Monday, September 30, 2013

Leaf bowls and Halloween Craftiness


We made some leaf bowls based on this tutorial from Hello Lucky.  It was really easy and fun.  The hardest part was being patient while the Mod Podge dried.


We had plenty of leaf garlands around the house to work with - doesn't everyone?

They're great for holding little things like candy.  Speaking of which, we're already burning through the candy corn at an alarming rate.  And pumpkin spice kisses!  My favorite.

We've got the decorations up in the house and all the Halloween quilts.  I'm still working on my Jack-o-lantern quilt.

I whipped up a candy-corn themed pillow:

And even though my kids are too big to play with them, I couldn't resist whipping up a batch of soft dolls from some custom fabric I found on Spoonflower:


I guess I'm a little excited for the whole holiday season to start. 

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Santa's Village House Number 8

Here is the next installment in my big Christmas project.  The candy cane house is done.  I made a mistake in one stitch and ended up ripping out a whole big section to fix it because everything was thrown off.  I'm glad I did though, even if I'm the only one who would have ever noticed the mistake.

Fall is creeping into the house.  I couldn't resist buying candy corn yesterday to fill our candy dish.  It even comes in s'mores flavor now!  A walk outside means getting pelted with acorns from the trees and the maple in the front yard is starting to change color.  It feels like great quilting weather to me.

I'm linking up today with Heather at Books and Quilts.

Monday, September 16, 2013

Design Wall Monday: Jack Baskets


Since I finished my Autumn leaves quilt, I jumped right in on my next one.  This one will have four blocks with slightly different fabrics in each.  The teeth will be embroidered in later.  Hope to finish this one by Halloween.

Don't worry about the selvage along the bottom - the block is cute extra big and will be trimmed way down after I applique it.

I love the retro look for Halloween.  I guess I'm getting old.  It seems like it used to be a gentler holiday for little kids.  Now it's all about really grisly stuff (or sexy!) for adults.  As long as everyone has fun, to each his own.  Just pass the candy corn and I'm happy.

Linking up today to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

The Quilt is Done!


Here is my completed "Colors of the Wind" quilt!  A lot of hours went into this one.  I love the mix of colors.  The pattern can be found in the book Clever Quarters, Too: More Quilts from Fat Quarters by Susan Teegarden Dissmore.  I wanted a Fall quilt that was non-traditional Fall colors.  Wasabi Girl named it for the song in the movie "Pocahontas."  In the movie, there are several scenes with colorful leaves swirling around her hair.

I quilted all of the seams in the ditch and added leaf motifs to each leaf block.  I created an oak leaf garland in the border and added a freehand feather pattern around the outer border to represent wind.

Of course the minute it was complete and I spread it on the bed to look at it, Hestia had to hop up and start a bath.  I'll take that as her seal of approval.

Monday, September 9, 2013

My Friend in a Cup


Autumn!  Warmer weather (at least for us), kids going back to school, leaves changing color, and the greatest event of all - flavored coffees!  Nothing plunges me into a season quite like this pumpkin coffee.  Tasting it, I have visions of Halloween parties and Thanksgiving feasts.  It's a whole season of memories in a cup.

When I'm feeling rich (almost never) I splurge at a real coffee shop and get one of their special offerings.  Maple lattes make me smile for days.  But on a daily basis, I celebrate the wonders of flavored caffeine with my home brewer.

The family teases me about how many flavors I keep handy, but they're also the ones who drink them up. 

This is what gets me up in the morning.  Hello Autumn!  Do you indulge in flavored coffees?

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Santa's Village Progress

Here is the latest progress on my little village.  I still need to finish the boughs along the bottom of the last house.  I was hoping to have it done by the end of September but as usual, life gets in the way.  Still hoping to have all 12 houses done in November so I have time to get it framed  before Christmas.

I'm loving this piece more and more as it comes together.  

The patterns are by Country Cottage Needleworks  You can see the whole village there.  You can purchase the patterns and specialty threads from 123 Stitch.  There's also a facebook group of people who are all working on this one.  It's fun to see the different background fabrics everyone's chosen.

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