Autumn Needlework and Home Decor Show

All photography is by Grateful Grammy at her home in Blogville.  Be sure to click on the links (recognized by the red  font) throughout this post for further information about some of the patterns, etc.

An old paint-chipped ladder found at an antiques mall a few years ago
stands in our living room, holding many of my handmade
autumn quilts, cross stitch, and applique projects.

As I compose this post we are hearing a weather forecast for 6 inches of snow expected to fall today!  I am thrilled because as much as I love the outdoors, I am a homebody at heart -- an inside homebody!  Today I am giving you a little tour of the Autumn decor inside our home.  Just as with the outside embellishments, most of what I pull out every year is not new.  I may sew a few things to add to the collection, but for the most part, it's repeats, year after year, like old friends who come to visit us every October and November.

Close-up of a pumpkin applique.
The hand work on this piece was done one year when Beloved was
in the hospital with pneumonia and I needed something to
keep my hands busy while he slept.

The rusty orange fabrics in the quilting stores
at this time of year are hard to resist!
Even the smallest pieces can be  used for projects.

This is a felt 'Penny Rug'  made in 1999.
It's not really a rug, but a table runner. 

A painted wood umbrella stand in our entry hall holds silk flowers --
not umbrellas!  The flowers are changed out
according to the seasons.

Of all the autumn projects I've made, this one with the
leaf blocks is Beloved's favorite.

This is the perfect gift from mother-in-law to son-in-law.
My mother gave this to Beloved one year for Christmas
as a tongue-in-cheek reminder of who he married!

This is a fun table runner by a pattern from Art to Heart.
I always smile when this is unpacked.
We enjoy it on our family room coffee table.

Block Party is the name of this wall quilt in the family room.
The neutral colors work well with any season of the year.
The runner on top of the sewing machine cabinet is
Minnesota Hot Dish.

Close-up view of Minnesota Hot Dish
quilted in autumn colors.

There is no place for goblins in our home --
but Mr. and Mrs. Pilgrim come out
long before Thanksgiving!

One of my favorites is this mantel quilt
of appliqued pumpkins.

You may remember seeing my blog post about this
Dresden Plate table topper completed just a few days ago.

This table runner was made by my daughter from a
Connecting Threads kit.  The colors are good for Autumn
and the snowmen slide us easily into winter!
I don't have the link for this pattern but you can
visit the Connecting Threads site here.

Red plates in the wall rack have been
replaced with deep orange ones found
at Good Will for $1 each.

Look around.  What can you do to add seasonal color to brighten your home at this wonderful time of year?  Don't wait for Christmas to add some sizzle!

God-Edifying Autumn Decor

Silk Flowers on our covered deck.
The yellow flowers are used spring through fall.
In springtime the orange flowers are traded in for pink,
and for summer the pink is replaced with red blooms.

This is that time of year when scarecrows (who are far from scary!) start showing up on porches all across our country.  Scarecrows and pumpkins (lots of the latter, especially) are cheerful with abundant color, and inoffensive to those of us who want nothing to do with the ghouls and goblins of Halloween.

Every year when I see people decorate their yards and homes with cemetery scenes, I wonder why they think that is fun?  Have they never been through the death and funeral of someone they loved?!  I am especially irritated by those who not only have a scary cemetery scene in their yards, but some even include  a cross!  I also have no use for witches, ghosts, goblins, skeletons and rattling bones, slime, and blood.  As for jack o'lanterns, I waffle on that one.  Let's just say I want my pumpkins to be happy and cheerful and not scary.  

Okay.  I'm climbing down off of my soap box now. Today I am giving you some simple ideas for autumn decor that are not expensive and can be packed away for use in the years to come.

The trio of happy characters on my sister's front porch.
The pumpkins are from her very own Pumpkin Patch,
planted in abundance with the fun of this season in mind.

This very old house is the perfect setting
for homey decorations at any time of year.

Purchased applique banner on my back deck,
carefully hung to be easily seen from the breakfast table.

This is a  front porch in Blogville.
The scarecrows are named Haley and Harvey.

During winter, spring, and summer, this autumn wreath
hangs from a support beam in our store room, covered
with a black plastic trash bag to protect from dust.
This wreath was assembled about 5 years ago
yet looks freshly-made every time we put it out.

A weathered bench on a front porch has
this grapevine wreath tied discreetly to the
slats where it is decorated seasonally.

An old strawberry pot has silk flowers that are
changed with the seasons.  

This red geranium was going to winter-over indoors,
but alas, some insect varmit has taken over,
so the frost will soon do it in.  In the meantime,
more silk flowers have been employed to add October color. 

Ah, what did I just say?  Winter tends to come early
to our house on Snow Bunny Blvd.
Our first snow this year arrived before I had the time
to bring in all the deck cushions!
(and more is expected later today!)

We can certainly add seasonal color and fun to our homes without resorting to the irreverent ways of the world.

Those High Ledges

What is it that some builders are thinking when they create the very high ledges in today's houses? Drama, I guess.  Dimension, perhaps?  Disaster?  No, they don't think of that.

We have had three houses with shelves or ledges or otherwise scary places for decorating.  So far we have been transferred to another state before it became absolutely essential that these high places get a new coat of paint.  

In the meantime, I cannot leave a wall bare. I am neurotic about hiding all electric cords (do you ever see them in the decorating magazines?!), and those high places cannot be left unadorned (for long).  I hang quilts on our walls to absorb noises so it doesn't sound like we are living in Carlsbad Caverns.  I decorate the high places because they cry out to me for something!  In my imagination I have built a black, spiral iron staircase up to the heights, installed railings, and bookcases to make good use of the areas. 

Beloved, who says if I were not in his life, would probably be content with a TV, a recliner, and an orange crate with a lamp on it, has yet to agree to the spiral stairs idea.  So in the meantime, I ask him to pull out his longest ladder and we add stuff to the ledges.  I used to do that all myself, taking delight in arranging all manner of things, both antique and just junk that looks good from a great distance, in captivating groups.  The female children in my family have even helped me while Beloved just shook his head.

 

But then there was the fall.  No, not from grace, but definitely from good sense, I guess.  I had been standing on the kitchen countertops for years and years with nary a mishap when one evening I met the floor with a crushing impact that earned me a ride in an ambulance and surgery the next day to replace and repair what remained of my left shoulder.  

Make no mistake, our loving God allows us to experience injury when it serves our best interests.  Let's see, what did that experience teach me?  

-an ambulance gurney will fit into my kitchen and out the front door 

-the ambulance driver doesn't use his siren for non-life threatening cases, even if the patient feels near death

-morphine is a wonderful thing

-don't believe the first diagnosis they give you -- it may be worse than that

-artificial replacement parts are a blessing; without them a lot of us would be cripples for life

-physical therapists are  your friends, but do what they say

-use facial moisturizer, lip gloss, and smile sweetly because  your hair is not going to be pretty when you can't reach up to style it

-accept that pain will be a constant companion for many, many months, but it does decrease with time

-compassion in a new dimension for the injured and disabled

-and more things that I cannot possibly list in one sitting -- I am still learning!

The most important thing I learned, above all, is that God is with me at all times and I can trust Him even when He has allowed such a thing to happen.  His ways are not our ways, but He's always got a good purpose in mind.  

Days after the accident, I stared at the ledge above the family room fireplace, worrying about how we would ever get all that stuff down sometime.  Every couple of years or so I used to get up there to dust.  That ledge was a lot higher than my kitchen countertops.  It now looked very scary to me.

One of our sons, who lives relatively close by, came several months ago and removed all the stuff from that ledge.  He is strong and still has a bit of that dare-devil in him that we all have when we are in our mid-thirties.  Beloved held the very tall ladder for him and he not only emptied the space of its contents, but also cleaned and spackeled a few holes for us while he was up there.

As time went on, however, that huge blank space started to bother me.  But I sure didn't want to gather all that stuff together again and arrange it.  We have several antique chairs that we never sit in -- frankly, they aren't that comfortable.  But they've been in the family for generations before us, so we don't get rid of them; they just take up a lot of closet space.  I decided they are actually artsy-looking, so Beloved climbed the high ladder this week and placed them as you see in the picture below.

There.  I think we are truly done with climbing the heights. The kitchen cabinets are bare on top and will remain that way.  The high places are as decorated as they are going to get.

That's my story about high ledges and I think I'd better stick to it!

The Guest Room

"Honey!  The girls are here!  They just pulled into the driveway!"

Well hi!  Come on in!  We've been expecting you!  We're so glad to see you!  How was your trip?  Let me help you with that bag.  Here.  Let's just take everything up the stairs now.  Your room is down this hall, right across from the bathroom.

Oh!  Do you like it?  Yes, it is a bright cheery room, although the afternoon sun will bake you like beans, so we tilt the shutters to make it a little cooler.  The quilt?  Oh, no, I didn't make it.  We found it at Walmart last Christmas in a quilted bag that included the pillow shams.  I just love it and keep it out year around.

Do you recognize that green chest?  Your grandmother painted it and your grandfather put on the hardware, although she always says he put the handles on upside down.  

I don't like blank walls -- to me they are a canvas waiting for design.  Yes, these are some of my "friends" leftover from when your cousins were small.  Do you know who made the two sock monkeys? Your mother!  If you lift up their hats a little you can see that she embroidered her name there.  

This is a sweet sentiment by Flavia that a neighbor gave to me many years ago as we were moving across the country.  I think it's just perfect for a guest room.

Yes, I do all my own stenciling.  It's an incredibly inexpensive way to decorate and with the letters, you can personalize to your heart's content.

Yes, I did make the wall quilt.  It was part of the publicity for a collection campaign at church several years ago for the Alternatives Pregnancy Center.  

(Laughter and nodding)  You do get a Christmas tree, even in July!  Storage space for all of our Christmas trees can be a problem, so we keep this one up all the time.  I hope to make some ornaments special for this tree but just haven't got around to it yet.  We almost always have overnight guests on Christmas Eve, so they get to have their own tree and drop off to sleep with the twinkly white lights on, if they want!