the pumpkin issue (part 1) . . .

Because I know, knowing me the way I do, that there will be at the very least one or two (or three or four) most posts where pumpkins figure prominently!  And after that explosion of acorns on my blog post Saturday, I felt like I really needed to pay homage to the fruit of fall . . . the object d'art *and* culinary delights in autumn . . . my favorite and yours (or at least it should be):

The PUMPKIN!!

I purchased pumpkins finally this past Friday, at my favorite pumpkin place of all times, Tate Farms.  We did our annual family fun day!  Ellie came in and felt right at home -- she's definitely a kindred spirit -- and headed for the fun "Apple Gourd".  It ain't easy being green.

Of course, there are other things at the farm to do, so we hit the swings . . .

The big pumpkin-colored bouncer (Sawyer and Ellie *both* loved this thing) . . .

And the corn crib . . .

It never ceases to amaze me the difference a year makes.  Last year, Ellie cried at everything and June was a nice round bump in her mommy's silhouette!  This year Ellie cried when she had to *leave* everything and June is nearly a year old!  Sawyer pretty much enjoyed it all and especially the ability to roam-at-large.

Then it was time for our hayride out into the pumpkin field! 

I think everyone enjoyed the ride ... but their eyes were WIDE when they saw all the pumpkins in the field!

Ellie kissing her pumpkin pick!

Paw paw helps orchestrate a prime 'photo op'!

Sawyer found LOTS of good pumpkins!

June, enjoying a close encounter of the pumpkin kind. 

Family shot sans Sawyer--who was too busy playing in the pumpkin patch!

The farm has a darling little country store and I found the *cutest* pumpkin hat for baby girl June:

Every October baby (especially an October 31st baby!) should have a pumpkin hat, right?!?!?

I picked up a couple of pumpkins for me . . . 

Sawyer, June and Ellie pumpkins, right??!!

And I have plans for these guys, too . . .

You'll just have to wait and see! 

And finally, not working on much right this minute except my sweet little pumpkin candle mat!

I've made some progress and actually got started stitching on it yesterday!

Whew!  That should be a good fill of pumpkin goodness . . . for now.  Have a GREAT Monday!

:)

crafty fun . . .

Ellie and I had a play date on Thursday.  I called it our "A is for Acorn" day!

We started with some basic crayon coloring.  That it was an "A is for Acorn" sheet made me smile.  That it was an Elmo "A is for Acorn" sheet made Ellie squeal!

Next, we moved to a different textile.  Paints, to be precise!  This time, the object of our attention was a squirrel with acorns (on paper).

You see she holds that paintbrush like a total pro, right?  In fact, Ellie did such a good job with her painting, we went ahead and graduated from paper to actual acorns . . .

She's a natural!

Aren't they pretty?  I'd seen painted acorns on pinterest and followed the link to Home Stories:  A to Z.  I didn't have acrylic paints, so Ellie and I just used what I had (which was non-toxic, washable poster paints).

I did some, too.  And even though they aren't quite the same as the original idea, I still think they turned out prettily, especially once we (I) added the glitter! Glitter, the bane of a pre-school teacher's existence.  But it does make everything prettier!

After we cleaned up from acorn-painting and had lunch, it was nap time (but not for me, though I could have used one). While Ellie napped, I tried out my new acorn cake pan!

I used the recipe that came with it.  They turned out so prettily!

Even prettier when dipped in chocolate and brushed with a maple glaze . . . and dusted with the sugar equivalent of glitter!

I also worked on finishing up Ellie's *super hero* cape (she needed it today for a friend's birthday party). Since Ellie was napping, Leia very graciously volunteered to step in and help me out.

I think it turned out quite nicely!  Thank you, Leia!  (And ... linking her on up to the Feline Friday linkup at Sarah Did It!)

Ellie was happy to test out both the cape *and* the acorn cakes when she woke up from her nap . . .

And she gave me her definite seal of approval!

It was a fun day . . . but I hope I didn't do myself a disservice and set the bar too high!  Hahaha!  And lest you think I've completely lost it and gone over to the dark (acorn) side, let me share what I'm playing with this weekend.  My sister picked up a couple of darling felt projects when we were in Texas.  She got home to NJ and went to work on this one:

Didn't she do a great job?!!  I totally love it!!

She shared the pattern with me and I've got these wools picked out for it . . .

I substituted that blue and black  houndstooth for the solid black . . . because it makes me happy!  So, off I go to start cutting and stitching!

:)

birthday mash-up . . .

Birthday week (the kickoff of birthday quarter) hit the same week as Fanfare 2013 -- our guild's bi-annual quilt show!  So it was a BUSY week!

It started with me spending Tuesday with Ellie.  We had such a fun day!  We made pumpkin spice cookies and walked the neighborhood . . . and in honor of it being Fire Safety Month, Leia shared an important public service message about stop, drop and roll:

If you get the feeling that Leia was less than enthusiastic about her message, you'd be correct!  She is, however, very happy to be linking up to Feline Friday (only a couple of days late) at Sarah Did It! 

I had volunteered, among other things, to help with the judging part, pre-show--that was Wednesday and Thursday.  Our judge was none other than AQS's Bonnie Browning!

I learned more about what judges look for and what *I* should be doing if I ever decide to put a *serious* quilt in a quilt show.  Listening to her commentary as she worked was fascinating!

She's quite a riot, too -- she shared lots of great stories and was very personable and down-to-earth.  Quite a lot of fun!  I was anxious about being in the room when she judged my quilts, but luckily, I wasn't in there when she did the one and she only had good things to say about the other (even though it didn't ribbon -- at least it didn't tank, either)!  And *several* quilts that I'd helped piece *did* make it at least to "hold" and were considered!  All told, I had a hand in seven quilts at the show!  One in a non-judged exhibit, two of my own and four that I'd contributed blocks to!

After judging was finished and ribbons were hung, I headed home for a birthday celebration!  All the families came up to the camp and helped me celebrate.

Todd got my cake from Peggy Ann's bakery.  It's pretty, isn't it??  But SO MUCH cake--even with Sawyer and Ellie having seconds!  I cut the remainder of cake into single slices, wrapped each slice in wax paper, and put it in the freezer to enjoy for many days to come.  Sawyer enjoyed helping me remove the candles from the cake (and licking the ends).  Such a big helper!!  ;)

And then it was present time.  Todd got me two really lovely sweaters, just perfect for fall.  Joc, Jason and Ellie gifted me with this darling acorn mini-cake pan and a tin of Royal Wedding Tea from Harney & Sons. Ellie and I will do something with the acorn pan this week!

And James, Kim, Sawyer and June got me this darling Origami Owl necklace!!  The packaging is so cute, with the Chinese box and the fortune cookie case.  I've wanted one of these charm lockets for a while.

\

The charms in the locket are a little heart that says, "changed" a sewing machine, and my birthstone! Precious!!

In addition to everything else he did, Todd got me two petit fours from Peggy Ann's . . . 

My sweet husband--he knows they're my favorites.  I had them with my afternoon tea the next day!  I had to try out the new Royal Wedding Tea -- it was quite lovely and light!

After presents, we tried to get a pic of me and the grands, but waiting until after cake and ice cream was probably not the best of ideas.

This was the BEST of the ten shots that were taken!  I love how everyone is motion-fuzzy!!  My sweet little grandbabies -- I do love them!!!

I also had a sweet little birthday squishy arrive in the mail . . .

Isn't it darling?!  Just so pumpkin-y perfectly me!  Thank you, Janet!!!  :)

Then it was back to the quilt show . . . time to work the admittance tables and get in there and do some shopping!  Thanks to my folks, I had a little birthday change to do some shopping.  And let me just say, we had some great vendors! I kept it relatively simple. I found a darling scissor sitters pin:

And some beautiful wool felt . . .

And a bag of crushed walnut shells (which was really a timely purchase because I've got some pattern weights I'm finishing up for a project) . . .

And I grabbed a couple of fat quarters to make a girlie superhero cape for Ellie.  All-in-all, I didn't go too overboard!

In the middle of all of that, I also managed to get out my fall things and finish up my October piece for my mini-stand . . .

Yay for pumpkins!!  That particular pattern was cute and very easy!  I pulled the pumpkin out of the "Spooky Hallows" BOM (Block 3 - Spooky Pumpkins) that was done by Marjorie of Peck's Pieces last year. I suppose perhaps a turkey is in order for November.  Or, I dunno . . . how about this crazy idea?!? Nothing says there can only be one per month, right?  Maybe I'll do something a little patriotic for Veteran's Day, first!

Finally, I'll leave you with a shot of this . . . the base for my next nature project!

What could it be, what could it be?!?  Let's just say I've talked about this before!

I finished up birthday/quilt show week with a touch of something . . . a 24 virus thingie, I'm guessing.  So I laid low today, but I think the worst is behind me now!

:)

losing the race . . .

Good gravy, good gravy, good gravy and HOLD THE TRAIN!!

How is it that it's October?!?  Don't get me wrong -- October ROCKS!  I *love* October.  It's *my* month . . . it's the kick off of my holiday season.  

Anne of Green Gables quote :)

Anyone that's known me for a year or more knows October is my birth month (the tenth, to be exact, in the event you want to make some plans) and that I really enjoy celebrating my birthday!  Not because I'm a narcissist or think I'm *all that* -- but gosh, y'all, if God thought enough of me to create me and plan a life for me (Psalm 119:73 and Jeremiah 29:11), who am I not to celebrate the day He brought me into this world?! Bazinga!

But . . . I digress.  Because the fact of the matter is, HOW IN THE WORLD IS IT OCTOBER ALREADY?!?!?!?  Have mercy, this year is flying by!  Next thing you know, we'll be Trick or Treating, enjoying a fabulous Thanksgiving feast, and sitting on Santa's lap!  (But don't judge the time of year by the singing ♫♪ of Christmas carols, because I sing ♫♪ them all the time.  Just ask my long-year-'round-suffering husband.) ♫♪♫♪♫♪

So again I say Good gravy!  I guess it's time for the monthly stash report, then. So be it.  There wasn't a whole lot in or out.  Or rather, there was NONE out and just a smidgen in . . .

Used/donated this month: 0.0 yards

Used/donated year-to-date: 35.25 yards

Purchased/added this month: 2.0 yards

Purchased/added year-to-date: 85.75 yards

Net used/donated for 2013: -50.5 yards

My 'added' numbers came mostly from my sister trip.  I haven't yet shared those two quilt shops, but I will in the coming month (if it doesn't end in the blink of an eye)!  One of the yards was in this *gorgeous* flannel:

The picture does NOT do it justice!  It's soft and rich and really quite beautiful.  It may never end up in a quilt (actually, I like flannel for the backs of my table toppers), but I'll enjoy petting it!  I found that in the TX quilt shop.

Then a half of a yard came from the two prints on the left . . . I found those in the NJ quilt shop.  Just fun and happy and in my colors!

The other half pictured there is from a recent foray into HOQ a local quilt shop.  It was for a girl in my SS class for a project she's making.  But she found a chevron print she liked better.  Ah well.  I'll find something to do with it or someone who loves it more than I do (which shouldn't be too difficult, if you know what I mean).

And since I'm sharing purchases, my sister got me this *darling* wool kit while we were in the NJ quilt shop:

Oh my gosh, how cute is this?!?  And again, the photo doesn't do justice to the wools -- they are very luscious and rich!  I'm going to start working on this sweet runner very soon!  It's the kit for the gobbler!  Ps, I don't count wool in my stash report. Just sayin'.  :)

I also picked up this Art-to-Heart book:

Count On It -- filled with really sweet quilt stand blocks!  Right up my RV alley!!

And two mini quilting templates--a shell and a leaf (they did some fun things with the leaf template in the TX quilt shop, which is why I purchased it)--some redwork floss and a pretty blue/purple variegated floss.

Can you believe that was the sum total of my quilty purchases while I was away??  Who am I and what have I done with myself?!  LOL!

I continue to work on my wholecloth project.  I've finished three of the four corner fans!  One more and it's on to the borders . . . then I'm done quilting!

Camp life is busy, busy, busy!  We had a group up this weekend called American Heritage Girls.  It's similar to Girl Scouts, but faith-based.  They were a great group--it was family-camping.  In fact, I saw a baby that couldn't have been more than 2-3 months old!  Awesome!  After they'd finished their structured program on Saturday and had their closing ceremony, the families were free to wander as they pleased.  Some hiked, some enjoyed sitting around the campfire, some went down to the ponds to fish and do a picnic lunch, some hit the obstacle course, and some even found turtles!

Sweet girls -- they brought this little gal to us for our turtle sanctuary!  It's the smallest turtle I've ever seen in the wild.  

We were showing off the turtle sanctuary to the girls -- there were several turtles out and about -- when one of the turtles got up out of its hiding spot and made haste to the little pond.  Where it took a jump and a swim!

The girls all thought it was great; they'd never seen a box turtle swimming before!  I have to admit, I thought it was pretty cool, myself!

Let's see, what else?  Oh, I know!  Again, anyone who knows me could probably see this coming . . . 

Yup, pumpkin projects!  I've got a couple up my sleeves for the coming weeks, as well.  The top photo is Pumpkin Spice cookies from a recipe I found over at Pleasant Home via pinterest.  They were very tasty and I plan on making more with Ellie in the coming week!  Following the cookies is a picture of the pumpkin pancakes that Todd and I enjoyed for breakfast on Saturday.  YUM!  Then finally, my fabric dabble in pumpkins!  This will be October's quilt stand block.  It's late because OCTOBER SNEAKED UP ON ME! I hope to finish that up this week.  But, there's birthday *and* our guild quilt show, so who knows WHAT will get accomplished this week?!?!

Finally, I wanted to share this funny.  It made me laugh for at least an hour!

Bahahahaaa!!!!  That'll change the way you think about pumpkin pies, won't it?!?!?!?  :)

Linking up with Patchwork Times' Stash Report and Design Wall Monday posts, as well as the Slow Stitching Sunday post at Kathy's Quilts!  :)

Have a *fabulous* week!!

:)