Gnomes are Done!!

Here they are!! Yeah!!
For the last week or so both gnomes have been done except for the faces. I always find faces so hard to do. I had black-headed pins poked into the heads to show where I wanted to put the eyes, but I hesitated. Maybe beads would look good for eyes? I just couldn't decide...but finally I grabbed my needle-felting needles and made little wool eyes for each gnome.

Straying from the pattern I added some decorations to the bottom of the girl gnome's apron and changed the colors of the hair and beard.

The yarn I used was the palette yarn from KnitPicks (fingering weight). The facial yarn color wasn't perfect, a little dark or something but it works OK, I think.

The pumpkins are made by none other than Meg--her own pattern. :-)

Halloween Countdown in Felt

Step right in........

Our Emmy saw the countdown calendar for Halloween in a Pottery Barn catalog and wanted it so badly for this year. Halloween is one of her very favorite holidays. I asked her why she didn't make one of her own and with the artful spirit I love about my girls she set to. She even parted with some of her allowance to purchase orange felt. She designed the house, pockets, windows, etc. and I helped with some last minute sewing, ghost & number-making, along with rod-pocket and stick-cutting.

Each numbered pocket can hold candy but I am going to put a little note in each with directions for Em to seek out the treat and possibly a trick or two. :-)

Em even planned out the window opening for the last Halloween night to reveal the hidden 13th night pocket. We added the ghost last night.

Happy Halloween nights!!!!

Amish Hills

We took a trip this weekend to see more fall colors. This is Holmes County, Ohio where many Amish families have lived for a long time. Their well-kept farms are beautiful with the autumn colors in the background. We saw lots of groups of Amish walking on the roadside, on bicycles and in horse-drawn buggies. I kept myself to descreet peeking, though I longed to stare, especially at the children. Taking pictures was more fun than usual because there aren't as many telephone poles. Telephone poles and wires have become a real visual menace--hate 'em. (tho I like my electric lights--thank you very much) :-)

Sugar Maples and Fall

We took a short drive in our county this weekend and marveled at the beautiful trees and loving the shape and color of the clouds that day. The clouds made the sun sharpen onto some of the hills and intensify the color.

And here is a wee chipmunk making himself happy in our bird feeder.

Not a Sculptress

We all went to a community art night and made bowls for a charity event. I fear mine will not be among the desired bowls when auctioned. I just flat out stink at sculpting! The above is supposed to be a fish---I hope whomever glazes/paints it makes it look better. It was fun though and wish I could have tried throwing a pot on a wheel--it was uber crowded in that room. I guess everyone wanted to send the clay whirling in circles. :-)

Felt Skulls

Looking around the net, I stumbled upon the coolest of ideas from Robin Romain at Rawbone Studio. I saw a string of orange and black skulls she had done on the blog Feeling Stitchy and wanted to make one of my own in all different bright colors. Robin sells her many strings of skulls on her Etsy site. Very Cool!
Mine were made from a skull I sketched out and then cut from pieces of felt. The embroidery was fun, fun, fun. Each face is a little different and if the sun was out I could get a close-up photo, rats....I'll try to add one to this post when the sun comes back. :-)

The sun came out but sadly the close-ups aren't that great. Oh, well.......... :-)

The sun is not shining......

The sun is not shining (but for a moment this morning when I took a picture of my new favorite spot), and the rain will start raining so I think I'll stay inside on this cold, grayish, damp day. Where are Thing One and Thing Two or a Cat in a Hat???

Doll Quilt

Autumny doll quilt top done......now to the binding and backing. These are the parts that I dread the most. Loving the nesting dolls still! :-)

Jellyroll Love

Moda's Hello Betty collection. I love the dots and can hardly wait to use the fabric. I have never gotten a jellyroll of fabric strips before and am not sure how to use them. I think I will look around the blogs for all the great idea's.