Pumpkin Patch Time

Earlier this month my husband and I took an afternoon off and drove out to the local apple orchard/pumpkin patch.  The leaves had not yet turned but the pumpkins were ripe and orange...well, except for those white ones, but I like my pumpkins orange so I ignored the "bleached" ones! I enjoyed my long walk through the corn maze and the field of sunflowers, the wagon ride through the pumpkin patch, and ate a few too many apple donuts.  It was a perfect afternoon and the outing nudged me towards the right frame of mind to enjoy fall instead of grasping at summer.

When I got home I was ready for some fall-themed sewing.  I already had several fall throws featuring leaf blocks, and a trio of table runners showcasing fall fabric and colors, but I didn't have any pumpkin décor.  Freshly inspired by the pumpkin patch, I dug through the orange scraps to see if I could remedy the situation.

I found, happily, that I had more variety in my orange scrap collection than I thought.  I don't know where they all came from, but at this point, I'm not really keeping track.  I just use them!  I spent an evening happily picking out what I thought might suit, then another evening sewing up the cute little pumpkin blocks in this post's first picture.

That took care of the urge to sew up some pumpkins.  I let them just hang out on the design wall, brightening up my studio for a few weeks until last weekend.  At that point I figured if I wanted to use them this fall, I should move the project along. 

I really liked the runner design with prairie point accents that I used for my Canada Day runner this summer,  so I thought I'd try it again for the pumpkins.  This one is a little shorter, with three rather than four blocks, but I think it's perfect for the pumpkins.  The green skinny border doesn't show well in this picture.  It's not as dark as it seems in the picture, and it breaks up the orange quite nicely while tying in with the green stems.

As you can see, it isn't yet quilted.  As always, deciding what to quilt killed the momentum.  After seeing the pretty texture Leanne's tiny stippling added to her Bloom piece, I'm considering using this runner for stippling practice. Or not.  I'm torn!  I really don't stipple well, so I could use the practice, but then I don't want to ruin this runner either, because I think it's kind of cute and it makes me smile.  

While I was pondering the quilting fate of the runner, I made a little detour by the computer to write up a quick pattern for the scrappy pumpkin blocks (not the runner) to share with my newsletter subscribers this weekend.  If you sign up before Saturday, the newsletter with the pattern link should make it to your inbox!

Meanwhile, tell me, what is your favourite fall décor, quilted or otherwise?

Happy quilting!

Joanne