~ FEATURED STITCHY BLOG UPDATED ~

Hi there.  I've updated the Featured Stitchy Blog, seems this it's over a year old.  Never saw it til last night and... well... pooh ~ not one single stitcher shared this jewel with me, sniff-sniff ~ my feelings are hurt.  After the snow melts... I guess I'll just go eat dirt!

Sooooo, today I share this blog with you.  Then... I'm gonna shower, pretty-up, run a few errands and ...   GO BUY STASH to make myself feel better ~ HA ~ lol:)

Please see my tool bar for my new Featured Stitchy Blog and HAVE A SWEET STITCHY DAY!

Tootles, Sue

~ NEEDLEWORK MUSINGS ~

"I hate a woman who offers herself because she ought to do so, and, cold and dry, thinks of her sewing when she's making love." ~ Ovid


Poor Ovid, he thinks too much:)

Tootles and Sweet Stitchin, Sue

~ GIFTS AND FOOD AND ROSES - OH MY! ~

Hi there!  Hope everyone is surviving the bitter cold and snow.  Have you seen the pictures of snow in the South, there's just something so wrong about snow on palm trees, bleeeeech!

The Twisted Stitcher ~ and I participated in a private loaning of charts.  Vonna's stitch is done and she's sent her finish *Flowers of Lebanon* for framing.  And, I am drifting... out there... way out there... somewhere... my stitch is going very slowly despite my daily stitches.  While pouting about my lack of progress I was stitchy surprised yesterday!  This darling floss tag/ring arrived from Vonna in appreciation, along with a note that she was sending us a slice of Spring.  The back is finished with sparkly Easter egg fabby.  Isn't it pretty and folky and Springy, and just perfect for my sewing basket!  Thank You for your kindness Vonna:) 

Stitchy Surprise from Vonna

Caution ~ Green Veggie Alert!  Permission granted to back out now if you're not a fan.  Ahem... Carol aka StitchingDreams:)  Made this dish last night, one of my *Go To* recipes on a cold night, serve either as a meal or side dish.  Italian sausage or chicky is pretty darn good on the side for the meat eaters.  This recipe is very thrifty and makes great use of those oh~so~lonely and abandoned stewed tomatoes in the pantry.  You can easily use canned tomatoes instead.

Katie's Bow Tie Pasta:  Cook 2 cups bow tie pasta, drain, set aside.  In same deep pot saute a large thick sliced sweet onion and a clove minced garlic in butter/margarine/olive oil, add 4 med zucchini sliced 1/2 inch thick (more or less), 2 cans stewed tomatoes (about 14 oz. each), 1/2 teaspoon white or brown sugar, few shakes of onion powder and/or garlic powder, simmer about 20 minutes.  Lastly, grab your cooked pasta and toss it in, simmer a few minutes to reheat, enjoy!  Red pepper flakes/grated cheese on top optional, makes excellent leftovers!

Katie's Bow Tie Pasta

Can I share ~ beauties from Lover Boy for V~Day... 

awwwww, ain't he sweet...

 Tootles and Sweet Stitchin,  Sue

~ MY PRIM AND HUMBLE VALENTINES ~

Hi there!  Thanks for coming back, nice to see you here again:) 

This was a learning project for me, my first time putting one of these together, about the size of a very large hand.  Stitched the wording on natural Osnaburg w/DMC 2 over 2 and made a long narrow banner, frayed edges a wee bit, made a heart template, finished with flannel, poly stuffed with jute hanger.  I used little x's to close the side for a really prim look, first time for that too.

 

Below are few more, but smaller.  Top one is a pretty word from Chocolate Cat's freebie *I Love You* with a few wee hearts added, stitched on natural Osnaburg.  Middle two are simply *Love*, smaller versions of first pic. Lower one is freebie from The Stitcherhood on tea dyed 32 ct. Belgian linen, GAST Gingersnap 2 over 2 and backed with hand dyed wool called *Steak Sauce*, poly stuffed with jute hanger.  I'll do more of these in the future, but with German words of adoration, for my beauties Autumn and EmmaLee:)

Yes, Valentines weekend, to enjoy or not, as we choose.  Either way, I sincerely wish each of you a gentle  weekend filled with warmth, love and peace.  DH will be receiving suet cakes and seeds, a most unconventional gift, but why not share the love with our fine feathered friends!

What's everybody else stitchin this weekend?  Looking forward to some blog reading:)


Tootles and Sweet Stitchin...


Sue

~ WHO KNEW! ~

Hi there! Who knew that all polyfil is NOT the same?

Wanted to share that I recently discovered this polyfil product to be VERY silky and measurably softer than any other I've tried.  And... NO BUNCHING when stuffing ~ B O N U S (singing)! 

FAIRFIELD's  (Ultra Plush Fiber Silky Soft) poly can be found @ JOANN FABRICS, remember your 40% coupon!  Look for it, it was on other side of poly display.  This generous 12 oz. bag was approx $3.00 after coupon.  You do of course already KNOW that Michaels, JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby and A.C. Moore will accept each others coupons, right???  At least around here they do.  I'll make sure to snag a couple more bags @ JoAnn's, using one JoAnn coupon and one Michaels coupon:)

CAROL ~ if you're reading this, you'll notice a big difference and will love this for your ornies, promise!

And btw, if you're not subscribed to Michaels' newsletters, you're loosing money, plain and simple, and you can't have that, can you?   Coupons are emailed usually every week, and the name of the game is: save to enhance stash... right ~ LOL!

Tootles and Sweet Stitchin....

Sue

~ HISTORY IN THE MAKING - CREATION ~

Hi there!

Deb in Idaho aka Tempting Tangles has offered up a new design, similar to *272 Words* in that we are privileged to experience this designs' unveiling.  I say this not as an expert of anything, just an observation of the magnificent coming together of design and fiber.  Deb's story of its' inception is well written, thought provoking and might just capture your heart.  Plz enjoy each word as she wonderfully describes her extraordinary tale.  Like may of you, I've often sweetly dreamed of floss and fiber, but nothing like this.

Kudos to you Deb in Idaho, well done.  Sincere thanks for sharing your beautiful experience with us all.


For those who've not yet seen it, go HERE.


Tootles and Sweet Stitchin, Sue...

~ SANTA FE CHICKY IN CROCKPOT ~

Hi there!  I spiced things up a bit in my kitchen yesterday and discovered this recipe *ain't no Taco Bell*.  This super easy and deeply flavored chicky was a welcome treat for the bored tastebuds on a harsh and frigid night.  The sauce had fire, but the good earthy kind, not the heat kind and I guarantee you couldn't get a better meal at an authentic Mexican casa.  I followed the recipe, but used 3 breasts (was plenty), added 1 cup jar salsa, a few generous shakes of sweet chili pepper, a can of chipotle peppers in sauce (roughly chopped) and let it cook all day ~ while I stitched:)

When done I roughly shredded the chicky in the crock.  I wanted to thicken the sauce, so I used a little drizzle of cornstarch/water slurry in the crockpot, pouring a little in at a time and stirring til it thickened nicely and served over a bed of white rice. The sauce soaked into the rice and well, you can just imagine...  I could barely force myself to share even a morsel and kept telling DH if he didn't care for it that I'd make him something else and send the chicky to the freezer.   He gobbled it down.  I would not hesitate for a moment to serve this to company or take it anywhere in my trusty crock.  This was such a welcome addition to my crockpot specialties, I couldn't help but mention it here, in case any of you are looking to spice things up a bit in your own kitchen:)  

Thank you IowaGirl, you rock!  For recipe, go  HERE.

Thanks for popping in dear friends, wishing you a sweet stitchin weekend:)


Tootles, Sue

~ OH... YOU'RE JUST A BIG HAM! ~

Gentle warning ~ longish post.

Hi again, WOW, 2 posts in the same day, do I win a prize or something~LOL!  Every Christmas DF graces us with a ham, always a big 'un, this ham was 16 pounds~YIKES~there's only 2 of us! So, after probing around to find the bone, I bravely cut this oinker in half, which made for an 8 pounder, scored it, slipped it into a bag and baked it for 2 1/2 hours.  Yeah, I know I should have glazed it, but was lazy...  The other 8 pound half went into the freezer, although I could have easily just put it in the garage, certainly frigid enough here:)

I always use Reynolds baking bags cause they do good things: they always keep the meat very juicy, they keep the meat hot (with a kitchen towel over the whole thing, bag and all) while the rest of the meal is pulled together, they make it very easy to drain the drippings for gravy, cleanup is a snap and they simply never fail me.


Musing Alert ~ my first attempt at ham gravy, instead of adding water to the drippings, I used Pomegranate/Plum juice cause that's what was in fridge, turned out pretty darn gooood!  Can I share?  It's taken many years to overcome my *making gravy* phobia.  Oh my~a flashback~ages and ages ago a beau was coming for turkey dinner, wanting to impress and all, I asked DM to come over and make the gravy, so..... as my date was knockin at the door, DM was slipping out the back-LOL!  Go figure, a Mom going to all the trouble for a date that wasn't even hers!

The Big 'Un or as almost everyone whispers and gently smiles when a ham is served after a funeral *Isn't it a beautiful ham*.  Did you ever notice that too?:

Monday night dinner for DH~ham, ham gravy, boiled taters, biscuits, beanies:

DH is in hog heaven, there'll be ham steaks for breakfast and tangy ham salad for munching.  We gotta keep our men happy.  After all, they do put up with our stitchy stuff, even if they don't get it:)

If you're still with me, thanks kindly for indulging... What's on the menu at your house tonight?


Tootles and Sweet Stitchin, Sue

~ GOODE HUSWIFE OOP ~

Hi there!  Anne at Goode Huswife has just updated her site to release add'l OOP charts, skeeedaddle over there why don't ya!!!
 
Since Anne is remarrying and leaving the USA, it might be nice to wish her well while you're there too!


THE GOODE HUSWIFE HERE

Tootles, Sue