Autumn Blessings From New England

Oh what a beautiful place to be this time of year!

Autumn's Beauty

The splendor of orange, gold and red

paints an image of beauty inside my head.

The colors of fall appear before me

reaching far for the hills and beyond what I see.

The crisp, clean smell of the air right now

has captured my senses off guard somehow.

The magic of Autumn with it's beauty galore

is a gift from God for us all to adore.

by Deb Boudreau

There is no prettier place to be in autumn than New England.

The air is crisp and sweet . . .

The leaves are magnificant shades of red, gold and orange . . .

The smell of burning leaves - mmmmmmm . . .
The frost is on the pumpkins . . .

The mums boast their colors . . .

Apple pickin' and candy apples . . .

Fall country fairs . . .

Speaking of country fairs, last weekend I participated in the annual "Collector's Eye Fall Festival". It is a two-day event held the last weekend in September, boasting wonderful antiques, primitives and collectibles, as well as hand-crafted offerings, art and other needfuls.

Pictured below are some of the photos I took of my setup at the fair featuring handmade creations that I have worked on all year. Some of them I featured in earlier blog posts. You may recognize them as you scroll through the photos.

Surrounded by mums, this is a sign I constructed and painted. It would be a great addition to one's bar, pub or game room.

I purchased this rustic trellis at my friend Lynn's shop, Log Cabin Antiques. I made the little "harvest blessings" sign and embellished with a swag of bittersweet from my back yard.

My friend Mollie dropped off a section of picket fence one day, so I decided to craft something with it that would be useful. I got out the power tools, screws, paint, sandpaper, etc. and this is what I came up with. A rustic bench! Not bad for a woodworking novice.

The next few photos to follow are my booth display. Please click on each image for better detail.










In this photo, I put out some homemade pumpkin mini muffins. It confused a lot of folks because inside my tent I had a "Fall Festival" candle burning. The candle smelled like pumpkin, cinnamon and all the smells associated with baking muffins. So my visitors were not sure if the muffins were real! Too funny!



This box is one of my re-do's that I featured in an earlier blog post. I simply added a mum and some bittersweet to create a colorful autumn display that would be great on a porch.





This small divided box was one that I purchased from Log Cabin Antiques. I repurposed it by hand painting a saltbox scene and adding "home sweet home" embroidered inserts. A very unique offering . . .







I had to make several yoyo's to create this embroidered table mat. Even the flower centers are yoyo's with small pompoms inside.

This is one of two wall-hangings that I completed in time for the fair. I featured this one in an earlier blog post.

Happy Fall to All

Whatcha Working on Wednesday

This week didn't provide a whole lot of crafting time for me. Since "Mother Nature" has finally stopped raining down on us, I have spent some quality time in my yard catching up with the mowing, mulching, weeding and yes, I am still planting flowers. Where has summer gone? I can't believe it is mid-July already and my gardens aren't done yet!

I did manage to complete a couple of projects. I try to spend at least an hour each morning in my craft room, accomplishing whatever I can. I am producing items for four different shops (consignments) and I am also trying to complete things for the fall fairs that I participate in.

Below, I completed another fall project. It is a pillow I patched using leftover squares from my fall wall-hangings that are almost finished. I decided to add an overlay with wool appliqued flowers to add interest to the already colorful pillow.

As I explained in previous posts, I love to recycle items and repurpose them. Below is a button bag that I designed. Inside the bag is a plastic coffee container and lid to keep the buttons. I just used scraps of Thimbleberries fabrics, bits and pieces of lace and household twine for the tie closure.

In between my household and yard duties I like to keep a lap project handy to work on during my coffee break. Below is a wool drape that I am making for an old, rustic black wooden box that I will decorate for the fall fair. This year we have an abundance of wild bittersweet growing all around us. I call it the "Bittersweet Forest" and I will make a sign! I plan to fill the box with bittersweet and perhaps make a sign to stick in it that says "Bittersweet Blessings".

Finally, I will tease you with another mystery project. I have laid out these items including various pieces of wool scraps, buttons, lace, fabric, a pillow to recycle, some embroidery floss and a crocheted item. I hope to have this done to show off next week. Any guesses? I'll give you a hint: it's a classic that has been around for many, many years!


To see what our other crafty friends are doing today, check out Leslie's blog at "My Country Home".

Completed Table Runner

Pictured below is my completed table runner that I posted last week for "Whatcha Working on Wednesday". I think it came out rather cute. Now I have to decide which shop I will consign it in. I think I will get out some autumn colors and do a couple runners that say "Autumn Blessings". I have a couple of fall fairs that I participate in, so now is the time to start building up my inventory for those.

Next, I will begin working on my mystery project that I also posted last week. Any idea what this will become? That's OK. I don't even know what it will transform into yet!

Whatcha Working on Wednesday

Today will be a beautiful day . . . a gift! The forcast is clear blue sky with the temperature between 75 and 80. My plan is to spend most of the day outside working in the yard, prettying up my gardens. At 4:00 I will come in to shower and get ready for the Red Sox game that hubby and I have tickets for tonight. I can't wait!

I probably won't do any crafting today, but I will share what I have in progress and also something in the planning stage. Below is a photo of another table runner that I am designing to sell on consignment. It is simple patchwork using Thimbleberries fabrics. The oval in the center says "Country blessings" which I will embroider with black cotton perle. The circle shapes you see are for yoyo flowers that will be attached with button centers. I will applique the leaves among them. The project will be completed with backing and binding.

I live in a rural area in southern New Hampshire and there are several farms around. Not too far from my home is a sheep farm that produces various wool products and also sells meat. Occasionally I stop in to see what's available for wool offerings. In the past I have purchased wool roving, sheep curls, a sheep blanket and yarn for my craft projects.

I recently came up with an idea to knit some "thumbless" mittens with 100% wool, then wash them in hot water to shrink and felt them. My plan is to make little ornaments with the felted results (hopefully it will work). I thought I would applique wool hearts and stars them, attach buttons and a wire hanger, stuff with greens and maybe a little snowman, and sell them as ornaments. Last year I created a club called "Trim ~ A ~ Limb" Ornament Club. I will explain more about the club next week when I have more time.

Below is the wool applique and patchwork table runner that I pictured earlier. All of the blanket stitching is complete. I just have the backing and binding to do. I laid it out on my couch to photograph it, and it looked pretty cool there. So now I am thinking I may have to design a patchwork and wool drape for the back of my couch! Oh my...........



Any clue? Wait and watch!

"A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, nor a garden without love"

This is one of my roses that I photographed yesterday.

I hear my garden calling me . . . have a wonderful Wednesday!

Log Cabin Wall Hanging

In one of my very first blog posts early in January, I pictured a log cabin wall hanging with the saying "It's never too late to live happily ever after". I went on to explain that it was purchased by a gentleman in a shop called Primitive Gatherings where I consign several of my handmade items. When Cathy called me from the shop and told me it sold, I was very excited. I became even more excited when she said that he wanted to order another one! So here it is finally. It is made with a combination of my favorite Thimbleberries fabrics, hand quilted and hand embroidered.

Calling All Quilters . . . .

I have just recently climbed on the blogging wagon. I am a quilter at heart and I am anxious to meet anyone and everyone who loves to quilt and loves to share their passion. Quilting is a sisterhood of sorts. It has always been exciting and inspiring to see the work of others and to read the stories that inspire their love for quilting.

I am searching for quilting sisters to follow my blog and I hope to find many blogs to follow that will continue to inspire me. I have merely begun to post samples of my creations. Please take time to view my photos and leave a comment or two. I'd love to get to know you through blogging and through the common thread of quilting.

Happy Quilting!