Let the decorating commence on Slow Sunday Stitching...

Where does the day go??? Where did the week go??? They blew by as quickly as the winds that are whipping around my sunporch this minute. It was a gloriously sunny day up to about 20 minutes ago...now the skies are darkening and the wind has really picked up... they predicted 30 to 40 mph gusts and I believe it... it is actually whistling as it tosses the leaves all over the yard. All the 65 year old oaks in the neighborhood hold on to their leaves as long as possible... it means raking them goes on and on, but I do love the trees.

Last week was very very busy but very very productive... there were doctors appointments, a play  and a movie to see, meals out with friends, major reorganizing of storage rooms and Christmas decorations were released from their plastic bins.

I'm not sure what got into me last week. but again, I had the urge to straighten up and clean out stuff and I attacked the two storage areas which are at opposite ends of my basement. One is a smaller space under the steps and the other is a larger room where the furnace and some furniture reside. I had stored my decor items under the steps but after 5 years they had out grown the space and I realized they would fit much better if I moved them to the furnace room and took some smaller stuff from the furnace room and moved them under the steps. But this required emptying a bunch of stuff from BOTH spaces... which I did... and parked it in the middle of the floor of my sewing studio. I should have taken a picture with it all piled up but honestly it was so overwhelming I'm glad I didn't... I don't need any visual evidence to haunt me... my memory will suffice.  It took quite a few hours but I am so happy with the results. Now all the bins are easily accessed ...and labeled... and while I did get rid of some stuff there is room for more...that is probably NOT a good thing... trying to live small... but it ain't working...LOL

The end result is I got a lot of stuff displayed and I will share it with you... hopefully you want to see it and it will definitely help me next year when I haul it all out again. It took longer this year to arrange as the shelf display is larger and that called for a new configuration...and I had a new spot on the sunporch that was begging for some Christmas cheer.

Let me begin... the "new" display unit... lots of Santas and crossstitch  and quilts and houses and trees...

Starting at the top is the Bent Creek  Quaker Noel Sampler and the Tournicoton J'Arrive...

I didn't realize until about  6 months after I had stitched the Bent Creek piece that there is NO "L" in the sampler... get it NOEL...NO L... I brightened this one up as it was all stitched in one color... and I still love the Santa and the crazy reindeer that I finished last year.

On this shelf Santas are keeping my little prim Christmas ladies company... I'm working on another lady from Pineberry Lane who will hopefully join them before the season is over... so much to stitch ... so little time...

And on this shelf I'm displaying my new finished and "priscillafied" In Santa Claus Land by With Thy Needle & Thread...

and here is a close up ...

Out on the sunporch I added some Christmas spirit too...

Some old stuff like the polka dot trees and some new stuff like the white houses  and the Believe sign from the Target's Dollar Spot... except they don't call it the Dollar Spot anymore, now it is Bullseye's Playground ... which then justifies items being more than a dollar... but I'm okay with that...the houses and the sign were  $3 each...not too expensive... and I just picked up those little retro pixies today from Michaels. I went to pick up a styrofoam wreath for another crafty project and found that Christmas decor was 50% off and since it was after 3pm I had a coupon for another 25% off your entire purchase... couldn't pass up that deal.

And I got ONE quilt bound this week ... and it turned out fabulous if I say so myself...and I do!!!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the big guy in the red suit... David of Quilting by David did a fantastic job on the quilting... if you enlarge the picture you can see the curls ... and here is a close up of the 3 tier tray...

It is pretty much like last year...I'd like to add some more cross stitch pieces to this ... we will see what the week ahead brings. Oh, remember when I said I was going to get the Lizzie Kate Christmas ABC's done... not sure that's gonna happen... I'm more in the mood for small pieces and once I got all my stuff out I'm not sure where I'll display it... and that doesn't motivate me to get it done... smalls are good because you can tuck them in here and there... I like that!

So that what I've got for today... I'm going to do a little decorating in the kitchen... I always do a gingerbread man theme there and perhaps a bit of Christmas in my sewing studio... again we'll have to wait and see. I still have 2 more quilts to bind and I have two more Christmas quilts projects I want to play with. One is the Jingle Jangle quilt... I have it all cut out...and I found an older Sandy Gervais Christmas layer cake that I want to stitch up...it isn't totally Christmas, more winter-y and it is non-traditional colors... some turquoise along with green and a brick red and a peach... I think it would look great out on the sunporch for winter. I have high hopes that there will be some sunny days I can sit out there this winter. I got a little space heater and there is a ceiling fan and the Dude has said he'd join me and keep an eye on the bird feeders. Now all we need is sun... I don't mind the cold but I HATE the gray days.

And to wrap up this magnum opus I have pictures of my displays lit up... got a deal on little snowflake lights to jazz up the shelf display and fairy light for the BIG Santa...

Very festive!!!

I'll be linking up with Kathy's Quilts ... and then spending time looking at what everyone else is up to... I still need to get the tree up too  ... I thought I'd get it done today but it is still in its box so probably not gonna happen. But it is only December 2... there is still time to get into lots of other stuff... and I probably will...

Hope you have a great week...mine looks less busy and I'm happy for that ... still have one more closet I want to attack while the organize and pitch it spirit still has a hold on me... I know this feeling will pass and who knows how long it will be before it returns... probably years... LOL

happy stitching-
carol fun