A finish, a question, a finished finish & progress!

How is that for a title??
First, I finished a cute little freebie from Homespun Elegance.It is stitched on 32 ct. Midas lugana from Picture this Plus. I don't get into Halloween but I thought this freebie was too cute to not stitch. I am planning to make a little pinkeep out of it. Here is where the question comes in. I don't have Halloween fabrics in my stash. But...I found two fabrics that I thought looked good. I would love your opinions please...which looks better??
The finished finish is the 3rd time I have stitched this wedding piece. I stitched it for a very dear friend of ours that grew up with our kids. I then stitched it for my best friends son & his bride. This time, it was for someone I do not know. I was asked to stitch it as a gift & get paid for it. Here is another question. You see the finished piece. I provided everything. How much would YOU have charged for it? I am just curious!!!
Progress........I said last month that I had to stitch at least 2 motifs per month on my B. Potter, to finish it by the end of this year. Well, I did 4 this month so I only have FIVE left now & one of those is very tiny!! Woohoo!!! I see the end in sight!! Almost makes me want to keep moving on it, but I do have some fall stitching I want to tackle!!!
Have a super week! Thanks for stopping by & for your wonderful comments!!!

Canning Corner

Thanks to my son, I can see down in my canning corner now. Actually, it isn't a corner, but a hideaway under the stairwell! I told my husband that would be the perfect spot for my canning when we built the house. It was perfect, but I couldn't see much down there. Well, yesterday, my son took an old lamp & rigged it to the 'ceiling' so that I can see down there.
So, this morning, I started organizing everything. I took pictures after all of the 'older' stuff was organized.
I then added all of this year's stuff & took more pictures. As you can see, there is plenty of room on the top shelf yet. That is where the rest of my applesauce will go. I have done 36 pints so far. (since my last blog post) That is one bushel of apples. I plan to get 2 or 3 more bushels. I use a lot of applesauce when our grandsons are here. They eat AT LEAST a pint a day in their morning oatmeal.
We had an experience yesterday. We were canning jalapeno & habanero peppers. Well, when they were in the canner, one of the jars decided to break. Imagine the oils from habanero's heating in the water. We couldn't breath for a while. I was gagging so bad. I even had to go outside to get fresh air. I came back in & sprayed air freshener. It helped so much!!!
I THINK I am done canning now, until I get more apples. I plan to do that over Labor Day weekend. I have quart jars that someone gave me to use for the rest of the applesauce. Three growing boys need LOTS of grandma's sauce!!!
On the stitching front, I am working on my B. Potter piece this week. Remember the goal I set for myself?? I have to do at least 2 motifs per month to finish by the end of the year. I am working on my 3rd one for this month!!! Stay tuned!!!
Thank you so much to all of my new visitors & also to all of the faithful followers/commentors. I appreciate all of you so much!!!!!!

A variety of topics

Last Friday, Aug. 13th, I was asked if I had any already stitched wedding pieces laying around the house, without names on them. I told her no, I don't. I said 'look at my blog. I just finished a wedding piece a few weeks ago.' I said if you like that one, I can pop one out pretty quick. She looked & liked it, so emailed back & asked if I could stitch it & if my husband could make the frame & we finish it off in time for a mid-Sept. wedding. I said sure, that would be no problem. I told her I had to finish the ornament I was working on first, but then would get on it. I finished the ornament earlier this week, but at that time, our garden really went nuts.
This week alone, I canned over 50 pints of tomato chunks, 6 pints of pizza sauce, 8 jars of grape jelly & I did up 31 ears of frozen corn. I am not sure now, off the top of my head, when I did my salsa. Oh!!! I did it Sunday & Monday, so that was this week as well. I did 31 pints of that, all totaled.
Anyway, I started the wedding piece one evening after working in the kitchen all day. I knew it would be pretty quick. When I went to bed last night, all I had left was the date. So...first thing this morning, before heading down to the treadmill, I finished it & here it is! Now it is my husbands turn to make the frame for it.
Also this week, Carol posted on her blog about her 'unfinished finishes'. In my last post, I stated that I had 97 of them. Well, I can honestly say that one of them is now 'finished/finished'. I had this frame for a long time & had just not used it. I decided to see if I had a fall piece that would work in it. This one just barely fits, but I think it works! I love that the frame is seasonal. The little acorn comes off & I have buttons for each season for it!
Today, I go back to stitching on my B. Potter, so I can get a few motifs done for the month of August!!!!
Also today, I hope to get to the market & buy my apples for the year. I am totally out of my homemade applesauce. Not a good thing! I use it for baking, plus I have 3 little munchkins that LOVE grandma's home made applesauce!!!! I promised them that next time they come to see grandma, they won't have to eat store bought applesauce again!!!!! Unless they show up this weekend, I think I am safe with that statement!!!
Have a wonderful weekend everyone! Thanks for visiting & for commenting. I love seeing new visitors & I thoroughly enjoy reading your comments!!!

Ornament Finished

I showed you a picture yesterday of the ornament that I was working on for a RR exchange. It didn't have any backstitching at that point & it was pretty difficult to tell what it really was. Today, I finished the backstitching & it sure is obvious now what it is. I think it turned out cute & I hope the owner will like it!
I read a post on a dear friend's blog about un-finished finishes. She said she counted hers & had 80 some of these. I thought to myself....wow, that sounds like quite a few. So.....to 'humor' myself, I got my tub out, to count mine. OH MY!!!! I am sorry Carol! Your 80 some is less than mine!!!! Anyone have any idea how many I have??? I have decided like Carol said.....I stitch for the pleasure of stitching!!! Yes, I like them finished, but it is obvious where my first love is!!!!
I have 97 pieces in my tub. Some are very small.....most are very small....ornaments!!! Some are of the larger type. (Christmas Village, Bethlehem, etc....)
I need to pick tomatoes again. I gave them a day off yesterday, but I need to go back out yet today & pick more.
Have a great day & thanks for stopping in!

Finishes Hung

We got the frame made for my Pie Menu finish this weekend, so I asked my husband to make a new grouping for me. I had already had the coffee piece hanging where it is in this picture. I had the Jane Austen piece hanging somewhere else. I thought those 2, along with the Pie Menu would make a nice grouping. Who doesn't enjoy a cup of coffee with a slice of warm homemade pie?!! Oh, I can almost taste the nice cherry pie right now. Or how about shoestring apple? Oh my!!!
We also FINALLY got my tree to cross card piece hung. It looks so nice hanging in our bedroom.
Lastly, I am posting a picture of the ornament that I am working on. It is for a RR exchange. I am posting the picture now, because I want to show it before backstitching. This is one of those pieces that really doesn't POP until the backstitching is finished!
On the canning side of things, I got 28 pints of tomatoes out of the stack that was on the table in my previous post. They will be good this winter in chili & spaghetti, stuffed peppers, etc...
Yesterday, my husband & I picked again. I made 14 pints of hot salsa last night & then 16 pints of mild salsa this morning. I told the guys there are probably that many tomatoes out there again to be picked. I think I will wait til tomorrow!!!!! I am canned out for tonight.
I also did 15 ears of sweet corn last night. Yum! It will taste so good this winter.
Thank you for stopping by! I appreciate each & every one of you!!!!

Tomatoes Anyone?

I mentioned in my last post that I had canning to do. Well, I did can that day. I am attaching a picture of what I did that day. Now, this am, I went out & picked tomatoes again. I like to pick the day before I can, that way they have time to ripen a bit more in the house & have time to dry off, so that much of the garden dirt is off of them when I start the process!
The picture of tomatoes on the table is JUST what I picked this morning. I will be able to go out again tomorrow & get just as many! Do you think I MIGHT have a tomato or two for canning??? I think this batch will be tomatoes again, then the next batch needs to be a batch of salsa, just because I cannot go a season without making some, even if we do have plenty downstairs!!!
On the stitching front, I am working on the next ornament for the RR I am involved in. I should have some time to stitch today & tomorrow!
Have a wonderful weekend & thanks for stopping by & for leaving your comments!! They are day brighteners!!

Two Small Finishes

hi all,
Well, the boys have come & gone. We had a wonderful week with them here. They have grown so much, just in the month since we last saw them! Oh my!!!! It won't be long & they will be walking all over the place. Two of them were taking up to 10 steps while they were here, but they would then plop down!!!! The third one has no interest! But...he has the cutest crawl!!! He crawls from side to side. It is hard to explain in words, but just picture crawling, but to the side, not the front! Too adorable!
I am involved in a Christmas Ornament Round Robin with one of my groups. I got my first assignment just before the boys arrived. So.....that is what I took in the car on the day we went to get the boys. I got about 1/2 of it done that day. (Sunday) I finished it on Tues. morning while they napped.
I then worked on my Sylvia's SAL piece, as I had time. I didn't get a lot of stitching time but hey, that is ok!!!!
I got LOTS of baby loving time & that is MUCH more important!!!!!
The canning season has officially started. Today, I am doing tomatoes & jalapeno peppers. I have 12 pints of tomatoes. I will use these in chili & spaghetti. I have never done jalapeno's, but I have so many, I decided it is time to try!
Have a great week & thanks for stopping by!