Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Fall Harvest

In the fall of 2003, I participated in a Treadle On block exchange, which resulted in the quilt above.  The rules were a little unusual.  We made blocks in 3 different sizes--12 in., 9 in., and 6 in. finished.  We could use any leaf pattern we liked, with the leaves in fall colors.  The backgrounds were to be dark, like the forest floor.  And of course, all the blocks were to be sewn with treadle or hand crank sewing machines.
Waiting to get my "squishy" (technical term for the package of blocks) in the mail was like waiting for Christmas when I was six.  It was so worth it!  The variety of blocks and prints was wonderful.  It was fun laying them out on the floor and fitting them together.  I added a few blocks with light backgrounds to jazz it up a bit.   I made lots of flying geese for the border on my Minnesota A, looking out the dining room window. 
It's been 10 years now, and I can hardly believe it's passed so quickly.  My favorite time to work on this quilt was in the fall.  It was hard to make myself do the quilting any other time.  I just finally finished the quilting last year.
I'm including a few more pictures.  If you see a block you made, could you let me know?  I once had a list of all the participants, but I'm afraid it disappeared.  I know Windy Cindy made the pink batik blocks.


I'm finding that I really love the color orange!  Maybe it's just this time of year, but I'm seeing orange everywhere and really enjoying its mellow brightness.

These pumpkins are garden "volunteers".  Their seeds were in the compost, and the vines came up everywhere.  The big green one is slowly turning orange.  I bought the butternut squash at the farmers market.
I'm still working on the feedsack pinwheels, and I will post a tutorial shortly.  Even there, I'm finding bits of orange.
Here's hoping you are enjoying this season too.

2 comments:

  1. What a gorgeous quilt! We should do that this year(2014) as a Fall TOBE! I love the way you quilted leaf veins in the leaves!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Missy! Hope your move is going well.

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