A Plethora of Pumpkins!

Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere! Look at this pumpkin patch on my dining room table. Last year I was responsible for table decorations for a dinner at church. I already had 6 or 8 of these pumpkins. I had been gifted a few and found a couple more at local thrift stores. I thought if I could just make a few more I could incorporate those pumpkins with some resin and glass pumpkins I had in my fall decorations and I would be set. I looked online for a tutorial and settled on the one found here. I experimented  and decided on some changes. Instead of yarn, I used a few strands of embroidery floss--easier to match the pumpkins, since I already have most of the DMC floss colors. Also, I found that the very long doll maker needles worked much better than the ones in the tutorial, especially when making the really big pumpkins. One of the pumpkins that had been given to me had a leaf on it. I liked that look, so I made them for most of my pumpkins. Also, one I bought at a thrift store had a curly tendril made from a wire covered with green paper. I experimented with some different forms of green wire and think I will add more tendrils to these with green florist wire.

I caution you--be careful about clicking that link. Making these became addictive. I even made another 6 not shown, that I divided between my daughters. DH would look at me surrounded by fabric, floss, fluffy stuffing, and long needles night after night and just shake his head. "I thought you were just going to make a few," he said. I replied that when I got out the resin and glass pumpkins I realized that they just didn't go with the look of these fabric pumpkins. "It would only bother you," he answered, knowingly. And he was probably right, but it would bother me enough that if I could do something about it, I would. Can you say "obsessive compulsive"?

Yesterday was day two of my machine quilting class. I admit that I hadn't practiced during the week as I should have. We were shown lots of flowers, hearts and swirly designs and then given free time to practice designs of our choosing. I figured at this time of year I would be needing pumpkins and leaves for something, so I practiced them on one of my "sandwiches". I am proud to say I am now getting the stems ON the pumpkins (most of the time) and those leaves were really leaves, not just attempts at hearts that looked more like leaves.

I'm not ready to put my skills (and I use the term loosely) to anything "official", but I am seeing improvement. I'll use the pumpkin theme of this post as an excuse for not showing you my attempts at flowers. : )

While putting out the fall decor I came across this table runner, hutch pad and table topper made with a fun pumpkin fabric I found in a thrift store and pieces from my scraps (the reds aren't really pink, as they seem in the photos). I had hurriedly hand quilted them a couple of years ago. I was new to table runners and I should have used a much thinner bat (or, as my DH's Aunt does, just flannel). They also need more quilting, but aren't the pumpkins in the fabric cute?

As I was leaving for the grocery store at dusk this evening I caught sight of the new snow on the mountains west of us and I had to grab the camera for a shot.

It seems way too recently that I was taking shots of late spring snows on these mountains. Where does the time go?                                                                                                                                                                                

As I was taking that shot I had a visitor. I'm not sure if this is Billy or Otis, but he belongs to my BIL, and lives in the pasture right behind our house.

Until next time, may all your pumpkins be great!
Janet O.