A Different Me!

With Fall all around me I've gone through somewhat of a metamorphose of my own.   Its taking me into "quietude" each day while celebrating the season. 



 

A big step, for me, is to use the pattern designs of others - rather than pushing myself to create original designs. 

This has two benefits.  It lifts the responsibility of the whole design off of my shoulders and I'll be able to share with you some of the designs created by others.

These designs are by Teresa Kogut.

 

"I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion." - Henry David Thoreau

  

 



  

Summer Time





As July becomes a realty I finish up a new-to-me punchneedle design.  Obviously it is not geared to summer -- but I do love this autumn design and had to get busy on it, even though the Fall months are no where near. 

This design is from Doreen Frost's imagination  and skill.  I have heard people say that they prefer to create their own designs and I would have said that myself at one time.  BUT these days the idea of starting from scratch just does not appeal to me. 

As I stitched this piece the only change I made to the design was to use reverse PN so that instead of the loopy finish I ended up with a textured, almost drawn piece.

 
It so pleased me to sit here in my studio punching each stitch and watching the design become real.  Where is your creativity taking you these days?

"Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair..." - Susan Polis Schutz

My Kitchen Window

Earlier this year I decided to do all the dishes by hand.  Standing in front of the sink, feeling the warm water and suds on my hands and looking out the window as the seasons, one by one go by -- what a joy.

It has been a total delight to see the seasons present themselves in the woods behind our house.  I have to say that Autumn, which seems to have ended well before the deadline, was nothing less than a joy to observe.  Wanting to keep a 'record' of that beautiful season I filled a box lid with my two favorite leaves.  Happily I'll have them nearby to take me through these somewhat barren days of Winter.

It was as if overnight, the weather got cold and the trees shed their colorful leaves.  Each season brings its own beauty and these days my window frames bare branches, the 'bones of the trees are outlined against deep blue skies.  

"Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky." - Kahlil Gibran

Farewell Autumn

We are officially into Winter now - but I'm behind the times, letting Autumn stay a little longer in my studio.

I crave the warm colors of Fall as Winter brings with it bare branchs, grey days, dampness and cold.

At least now I have a remnant of that most favorite season of mine. 

"Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence.

Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance.

Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence.

Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance." - 

Yoko Ono

Reds and Yellow

Autumn is coming and as a goodbye to summer the yellow and deep red flowers appear.  Do they show up at this time so that we will have their vivid colors to remember as we go into Autumn and Winter?

They don't last long at this time -- but they do attract the birds as well as the eye.

Soon I will be longing for these beauties as well as all the other blooming plants and flowers that I have gotten used to over the spring and summer.  Perhaps the fact that they aren't there for me all year long makes them even more precious.

"We may think we are nurturing our garden, but of course its our garden that is really nurturing us." - Jennie Uglow

November's Sky

As I write this the rain is coming down outside.  Steadily, since sometime in the night, it fills the dips in the roads and makes puddles everywhere.

These pictures were taken a few days before the rain, but as you can see the sky was overcast and predicting rainy days. I did want to get a couple of fall leaf color trees off to you -- before they are all gone.

Its been one of our best color seasons -- does that mean it will be a cold winter?  Does that mean it will be an early spring?  The seasons bring so many questions - and often the answers aren't anywhere near correct.

Guess its best to take each day as it comes savoring its richness in whatever form we are given.

"Delicious autumn!  My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." - George Eliot

Fall is coming

The other day, I walked out the backdoor to be greeted by a beautifully rich sign of Fall.  The Oakleaf Hydrangea, which has been full of white flowers all summer, has changed her coat to brown.  Much like fabric looks after being coffee stained -- this lovely brown color has appeared.

Such a rich color -- it only adds beauty to the already gorgeous green leaves.  I'm so thankful for this welcome sight.

"Never take anything for granted." - Benjamin Disraeli

All around me...

...I see the colors of rust and tea dyed cloth and hot apple cider.

Our Birch tree looks like the leaves have clung to its trunk - or it has been decoupaged by a somewhat incompetent 'paster'.  This is actually the layers of the trunk slowly changing color and releasing themselves from the bark.

I see all of the leaves which sheltered us during the summer now laying on the ground, ready to decay into the earth beneath them.

Some would look at this 'weedy mess' and see just that.  But you and I see the colors and the textures and its all quite beautiful isn't it.

"Now Autumn's fire burns slowly along the woods and day by day the dead leaves fall and melt." - William Allingham

Fall Fun

This illustration makes me happy.  I'm sorry that I can't attribute it to its rightful artist -- but I did want to share it with you.  This is such a wonderful time of the year for me -- heavens I'm even happier than I usually am and that's going some.

Hope you are having wonderful Halloween/Pumpkin/Crispy days time this month.

"On such a day each road is planned

 to lead to some enchanted land, 

each turning meets expectancy.  

The signs I read on every hand

. 

 I know by Autumn's wizardry on

 such a day the world can be

 only a great glad dream for me -- 

only a great glad dream for me." 

- Eleanor Myers Jewett

Red Leaves

These are the first Autumn leaves I've found this year -- found in the middle of September but I'm just now getting around to showing them what with one thing and another.

I remember the day -- it was cloudy and I was surrounded by green everywhere.  Looking down at my feet I spied a red leaf, laying there in all its glory.  I looked up but could not see where it might have come from - probably blown away in one of our rainstorms.  A little bit later I found another deep red leaf.  Could this be an omen of a beautiful Fall coming our way?

"October is the fallen leaf, but it is also a wider horizon more clearly seen.  It is the distant hills once more in sight, and the enduring constellations above them once again." - Hal Borland

Autumnal Equinox

The actual equinox was last Tuesday - so I'm just now catching up.  This is my very favorite time of the year.  Our leaves don't really color up until October but I know their glorious colors are coming.  I know we will have days of the clearest deep blue skies of the year.  I know that the air will be crisp.  I know that I can go back to wearing sweaters and long sleeved shirts.  I know that this is my favorite time of the year.

"Delicious autumn!  My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking successive autumns." - George Eliot

Ms. Pumpkin Lady

I'd like to introduce "Ms. Pumpkin Lady".  Yes, she's late for Halloween but if a girl is going to be shown on-line she has to be absolutely ready.

So, here she is - a little bit late, but now ready to spend the remainder of Fall standing on her cauldron.

"It is never too late to be what you might have been." - George Eliot

Autumn Celebration

What is better than the celebration of Autumn - with crows, pumpkins, bittersweet vines and buds? 

An aged black frame surrounds the design and overstitched wool felt backs it.  I know I probably say this every time -- but I really had fun working this design.  Just in time for Halloween too!

"I still get wildly enthuiastic about little things.  I play with leaves.  I skip down the street and run against the wind" - Leo Buscaglia

Autumn Houses

 

My house in the autumn would have a fire burning in the fireplace, hot cider mulling on the stove, a warm afghan to wrap up in while I read a good book. 

 

Decorations of pumpkins and dried branches. Hot tea every afternoon with my requisite three squares of dark, dark chocolate.  Autumn houses are warm and cozy -- think flannel pajamas and fuzzy slippers. 

Ahhh yes, who can resist an Autumn house?

"Delicious autumn!  My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking successive autumns." - George Eliot

Time Passes

 

Time passes and we are into Autumn now.  I'm not sure quite how we got here so quickly as it seems like it was June just a little bit ago.  Perhaps the rainy, wet summer that we had made the time pass faster, since there were a lot of 'summer' things we really couldn't do.

But now, I wander around the yard and spy the Oakleaf Hydrangeas turning brown upon their stems.  They are still lovely,  with their 'vintage' color - like a faded old dress.

I spot the 'regular' hydrangeas and some of them are still lovely - holding onto their color as everything around them fades to tan and brown.

There are some spots of red here and there, but I have to look very carefully to spot them.

These brown lichen  make me think of pancakes as they cling to an old tree stump.  Actually they look quite delicious.

"Autumn wins you best by this its mute appeal to sympathy for its decay." - Robert Browning

More Cottages Coming

 

 

 

There seems to be a building boom going on in the neighborhood.  Another couple of cottages are popping up - or should I say 'looped' up. 

 

One is almost finished and you can see the back of it in this picture.

Both of these cottages will represent Autumn since that's the season we are in, and it just happens to be one of my favorite seasons. I've dug up a couple of rusty pumpkins to add to the ambience.

"Home is a name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke, or spirit ever answered to, in the strongest conjuration." - Charles Dickens

Opening a door...

...to a new, and probably long overdue blog giveaway.

As we open the door to Autumn, my very favorite time of the year, I thought it might be fun to pass this doorway punchneedle creation along to one of you.

I was thinking, the other day, that each day as we rise, we open a new door.  Filled with possibilities, familiar routines, and just being alive to savor it all.  As we end the day that door (which only opened hours ago) is closed and we're on to the next one.  I love the thought that each day is a separate room but all in the same house.

To win this giveaway - just leave a comment here.  I'll announce the winner's name next Friday (the 27th).

"Follow effective action with quiet reflection.  From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action." - Peter Drucker

The Last Red

The last red sits just outside my studio.  All around it the leaves have turned their various colors and finally dropped crispy and brown to the ground while this beauty remains a lucious autumn red.

This spark of color heralds the coming winter -- it acts as a beacon of Fall  by staying behind its cohorts with its lovely show of color.

Winter will soon be here - the ground will turn white and the branches will be covered with snow  -- thanks heavens I have this memory of what is to come again next year.

"Listen -- are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?" - Mary Oliver

Fall Giveaway

Being surrounded by the beauty that is this fall -- I'm going to 'fall back' to an earlier creation and offer it as a giveway.  This artist book, "Tugging at Nature" is in an accordion style and is made primarily of fabric and chock full of forest images.  

So here you go -- if you'd like your name to be put into the hat please respond to this posting.  I'll draw a name next week, Thursday the 3rd of November, and then pop this little bit of autumn into the mail

I thank each and everyone of you for sharing this journey with me -- and love the opportunity to give back a bit.

"If you stand still outside you can hear it...Winter's footsteps the sound of falling leaves". - Takayuki Ikkaku

"Harvest Pocket"

It is September, time for harvest.  Time to reap the fully ripe fruits, vegetables and in this area of North Carolina - apples.  We even have an "Apple Festival".  This pocket represents the time of the year when tables are laden with freshly grown food.

Here at my worktable I went through my 'stash of stuff' and was able to harvest a special brass charm.  I love the etching on this charm - etchings that look like corn cobs and pumpkins, leaves and pods. 

And on the back some colored leaves floating gently toward the ground.

"It is like the seed put in the soil - the more one sows, the greater the harvest". - Orison Swett Marden