You know you are ready for autumn when...

OK, I'll admit it, I was ready for fall weather about the time I got home in the beginning of August. Now I am REALLY ready. I decided today that in the spirit of encouraging the seasons to change, I would change out my seasonal wall hanging. This is the one that is being taken down... a small wall hanging made with an orphan block and some MUCH loved purple fabric (can you tell?)

spring/summer wall hanging

I was pretty happy with the FMQ on this one, although I should have added more in the borders. I seem to either quilt in the borders, or quilt on the blocks, but seldom end up doing both. At some point when it is going well I want to quit while I'm ahead before my good luck runs out and I ruin it!

detail of quilting

more flowers and leaves

This is the one that is going up to celebrate the coming of autumn - I love this wall hanging. I designed it from  beginning to end and tried a bunch of new things. I was thrilled when it was selected to be shown in Georgia Loves Quilts 2009, a local show put on by the East Cobb Quilt Guild. This was my 'breakthrough quilt' for FMQ and the first time I had tried fusible machine applique. I was also in the middle of a period of doing machine trapunto on things so the pumpkin is a bit 'stuffed', making it look plump.

I started the design process with a fat quarter of the crow and pumpkin fabric and went from there. Orange is not my favorite color, but I love the rusty oranges and gold and purple in this combination. I also free-handed the background quilting which went amazingly well I thought for a beginner. I think the glass of wine I was drinking probably helped me loosen up and not over-think things! 

I had never done applique by machine before but I did NOT want to needle turn all the edges and corners on all those little leaves. So another first in this quilt is the satin stitching around the leaves. I wanted to get a good representation of the leaves that are around my house, so I actually went into the woods, gathered leaves and traced around them. I took the tracings to the copy store and shrunk them until they fit the size I needed and Voila, instant, realistic leaves of oak, maple, sassafras, tulip poplar and sweet gum. Of course to be totally accurate there would be a heavy sprinkling of pine needles in there too, but we won't go there! I had fun going through the scraps looking for the corresponding colors as well. I extended the satin stitching to form the stems, varying the width as necessary to make it look right. 

Again with this piece I should have quilted more in the borders as the hanging is a tiny bit wavy because of the dense quilting in the center and the top and bottom bands, but I hesitate to go back and alter it now that it is bound. I think a diagonal cross hatch in the borders might be just the ticket... maybe one day I will add that. 

For now, I need to get the sewing space set up again and reorganized so I can sew at all. I have a lovely spring wall hanging/table topper with pink and orange tulips and a broderie perse border that I would like to enter in something in January that really needs quilting. I have to practice, practice, practice to get back to where I was when I did these so I will be ready for that one. So what is up in YOUR sewing room?