Blog Archive

Tuesday, September 10, 2024

A Pumpkin or Two- A Fall Freebie

Here a pumpkin; there a pumpkin! Everywhere a pumpkin, pumpkin!

Good morning, Sunshine! 

DOLLAR GENERAL ALERT!  
Dollar General has these cutie patootie  fall signs / hornbooks for a dollar.  Wow ! What a deal! Of course, 2 jumped right into my cart, and being quite smitten,  I was just unwilling to shoo them away. 😂  I thought these would be darling for finishing. 
 

I knew exactly which stitch I wanted to put on one of these hornbooks. A Pumpkin or Two which I worked on a few days ago.
 

I really liked the cute designs on both of the hornbooks so I chose the "Fall , Fall, Fall" one and flipped it over and began  painting the backside with white paint. It took 2 coats. The little hornbook soaked the paint up pretty quickly. 


Here is  "A Pumpkin or Two" all finished !  I am pretty happy with it. 


I stitched "A Pumpkin or Two " on 14 count coffee / tea dyed aida.  It barely fit on the hornbook. I was hoping to add a ruffle , trim or another fabric covered board underneath , but I was not able. However , if  I  stitched it  on a different count fabric, I could have done that.  Anywhoo, let me tell you about the measurements. 


The  finished mounting board was a smidge under 3" x 4" . If you use the same finishing piece and size fabirc, my advice is to cut your mounting board  3 1/4" x 4 1/4" and then slowly cut it down to size it to  fit on the hornbook. It is a tight fit, but I went with it anyway. It was a cheapo finish. Hee! Hee! And you know I like that!



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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. 

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 I quilted a blue butterfly last night.  On to the next block!  


On Saturday , I started "Tiny Blackbird" from Blackbird Designs. Thank you dear Barbara . I am enjoying every stitch. ❤🪡

Time to change out the mantle . The  summer mantle was decorated in blue transferware and yellow pottery. 

I got a head start for Christmas and put up my Christmas garland on the mantle and draped lights , fall leaves and florals for the Autumn season. Come Christmas time, I will just take out the florals and decorate the garland for Christmas.  The fall mantle has blue pumpkin plates from the Dollar General and lots of pumpkins. 


Well that the Tuesday Happenings in the holler. Have a pumpkin spice kind of day,  Sweeties and ...

As always,

Happy Stitching and Quilting, y'all

Melisa

"Autumn leaves and pumpkins please. "  

Hugs and Stitches!!! 🤗🧵

Dedicated to my dear sister, Amy. I miss and love you so much.   ❤👼

37 comments:

  1. Bravo! The hornbook looks great. Good job!
    I have my problems with finishing my stitchery. At the moment I have 20 to finish. OmG.
    I think I will do it the next rainy day.
    Have a lovely day my friend.
    Hugs, Gabi

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    1. Oh Gabi. I think I have the same problem. I love stitching more than finishing. LOL. I have a basket filled with unfinished pieces. We need more hours in the day , don't we? Hee! Hee! Have a beautiful day , sweet friend. Hugs.

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    2. I thought I was the only one, I usually only finish my cross stitch when I give it to someone.

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  2. Oh I love that design,, Melisa! Must be stitched ASAP! And I want to stitch the mini sampler with the crow on it. Enjoy your Wednesday. Darlene J

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    1. Aaah thank you so much, Darlene. It was a fast stitch. I hope you enjoy it . The little crow sampler is a favorite too. Eeeh it sounds like you are going to be busy. Have a fabulous day, sweet friend. Hugs.

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  3. Merci pour cette jolie grille, bonne journée

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    1. Aaah thank you so much, dear and you are so very welcome. I wish you a blessed and beautiful day. Happy Stitching. Hugs.

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  4. The hornbooks are a great bargain but I'm more interested in the bunt cake cooling. Did you perhaps make an autumn apple cake? Happy stitching!

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    1. Can you believe that little cake is fake? LOL. It looks so real though. I usually bring it out this time of the year. I sure could go for a apple cake right now. I was looking at pie recipes last night so that might be in order. Thank you for the sweet Tuesday visit, Gretchen. Enjoy your day. Hugs.

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  5. Love the blue roses butterfly--so pretty;))) the hornbooks are really neat finished with your stitcheries--nice work hugs, Julierose

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    1. The blue butterfly was a joy to quilt. I am working on the next block today. I hope to finish it by tonight . I would like to quilt at least 3 blocks a week, but we shall see. Thank you so much, Julierose. I hope you are having a lovely day. Hugs.

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  6. I had no idea those were called "hornbooks" - what a great idea! How did you attach that cute cross stitch? Is that a real cake in the background? Did you just put that there to torture us? LOL!

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    1. As soon as I saw the little hornbooks/ signs at the Dollar General I knew what I wanted to do. I went back for another one the other day. I used Alene's tacky glue and then let an iron sit on it through the night to flatten down to the board. Aaah that cake is fake. Hee ! Hee! I bring it out each year. Hubby always thinks it is real when he sees it. It does look yummy even though it is made of wax. LOL. Happy Tuesday, Linda.

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  7. A great idea for the finish! I love how Dollar Tree "helps out" us cross stitchers. Blessings!

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    1. You can not beat the Dollar Tree and Dollar Generals . I am all about being thrifty. LOL. Thank you so much, Donna. I hope you are having a lovely day. Hugs.

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  8. I like the little tassle with beads you created! Hornbook, never heard that term before.

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    1. I was thrilled that the little beaded tassel came with the hornbook. I just removed it when I painted it and then reattached. The tassel would be so easy to create. I am going to have to try that here soon. Happy Tuesday, Vicki. Have a blessed day. Hugs.

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  9. What a darling new pumpkin design, Melisa! Thank you! And thank you for the heads up about the hornbook signs at Dollar General. I will have to look this week.

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    1. Aaah you are so welcome, Robin. I went to several Dollar Generals just looking around and spotted these at several. I hope you are able to make a haul as well. Have a wonderful evening . Hugs.

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  10. good morning Melisa. the first thing i do in the morning once my computer is cranked up is looking at pinker n punkin. i love your posts. you are always so very creative and such an inspiration. can you provide me with the name of your pattern for tiny blackbird from blackbird designs? i am interested in all blackbird designs pattern and would like to purchase the pattern. thanks so much Melisa. much love coming your way. have a wonderful, blessed day.
    Debra Broyles
    quiltingprettyquilts@cox.net

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    1. Aaah you brought a big smile to my day, Debra. I can not tell you what it means to me that you visit me each day. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Oh I just love all of the Blackbird Designs. I want to stitch them all too. Hee! Hee! I just need more hours in the day. This little design is called Tiny Pumpkin and is from the book When the Leaves Fall. It is a very enjoyable stitch and only uses a few floss colors. Have a beautiful day, sweet friend and Happy Fall stitching. Hugs.

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  11. Good September morning, Mellisa. Love your new Mantle decor!! Sweet Blue Pumpkin plates. Now, I have to venture out to Dollar General to see is they have the same hornbooks here in Arizona. Sometimes not but sometimes...... Was looking for an embroidered squirrel and there it was!! Thank you for the sweet doodle. Have a wonderful rest of the week, sending hugs from sunny Arizona.

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    1. Happy happy Tuesday, dear Mary. I went to several Dollar Generals and finally I found the plates. I adore blue and white plates for some reason. I do wish you the best of luck in finding the little hornbooks. You never know what you will find at the dollar stores. Do you? LOL. I wish you a blessed day, sweet friend. Warm hugs from the holler.

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  12. Great post Melisa! Very realistic cake. 😂🤣 Love the pumpkins with the crow, I will have to start one soon. Love the blackbird stitching too. 😁🙋‍♀️👍 Barbara @flashinscissors 🥰xx

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    1. Lol I love the fake food. Hee! Hee! I can not tell you how many times the kiddos or hubby thought I had baked goods on the counter only to find out they are faux. It certainly is pumpkin stitching season .And gotta have a crow. Enjoy your day, dear Barbara and thank you for the sweet visit. Hugs.

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  13. I looked up hornbook. . .what an interesting product! I like how you are using yours!--TerryK@OnGoingProjects

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    1. Aaah thank you so much, Terry. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it when I saw it. I was thrilled that I could squeeze my stitch onto it. LOL. Have a blessed day. Hugs.

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  14. Thank you for the sweet little pumpkin stitch. Love the curly stems. I don't know that I remember you showing us the mantle before but both seasons were just lovely. The little pastries look pretty inviting. It's cloudy today. Maybe I'll do some weeding!

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    1. Aaah you are so welcome, Ginny. It was a fun stitch to create and share. I don't think I have shown the mantle that often maybe I have at Christmas time. I'm not for sure. LOL. It was fun to decorate it this season. Last year I did not decorate it at all. A cloudy day is the best time to weed; I had to wait late in the afternoon yesterday and by that time I was tired. LOL, but I did get a few weeds pulled. I wish you a wonderful and productive day. Hugs.

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  15. It was a great deal and they were beautifully finished with those embroideries!!
    Kisses

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    1. I was so excited to find a piece at a good price to finish my stitch on . Thank you so much, dear. Isabel. I wish you a blessed day. Hugs.

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  16. So much eye candy to oogle over in this post. The blue pumpkin cakes are a real treat to see. We dont have a Dollar General but I wonder if our Dollar Store might have something like that. I love them :)

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    1. Hi Sharon and Happy Wednesday. I was thrilled to get the blue pumpkin plates. It seems like a lot of the dollar stores have the same or similar items. I was thinking that I saw a blue plate at one of the Dollar Trees with larger pumpkins earlier this year. I have been looking every time I go to a Dollar Tree since then. They are worth checking out. My Mom was able to find the blue pumpkin biscuit jar at the Dollar General. I haven't been that lucky though. I hope you find you a set of blue pumpkin plates for the season. Thank you for the sweet visit. Hugs.

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  17. The finished A Pumpkin or Two turned out beautifully. Those blue pumpkin plates are fun, it's nice to see something fall that's not all orange!

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    1. Oh thank you so much, Kate. It was a quick stitch and finish which I enjoyed. It was hard to pass up the pumpkin plates especially since I have an affection for blue plates. Have a blessed day. Hugs

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  18. Oh Melisa, those hornbooks work well for your finishing. Thanks for sharing how you did it. Your decor is fabulous, as usual.

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    1. I struggle with finishing ideas. The little Dollar General piece was a great cheap find and fit the stitch perfectly. Thank you so much, Jeanna. Big hugs.

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