The tail (err tale) end of Fall Fling and some stitching updates

Hey there troops -- I think I can finally close out my Myrtle Beach photo extravaganza today. At long last! Seems like I've been "talking" about Pals Fall Fling muuuuuch longer than I was at Fall Fling. lol

First of all you should know that in the midst of all that stitching, stashing, gift exchanging, showing off, and goofing around, we play some "organized" (as much as you can organize a herd of cats) games. Miss Steph from FL started this a few years back to keep us occupied while the votes in the Stitcher's Showcase were tallied. Usually we play several rounds of themed bingo and have another couple games. This year we did one game involving sucking and blowing and counting Sweet Tarts -- I suppose it should surprise no one that Martine excelled at this! hee hee Now, I have no pictures of this particular game because I was either coughing up a lung or laughing so hard I was crying upon the discovery that those Sweet Tarts are kinda dusty and when you try and suck them (up off a table top with a straw) you get a mouth, throat, lung full of candy dust. BTW, through my hazy of laughter and wheezing I did note that when it comes to sucking candy Pals are VERY serious competitors! Oh, oops, I do have one picture of this:

That's an anonymous hand at my table touching the bag of Sweet Tarts, cups, and straws right after we were told "do not touch the bag in the center of your table." Ok, we're real rebels... practically the Hells Angels of Pals.

Anyway, we settled into some nice rounds of bingo and I can happily report that "O Squirrel" made its return this year as a bingo square. I was over the moon with glee every time it got called. Hey, it's the little things.

In the bingo event our card markers are candy corn which most people just pile in their hands (mouth) or on the table in front of them. But such sloppiness could not be tolerated in some quarters....

I ranged clear across the room to find that Hildit and her husband William had artistically arranged their candy corn. Turns out there is a reason they are so artistic. Not only does Hildit wield a mean needle but William does these amazing sand sculptures. He had included some of his work in Hildit's gift box for the exchange and I was chatting with him about them and he kindly volunteered to send me a sample of his work. Lookie the goodies that appeared in my mail:



Aren't they gorgeous? I'm a lucky ole so and so!

Also to prove I was lucky at Pals, let me show you some of the goodies I got given by folks. Miss Rita gave me this totally cute snowman stocking stuffed with the ever-so-handy stitch ripper:

Martine gave me this bundle of goodies"

And I even won this pouch of goodies (Sampler Threads wools) for stitching the most ornies in the exchange --


My final " Fall Fling moments" are actually Chris' couch moment. You see she has this really comfy couch, and I took over one end of it to pack on.

I'm pretty certain I'm fondling stash instead of packing in this shot, but I'm not certain what stash it is. I do know that's my Vierlanden sampler sitting patiently next to me hoping I'd get back to work on it soon.
While I was packing Chris was fondling her stash. She did quite well. I mean, check out the bag:

Are you like me? Do you get the overwhelming urge to go through that there bag. I have stash up the wazoo and still I want to fondle everyone else's.

This is my proof I did take advantage of the joys of Chris' couch --

Those are my not-so-tiny feet in the glow-in-the-dark walking shoes propped up on the very cushy foot rest.
Here's what we were supposed to be doing while I was enjoying couchy bliss --

Hanging stitching pieces! How did I miss that??? Next time, Chris?

And here's my proof that I did pack and that I did get it all in one bag AND that I wasn't over the baggage weight limit--

Yup, 48 pounds of stash and stuff. Aren't you proud of me?

Ok, a couple stitch updates before I head out for the night....

The fife and drum. Yes, I had wanted to drop them at Chris' framer, but it was more than clear that the only way they were going to get done was if I stopped working on my ornament for the class and that wasn't going to happen.

The Vierlanden did get out and got some stitching time. For 2009 can ya'll help me remember that I really, really want him finished by the end of next year? Please.

Black Swan's Dragon's Lair now has sparkly bits on it. While I stitch with 2 strands of blending filament and 1 strand of floss I chant in my head "this is fun this is fun," but eventually the chant morphs to "this isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be."

And finally, I have recently been itching to start new things so I have tried to ease that urge by hauling out pieces I haven't worked on in forever. Hence my Quaker a la 6 Mains returned for some work. It really is a lot of fun to do.

More soon... I promise (I hope).