Happy Thursday - Last One in October!!

Hello Everyone,

Posting this morning on a not so nice day in NW Pennsylvania.  It has been raining all night long and is 100% today.  It is gloomy, rainy, and cold.  On the positive side..................No Snow Yet!!   So all is good!   This is a wonderful day to stay inside, warm and dry, and work on some quilting and indoor projects.

Monday was a trip to the center where I joined in on a "Leaves in Pastels" project.  It was harder than it looked.  We took a wet paper towel on a paper plate, put a little acrylic black paint on it, brushing it around, placed the vein side of the leaves on the paint and then transferred the imprint onto semi-thick art paper.  So, after placing all the leaves of maple, oak, pinoak, chestnut, etc., we blew it dry with a hairdryer.  Now the fun began!  We began by coloring the sky and blending it with a paper towel, but I quickly learned that you couldn't get into the nooks and crannies, so fingers worked best.  Each finger held a different color, haha!!

So when all was done, this is what I ended up with.  When you're finished she sprayed something on the painting so the pastels wouldn't come off.  This is critical as pastels make quite a mess!!!

So here is the finished product.  I wasn't real thrilled about this one and actually would like to try this method with coloring in colored pencils instead of pastels.  They were a bear to work with!  With my love of anything pinecones or pine trees, I think I'd like to do something more on that line using actual pine needles and sprays to dip in the paint and then accent with the pencils.  Oh, another project for another day.   So, I'm not going out to buy pastels anytime soon.  Not my bag of tea!!

Next, I'd just like to show you a leaf that I picked up in my yard.  It was huge.  Not sure what type of tree it is from, maybe one of you know and can enlighten me, but it makes Macy look small.  She actually was touching it with her nose here.  Here are a couple pics of it.

So, Tuesday was massage day and then lunch with a former co-worker.  And Wednesday is Quilting Day at the center.  Retirement is anything but free time!  When did I have time to work, really!!!

Still no fabric for my Trip Around the World Pink Quilt for the center.  The director finally admitted to me that she took the topper home to take it to the fabric shop to pick out some border fabric and now she can't find it at home.  Seriously!!  I think this will be the last quilt I make for them.  So much time and effort all to be lost!

Well, good thing I'm working on the quilt-a-long at From My Carolina Home.  I had taken it with me so I worked on it.  On Friday were to take some of the leaf blocks and some of the pumpkin blocks and make a tablerunner.  Here is what mine turned out.  I still have to quilt and bind, but I'll have it done before Friday.  I really love the colors of this!

We were also told that we need to have 4 pumpkins and 12 leaves for the final project on Friday.  So, back to the quilting table and I have these ready to complete today.

Pumpkins are Ready, and Leaves, just about.

If you recall we were also doing a Sunday Slow Stitching felt candle mat.  Here is what it initially looked like...

And last Sunday we worked on embellishments.  I also decided to stitch around the outside of the leaves as well and I do like the way this turned out.  This Sunday will complete this project.  Thanks so much to, Carole, over at From My Carolina Home for hosting this wonderful Autumn Jubilee.  We are posting pictures on Flickr "Autumn Jubilee" for all to see as well.

Well, that is all for this post.  I want to wish everyone a very Happy, Scary, Halloween!!!

Hugs,

Debbie