Happy Happy Thanksgiving! And Winter Checklist Doodle

The big day has arrived! Gobble! Gobble! 

 

Happy Thanksgiving, to all of my sweet friends who celebrate this wonderful holiday and I wish  all of you  a day of peace, joy , laughter and love as we give thanks for all of the blessings in  our lives including the warm memories of those who are no longer with us. 

Mini Turkey Sampler

I feel so very blessed by this wonderful community. I truly cannot thank you enough for the warmth, friendship and encouragement that you bring into my life. 

Today my family will begin the festivities at my Mom's warm country home. By the time, that I arrive I am sure she will have been up since the break of dawn bustling about in the kitchen.  There will be the sweet aroma of fresh baked pies, the dressing will be piping hot in the oven and the turkeys will be a golden brown. 

We will have the sides in tow . The table will be set  buffet style. Of course , Dad always carves the roasted turkeys. It will not take long for the little ones to  run into the kitchen and grab their plates for the meal that we enjoy only twice a year. 

Each year I pull out my Giving Thanks Keepsake Journal  

By mid afternoon, I will take  our usual family photos. We pose in a certain place and in a certain order each year. It is so much fun to see how the kiddos have grown over the years. 

Warm memories of the day's events, menu and traditions are recorded along with photos. 

After eating we will, sit back stuffed as can be and watch Christmas movies as the children play. Then Mr. Pinker, myself and my daughter's family head to the next destination to repeat it all over again. 

I bet many of you have a very similar Thanksgiving. 🤗

For the last few years, I have always worked on a snowman embroidery on Thanksgiving Day. Today will be no exception. I plan to work on "Prim Winter Checklist" , the last of the seasonal checklist embroideries that I have been stitching over the last few years. 

Like the previous checklist embroideries, I am using  2 strands of  DMC 898 floss and using the back stitch.

                  

     

                         My doodles are hand drawn and are never perfect! 

Well Sweeties, I will not keep you any longer. Remember as the old saying goes- "Eat and wear stretchy pants!" Hee! Hee!  And have a very beautiful day! 

As Always...

Happy  Stitching and Quilting,

 y'all

Melisa 

"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. " - Melody Beattle

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my dear sister, Amy who brought love, laughter and excitement to all of our holiday gatherings. . Our 5th Thanksgiving without you. How can that be.  I love and miss you so much.. Love you , Amo. 

🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃 

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Please keep the military, law enforcement officers and first responders in your thoughts and prayers during this holiday season. 

God Bless the USA! 

Busy in the Kitchen and Merry Christmas - A Christmas Freebie

 No Bake Gingersnap Pumpkin Pie ✅

Cornbread Salad ✅

Dressing prepped ✅

Next up -prepping the potato salad

Busy, busy, busy! I know many of you are hustling and bustling about the kitchen prepping for family gatherings or for just a quiet holiday meal at home, but I did want to pop in to wish you a lovely day.

If you can spare a minute, I would love to show you my latest  cross stitch finish which is simply called 

Merry Christmas. 

Let's get out of that hot kitchen and take a gander shall we. 

I made it into a long skinny pin pillow . I bordered the stitch with a small scrap of homespun fabric which I left unfinished on one end so you could see the frayed edges.  

The edge of the homespun is frayed.  . 

I think I am happy with it. 🤗

This pillow is stuffed with fabric scraps

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If you are interested in stitching this piece,  just grab , the images. For printing tips, refer to the post Tips for Printing which has loads of tips from my sweet friends. 

🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵

 Oooh I have potatoes boiling so I better get back to the kitchen and I know you have much to do as well. Hey, if you are in the neighborhood, drop in , grab an apron and spoon! We can tackle this Thanksgiving meal together and  better yet, you can be the taste tester! Hee! Hee! 

OK Back to the Kitchen, I go! 

As Always...

Happy  Stitching and Quilting,

 y'all

Melisa 

"What if today we were grateful for everything? "- Charlie Brown 

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my dear sister, Amy. I love and miss you so much.. Love you , Amo. 

🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃 

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Grandma's Country Autumn Kitchen Hutch Tour

 I am checking my list  and checking it twice! Nah, not my Christmas list but my Thanksgiving grocery list. 

Today Mr. Pinker and I will be picking up the fresh fruits and vegetables and then the preparations will begin. 

Blackbird Designs Antique 1861 sampler and Pickin' in Turkey Holler

How are you doing on Thanksgiving preparations? 

Mr. Pinker put the turkeys in one of the refrigerators over the weekend. Fingers crossed they will be thawed and ready for turkey day. 

 Fall Y'all 

I just realized the other day that I never showed you my country clutter of a hutch all decorated in its fall decor.

Wheew that is a lot of stuff isn't it?  It might make your eyes cross, but country clutter is just my style. Anywhooo, it would be a delight if you joined me for a closer look.

The theme this year was Grandma's Country Autumn Kitchen. I always like to have a theme and a focus color which you can tell was all things orange. 

There are lots of old tins and utensils scattered about the shelves. Some rusty and crusty- again my style. 

I even included a pie dish that mom gifted me nigh 20 years ago. 

There are mugs and pitchers all thrifted of course.  

I think the little pumpkin sampler is a Heart in Hand Designs. 

And sweet little stitches tucked here and there. 

Little Bits Pumpkin Haul

There are samplers...

Pumpkin and Bittersweet Sampler and  A Pumpkin or Two

And a gravy boat filled with a masher and little cross stitched pillows.

Rosie's Pumpkins

 

And I must not forget grandma's old cookie jar. No not my grandma's but someone's. 🤗

There is the promise of pumpkin pies... Fresh baked of course. 

And promises of peanut brittle  which may break your teeth. Oouch! 

Coca Colas and Maple syrup and I must not forget a little quilt...

And the scales are weighed down with copper measuring cups, frosted pumpkins and sweet crocheted doilies and potholders. 

FALL 1869 CROCK

Aaah all of the gathering on Grandma's hutch. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit me today. 

May your day be sprinkled with pumpkin pie spice and everything nice! 

Love ya'! 

As Always...

Happy  Stitching and Quilting,

 y'all

Melisa 

"August is the bridge between summer and autumn. " 

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my dear sister, Amy. I love and miss you so much.. Love you , Amo. 

🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃 

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Magical Monday

News Alert ! News Alert! 

Whewww! All is well! 

The Mysterious Case of the Missing Santas has been solved.

 Mr. Pinker and I searched every nook and cranny the other day for my missing cross stitches which are usually stored on a certain shelf but  to no avail . Then  yesterday I pulled out my Christmas  cross stitch bins and  low and behold there they were!   Who would have thunk? Hee! Hee! Well not me! 🤪🤣🙄

Obviously, some sneaky elf  slipped them in the bins. Now I ask you,- Why would Christmas cross stitches be in   Christmas cross stitch bins? Hee! Hee! 😁😂  Silly me. 

In 2 shakes of a lamb's tail , I high tailed it upstairs to deck the buffet with more Santas. I was certainly a jolly gal!  

Mr. Pinker just shook his head ."Like I told you, " he said "You would find them in plain sight. "  

I will continue decking the halls with my stitches this week. I still have a couple of trees to decorate including the Barnyard Tree. 

Loads and Loads of stitched pieces are making their way out of the bins

Oh , but I have lots of other Christmas fun in the works! 

A few years ago, I purchased a bag of pieced Christmas fans that were begging to be put into a quilt. 

Thrifted pieced fans ready to be appliqued. 

Well, you know the story- they went straight to the quilt room and placed on a shelf to be forgotten.

 Then a few months ago I picked them up and moved them to the camper as a project for when I was on the go. Well that never happened so the other day, I asked Mr. Pinker to go down to the camper to get them and lickety split he did. 

 

I was grinning ear to ear when he brought them up to the house to me. "Today is the day!" I shouted. 

I have never made a fan quilt before. I measured the arch and ended up cutting my pink background fabrics 10 1/2" squared.

Background fabric is 10 1/2"

 

This will be a long term, slow stitching project and will be great for this winter when we are  camping, but for now I will work on a few blocks each week. 

 

Three blocks completed. Woo Hoo! 

Alrighty, Sweet Peas, I am off to see what I can get into. I am sure I can muster up some kinda trouble. How about you?  

Have a magical day! 

Isn't this snowman the sweetest? 

 

 As Always, 

Happy  Stitching and Quilting, y'all

Melisa

Thank you for the sweet visit. 

"Christmas is a magical time of the year .  " - unknown.

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my baby sister, Amy. Love and miss you, Amo. 

On the finishing table is the Prairie Schooler piece that I stitched years ago in colors that remind me of my daughters. 

🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃 

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A Great Day to Be Stitching and " Speaking of Christmas -Holly" Freebie

This week's quilt stack comes straight from the kitchen!  😀

 

Good Slow Stitching Sunday, y'all.  It is a good day to sit back in our jammies, prop up our feet and stitch the day away. Don't you think? 

Anywhooo.. Since a lot of us will be spending time in the kitchen this week , we better get in all of the stitching time we can in.😀 

 In the kitchen , I have   a small selection of quilts all rolled up into little bundles and tucked into vintage sifters. 

Soon those sifters will be put into work , sifting flour as I  prep for baking .  

Here is a yummy no bake pie recipe which is perfect for the holiday season. 

PUMPKIN GINGERSNAP PIE

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups cold half and half, light cream or milk

1 package ( 4 serving size) Jello Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding and Pie Filling

3 1/2 cups Cool Whip Whipped Topping , thawed

1 cup chopped pecans

1 cup of chopped ginger snap cookies

1/2 cups canned pumpkin

1 1/2 Tablespoons of pumpkin pie spice

1 graham cracker pie crust

DIRECTIONS:

1. Pour half and half into large bowl. Add pie filling mix. Beat until well blended - about 1 minute. Let stand for 5 minutes. 

2. Fold in whipped topping, pecans, gingersnaps, pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice. Spoon into crust. 

3. Freeze until firm, about 6 hours or overnight. Remove from freezer and let stand about 10 minutes to soften before serving. Store any leftovers in the freezer.

I have to admit I have had a rip-roaring humdinger of a week.😀😁 No, not a lot of drama  has been going on --well, except for The Mysterious Case of the Missing Santas  which is still ongoing. ( If you missed that mystery,  please hop over to that post. Where could those Santas be?  )  But my week has been filled with lots of time working with needle and thread .

 The Thanksgiving Jar

Earlier this week , I worked on Moda's Holiday Stitch Along Block 1 .  This was a SAL from way back in 2020 that is still available. 

Today I will work on Block 2.

I also finished ornament 3 of the Speaking of Christmas series. 

This one is simply named "Holly". 

I  finished it into a simple pillow , framed  with some leftover 1 1/2" unfinished fabric strips and some crocheted lace.

 

Large wonky black X's were stitched along the bottom seam. The large wooden snowflake came from Dollar Tree. 

It's a Holly Jolly Christmas ! It's the best time of the year....

Three Speaking of Christmas ornaments/ bowl tucks all whipped up. There will be at least 4 more to come this year. Maybe more later. 

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If you are interested in stitching this piece,  just grab , the images. For printing tips, refer to the post Tips for Printing which has loads of tips from my sweet friends. 

🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵🧵

I will start a new ornament  today. 

In the evenings, I enjoy sitting back on the couch and working on my Bow Tie quilt.  I expect I will do that tonight as well. 7 more blocks to go. Quilt, quilt, quilt! 

Well  Sweeties, we better get to work if we are going to have a humdinger of a day. Now grab your needle and thread and let's start to stitching. 😀🤗

 As Always...

Happy  Stitching and Quilting,

 y'all

Melisa 

"Thanksgiving is a time of togetherness  and gratitude. " 

Hugs and Stitches!!!!🤗🧵❤

Dedicated to my dear sister, Amy who loved the holiday season. Sunday gathering are not the same without you, Amo.  .. Love you , Amo. 

🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃🦃 

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🌞A Berry Nice Parade- A Look at Past Berry Freebies 2025- Early 2025 berry Freebies. 

🌞A Buzzy Bee Parade An early 2025 bee freebie parade.

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I am joining these lovely ladies' link parties. I hope you check them out; they always have so many wonderful projects going on and provide the opportunity for other needle workers to meet.

Frederique at   Quilting Patchwork Applique for Patchwork & Quilts - Saturday

Kathy at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday

Kate at Life in Pieces for  Stitching Stuff ( Sunday) 

Cynthia at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework for Oh Scrap - Sunday 

Melva at Melva Loves Scraps for Sew & Tell- Sunday

Brenda at Songbird Designs for Monday Musings

Judy at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday

Carol at Quilt Schmilt  for To Do List Tuesday