~ THIS IS LINEN ~

Beautiful and slubby 32 count and as of this morning................. I'm stitchin on it ~ YAY!  This breakthrough has been a looooong time coming, have been hoarding linen bit by bit for years, but never made the effort to stitch outside my comfort zone.  This was my one stitchy goal for 2009 ~ CHECK!!!!!

Sincere thanks to my dear stitchy friend Janice in Irondequoit for her patient/gentle guidance and private lesson at our LNS.  Janice knew just what it would take to push me over the edge, she ROCKS:) 

Won't you please join me in celebration???

Hate to tattle and run, but if you'll now please excuse me.......... got to get back to my LINEN ~ LOL!

Sweet Stitchin....

Tootles, Sue

~ HERE COMES SANTA CLAUS ~

Hi there!

Here he is, uhhh... I mean here theeeeeey are, on the kitchen sill...

Patriot Santas on the steps...

My sincere wishes go out to all my readers, followers and dear friends for a simply peaceful Christmas.



Tootles, Sue

~ TOOOO YUMMY NOT TO SHARE ~

Hi there!  Well dear stitchers, we're all in a whirl aren't we, dashing here and there prepping for the big day, and isn't it great fun!

I've been making this easy and reliable overnight casserole for sooo long, which means I started making this when I was about 6 ~ LOL!  Sometime you stumble on a recipe that's always a hit and there's never a need to look for another, this is one of those and I'm lucky to have found it.  Recipe from a book called *America's Favorite Brand Name Recipes* by Publications Int'l Ltd.  We have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  It's a great way to save time on special weekend mornings, especially nice for holiday breakfasts and potlucks, most everyone raves and it can serve a crowd.  Maybe you'd like to take a peek?

Some of the ingredients are croutons, eggs, shredded cheese (any flavor), frozen chopped spinach, pork sausage, mushrooms, milk.  It's made and put into fridge the night before.  You can tweak it anyway you like, we go easy on the croutons cause we like less bread. And I always add a couple jars/cans of sliced mushrooms.  Sorry, forgot to add the shrooms to my pic:)

Prepped and ready for the fridge the night before

From the oven

After sampling the yumminess, get your piece licktey split cause it will vanish!

I really wanted to post this for anyone who might be interested, so they can gather the simple ingredients.

Interested?  I've got recipe saved in jpeg format. Feel free to email me: stitchinsweetsue @ gmail .com (remove spaces).  I usually don't get many recipe requests, so I'm not too terribly worried about being overwhelmed with emails:)

Tootles and Sweet Stitchin...

Sue

~ MAYBE MY LAST FINISH FOR 2009 ~

Hi there!  Thank you so very much for your compliments on my last ornie post, they sure are fun, ornies and comments!

This ornie is for my dear niece Emmalee (7), who by all rights should have been born to an Eskimo family~LOL!  Playing in the snow for hours and hours is certainly not a trait she picked up from yours truly.

Adapted from Stacy Nash's *Snow* stocking in *A Simply Early Christmas*.  The prim designs in this booklet are reeeally nice and I'm oh so glad I made the wise choice last year to add it to my stash, it was a gift from me to me:)  Stitched on white Fiddler's 18 ct., floss is DMC 3830 (a lovely Scandinavian red) which is much nicer and brighter than my dim photos show.

I'm itching to start more prim stitchin on a Lori Brechlin design recently gifted to me by a dear friend Liz N. in Va., again ~ many thanks Liz!  Seems Liz N. lives not too far from Lori's studio aka Notforgotten Farm, a lucky lucky girl she is:)

Off to bake some cut-out cookies ~ yay!


Candy Cane Kisses and Sweet Stitchin....


Tootles, Sue

~ COUPLE ORNIE FINISHES ~

Dear Santa, I've been a very good girl, but did steal a few moments over the last couple days to work on some finishing.


For my niece Autumn (9) cause all little girls love horsies:)  Folky Horse on Fiddlers 18 ct., back finished with barn red wool, jute hanger.

For our home, French Noel on Fiddlers 18 ct., Floss is Waterlilies-color Umbria.

My first time finishing a back with 100% silk evenweave, wanted to see how it handled the rigors of hand finishing, very luxurious and sturdy, loved working with it.  This is drab green, but there were many other lovely colors I left at the shop.  Clearly I was NOT thinking straight, hmmm.........

 

Thanks for peeking, wishing you all a lovely and gentle day, and of course Sweet Stitchin:)

Tootles, Sue

~ NON-STITCHY PRIM ECSTASY ~

Hi there!  Maybe you've seen this site, maybe not, but wanted to share if you don't mind.

CAUTION ~ link will lead you to prim holiday home decorating at its' finest, enjoy a few delightful moments HERE.  Go ahead, you deserve it, meander your way backwards if you like, each yummy page is more divinely prim than the one before.

The woods and thickets around us have been calling to me for days, I simply must get out there for a wee hike with my nippers and snag some greenery and berries for the house, hopefully tomorrow.

I'd love to hear what you all are doing during these pre-holidays...  Tried anything new?



Sweet Holiday Stitchin to You and thx for poppin' in dear friends:)

Tootles, Sue

~ PLEASE EXCUSE MY GUSHING! ~

Hi there!  Yesterday was cold and blowing snow, so what better way to spend some time than stitching and finishing a prim ornie!  Worked on Zweigart 18 ct. white aida, stuffed w/poly, jute hanger, wee rusted bell below and according to Stacy Nash's easy instructions.  My first attempt at coffee staining w/paint brush and baking, repeating process til primly sweet and perfect.  This prim stitcher is so very pleased with the end result that I am gushing with pride, even if it's not done on linen.   You'll find this hanging off the knob of our wall lamp in our kitchen, I can't keep my eyes off it!  Funny how we stitchers take such delight isn't it?  Now that I have some confidence in this coffee staining process, it'll be fun~fun~fun to finish more like this:) Thanks ever so much Stacy for a SUPER prim design.

What do you all think?  Thx for taking the time to share this satisfying finish with me and Sweet Stitchin....

Tootles, Sue

PS ~ Did I mention about the GUSHING - LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~ TUESDAY FREEBIE SURPRISE & HOLIDAY GIDDINESS ~

Ho~Ho~Ho Dear Friends ~ We're finally on our way to a chilly Christmas, first snow expected soon in the N.Y.S. Finger Lakes Region.  The winter chill will be very good for next year's vineyard harvest. 

Blogging News ~ Blogger tells me this will be my 100th Post, hope you've enjoyed some of them:)  Warm thanks to my Sweet Stitchin' Sistas for your help and support, it's been really fun!

Can I please share ~ If you want to add a wee bit of reading to your Holiday preparations (and who of us won't need a few quiet moments in the coming weeks), check your library for a sweet little book called *A Redbird Christmas* by Fannie Flagg. It's a quick read, you'll be oh~so~glad you did:)

Eats ~ Last night I whipped up a small batch of Pizzelle batter that made a couple dozen, will make many more in the coming weeks. Mine NEVER turn out perfect like you see in print ads, I've given up trying, but they do taste really yummy!

 

So, onto the stitchin....  Today I offer you a link to a sweet little design for the Holidays, there's still PLENTY of time to stitch this up before the big day, hope you like it.  Find it HERE, isn't this darling?




Candy Canes Kisses and Peppermint Dreams!

Tootles, Sue

~ LEFT BRAIN CHALLENGED ~

Hi there!  While going through my stash I found this freehand piece started on osnaburg last year. The stitches are not *proper* as I lack true embroidery skills, kinda cobbed this together hoping for a prim, scruffy looking tree.  Right side turned out okay, but having trouble with left side, which is why I gave up and squirreled this away.  Seems a shame to not finish it. 

Might someone with experience have suggestions on how to design/replicate the left side?  Or should I maybe just cob the left side together too?

If there's a tip I'd surely by grateful to learn it.

Thanks for looking and Sweet Stitchin...

Tootles, Sue