Happy Halloween

My flower pot with its autumn look.

I'm working on 3 different wool quilts, this is one of them. I've been embroidering with wool yarn different herbs, dye plants and special plants to me on wool fabric. These are a few of the finished ones (I'll make around 12 blocks). When I'm finished with the blocks I'm going to piece wool blocks for in between the black squares. The finished quilt will be lap quilt size. The wool their laying on will be used in the pieced blocks.

I went to the Master Gardener's fall meeting the other night and this was the center pieces on the tables. Instead of using the candle holders for candles they put in sweet potatoes and carrots.

The orange "pods" are Chinese Lanterns. They dry beautifully.

Halloween quilting

I love to make new table runners for the different holidays. That's when I like to shop for the newest fabrics and quick whip up a new piece to update my decorating. There also great gifts, everyone loves a new piece. This little quilted mat I made for my daughter to put her candy bowl on. The outside print is full of bright candy. The pumpkin setting on it was mine in the early 60's. I now use it as a napkin holder.
These are a few I made, setting on my spider web table cloth. The front two are very quick to make.
I also made some cards to send out for the holiday (these are a few). I used my dyed wool fabric, the maple leaf I dyed with madder root, the pumpkin with annatto seeds. I stamp the card stock with a "dot" stamp and then sewed them on with my machine.
This is a table runner I made a couple of years ago, I love the vintage look fabric from Thimbleberries. (It doesn't look to good on my spider web cloth).

Indian Summer in Michigan

Last Sunday it was sunny and in the high 70's, I packed a picnic lunch, we loaded the canoe and went on a color tour up north. We love this little lake way back in the woods, you have to have 4 wheel drive to get back in there. I could have camped there a week it was so peaceful. These are a few of the beautiful trees, of course pictures don't do it justice. My husband paddled me around the lake while I took pictures.

I love the reflections in the water.

These leaves looked like they were hand painted.

On the way home there were a lot of farms with their pumpkin patches.
My girlfriend Mary made this pumpkin wall hanging, The technique is from a pattern called Piping Lanterns, she changed the lantern into a pumpkin and added 3 dimensional leaves. It turned out wonderful.
Of course in every bee there is an overachiever and Mary is it in ours, these table mats are from a book by Atkins designs and the pattern is called Taco Salad. She made 8 of them for her family for Halloween. I'm making one for my daughter to put her candy bowl on.
I had a great crop of bittersweet this year, I always swag it over my kitchen window and this year I also swagged it over the two little windows in my dye studio. It will last until next year. The cement tile above the window I bought two of them years ago, they have herbs on them and look nice above the windows. This is a close up of the bittersweet, the berries look like plastic.

Quilting in Shipse

My quilt guild had a bus trip for us to Shipshewana, Indiana. A large Amish and Mennonite population live there. In the little town there are 2 large quilt stores and lots of other little shops. I love the this picture with the Amish buggy's and modern vehicles together in the parking lot. After a day spent shopping in town the bus took us to a Amish farm where the family put on a large home style dinner for us. All home made and wonderful. After the dinner a local Mennonite women who owns a antique shop in town showed us her collection of antique quilts and told us the history of the area and the quilts.
This is one of her oldest dating from the 1880's, wool.

Wool with dress scraps from the early 1900's. I believe she called it a Spider web star.
Wool, Dated 1940. Sunshine and Shadow pattern. The small blue triangle in the center was a piece of the brides dress. She said most of these older qults are made with dress scraps. Cotton, 1970's when the Amish first started making "wall hangings" for the tourists. They really didn't understand it at first. Becky, who owns the collection is holding the quilt.

Crib quilt, basket pattern, I don't remember the year.
This is a Amish quilt, most people do not associate white fabric with them. This one is from World War 1. The Amish are conscientious objectors to war and participate in other ways such as medical. This is an Amish friendship quilt from the 1960's.
Cotton, hole in the barn door pattern.

This is the light source, gas lanterns.