Chinese Lanterns, Laundry Basket Pumpkins, Nature

Anybody growing Chinese Lanterns?  We had quite the patch at the old farm and I loved bringing them in for a bouquet this time of year.  They always reminded me of pumpkins and autumn.

A hardy perennial that had spread wildly in the field beside the barn, it is a symbol of friendship. Chinese lanterns lend themselves to watercolours very well. This pretty version is by Elizabeth Herrman and you can read more HERE. Mary( Mary in Peoria Handmade) and LeeAnna (Not Afraid of Color) what do you think?

                         
Oranges in nature are so vibrant. Including the little woolly bear caterpillar that is migrating around the garden these days. Love spying them. Beside it is a crysalis of a moth; no idea which one.  Did you know woolly bears can predict the kind of winter we are going to have?  The wider the orangy brown in the middle, the milder the winter to come. Looks like we are going to have it milder than usual. Wouldn't that be nice?  You can read all about the folklore behind this legend here.

I have Edyta's pumpkin hanging on the wall.  Have memories of loving all the stages of stitching these.

I'm making a hanging sleeve for the Sew Spooky hanging which is going to a new home.  Several YouTube videos have been helpful with it.

I think the straw pumpkin head woman was my favourite.

 I finished the second batch of peaches with peach and plum muffins.  They were so good and I wish I would not overbake...these were a little dry. I sprinkled a little turbinado sugar on the tops.

Canada geese have just begun their very large migration southward. With rainy weather on the weekend, the skies were suddenly moodier.

I have this ebook from the library finally, been on hold for ages, and begun reading it.  I enjoy Kate's writing style and phrases,etc. but something about the plot, the tricky flipping of time elements is niggling at me.  However, I know I will finish it.
                                             
We are off downtown for one of Hubby's medical appointments. A glaucoma checkup which should go well. I hope to stop at this fabric shop on the way back home- just to look, :) while Hubby has a coffee at the nearby McDonald's.
                            
Hope all is well with you!
Linking this post with Not Afraid of Color,  It's A Small Town Life, Paying Ready Attention, For the Love of Geese, My Quilt Infatuation, Floral Friday Foto, Holunderbluetchen and Quilt Fabrication.                           

Links, Autumn Stitching, Flag Blocks and Crochet Too

This is not just a Tuesday TO Do post but a must do list!
  Soak up the last of the colour in the garden and these pleasant temperatures we are still enjoying.  With news of the snow storms out west and various parts of the US, we know it's coming!
The beautiful and very hardy Japanese anemone is blooming still, much loved by the bees. There are three bunches that are well established here and spreading.

SIL dropped this off one morning as a little surprise...bright stunning colour and so many blooms!

I need to look at our stock of Vitamin D, B12, C, etc. and remind Hubby to get out his light box (he is slightly affected by SAD).  Flu season is just ahead and I'm always mindful for him. Not much talk of flu shots just yet though.

I must check out Crabapple Hill Studio's latest autumn designs...just released. I follow Meg on Facebook and she has been tantalizing us with little snippets of what she's been working on.  This link will take you to her newest releases page.

                                             
Still casting about for a fall quilting project. Saw this and thought pretty cute.
Scrappy and it uses fusible applique which makes this an easy project. All the details and tutorial are available here from the amazing Allison at Cluck Cluck Sew.

Also found this tutorial on how to hand piece pumpkins from wonderful Patty at the happening Elm Street Quilts site.  A row of these in the smallest size would be very cute hand stitching.
                               
I do want to make a start on some autumn stitching this week. It's a busy week but I should be able to find a little time to at least make a start on something.

Here is my scarf-to-be  or "scarf of many colours" as Hubby calls it....miniature granny squares, so far...The darks are purples, brown and black and the colours are far more muted than this photo is showing.

Plan to get this finished this month, that is October before November and the white stuff flies. How about that for a goal??
I hope to get at least 10 more of the flag blocks finished this month.  Yeah, this is doable for sure. Here are a few more in pinks I made.

And I mustn't forget the start on something for autumn/ Halloween.  So October is shaping up in more ways than one.
Happily linking this post with Home Sewn By Us and Elm Street Quilts.

Crabapple Hill's Autumn's Call, Painted Lady Wool Embroidery, Pesky Dresden Circles

Digging out the autumn projects and came across the one above.  A Crabapple Hill Design, Autumn's Call, that I stitched way back in 2013. The pattern is still available here .

It's been quite the week especially with the amazing marches for climate change occurring all over the globe. We live in hope that this will evoke change where it is most badly needed, at the top.
Meanwhile, I enjoyed reading this article 45 Ways People Did Something Clever About Saving the World Instead of Just Talking.  I think I'm pretty thrifty but I never thought of saving and reusing mascara wands. I could immediately think of so many ways they can come in handy.
                                 
I received some questions about the Painted Lady project in the last post.  Here is a fuller picture. It is a Laura Heine pattern, embroidery on wool, and her website called FiberWorks is here.

You may have seen Laura's collaged elephant around. Amazing!
                              
I've stitched the circles onto 5 or 6 of the Dresdens. Still wishy washy about their size seeing them on the wall.  I think I'll go with the smallest size on the left.  I will get this worked out to my satisfaction eventually! If only one of you wonderful quilters could pop by for a visit and help me with this! 
But today is the day I make a final decision with what's turned into a pesky debate.

We have no plans for this Sunday so will be puttering about. Out of the sewing room, I'm hoping to finish another little Quaker motif on my cross stitch piece. It's sitting on a woven throw Hubby brought back from one of his many travels.  I always think it would make a wonderful quilt design.

Last look at a beautiful display of purple asters in an overgrown spot of the backyard. To the left there you can glimpse the path through the woods we take for our daily walks.

Happy Sunday All!
Linking this post with other hand stitchers at Kathy's Quilts. Also linking with Creations- Quilts, Art, Whatever, Small Quilts and Doll Quilts and Life in Pieces.

Painted Ladies, Real and Wooly, The Affair, Dogs Riding Subways

An abandoned nest...from its looseness, I'm guessing a mourning dove's. Interesting to see what gets revealed with even a few leaves falling.

Mourning Dove and Rose Breasted Grosbeak at the old farm, 2015

I had a larger number than usual of painted lady butterflies show up in the garden this year. They particularly enjoyed the Golden Broadleaf flowers. They are a still kind of butterfly so easy to capture good shots. Coincidentally they are calling 2019 The Year of the Painted Lady Butterfly in parts of Europe because they have been recording high numbers. Some badly needed good news!

 Some of you may remember I stitched a wool project a few years back by that name.  Still waiting for quilting.

And the stitched flowers are very much like the Golden Broadleaf flowers too.

 Hubby and I have been thoroughly enjoying this series, The Affair; we think it's gotten better as it's gone along. Any of you catch it?  We are watching it on HBO/Crave, I can't remember which. Good acting and what a plot!
                                             
I liked this video of how New Yorkers are getting around the rule of no dogs on the subway unless they can fit in a bag.  New and hilarious use for an Ikea bag!
 

In between stitching
Making these little 4 square blocks when I have 15 minutes or so.  They're not perfect because I'm using up scraps of many different sizes... I can't give up on some of the better fabrics no matter how tiny. In my head, I'm imagining these as a border for the basket blocks. They look like autumn to me so seasonal stitching as it happens.

I like when I find a little hand stitched floral item at the thrift store. Here is one stitched by L in 1988. Very nice stitching and how nice that she "signed" it. An Aunt Martha iron on design maybe. (hints of blue markings can be seen under the threads)

Up close you can see how she filled in the open ribbon area, which is tricky to do, with long and short stitches. Interesting. L's work has now found a home with me.

Happy Thursday from these two!  Muggy weather always makes them pant and I don't think either has ever ridden a subway.
Downpours of rain as I finish this post. First real rain in ages.
Linking this post with Not Afraid of Color, Paying Ready Attention, Inquiring Quilter, The Needle and Thread Network, It's A Small Town Life, Floral Passions,  Brian's Home Blog, Floral Friday Foto and My Quilt Infatuation.

Hand Quilting, Gardening, Free Patterns

I've been reluctant to spend time in the sewing room for a very good reason...the weather has been so beautiful.  Saturday I actually spent most of the afternoon on the veranda. Glorious is all I can say.

It is slightly past the fall equinox so autumn is official but the temperatures were belying that fact...up until today that is. Cooler today but still pleasant.

 I added more hand stitching to the appliqued flower table runner. I'd forgotten what enjoyable stitching this is.  The Sulky variagated thread is wonderful to sew with. My goal will be to have this all quilted by next Tuesday.

I'm also pleased to say I have the quarter circle pattern worked out for the Dresdens. Thanks to all of you who offered advice.  I think it was Susan ( Quilt Fabrication ) who said she would keep them smaller and I went with that idea.  My Karen Kay Buckley circles arrived so I used one of them to trace a perfect circle. I used Wendy's ( Wendy's Pieceful Thoughts) idea to use paper folded in fourths.  Made a cardboard template and way to go. At least now each will more or less be the same and with it being smaller, more of the pretty colours are showing. Perhaps 10 or 12 of these will be finished for this week's goal.

 Still must make a decision about working on a fall/Halloween project this year.  To that end I've been visiting sites and also remembered to have a look through the magazines on hand. I sometimes feel a tinge of guilt for buying them and not making at least one project from each.  Do you feel like that?

Seeing Jinny and Jo featured probably was why I bought that top one!

Live Art Gallery Fabrics has a fabulous bank of free quilt patterns. Traditional with a modern flair is how I describe them.  Have a peek if looking for a fall project is on your to do list too.

I got to collect more seeds from a variety of plants, the dianthus, globe thistle, coneflowers and yucca. Still more to get as they ripen for the picking. Have to package, label and store these in the cold room.

                                       

And from those rather noble words to this:- the fact that I have an aging cauliflower in the fridge that I must use up.  Soup maybe.
Happy Tuesday all.
Linking with Home Sewn By Us today. Also happily joining Clever Chameleon, Quilting is More Fun Than Housework, Em's Scrapbag, Love Laugh Quilt, and Sum of Their Stories.

Sensational September, Stitching, SAL, Squirrels

The little red squirrels are running all over the place, frantically it seems, gathering stores for the winter. There's no doubt their internal seasonal clock is working.  And they are completely unafraid of me as out on the deck, one ran across my feet!
I couldn't get over how like my photo this cross stitch design below is. I guess British red squirrels must be very similar to Canadian ones.  It's a kit from Bothy Threads, part of their Wildlife series. This is a link to more information about Bothy Threads.  It would be an appropriate piece to have here at the wooden house.

But a piece that is on the wall here at the wooden house, September's redworked stitched block of A Patchwork Year designed by Kathy Schmitz.

My brief online shopping this week brought this Welcome Fall pattern by Kathy straight to my inbox.  Just love these stitching patterns that can avoid the international shipping costs. I love acorns!
                     
A wonderful season to be working in wool and what lovely wool to crochet, the Debbie Bliss Andes, which is an alpaca blend. These are miniature granny squares and at this rate I figure I'll need a gazillion to make a scarf. Perhaps Sophie Digard's prices are worth it! Check out Sophie's scarves here.

So enjoying my "new" cross stitching project, Swirling Flowers by Karen Kluba for Rosewood Manor. The 32 count antique linen is working fine for me with my new readers. So far, so good!

Our monthly SAL linkup is today. Thanks to Avis at Sewing Beside the Sea for hosting this group of international stitchers.
Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Helen, Linda, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Deborah, Clare, Mary Margaret, Renee, Jenny, Carmela, Jocelyn, Sharon, Susan, Anne
There is a certain stillness in the flower beds, nothing new opening, it is all shutting down I guess. Even the bees are slowing down. Browns and duns and grays slowly taking over. But no sadness here, just glad to be here to enjoy another season spinning round. 
And with that, a last look at my single patch of planted autumn asters, one of the Gaillardias, caught by the September sun.

They went out in a blaze of glory!
Sunday linking with Kathy's Quilts where Kathy has announced her first stitching retreat outside Guelph! Also linking with Nina at Creations- Quilts, Art, Whatever where she shares 25 ways to find inspiration, with Viewing Nature With Eileen where Eileen shares amazing bird photos from coastal Iceland and Floral Friday Foto where I learned the lilac tree is a species of olive tree. Happy as well to link with Life in Pieces where Kate is maintaining her goal of 15 minutes a day of stitching.

Pumpkin Dump Cake, Red Manor Applique, Garden Stuff

Continuing on from Sunday's post about stitching pumpkins, I remembered a recipe I loved for eating pumpkin.   A search back through the posts and I found the link- I Made a Pumpkin Dump Cake.  It made a huge cake, in a 9 x 13 pan, and was delicious so we mustered our resources and the two of us finished it off.
                        
Grocery list this week includes the fixings too. (No, there is no cheese or relish in this cake!)

The bread machine came out on the weekend and I/it made a loaf of whole wheat bread. Very good for lunchtime sandwiches. I must remember to do this more often. Don't know if the bread is any better for us, but at least I know what's in it.  I love these small appliances.

As I've said, I watched a number of YouTube videos and learned how to collect seeds from the coneflowers and the yuccas.  This was a TO DO item from a couple of weeks back.  It's partially done as the plants have to be ready and a recent warmer spell slowed the drying process. So an ongoing goal.

Meanwhile my Yucca has doubled and needs to be divided. But I'm a bit chicken to try it as it involves slicing through the whole root ball . Maybe in the spring.

I want to learn more about this project...The Red Manor House Coverlet. Featuring sweet applique motifs, it is The Quilters Guild of the British Isles BOM project this year. I signed up to receive more information about it. I know many of you who would enjoy this stitching.


Also from a past TO DO list...My humane mouse trap has been set up in the garage and is working. I've captured two mice so far and released them at the back of the pond. Loads of hidey places down there! Fingers crossed this will keep mice out of the cars this winter.

I've just started exploring the meditative stitching movement. I want to learn more about it and the possibility of hand stitching with more freedom,  I can draw a little so it is only my own inhibitions that are stopping this particular process. Why anything should stop me at this stage of life is a mystery. However, I think art is about audacity too of which I don't have a single shred so maybe that's it.
 I'd love to hear your thoughts on this matter.  Have you ever wanted to just stitch, with no particular pattern to follow, guided by the colours or threads or fabrics or mood?
Hope you have a wonderful week!
Linking up with Home Sewn By Us.