Appropriately moving slowly into Fall on a Slow Sunday...

 Hello - well I think the weather is moving toward Fall... lots of trees have their leaves turning and dropping... that heat wave 2 weeks ago probably hastened it...  I know I already have some dead leaves in my yard. And I'm tired of watering and will be fine with my flowers dying off.  I still will have to clean out the beds but the young man who mows my lawn (he's the grandson of my dear friend) has offered to bring over his dump trailer when it is time to do the work. Instead of chopping things up and putting them in a bajillion  yard waste bags I will be able to put it all the trailer and he will take it and dump it for me. This is such a gift ... Nick helps me with this chore and it will make it so much easier... I'm so lucky to have such wonderful people in my life.

 We had another string of hot days last week, but a tiny bit of rain came through on Friday and Saturday the high was only 70 degrees... woo hoo ... now that the kind of weather I LOVE... however it looks like it will only last till Tuesday and then get back into the 80's... that's normal for around here... every year when my birthday rolls around in the middle of September I hope it will be really Fall-ish, but it always seems to still be Summer-ish ... hopefully the end of the  month will be cooler.

Don't know that I can blame it on the weather, but hey it won't care if I do, but I felt kinda blah all week. Last Saturday evening I worked on my Noel Sampler for a hot minute and then on Sunday I tossed it aside for another shiny sampler... a Fall sampler... the Pumpkin & Bittersweet Sampler from Melisa at Pinker n Punkin Quilting... you can find it here... and like all of Melisa's wonderful designs it is free... she is so generous with her talent... it was a very fun stitch and ta -dah!!  I have it finished and framed!!

I found a lovely piece of  32 ct linen in my stash... my guess would be I dyed it with  Rit Dye Golden Yellow and then splooshed on some Tangerine... I used 3 different oranges - all DMC floss - 920 for the stars, 722 for the pumpkin and 900 for the berries... here's a close up of the berries... I stitched them as a small smyrna cross with just one ply of the 900.

I used DMC 869 for the branches 3011 for the pumpkin stem and the borders and 3829 for the alphabet.  I picked up the frame at my local Meijer's ... it was a taupe color and I greened it up with an Copic marker... and I really like how it came out.   That little inside gold edge really sets off the stitching... IMHO...

And I also FFO'd a piece I stitched a long long time ago... this little gal is from the Prairie Schooler No. 210 titled Prairie Fairies... I know I stitch this a long long time ago because it is on 40 ct. ...

Isn't she cute?   I'd love to stitch some of the other fairies but I'll be doing them on 32 ct.... easier for these old eyes to see. The frame was a sweet gift from a friend... I think it came from the Target Dollar Spot... it is kinda velvety and I love the color. 

So I have 2 new pieces to add to my Fall displays... but I'd like to have a couple more smalls. Nick hauled all my bins to the living room so I can start putting things out... and there are a ton of pumpkins... and some nice framed pieces... but only  a couple of smalls... so I'm going to turn my attention to remedying this situation. I have a bunch of Halloween smalls and a nice amount of Thanksgiving smalls ... don't know why I don't have more Fall ones. I found some cute pieces  I can stitch in my stash of Prairie Schoolers and Melisa has a couple I'm eyeing too. She just released another house... you can see it here... and I need to paint some Aida so I can stitch it ... so far this year I've stitched 4 of her houses and my goal is 6 for the IG challenge #pnpsixhouses2024sal...there are so many to choose from ... 

As for displays the only one I consider complete so far is this one on the sunroom porch... I did it first as I've been spending a ton of time out there...

Up top is a piece from Prairie Schooler No. 66 Autumn Samplers ... I stitched this last year as a comfort project after my September I don't want to remember... and if I say so myself, and I do... it is a beautiful piece! So nice to look at from my recliner...

and I got a new pumpkin/candle holder.... this is from Yankee Candle  and I love the color and that I can have a scented candle out there but it isn't real obvious. Here it is from the front....

and here you can see how the candle fits inside...

In the middle I have WTN&T Autumn's Acorn Gathering ... each of the squirrels is sporting a cute acorn  but I stitched them because I love animals in spiffy outfits!   And while I have a love/hate relationship with the squirrels at my bird feeders I do like the inanimate ones indoors.

On the bottom  I have an Ewe & Ewe & Friends piece called Simply 855... as I remember it is a reference to an Anchor floss but I stitched it in an overdyed ... lots packed into about 4.5" ... the alphabet is over one and I did the border in satin stitch. 

And this may be the start of a new collection... you might recall my obsession with bunnies in carrot cars?  I'd love to have a fleet of squirrels in acorn cars... LOL...

As for sewing  I did get all the American Jane Honeybun blocks done... and I got one row sewn together while Elliott was here on Tuesday... but I haven't sewn since then. 

 I mis- cut some of the sashing and fingers crossed I have enough of the yellow dot ... if not I can substitute another yellow dot for the outside sashes. I did have to square up  a bunch of the blocks... all those seams resulted in some blocks being slightly rectangular instead of square... now I could have taken the time... lots of time... and adjusted the seam allowances... instead I just whacked off the overage and called it a day. This quilt has hung around long enough. Maybe this Tuesday I'll get some time to work on it again. 

Looking ahead to the upcoming week. I want to get all my Fall decorating done so Nick can take the bins back downstairs. Elliott's coming on Tuesday, Wednesday I have a hair appointment, Thursday I'm doing dinner  with both of my sons, Friday I'm doing dinner with friends and Saturday my older son is hosting a brunch for my birthday at his house... I will be very well fed this week...LOL

Oh and last week when I talked about what sampler I was going to start for my birthday... forget about it... LOL... not sure if I will start something new or just work on some smalls... I'll do what makes me happy!! and I hope that you are doing whatever makes you happy! I'll link up with Kathy's Quilts today and see all the pretty stuff posted there!

Hope you have a a great week ahead... some stitching time, some napping times, perhaps lunch/dinner with friends... all the good stuff in life!

happy stitching-

carol fun