Pumpkins on the Mountain!

And there was FINALLY some macbine time around here!

Those pumpkins with the black background?

It was time to turn them into something and I had an idea of what I wanted to do, and I set in to playing.

I don’t often have a full project worked out in front of me like a map to go by.  Sometimes I just play and think and try and do and see what I can come up with, and work out any kinks along the way.

If I were going to set them the way I wanted to….with bottoms facing towards the center in mirror image, there was going to be a big blank spot down the center of the table runner ---and it needed something.  But what?  And how wide?


At first I thought 4 patches…that’s an easy guess for me, because I will throw 4 patches into just about everything I can.  4 patches hold a lot of sparkle for me and they are quick and easy.  But the scale was important here, and they were dwarfed by the size of the pumpkins and not making enough of a statement on their own.

9 patches?  Well, that left the problem of the end of the row being different than the beginning of the row because of the size.  And it also meant two kinds of strip sets.

What about 16 patch???

In the lay out phase, Sadie keeping watch!

What do you think, Sadie??

I LIKE IT!!

I am going to take it home, quilt it up and bind it in a cute orange stripe.  It’s big enough.  Borders will take it from table RUNNER to table CLOTH and I don’t want that.  I’m calling it DONE!

Only ONE kind of strip set!

These are left over parts..yeah, I got carried away!

Building the checkerboard was easy with strip set sewing.  And building my variety was even quicker by placing one strip set right sides together with a second strip set and cutting them into already matched pairs, ready to sew, seams nested and ready to go!  I’m sure I’ll find a place for these left overs.  Such fun greens!

And if you think that this is ONE solid black as the background for the pumpkins?  Think again.  These blocks were started when I was working on the quilts for String Fling.  IO had enough quilts, ran out of time, and put this one on the back burner.  This many years later do you think I could find the SAME solid black to finish them?  Nope.  But I got close, and there are a few slightly different ones in there that just add some texture and some variety to the stark black background.  It will quilt up just fine.  Only you and I will ever know.  And I like this “make do” way of getting a job done.

Now on to the others!

The grey ones up on the design wall!

I need more of these.  I’m going for lap size.  That is SMALL for me! Ha!  Some more string piecing has to happen, and I’ve got greys up here with me to cut the backgrounds, some dark some light.  I’m striving to keep this from looking like an obvious dark/light checkerboard.  I want it to look random.  And there may be more 16 patches as the border.  Again, playing as I go and designing on the fly.

I’m considering submitting the table runner to Quiltmaker for an issue next fall.  It will be out in pattern form that way just in time for you to make it NEXT YEAR.  Then it and the lap quilt version can be saved for the sequel to String Fling down the line.

I LOVE to sew “WITH” the seasons, meaning I want to be sewing autumn in AUTUMN, not in Spring to try to beat the market.  I don’t want to be sewing Christmas in July.  I want to be sewing spring in MARCH, not in September.  It keeps me grounded and enjoying each holiday and season in real time instead of always feeling that I’m 6 months ahead of where real life is.

This happened last night!

I finished long side #3 and am on the home stretch in finishing the last side of binding.  I always save the short side for last, don’t you?  Then I’ll stitch down the label and hanging sleeve and this one will be DONE DONE DONE!

We watched a couple of DVR’d episodes of BULL last night.  I like it so far.  I still see bigs of Dinozo charm coming through, and it makes me smile.

This is happening today.

There is a stairwell that needs a coat of paint as one of the “fix-it” things that has to be done before we put the cabin on the market.  IOt still hurts my heart a bit, but I’m looking forward to the future.  And we will leave this place far better than we found it.

This morning we are headed off mountain to go see Rick & Mona’s new place.  I’m looking forward to it.  And I’m sure Sadie and Beanie will have a grand time running their new 5 acres.

Changes happen.  And often the right thing can’t come along until you let the wrong one go.  And friends will always be friends no matter where we are.  Because PEOPLE matter more than dwellings.

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

Vintage string quilt found in Kentucky.

Have an absolutely, positively wonderfully creative Sunday, everyone!

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