~ NEWSFLASH - BLUEBERRIES INTERFERE WITH STITCHING ~

Hi there! Stitching is my passion, so is baking. If you knew me, you'd know that I've been baking since I was 13 (long before the digital age), serious baking, not box stuff.

It's summer here, which brings us glorious berries -YAY! I've baked this several times, simple to prepare with pantry goods and fresh berries, robust with flavor, dense and oh so deeeeelish! Serve as is, sprinkled with powdered sugar, dollop of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Since we like ours really fruity, I add an extra cup of blueberries, for good measure:)

As my brother would say *That is one big pile of blueberries*!
Mmmmmmm, can you smell it?
Yes, it's as good as it looks ~ good thing my brother's not joining us for dinner:)
Blueberry Cake recipe can be found at *Simply Recipes* HERE. Go ahead, it's so easy, try it, let me know what you think, will you? It's been berry berry nice of you to pop in:)

Tootles, Sue

~ BIRDS OF A FEATHER - BIRTHDAY CAT ~

Hi there! Does anyone out there know anything about the Birds of a Feather series called Birthday Cat? Twelve charts were issued, one for each month and each month's name is in French. Not much info from my Google search. Any info is appreciated.

Tootles, Sue

~ FREEBIE FRIDAY SURPRISE ~

Hi there! This post is a little late in the day, but please don't get your feathers all ruffled (wink-wink)! Hope you sweeties are well and enjoying some quiet stitching time. Your comments always welcome, I love to here from each and every Stitchin Sweetie:)

Lovely surprises HERE and HERE.

Enjoy!

Tootles, Sue

~ WHAT'S FOR DINNER ~

Hi there! Kielbasa, taters, peppers, onions, green beans. Großmutter und Großvater would be so pleased:)
What's in your kitchen tonight?

Will get a couple hours of stitching in tonight-YAY!

Eine angenehme gute Nacht zu Ihnen mein Freund!

Tootles, Sue

~ FREEBIE FRIDAY SURPRISE ~

Hi there! Another Friday freebie HERE .

Enjoy the weekend!

Tootles, Sue

~ THINKING OF *ERYNNE* ON BARBER DAY ~

Hi there! This post is dedicated to dear *Erynne* at *Be-Stitched* (link to the right) for her genuine kindness and friendship. When I started blogging this year, she didn't have to be kind or generous or patient or helpful, she just was, because that's her nature. Erynne isn't blogging/stitching much at the moment because she's in the soil at her new home. She LOVES her HOSTAS and is a true inspiration when it comes to gardening.

I do have some nice houseplants and they do well. Today was *Barber Day* for my Christmas cacti, all 5 of them, who've bloomed most beautifully. They needed soil attention and have never been pruned. I've absolutely no idea what I'm doing, just googling, learning as I go and hoping for the best (as pruning should be done after blooming).

My intention is they become fuller and less leggy. So, I pinched off lots and I mean LOTS of leaves (only *some* are shown below) to rid them of their legginess and tried to shape them to grow fuller, develop root strength and promote a profusion of lovely blooms. Am hoping these will grow old with me as they can live a very long long time.

In my trepidation I forgot to take pic before I started pinching.

After their trip to the barber:
And why not try something with these?
And so, here are some babies in cactus soil, (I didn't have vermiculite on hand), we'll see how it goes, wish me luck won't you?
Oh, I forgot to mention~I did the same thing to a couple of jades yesterday, pruning that is ~ hmmm... I wonder if all this hacking means something!

Sincere thanks dear Erynne for being such a wonderful inspiration and friend. Hoping to *see you* when the soil gives you a rest and happy tilling to you!

Tootles, Sue

~ FEATURED STITCHY BLOG - *UPDATED* ~

Hi there! If you haven't had the pleasure to visit the blog of *Marion in Austria*, I urge you to get tissues ready for drooling, ignore the language barrier, steal some well deserved quiet time, lock doors, turn off all unnecessary devices and mildly medicate anyone who dares to come near you. Marion's version of Mary Wigham SAL is breathtaking, dreamlike and oh so very elegant. I'm so enchanted with her version that I'm headed back there now myself!

Marion has graciously shared her color choices for her MW SAL done in DMC: Ecru, 642, 644, 822 and unknown gold for initials.

Link is to the right, enjoy:)

Tootles, Sue

~ PRIM PINKEEP FOR EMMALEE ~

Hi there! Stitched this in January, finally finished this b-day gift for my niece (she rec'd her first sewing basket). Fiddlers 18 ct, freebie wee flowers, German verse says I Love You. There's a secret message under the year, 7 ecru cross stitches to signify her birthday:) Being a bit of a purist, never thought I'd use an embellishment but works nicely on this, don't you think? Am debating about whether to finish edges in cross stitches as well, might be a nice touch.
First time I've used poly-pellets, wonderful to stuff with, nice heft and finished feel. Found them at Michaels, 2 lb. bag for $7.99, used 50% off coupon, nice savings, plenty for many future projects too.
Thx for popping in:)

Tootles, Sue

~ MYSTERY MONDAY - CASE SOLVED ~

Hi there! No one took a stab at guessing the Mystery Monday chart, can't say I would have either. Am glad to have finally stitched this, was fun working different flosses together on the vines, colors are prim and drab, just the way I like them.

The skinny on this stitchy: Windy Willows freebie (Japanese blog), stitch count 128 x 25, Fiddlers 18 ct., WDW-Cocoa, HDF-Old Maid of the Hive, Crescent Colours-Black Coffee.
Will finish as a pinkeep, a girl can never have too many don't you know! Picked up a new poly product for stuffing, there's a first time for everything.

Hmmmmmmm, now if I can just find that rascally Mr. Sewing Machine, he's probably gone and run off with Ms. Seam Ripper. Don't know what he sees in her, she's a bit of a snip ;=)

Thx for looking!

Tootles, Sue

~ FOUND A LOVELY STITCHY BLOG WITH GIVEAWAY ~

Hi there!

Lynn B. of *Happiness Is Cross Stitching* (great name) has a *finished* biscornu giveaway in process, you can visit her lovely blog HERE.

Take a peek at her work while you're there! Don't delay, she closes her giveaway on Wed., June 17th.

Good luck to all!

Tootles, Sue

~ FREEBIE FRIDAY SURPRISE ~

Hi there! Have been stitching quite a bit, but not quite ready to post pics. Hope you've been finding some stitching time too!

Link to several small freebie chart(s) HERE.

I'm partial to the Siamese:)

Enjoy your weekend dear friends!

Tootles, Sue

~ FREEBIE FRIDAY SURPRISE ~

Hi there! My Friday was declared a *Total Loss* as we say, HERE is freebie link, just a day late, so sorry, enjoy:)

Tootles, Sue

~ FLOSS FLOWERS FOR SILKS ~

Hi there! While at Michaels Crafts I found these very thin wood forms. With an idea in mind, I brought them home to pretty them up.
The papers were scrapbook papers and old note cards I had on hand. I sanded the forms with a very fine grit sandpaper til they were very smooth, used them as templates on the paper, used a glue stick on the wood, applied the paper, weighed them down to dry for an hour and let them sit overnight.
The next day I drilled a hole in one petal for a ring. On the back I wrote HDF, the year and the color name. In case you're wondering~they're Vikki Clayton's Pressed Petals, Old Maid of the Hive and Russian Sage. These were oh so much fun and turned out soooo sweet, I'll stop back and pick up a *BUNCH* more-LOL! Before long I'll have a whole bouquet of Floss Flowers!

What ya think dear stitchy friends, cute or what?

Tootles, Sue

~ MYSTERY MONDAY ~

Hi there! Have been wanting to start this quick 'lil design for the looooongest time, so long that I misplaced chart and had to scramble to find it again. Finally got my thoughts together and put them to the needle:) Fiddlers 18 ct, WDW Cocoa, HDF Old Maid of the Hive silk, another not yet selected, had fun picking colors for this as I'm partial to the drab prim shades. Am loving this *viney* thing happening, doesn't look like much, but it's a start!
Oh, am planning a stitchy date between Mr. Sewing Machine, Mr. Bright Sunshine and myself (ok, if you muuuuust, one could call it a stitchy 3-way;-) Hope you have a smirk on your face, bet you've never read THAT before on a stitchy blog huh?! Have *new* glasses to give a whirl, several finishes to complete, hope new glasses don't fail me. If you adore prim finishes as I do, check back in a few:) Thx for popping in my friend, always delighted to see you here!

Tootles, Sue

~ BLUE RIBBON DESIGNS HAS A BLOG - YAY! ~

Hi there! Belinda Karls-Nace is just as sweet as her lovely designs. Why not treat yourself and *follow* her blog!

Link is HERE , enjoy.

Tootles, Sue