Leaves, leaves, and more leaves!

We are almost at the tail end of another beautiful autumn here in the northeast. I always find myself particularly inspired this time of year, as I do in the spring. Change can be refreshing. This is a black birch tree near our house, on a particularly mellow day, with the autumn sunshine lighting up the leaves from above. I want to remember this shade of yellow come January!

Here is the same tree about a week later, as November's frosts have deepened the yellows to burnt orange and umber. Still breathtaking shades.

Well, with all those gorgeous leaves to admire and photograph, there comes a down side, being they fall and must be raked or blown off the lawn. Of course blowing is the popular and easy way to go, but I hardly ever go for what is popular or easy (why is that?). I have been weighing the benefits of both over the years, and I still think raking wins out, as hard as it is and as long as it takes. For one thing, when I am outdoors on a beautiful fall day like today, I really enjoy the sounds and smells of the leaves being raked, and a leaf blower totally destroys both of those. Leaf blowers are noisy and they stink! The final benefit to raking is the aerobic exercise and burning of calories it provides, which I could always use. So the girls and I have our work cut out for us.

So, I actually have been creative the last six days, even though I haven't posted any of my projects. Here is the wall hanging/mobile inspired by the beauty of autumn. I considered making more of a stationary piece like a quilt with nine blocks, each one featuring a different leaf, but I wanted to capture the motion and change of autum. At first, I stitched each leaf (by hand) to a length of metallic copper embroidery floss, which is difficult to work with and allows the leaves to flip over, which I wanted to avoid. So I ripped out all that hand stitching and restitched them to this copper mesh ribbon which keeps them flat. But the ribbon wasn't a good vehicle for the beads, which I wanted to include for interest and contrast, so I strung them on strips of a sheer pale blue synthetic, which also brings to mind the crisp autumn breezes (I hope). So even though I haven't posted my daily creative projects, I have been doing something creative every day. Sometimes it is only for 30 minutes to a little more than an hour at the end of the day, but at least I've been getting it in! My projects often take more than a day to complete at that rate, so I don't often post the works in progress. Also, I like to wait for daylight to photograph them, and I'm usually finishing up at night.

Sometimes I ask myself why I go through such lengths to create something like this when it doesn't really serve a purpose: I don't plan on selling it, it's not a gift, it isn't useful beyond its visual interest and decorative qualities. The only reason I can come up with is that it's fun, and I seem to have a need to make things; always have. So instead of spending my free time watching TV, I make things like this. Go figure.

A new adventure...

Heard about this Art Every Day Month through Jane Davila who leads the Fiber Arts Northeast group I meet with once a month. Thought it might be fun and motivating to try to do something creative once a day, even if only for a few minutes. (Maybe I can get more people to visit and comment on my blog too!). I actually have been doing creative things for the last two days, so I'm already on track! I don't have any new photos to post yet, but I've been creating more of those stitched paper-cloth leaves from my previous post. I decided to string them together in a sort of mobile/wall hanging. I've already learned a few things that I coulda, shoulda, woulda done: I backed them with plain muslin, but since they are strung and sometimes flip over, it would have been better to back them with more paper-cloth. Also, I wish I had strung beads between the leaves to add more interest, and maybe even some gentle clinking as the piece moves (I am thinking of hanging it on our front door). So anyway, I'll try to tie it all together tomorrow, photograph it, and post it. I hope that by taking on this gentle challenge, I will be more motivated to complete some projects I need to get done by mid-December. I plan on including some baking and writing among the art, since anything goes, baking serves a dual purpose (it is creative and it feeds the family), and writing can be done anywhere (while waiting in the doctor's office, traveling to grandma's etc). Check in with me again tomorrow...

Rainy Halloween crafts

It has been a dreary wet week here in the Hudson Valley, and even Cassie is a bit bummed by all the wet weather. Here she is on Wednesday after her daily morning play session with the two dogs next door. They always seem to find the one spot in the yard where grass doesn't grow. It gets nice and muddy and they roll and play and end up looking like something the cat dragged in! I had to quickly bathe her before work and then clean up the tub! Today we are playing indoors, or staying on the leash!

While my husband was out with our two youngest girls for a wet afternoon movie, my oldest daughter, who is home with flu-like symptoms (!) stitched up a bunch of these quickie pumpkins and gourds. The idea came from the October 09 issue of Family Fun magazine, and they were so easy and quick (and of course I happened to have a decent stash of orangey-yellow fabrics), she was able to fill up some otherwise boring hours keeping her fingers busy. She really loves how cute they came out. They will make nice seasonal decorations or Thanksgiving dinner centerpieces or something.

Here is another batch of paper-cloth I made in September. I had set it aside, not sure how I would use it, when I thought about cutting out some leaf shapes. I just love the endless variety of leaves that are scattered and mixed in big leaf puddles all over the lawns and roads this time of year. The maple leaf in the upper right was layered with felt as batting, machine stitched around the edges, and hand stitched for veining. What will I do with them when they're all quilted? I'm not sure... I could string them together somehow in a garland or mobile-like wall hanging, or print inspiring words on them and give them as little gifts... I'll play with them and see what develops...

More experiments...

After playing with the new scanner a bit, I realized the main reason my husband bought me the darn thing is so I can scan in my work rather than photograph it (I can't seem to get enought light on my pieces, or get close enough to get good detail). Of course, not all pieces fit on the scanner top, but this one did - why didn't I just scan it in to begin with? Anyway, now I (and you) can compare the results with my other post of this piece. Any difference?

Experimenting with leaves

Here are some beautiful leaves from the yard that I've scanned into the new scanner/copier my wonderful and generous husband gave me for Mother's Day. (I've been planning on using it before now, but I've been busy...really, really busy, I swear!). Anyway, I love the way this captures the leaves so accurately! I didn't even press and dry them (they get crinkly and crack) - just used them fresh from the lawn this morning (picked them up on my morning outing with the dog). I want to print them onto fabric to use in my art. Now that they are all stored and saved on the computer, I can use them at any time! What do you think of that? Ain't technology neat? Gotta start using it more...!

That time of year again!

Here we are on our annual apple picking trip. The trees were pretty picked over, but we had no trouble filling our bushel bag. The weather was lovely, just beginning to really feel like fall.

Here is Cassie, now 4 1/2 months old, tasting some windfall apples. It was fun bringing her along. She had a great time walking the rows of trees and meeting many friendly people who were eager to pet her.

Here is the bag of apples we brought home. These should last until Christmas, with proper storage.

And then home for a nice hot dinner, beef stew with noodles and crusty bread...

And here's dessert! A little ice cream, a little whipped cream, Mmmm!

A heavenly weekend!

I spent the weekend at a "Quilter's Retreat" organized by the lovely folks at the Country Quilter, Jane Davila and her mother, Claire Oehler. It took place at the Interlaken Inn in Lakevile, Ct, just over the border from Dutchess County, NY.

The conference center has many outdoor amenities like a pool, tennis court, and golf course, and has gardens and spaces to accommodate weddings. The food was plentiful and delicious, with a full breakfast buffet featuring an omelet station (I love that!), many home-baked snacks like pastries, cinnamon buns, and pretzels, and delicious desserts too!

Below is only one of the conference rooms we took over and filled with sewing machines, fabric, design walls, and fun people! There were 3 rooms like this! The wet weather on Saturday only made us cozier, as we were all indoors together creating quilted masterpieces. At first I thought I might have difficulty concentrating enough to compose a new piece with all the hub-bub going on around me, but I found I was able to screen it out and get down to business. Also, as my piece progressed, it was nice to have some favorable feedback from other quilters passing by.
This shot below features my table group and my work-in-progress, the waterlilies piece I blogged about in June. It is coming along, thanks to the long uninterrupted hours I had to design it, choose fabrics, and begin the fusing and quilting. I hope it will be finished in time for Christmas.
I owe a big thank you to my parents who were able to come stay with the girls (and the puppy) this weekend so I could enjoy a few days of indulgence! Thanks, Mom and Dad!