Saturday, November 13, 2010

Pumpkin Extravaganza



Come the cool fall weather, I get a real hankering for pumpkin. A slice or two of pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving isn’t nearly enough to satisfy my seasonal craving, so I’m always on the look-out for alternative treats.

My friend, Linda, brought me an extravaganza of pumpkin goodies recently: cream cheese frosted pumpkin bars, muffins, cookies, and whoopee pies, each delicious and rich with pumpkiny flavor. To give proper credit, her daughter, Emma, did all the baking. Can you imagine how good their house must have smelled?


Here’s an autumn-inspired doll quilt with a pumpkin theme. The pattern is Pumpkin Seed, a slight variation of the popular Orange Peel design. In this case, the appliquéd segments are a bit narrower than the more robust Orange Peel.


18” x 21”


My friend and former QBU colleague, Mary Radke, made the quilt top for me, using Cherrywood hand dyed cotton fabrics. Mary machine appliquéd each pumpkin seed segment to a background square. I hand quilted, outlining each segment and continuing the pumpkin seed design into the border. The design turned the corners nicely at the top of the quilt, but since the bottom corners were unresolved, I filled the space with the date of completion.






Have a great Thanksgiving. I’m very thankful for you!

Monday, November 1, 2010

To Everything There Is A Season


These are our Autumn Purple Ash trees as they looked a few weeks back. I’m so glad we captured their peak fall color before a windstorm laid them bare.


There’s been a flurry of change inside our home as well. Both boys moved out this fall, one out of state, the other into a college apartment. 


What's more, we're transitioning my senior parents from their home of forty years into supervised care. Dad’s dementia and Mom’s tenuous health make it impossible for them to live on their own anymore. Dad moved into an assisted living facility near my brother’s family in Ohio and seems to be adjusting well. Mom, on the other hand, keeps bouncing between hospital and rehab, due to a nasty infection. She can’t make the move under her current circumstances, and I fear she never will.

So, in an effort to keep things “quilty,” I'll share this autumn-inspired piece. I made it in the late 1990s, from reproduction fabrics, or what some people refer to as “Civil War” prints.

Quilt lore has it that many antique quilts were made with dark fabrics to hide dirt and stains between infrequent washings. As the mother of boys, I can appreciate that, but in general, I just love the way dark colors set off more colorful blocks.


These anvil blocks measure 8” and when set on point, strippy-style, make a handsome quilt.


I had it machine quilted by a gal who’s since sold her machine and retired to Arizona. Boy, do I miss her! Working with Robyn was such a pleasure. I could always trust that whatever design she chose would be perfect for the quilt.


Can you see the feathered wreath inside each block?


Anvil Strippy Quilt