little witches? They are definitely up to something wicked.

I have so many Halloween-themed projects finished, but not fully finished, and I'm anxious to show them to you. My craft room/office is a DISASTER. When I first started staying home, I tackled each room of my house, purging and organizing. But since then, the chaos has crept back in and it's obvious I need another go at this room. At the time I first organized the room, I was still doing a lot of card-making. I have a LOT of paper, rubber stamps and embellishments taking up space. While I'm not ready to give them up, I would like to put them in storage so I can have a better space for finishing cross-stitch projects. I'm looking forward to the workload slowing down in the coming weeks so I can get this done.

Autumn Leaves

"Autumn Leaves"
by The Prairie Schooler
Stitched on 28-count white Irish linen with called-for DMC threads
and limited-edition "Ginger Cake" thread by The Gentle Art

The next project I have to show is "Autumn Leaves" by The Prairie Schooler. I actually stitched and finished this last autumn, before I started my blog. I used the called-for DMC threads, but I substituted "Ginger Cake" by The Gentle Art for some of the words ("said the," "to the," etc.). I received the skein as a thank-you freebie from an Jen at Jen's Stitching Niche on Etsy and I was anxious to use it. Unfortunately, it's a limited edition color, so I'm not sure about its availability.

I followed the cube tutorial from LHN (for their Hometown Holiday series) to finish it. The best part? NO sewing required! None! I had purchased this gorgeous autumn leaves fabric from a quilting store in Whidbey Island, WA, more than 20 years ago (!) and have had it in my stash all this time, waiting for the perfect project.

I used flat, wide beads attached with pins as "legs" for the cube, and I just love it. Every time I see it on the cabinet in my entryway, it makes me happy.

A Fall Freebie

A big thank you to Beth at Garden Grumbles and Cross-Stitch Fumbles for bringing the newest Lizzie Kate freebie, "Moon Over Blackbird," to my attention! Look how cute!

I couldn't wait to get started on this, but I did not have all the suggested overdyed threads. I substituted for some of the colors (my substitutions: WDW Grasshopper, Seagull, Deep Sea, Whitewash and Chrysanthemum, and CC Pumpkin Harvest). Here's my finished (but not fully finished yet) stitch:

"Moon Over Blackbird"
Freebie by Lizzie*Kate
Stitched on 32-count coffee/tea-dyed linen
with suggested/substituted overdyed threads

I wanted the pumpkin to have a vertical-striped look, like a real pumpkin, so I outlined it then filled in the stitches going up and down rather than side to side. It was a fun, quick stitch. Thanks, Beth, and thank you, Lizzie Kate!

Adventures in Driving

My son, who is going to turn 16 in December, is taking driver's ed. He's doing well, and he is loving the driving experiences. The school where we have him enrolled has very fancy cars for the students to learn in. His first driving experience was in a 2018 Ford Mustang convertible, and he drove in rush-hour traffic around the mall. He did so well, his driving instructor asked him if we had been letting him drive in the city already! (We haven't.) His dad lets him drive pickups in the corrals at the ranch, and on some of the tiny back roads around the ranch, but this was his first city-driving experience. 

The second time he drove, it was in a $75,000 pickup. It will be quite a shock to his system when he has to drive his mom and dad's cars. We drive old Hondas (Hondas last forever if you take care of them), and mine is the "newest." It's a 2006 CR-V with 108,000 miles on it! My husband's car is a 1996 Honda Civic with more than 300,000 miles on it, and our other "good" car is a 2004 Honda Accord with more than 200,000 miles on it! When it comes to cars, we are firm believers in "use it up, wear it out." I get my "new car" fix when we vacation in Oregon and I get to drive a new rental car for a week.

My son says his first car is going to be a Ford Mustang GT350. I asked him how much it costs, and he said, "Only about $50,000." Dreams.....

Well, I'd better get back to work. It was fun sharing with you, friends, and I look forward to hearing from you. When you take the time to comment, it's like getting "happy mail" in my inbox. So thank you! Have a great week, and I will be back next week with more to share, and hopefully some finishes.

A Good Day to Have a Good Day

Hi, stitching friends!

I have recently fallen in love with the music (and especially the lyrics) of Kacey Musgraves. Her song "Late to the Party" is one of my favorites. "I'm never late to the party if I'm late to the party with you."

I am definitely late to the party. I promise... I have NOT dropped off the face of the earth! No excuses. Since my last post, one week became one month...two months...and then nearly three months....

But here I am! Thanks for hanging in there and not giving up on me.

Today was a good day to have a good day. I have been a homebody lately, which, truly, is who I am. But today I felt like getting out and enjoying some retail therapy.

Here's how my day went.

8:45 a.m.: Got up and ate a bowl of cereal while watching The Price is Right. I freakin' love this show, and have since I was little. Do you?

10:00 a.m.: Cross stitched a little bit, working on "Peace House" by La-D-Da.

10:30ish a.m.: Dyed some linen from my stash using Priscilla and Chelsea's tutorial for coffee-tea-dyed linen. I wasn't using these pieces of linen because I didn't like the original colors. They were either blah or just a little too plain. I thought, If this doesn't work, I'm not in love with this fabric, anyway, so what have I got to lose? Well, let me tell you, I love the result!

The photo above shows my dyed pieces drying in the sun outside. After they were dry, I ironed them and put them back in their packages so I would remember what count they are. (I took good notes beforehand to help myself keep this straight.) I can't wait to use these! If you would like to give this a shot, you can't go wrong. Their tutorial is wonderful.

1:00 p.m.: Went to Barnes & Noble to pick up the 2018 Halloween and Christmas-ornament issues of Just CrossStitch magazine. I found the Halloween issue right away, but they didn't yet have the Christmas-ornament issue! Drats! So I was sitting on a nearby bench flipping through a few stitching magazines when an employee holding a stack of magazines said, "These just came in if you're interested."

The lady sitting next to me scoffed and said, "Uh, no thanks."

I looked up and what did I see, but the new Christmas-ornament issue. "Yes! I'll take one, please! That's what I came here for!" I said.

"Well, you waited just long enough," he said, and handed me my issue. I don't know if you've seen it yet, but there are some darling ornaments in it. I already have plans to stitch "Joy" by Livia Rovaris. (It's on the cover.)

When I paid for my magazines, they gave me a coupon for $2 off a drink in the café, and I haven't had Starbucks in sooooo long. When I was working full time, the Starbucks on my way to work was a fairly regular stop for me. My husband says he has no idea how they have managed to stay in business since I stopped working.

1:45 p.m.: I needed a skein of DMC floss, so I stopped in at Michael's. For just that one thing. Honestly.

Sixty-five dollars later, I left the store with a full cart.

3:00 p.m.: I had some very sad-looking bananas to use up, so I made some banana bread. My go-to recipe lately is King Arthur Flour's Whole-Grain Banana Bread. You can find the recipe here. It's very good and very healthy as far as banana bread goes. No wonder they named it their 2018 Recipe of the Year!

4:00 p.m.: Time to start dinner. I had some leftover deli chicken in the fridge, so I made one of our favorite soups: Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup. Another thing about fall... I love, love, love soup, and fall's chilly nights are perfect soup nights. What is your favorite soup?

I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com originally, but I have modified it, so I will share my version of the recipe with you. It's so good.... so creamy and wonderful and soul-satisfying.

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Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
4 cups deli chicken, cut into bite-size pieces or shredded
1 package quick-cooking long grain and wild rice mix (we like Uncle Ben's or Rice-a-Roni)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup butter
2 cups milk
frozen mixed vegetables

In a large pot over medium heat, combine chicken broth, water and chicken. Bring just to boiling, then stir in rice, reserving the seasoning packet. Cover pot and remove from heat.

In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper and flour. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in contents of seasoning packet until mixture is bubbly. Reduce heat to medium-low, then stir in flour mixture by tablespoons to form a roux. Whisk in milk, a little at a time, until fully incorporated and smooth. Cook and stir until thickened, 5-10 minutes.

Stir white sauce into broth-rice-chicken mixture in pot. Add frozen vegetables. Cook over medium heat until heated through and rice is tender, about 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

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6:00 p.m.: My husband and I watched The Greatest Showman, which I had seen before and he had not. When I saw it the first time, my friend Jacquie took me. She had seen it six times already (!!!), but wanted to see it again. If you have not seen it, the music is wonderful.

8:00 p.m.: We baked some ready-to-bake, gooey Rhodes cinnamon rolls for dessert. We don't usually do dessert, but dang, they just sounded like a good idea. And they were....sooo good.

9:00 p.m.: I started taking pictures and composing this blog entry. Finally getting to share my day with you is the perfect end to a perfect day.

And now to the stitching!

I have been working on a lot of projects lately, but I have two I want to show you today. Both are little Halloween pillows.

The first is "Brew Haha!" by Plum Street Samplers. It's a freebie, and you can find it here. I stitched it over one on 25-count mushroom lugana, substituting overdyed threads for some of the called-for DMC threads (I used the called-for DMC 3021, ecru, 3863 and 3826, but substituted Gingersnap, Pumpkin Harvest, Endive, Gold Leaf and Brandied Pears for the rest).

I sewed it into a very simple little pillow, topping it with a natural bow and a little pumpkin charm. I love this little guy! He looks like I do when I have my caffeine for the day! As I was stitching the pumpkin body of the little fella, I stitched in a circular pattern so the variegations in the thread would go round and round, rather than in stripes across his body.

The second is "Owl-O-Ween" by Barbara Ana Designs. I bought this pattern online at Creative Poppy Patterns. I stitched it over one on 25-count vintage country mocha lugana. Isn't he cute? (He looks like he has had some caffeine, too!) I love the bright colors. I do not love the spiders (yuck!), but they are perfect for Halloween, and I have to admit, I like their beady red eyes. Creepy!

I finished Owl-O-Ween using Staci's beaded edge tutorial that Carol over at Stitching Dreams shared a while ago, and I added some sparkly black-velvet ribbon for a hanger. It was a lot of fun (although time-consuming), and I plan to use this edge-finishing technique a lot in the future. For one thing, it was all hand sewing, and I feel more in control of my finish this way. My sewing machine is a 1960s hand-me-down Singer Fashion Mate from my mother-in-law, and I am a little afraid of it, to be honest. My mom taught me some very basic stitches when I was young and wanted to make simple clothes for my Barbies, so for me, hand-stitching just feels more natural. I'm an odd duck, I know.

As always, friends, thank you for stopping by. I appreciate you so much!