The Morning After

 

Nightmares and much body pain last night. Feeling like H-E-Double-Toothpicks this morning. I won't be sewing. Maybe just lie here on the sofa and watch Netflix. Maybe I'll feel better after a couple of quarts of coffee.

Photo: Quiltlet from a friend and Mama's rosary 

Autumn Thoughts

 

My "Black Cat Manor" quilt, made a couple of years ago, and my cute Scarecrow pillow that sister Ramey gave me last Autumn.

October, my favorite month, is zooming by.  November and Thanksgiving will be here before we know it. Then the Christmas holidays. Things just go so fast these days. I liked it better when tempus didn't fugit so fast. 

I have been working on the Windows quilt. Three more rows to go and the top will be ready for quilting.

I don't have much to talk about today, so I'll just show another Autumn quilt and go back to the sewing room.

"Four Wee Witches"

Autumn Wearable

I don't even remember when I made this scarecrow wearable, but it has been quite a while. Actually it's a plain black sweatshirt, bought at Michaels I think, that I altered. I think I wore it one time to an October quilt guild meeting. Two reasons I don't wear it often: it's usually too warm here in October for me to wear sweatshirts. When everyone else is bundled up in sweaters and jackets, I'm still wearing short sleeves. (Vann said my thermostat was broken.) And I don't really want to wash it; I'm afraid it will mess up my scarecrow. I don't know where the pattern for scarecrow head came from, whether I made it up or found the pattern online or at some shop. But I don't still have it, I don't believe.

His body and hat are donations from grandson Jesse. In his spare time, Jesse is a "picker." He goes to auctions and warehouse sales and gathers stuff, then sells it. Sometime I'm the lucky recipient. The body is a dress form. I don't know anything about the hat.

Here is my favorite scarecrow quote from "The Wizard of Oz," which I think is the first movie I ever saw (or the first one I remember) as a child.

"Some people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don’t you think?"

Endless Autumn

Never give up on those unfinished projects. I started this quilt in 1981 when the pattern appeared in a magazine (whose title I can't now remember) published by the company I worked for. After a while, other things caught my interest and I put it away. But every now and then, over the years, I would pull it out and do a little more work on it. A decade after I started it, in 1991, I finished. I titled it "Endless Autumn" because it took so long to complete. And now it's one of my favorite quilts. Hand appliquéd, hand embroidered, and hand quilted.

More Autumn Reads

 Here are three more reviews of books I've read in the past couple of weeks

The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair by Joel Dicker Some might be offended by this book and by the Prime tv series based on the book. It tells of a famous writer in his mid-thirties who has an affair of sorts with a 15-year-old girl. And while I do find such conduct appalling in real life, I can deal with bad behavior in fiction. You know, like murder, assault, abuse, arson, theft, etc. These aren't things we approve of in real life, but fiction often deals with things we don't approve of. And it's good story. Talk about twists and turns! I dare you to name the murderer before the end of the book. I believe I had pinned the deed on every single character at one time or another before the tale was told. 

Not My Type by E. Jean Carroll Others of you might not approve of this book either. I know some people don't like that she spoke out, and still others don't believe her, even though the courts do. Taking into consideration what women go through when they speak out against their attackers, I believe her and the other dozens of women who have spoken out against him. Ms Carroll's writing is light and conversational, sometimes even humorous. She doesn't feel sorry for herself; in fact, she's not above throwing shade on herself when she feels shade is due. So read it if you're interested; pass it by if you're not.

The Remedy by Shade Owens Four strangers are invited to a year-long retreat in the remote woodlands of Florida to receive treatment for their chronic illnesses and addictions for which they have found no effective treatments. Once settled in their rustic cabins, they find that the program, run by a weird elderly woman, is very unconventional. The woman tells them that invisible creatures in the woods will feed on their illnesses and they will be cured. I have mixed feelings about this book. The plot is imaginative and interesting. But the followthrough seems to be missing something, and I'm not sure what. Although the ending is quite shocking, I wasn't shocked. The characters are a bit flat, and the "creatures" aren't a bit scary. I'd be hard pressed to give it three out of five stars.

Copper Beauty

Vann's cypress tree in autumn 

When my husband Vann first got sick, sixteen years ago, our friend and neighbor Paul planted the cypress tree for him beside our house (that's not our house). Every autumn, it turns from bright green to copper, and then all the needles fall off until spring again. It was a tiny thing when Paul planted it, and it had grown only a couple of inches or less when Vann passed away. Now it's taller than all the other trees in the neighborhood, even taller than this photo shows, which was taken a few years ago. This year, it hasn't quite turned yet, but it won't be long.

Vann and Sophie about to go trick-or-treating in the 'hood. I believe this was Halloween 2003. Sophie hadn't been with us long. She and Vann bonded tightly on our way home after we picked her up. I miss them both a bunch.

More Signs of the Season...

 ...from times past.

I put things away where they're safe--too safe. I can't find the box that I stored the little Halloween ornaments in. But I'll keep looking.

My kitchen witch from a Halloween swap some years ago.

DIL Kathryn made this little ghost, one of my favorite things.

Carol, from Where the Wild Things Are, knitted by my friend Geta.

Black Cat Paper Doll, made by Sister Ramey.

All these photos are from years past. I've been slowly doing a little decorating around the house for the past few days. I'll have some picture laster.

I have to get back to quilting. I haven't done a thing on the Windows quilt this week.

My Halloween Tree

 It was a pattern for a Christmas Tree wall hanging, but I thought it would make a cute Halloween tree. So this is what I did.

Sister Ramey made the Vincent Price and black cat paper dolls that hang on my tree. Vincent was the star of many of the horror movies we saw on many weekends at the Roxie Theatre in our hometown of Leeds, Alabama. Childhood. There was fun there.

I have some plans to do a minimal amount of Autumn decorating. Can't let the season go by without some decorative recognition.

If you're interested in the pattern for this wall hanging, you can download it free on this website. Here's the link.

https://quiltmissouritutorials.com/trim-the-tree-quilt-free-pattern/#google_vignette

If the link doesn't work for you, google "Trim a Tree quilt pattern" and you should find it some place else.

O Hushed October

 The month I wait for all year is finally here. I can no longer do all cooking, decorating, walking in the woods, and stuff that I used to love to do in October. But I can still love it. I wish all of you a happy October. I'll be posting some of my Autumn quilts, decor, etc., during the next few weeks. If you're a lover of all things Autumn, you might find some ideas.

My Happy Jack that I made years ago (he's still happy) along with some of my Autumn quilts.

My witches. I made the one on the right in an Elinor Peace Bailey workshop at the Houston Quilt Festival sometime in the 90s. Elinor created her face. My friend Maria gave me the one on the right. It's handmade too; she got it at a craft festival, but I have forgot the details.

"Dancing Leaves," made a few years ago

Buzz Saw blocks for a guild block swap.

I made this mini quilt for the guild's quilt show charity auction 

several quilt shows ago.

A mini for my DIL Kathryn, whose nickname, for some reason, is Spooky.

I made this mini for an online Halloween swap that I joined years ago. I always planned to make another for me, but I have never done so.

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