Finally... It's Time For Pumpkins!

Autumn is my very favorite time of year! The extreme heat of summer is over and leaves are promising to turn very soon! YAHOO!!! We've picked the pumpkins & gourds that we grew this year. Kind of a meager harvest... but every one's a winner!!! I couldn't wait to clean out the summer flowers & replace them with mums. I got plants that are covered with buds... can't wait till they start blooming! I also got a Japanese Lantern plant while I was at the nursery. They're SO COOL!!! I'm going to have to plant some of these in the gardens next year!

See those little faces?? They don't just grow that way!! LOL ! My son dropped by the studio yesterday afternoon & by the time he'd left we had Jack 'o Lantern faces on our little lanterns!! He's a whiz with a Sharpie & always "game" for a quick project. Aren't they cute??

He also suggested that a Japanese Lantern vine with Jack 'o Lantern faces would make a really cute stitchery.... maybe with a harvest moon?? (Hmmmm..... I'd hire him if he'd just agree to learn to embroider!! ... dream on!) I think I need to start drawing that one!

Think I'll make some pumpkin bread.... or pumpkin muffins.... or pumpkin pie!

Happy Autumn!!! xox Meg

We Have A Name!

One stage of designing a pattern is always daunting. At some point you absolutely HAVE to come up with a name for it! I thought we'd do something a little bit different this time... I asked YOU to name it.

We received hundreds of ideas from you. Most had something to do with "Grandma's China" or Grandmother's China Cabinet". Great names and also the first thing that I had thought of for a name too! There were many, many fine names that ranged from pretty..."Memories Stitched in Porcelain", to whimsical..."China Palooza", lyrical... "If Dishes Were Wishes", literary... "Marmee's Best Dishes", and literal... "Flea Market Finds". Several entries came with stories about mothers, grandmas and favorite aunts whose pretty china brings back memories of Sunday dinners and tea parties lovingly given for little girls with clumsy hands.

I have to admit that my china collection doesn't come with memories attached (with the exception of one bowl and two Havilland covered tureens" It's mostly the product of my china....problem?? "Hello, my name is Meg & I'm a china addict." If it's round or oval, pastel or floral... it's going home with me!!! I don't care if it's a little bit chipped or crazed or if it's remotely valuable, it's MINE, MINE, MINE!!!! HA-HA-HA...(that's an evil, "I'm taking over the world one bowl at a time" kind of laugh by the way!)

Anyway, thank you to everyone who took the time to contribute. I've taken words or entire phrases from each of the entries & added them to the pattern. You'll be able to choose any you'd like and trace them onto the crazy quilt blocks on the quilt's borders!

Thank you again and..... hmmmm..... almost forgot!!!! The winning quilt name was "Pieces of the Past" sent in by Diane Stone. I chose it because the border's crazy quilt blocks contain sections of the plates as if they were pieces of broken china... it fits like a glove!!

The photos above are of the (almost) finished quilt center... I still have to applique the "frame" down to the quilt top.... and one of the crazy quilt blocks that Sheila is stitching on. To get the blocks done quickly, Jan & Cyndy drove down this weekend & sewed the blocks while I traced & colored them. The four of us have split the blocks up so that we can get them done ASAP!!!

Thanks again for all of your help!

xox Meg