Best Part about Fall

We are having such a beautiful fall this year in upstate NY.  It seems like the leaves are staying longer on the trees so we can enjoy them more and I have been outside a lot doing just that.  

Every year I look forward to the pretty colors, apple cider donuts (Can I just say, Thank you God, for apple cider donuts?), cool crisp air, Thanksgiving and of course, pumpkin pie. 

Today I was finishing up a fall card from a class that I had a couple of weeks ago.  Instead of the apple cider theme, I decided to go with pumpkins!  I love pumpkin lattes (and I don't even drink coffee!), pumpkin donuts and pumpkin pie.  The sayings on this card are embossed with copper powders and although you can't see it on the card, it makes the card shine.

I got my apple cider donuts and some amazing apples at the Vintage Market in VT recently, so I'm all set there.  Now I just need some pumpkin coffee and desserts to get my fall fix.  I guess I'm off to the store for some delicious pumpkin ingredients!

I love all of the things about fall, but the absolute best part?

Playing with my g-girl!  

 

Fall Fabric Birds

The past couple of weeks I have been working on some fall decor items and everything fall in my sewing and stamping rooms.  

I had some cute fall fabrics out so I thought I would make some cute little fall birds with it.  

The pattern for these birds is an old Sizzix die cut.  I cut out the shape in cardboard and then trace it onto fabric to sew the birds.  I sew on the line and leave a small hole near the tail for turning and stuffing the birds.

Then I add some sort of embellishment for the wings and a gold cord hoop for hanging them.  You can put them in a bowl or hang them on a tree or cabinet knob, etc.

I love making them in different fabrics. It  allows the birds to be used for any season or to match different decor colors.  

Here they are in rust and in a pretty yellow leaf fabric.

I had in mind to make some black crows but then I found this pretty black fabric with fall flowers on it.  They're not exactly crows, but I love how they turned out.  :)

How many birds have I made in total?  I don't know, maybe hundreds.  I love these little fellas.  They're fast, fun and easy to make.

Where would you put one?

 

Changing Leaves

Changing Leaves is a stamp set, cut outs and embossing folder set from last year that I haven't had a chance to use.  I just love the embossed leaves that you can also cut out!  I used Basic Beige cardstock for this card, added a piece of designer paper from Gathering Leaves for the front.  I added some sprigs and a gold foil strip to put along the side of the card.  

What a sweet set to work with!

This next card starts with Pretty Peacock cardstock.  I added some designer papers next, one from Nature's Sweetness and another one with a soft teal look to it.  I embossed the teal paper with the leaf folder, then added a stamped image and some sprigs to finish off the card.  I love how these two cards came out.  

I will definitely make more using this set.

For my third card, I used the fun set called More Than Autumn.  It has such cute coffee, donut and pie images in it.  I chose to make my card to celebrate apple cider donuts, one of my favorite fall treats.  I embossed the words and cut them out of white paper for my card.  

I want to make another card using this set so that I can "make" a pumpkin pie - another of my favorite fall treats.  :)  So fun.

 

Fond of Autumn

 A couple of weeks ago I took out an older fall set called Fond of Autumn.  It has such a beautiful fall sprig image in it and I thought it would make some nice fall cards.  

For this first card, I used designer papers from Gathering Together papers.  I love the pretty gold streaks in the papers.  They just make the cards look so rich and warm.  

I embossed the basic beige cardstock with a leaf embossing folder and then added a strip of the pretty paper to go under the fall leaf images.  I added some gold sprigs and some twine to complete the card.

For my next card, I used the cut out from Grassy Grove set.  It's hard to see in this pic, but I then embossed it with the birch embossing folder to give it a very woodsy look  I added the focal leaf image from Fond of Autumn and a couple of brown, green and gold sprigs.  You could add a little deer or other animal to this card.  I just love how it came out!

My third card has used Basic Beige for the background, embossed with a folder for texture.  Then I cut out the image from an older large die cut.  Ha, ha - I can't remember which one.  I colored in the flower image this time instead of the leaves for a lovely fall bouquet.  

Which card do you like the best?  They each have a different vibe to them.  

Fall Tea Cup Mug Rugs

Last week I needed to make a project to be raffled off at my quilt guild.  I chose to make a couple of fall tea cup mug rugs (say that 10 times) for this month's raffle.

I used Fig Tree fabric called Cinnamon and Cream that I have had for a couple of years.  I love how the colors worked for this project.  I drew up a tea cup on graph paper and worked to make it fit with eight 2 1/2" squares.  I just love how they turned out.  

Here is what it looked like while I was working on it.  I should have made the top strip just a bit wider, so I will adjust my pattern to make the cup fit better next time.

I want to make these all day.  All of my friends said that they loved them and wanted them. :)

So I guess I will be making more.  They would make a cute wall hanging or even a quilt if I had time to work on it.  

The cup could be a (large) tea cup or a small mug.  Which do you prefer?  Tea or coffee?   And the squares to the right - they could be for a cookie, muffin or scone.  It's just the perfect little gift.  

Let's go have tea and scones - my favorites.  

 

Fall Table Runners

For the past couple of weeks I have been working on making some new fall runners to decorate my home for my favorite season.  I had a nice mix of oranges, creams and brown fabrics to choose from and I love how they came out.

The colors are soft and creamy looking - I think most of the fabrics are from the Squirrelly Girl collection from a few years back.

I made this one for the entrance to fit on this little table.  I guess I love working with 2 1/2" squares because I make so many of them.  They are fun and easy to work with.  I just want to make more things with these fabrics!

This one is for the corner spot on the counters in the kitchen.  I always like to put a little something there to dress it up.  

I love how they look.  

I had some more fall things that I took out for display.  I made these a couple of years ago.  I like the lighter fall colors rather than the darker browns that I previously had.

I put this fall pumpkin runner in the family room.  It looks great on the coffee table.

What should I make next?  I would love some fall quilts for my family room.  I need more time!  

More Sweater Hearts

Recently I was at a thrift shop and bought a couple of old sweaters to use for making some crafts. I should have taken a photo of the sweater so you could see where I started, but here are some of the hearts that I managed to get from the pretty designs in the sweater.

I like to make the sweater hearts to be used as bowl fillers for a centerpiece or to set on shelves.  They made cute decor items and are fun and easy to make.  

I added some vintage buttons to some of them to give them some interest.  They can also be used to hang on a small tree with the addition of a sewn in thread hanger.

The sweaters have a nice give to them and make it easy to work with them for turning and stuffing.  What do you think? 

Have you ever used sweaters for decor or ornaments?

 

Perfectly Pears

Last week I had a chance to use the new online stamp set, Perfectly Pears.  Honestly, it stamps so well and the cards were really easy to make.  I saw the idea for this card from Gail Ellis.  I used the Stripe background stamp and then I embossed the pink and cut it with a die from Gorgeously Made, an older set.

I made a little "memo" using the paper ripped die from the same die set.  I love the collage look and how they came out.  :)

This card would look beautiful in some soft fall colors, as well.  

My second card is a front-opening.  I used papers from Celebratory Sips for the flower look and the soft colors.  Then I added the pear and some embellishments.  I like the colors of this card.

This one has more dots and embellishments and looks a bit busier than the first one.  I may have gotten carried away on this.  Lol

I was inspired to make this card from Elizabeth Price on Pinterest.  

The third card which is really different, is made using cut outs from the designer papers that coordinate with this set.  Surprisingly my stampers loved making this.  

The idea for this card is from the Stampin Up website.  

Everyone loved this card class, including me.  Which card do you like best?

Fall Quilting Retreat

I just got back from my fall quilting retreat.  While I had a great time with my quilting friends, I didn't get as much done as I had hoped.  However, I did finish the top for this girl's quilt.  I need to quilt it and then get ready to sew on some pockets.  It took a while to design and make the pockets, but I decided that they would look best if sewn on after the quilt is done.

The fabrics have little kitties and doggies in it and I've made some little pets to fit into the pockets.  

Hopefully it will all turn out okay.  I made up the pattern, so we'll see how it looks when it is done.  I'm going to give it to my granddaughter.  I'm hoping that she will like the interactive part with the pets.  

I roomed with my friend Linda.  She is making a nautical baby quilt for her new grandson.  I just love the fabrics that she picked.  There's a lot left over and she's going to make something for herself, a throw or a bed runner.

I love how it came out.  I'm sure her new little one will love it, too!  

I'll still keep working on my quilts in progress.  One day soon.  

 

In the Barbie House

At my house is a Barbie dream home that I picked up on our local Marketplace.  My four-year old granddaughter loves to play with it and I work on making her items to make the place a nicer home for the dolls and all of their pets to live.  :)

In this photo, I crocheted the fringed blanket for the bed and the little mat for the dog that can also be used as a blanket for the dog or a rug for the floor.  I made a little pillow and a pillowcase along with some throw pillows to soften up the look of the plastic furniture.  

For the family room, I made some little crocheted throws for the love seat.  She likes to also use them as dog mats or blankets for the dog beds.  

I love the imagination of a four year old.  The pieces are very versatile in her world and can be used in many ways.

Here you can see some of the pets.  There are about 30 of them.  So I guess we could call it the Barbie Dog House instead of the Dream House.  But there's lots of room for creative play.

This week I made four pink beach towels to be used at the pool.  I sewed a little piece of colorful ribbon on the top of them for decoration.

I told her about them and she will be over soon to see and use them.

I'm sure the dogs will be using these along with the dolls for both sun bathing mats and for swimming.  

Here's a picture of my sweet little girl.  I was teaching her to sew using sewing cards.  She did such a good job that I don't see that there will be any problems in her future sewing skills!

Hopefully she will love crafts as much as her Nana.  :)

 

Quilt Retreat Coming Up also known as Unfinished Projects

In a few weeks, I have a three-day quilt retreat to go to.  I'm looking forward to spending time with my quilty friends and work on a few unfinished quilts.  

I thought that I would bring this quilt.  It's from Corey Yoder made with her fabrics.  I've liked the pattern for a while and started this about two months ago.  It has cute sashing with stars in it and I hope to actually finish it for myself.  I have collected a lot of Corey's fabrics and feel like I could make 5-6 quilts with what I've got.  So I'd better finish at least one of them.

This soon-to be-made quilt is half square triangles made from an older line of Tilda fabrics, called Plum Garden.  One day I just took it out and started to work on this layout for it.  I don't have a pattern; I just saw a photo on the Internet. 

I'm going to bring this along with me on the retreat, also, so I'm hoping to get some things done while I'm there.  

I've numbered all of the pieces and will need to square them and sew them into rows.  I will have to figure out what to use for a border - the fabric line is old and I can't find any more of it.

But I will figure out something when I get to that point.

When I was working on the Plum Garden quilt above, I got a bit carried away and started to sew up a couple more charm square packs from assorted Tilda collections.  

So now I have enough to make a second quilt from my half square triangles.  I sewed together 144 of them last week in preparation for my quilt retreat.

We'll see what actually gets done.  LOL

FYI - there are other quilts laying around that just need borders, backing and/or quilting to finish them up.  

I'm going to try to finish those up by the end of the year.  Maybe I'll throw them in the retreat bag, as well.  I will need way more than three days, but I will try to get as much done as I can.  Wish me luck!

 

Stamped Post-It Note Holders

In my house I have two crafting rooms.  One is for sewing and the other one is from my stamping and paper projects.  And I'm always torn between my two loves.  :)

This week I made some Post-It Note holders in my stamping room.  For these pretty purples ones, I used Perennial Lavender designer papers and some punched out flowers from Petal Park stamp set.  These flowers are a quick and easy go-to because the flowers stamp three at a time and then have a punch.  So you can make them fast without using the Big Shot machine.

I'm pretty involved in my church and I often have the Bible study ladies over for dinner or a crafting night.  They like to buy things from my Shop and always ask for cards and small projects with Scriptures on them.  So I made these as part of my Faith Collection, that contains some of my crafts with a a more inspirational feel to them.

Here are some note pads made with the lovely Charming Day papers.  They coordinate with the cards that I made a couple of weeks ago.  And there's even a small inspirational block in the photo.

I love making multiples of things and then displaying them in my little Shop.  But they don't stay there for long - they're big sellers and sell out quickly.  Maybe someday I will open up my Etsy shop again, but I can't make things fast enough.