Early Signs of Fall Templates are here!

Karen over at Cotton Spice was able to scan these in. They are reversed. Right click to save & print!

Summer Workshops: Early Signs of Fall

My contribution to Cotton Spice's Summer Workshops is a Woolen project I have titled Early Signs of Fall, for the obvious reasons. This is an original design and is shared in good faith. It is protected by all copyright laws and cannot be reproduced for sale or mass market. With that said, let's get to the fun part!Materials Needed:
a. Fat quarter of Background fabric. I used burlap, you can find this at Walmart. Other options include Prairie Cloth, Wool, Flannel or even flat cotton...use whatever you like, it's your project!
b. 2"x3" scrap of wool for leaf (I used a mottled green but remember that leaves are of all shapes, sizes and colors during fall so don't get hung up on the color; use whatever you have)
c. 8"x3.5" Black wool for Crow (If you don't have wool, use flannel!)
d. 7"x3" Lt.Brown/Tan wool for pumpkin stem -curl
e. 4"x6" Lt.Brown/Tan wool for pumpkin stem -base
f. 2"x2" Dark Brown for Acorn Cap
g. 2"x2" Golden Brown for Acorn bottom
h. 9"x11" wool for Pumpkin
i. 14"x14" Batting of your choice
j. 14"x14"muslin
Optional: wood 12"x12" frame (Commonly used to frame Scrap booking pages; available at Micheal's and Walmart!), adhesive spray and Foam board (AC Moore!)
Prepare materials:
1. Trace all templates onto fusible web. No seam allowance is needed. There really is no need to reverse the templates, unless you have a serious preference as to which side you want your crow to be on. I must admit that my original pattern had the crow on the other side of where my project has it. I didn't reverse it and I like it just the same. If you choose to reverse the pattern just make sure you reverse ALL the templates, not some... (not that I have ever done that!LOL!) You may choose to remove the center of the template or leave it in. I chose to remove the middle part but if you are using the light fusible I would just leave it in.
2. Felt all wool (wash using mild soap and dry in dryer. I use fabric softener but it is not needed. I do not add a towel, I just toss it in the dryer alone. It works for me!
Assemble:
1. Layer Background, Batting and Muslin and secure. I use fusible batting but if you use regular batting just baste it. Because I used burlap and it frays I stitched all sides.

2. Iron the Fusible web to the back of your wool. The "back" is the "non fuzzy" side. if you can't tell which is the wrong side/back then iron it onto the side that you like the least. This ensures that the fuzzy side, or nicest side, will be the side you will see once your project is complete!





3. Referring to the photo and making sure your project is centered in the frame opening start to fuse your wool pieces in the following order.
Note! Wool is not easy to fuse. Hence I fuse, stitch and then fuse some more. If you fuse all your pieces they will start falling off...really!
a. The Pumpkin:
This is important!!!!
When you assemble your pumpkin start from the outside moving in, make sure you overlap your pieces only about 1/4" and play with the pieces until the pumpkin looks just the way you like it. You can also use tracing paper and just fit them exactly as I have done. DO NOT FUSE YET!Now, once you have your pumpkin pieces in order then, tuck the stem into the top. Refer to picture for detail look at how I did it. Not all pumpkin pieces are under the stem, look at the picture but ultimately make your pumpkin as you like it.Stitch the pumpkin down before you go any further! I used a blanket stitch. DO NOT fuse anything else...just stitch down the pumpkin!
b. NOW, after your pumpkin and stem are stitched on the background move on to the crow and leaf. Make sure you put the other pieces on too to make sure you like the arrangement. Do not fuse anything else , just the crow and leaf at this time. Then stitch them on.
c. Lastly, stitch the curly stem tail and the acorn. The acorn will bridge the stem base and the curly tail.
Now Iron your project and square it.
Once everything is stitched on the background you are done! Now, you can choose to frame it as I have done by simply trimming the piece to the frame's insert size and attaching it to foam board using a spray adhesive Or. You can trim it down and add a binding. If you choose the bind your piece add a backing to give it a finished look.
Enjoy!

Summer Workshop Sneak Peek!

The Summer Workshops are already in progress at the Cotton Spice Blog. I'm working on my project which will be posted next Wednesday and thought I'd post a sneak peek of this morning's progress, along with a picture of my inspiration piece. My Treenware grain scoop is still a work in progress but it took weeks of tweaking the design to get it just right. It's basecoated and has the first shading and highlights on there, but it is truly more than a couple of hours away from being finished (So nicely put, if I should say so myself, LOL! You really must paint to appreciate my humor...or watched me paint, I'm so picky! ) Anyway, I just love the way the crow landed on that pumpkin with the oak leaf and acorn so I thought I'd adapt it to make a wonderful fall candle mat/table warmer. =)

The Simple Woman Summer Swap! New Update...

I mailed out my SWSS package last week and it finally arrived yesterday. I didn't want to spoil the surprise and post a pic of what I sent her but now that the cat is out of the bag (so to speak) , I thought I'd share a pic from Lori's blog. Three items were required: Something Old (Stash Envy, a funny audio book by Lisa Boyer), something New (a fresh Cotton scented soy candle... don't all quilter's like cotton?, and a Yankee candle plug-in in Beach Walk. Hey, it's a Summer Swap!) and last but not least a Thrifty Item. Well, GP is not one for thrift shops and since my whole house is almost a Thrift Shop,
I sent her a Treenware Sugar Mold votive holder I painted with a Summer scene (Ahem...it's a summer swap!) and a little woolen penny mat I stitched up. Tada! She was happy and I am happy...what a great end to a fun swap! Here's a close up of the little scene I painted on the sugar mold. It's my own design so please don't copy and reproduce it for sale.
Copyright laws apply.

A Great Giveaway!

The folks at Eat, Sleep, Drink, Preppy are hosting a wonderful Wacky Wednesday Giveaway! Turns out they have a monogram company, Preppy Monogrammed Gifts and they are giving away TWO free monogrammed aprons! One to the lucky winner randomly selected and one to the blogger that led them there. Now go sign up, pleeeeeezzzz...and let them know I sent you! I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE a monogrammed apron; with my own name on it, of course! Oh, if I don't win I would still like one as a present... hint,hint,hint!
Black Apron, orange letters...Woo-Hoo!

It's Frightfully HOT in NH!

I don't know if it's hot in your corner of the world but here in NH it is sizzling. In order to keep myself from having a Hot Flash induced coronary I decided to stay in the house, roll down the shades, crank up the AC and pretend it's Fall. Oh, and of course I had to have the Pumpkin scented candles going too...hey, I was going to have some cider but all I could find was margarita mix (wrong season!) While in Seasonal hibernation I made this cutie to share...yep, another great Patch Abilities pattern, Fright Night. This one is leaving the Pumpkin Patch tomorrow but kits will be posted soon. Stay tuned for more Frightful Fun...and don't forget, only 103 days till Halloween, Woo-Hoo!
Maybe I'll make a mad dash from the back door into the kiddie pool tomorrow, if it's not too hot! LOL!

The Simple Woman Summer Swap! Update...

Must be my lucky day today because I had some wonderful surprises in my mailbox this morning...and the best one was my Simple Woman Summer Swap gift! Woo-Hoo! The swap consisted on Something Old, Something New and Something "thrifty". I received an "old" Gooseberry Patch Summer cookbook; a "NEW!" Sunny Day at the Beach button & charm bracelet (gorgeous, made by Lori and available at her Etsy Shop!) with those wonderful magnetic clasps that don't require you to turn into a contortionist to hook it closed, (Thanks Lori!I LOVE,LOVE,LOVE it!) and a "thrify" Tin filled with what seems to be vintage fabric scarps and a wonderful little bag of buttons and beads...it's truly a little treasure trove of goodies. And, even GP and Pepper made out in this swap. Lori sent a little remote control car for GP and GP shoots it out and Pepper chases it down. Then GP starts yelling, "No Pepper, it's too dangerous!", and chases her down so she wont eat the little car; way too funny! Well, we've had a good time with it this morning. Thanks for the goodies and most of all, thanks for the laughs you brought into our home today. I can only hope your goodies make you as happy as your goodies have made me. Thanks so much! Brenda=)

Fall Swap!

Lori from Morning Glories and Moonflowers is having a Fall Swap! No sewing required, just have to love all things Fall to join in the fun.Since I am all Fall, all the time, I'm in... now go sign up; you know you want to! =)

My Garden is in Bloom!

These blooms were in my garden this morning and now adorn my living room. A beautiful blessing that I thought was worth sharing.

Other blessings that seem to always be in the living room are pictured below; these prefer the AC to the hot sun =)
Hope your day is filled with beauty! Brenda

Seasonal Sightings

It's hard to imagine anything better than a day at the beach when you spend months upon months digging yourself (and your car, and your driveway,

and the grass for your puppy to poop!) out of the snow.
But sometimes you just have to look past the pool and think of the cool Fall breeze to find the inspiration for something wonderful.
In looking for inspiration for some Frightfully Fun projects
I went into in my stash of completed works and thought I'd share this picture of a board I painted last Fall.This was from a pattern by
Terrye French of The Painted Pear Basket
Isn't it cute? I just love it...

Cotton Spice's Summer Workshops

Are you ready for some Summer crafting? How about fourteen days, fourteen FREE projects worth of crafting? Woo-HOO! You just have to love people who come up with this stuff!
Karen over at Cotton Spice is the mastermind behind this one
AND ....drum roll please.... I'll be one of the designers!

I'm really excited to be joining such a talented group of designers;

Helen Stubbings (Hugs n' Stitches), Tracy Souza (Plumcute Designs)
& T.K.Harrison (blog? Have to check on that!) are three I can remember off the top of my head. It'll be a great assortment of projects and I'm already working on my contribution... A woolly table runner? HMMMM... A Frightfully Simple Summer Surprise is what I want to call it! No, that wasn't really a clue, or was it? You have to stay tuned to find out!

Paying It Forward

I signed up on Kim's blog to Pay It Forward! Would you like to make something wonderful for someone you don't know? I would! I will make something special for the first three people to leave a comment. BUT, there's a catch..If I send you something you must promise to send something wonderful to three more people, post about it on your blog and link back to me. That's how you'll be "paying it forward"! I can't wait to find out who will receive my treasures. HMMM. I already have
a ton of ideas; oh dear!

A Little Cupcake Pincushion!

OK, so it's a Pincushion/Needle Case.
I couldn't decide what to make and this was my compromise.

I just have to work out the kinks in my pattern and then I'll post it to my Yahoo Group.
It's so cute! Take a look!

The quest continues...

Not having progressed much in my quest for the perfect cupcake swap item I am now thinking I might just have to make my own. No, not BAKE my own, I wrote MAKE my own...that was not a typo. I'm thinking I might make something wool-y, maybe a little pin, maybe some kitchen towels (Hey! NO stealing my ideas you CC Swappers out there!)...hmmm.
I'm really working on this today. Here's a pic of my first draft of the cupcake pattern!
(Copyrights apply here people, no right clicking or I'll have to sue you!)

Cupcake Swap!

I was doing a little research for the Cupcake Swap (seeing how I can't bake I have to get a little creative here!) and I came across this blog...

OMG! I think I gained about ten pounds just reading...I highly recommend NOT browsing this blog on an empty stomach! Also, it's best to go there in your PJ's, lest you run out the door and end up at your local bakery. But be warned; I did both and now I have hunger pains, ouch!
Will someone please bake me a cupcake?!

And the Winner is....

All entries and extra credits were written on a piece of paper. Put in a Pumpkin Basket, of course, and my handy dandy helper Gene Paul has selected his "winner"...

Drum Roll, please!
Tada! It's T from Fiber Babble! Way to go T!
Congratulations on your great win!!!

Frightfully Out of Season!

This week I received so many fall patterns it was just hard to focus on the Summer Sandcastle I was "supposed" to be working on. I just couldn't help myself....I could almost smell the pumpkins (OK, so it was the Pumpkin Spice Soy candle I had burning, LOL!)But in any event, before I got myself into some serious trouble I pulled out another Patch Abilities quickie for a weekend quilting fix. I made up the New!2008 Fright Night pattern. It's part of a three piece series and although I did cut all the kits at once I only made the middle one and added the bats from one of the other ones and of course I had to add a little star and my own personal favorite cat hanger.Isn't this cutie awesome? Now I'm sending it off to a new home as I would definitely feel guilty keeping this precious little treasure to myself. If you've never thought that giving far exceeds receiving it's probably because you haven't tried it...Go on, make something wonderful and without much of a second thought pop it in the mail to that someone special you think of all the time and "have been meaning to call"; then sit back and wait for that phone to ring...
I promise you, it will ring!
Hope your day is filled with unexpected blessings, Brenda=)