Fall Pleasures

I really look forward to publishing this blog. It would be nice if there is anyone on the other end reading it; but then again, it’s great therapy just writing it. So on with the writing.

Fall is definitely here in North Carolina. Color is showing everywhere you look. I really think fall is my very favorite season (followed closely by winter). The windows are open, the a/c is off for the next 6 months, a light quilt has found its way to our bed and a few candles will start to reappear strategically around the house this weekend.

While I am not big into seasonal decorating, I have removed most of the signs of summer and put some fall décor around the house. I was taking photos for www.Hummingbirdtreasures.etsy.com earlier this week and Big T was telling me how much he liked the new table runners – I didn’t have the heart to tell him they weren’t for us. But it did make me feel guilty enough that I went digging until I found a few I had made for us.

I am really into fall, but I personally do not care for Halloween. It probably goes back to my teaching days when it was my least favorite holiday during the school year. So Hummingbird Treasures does not show any Halloween merchandise. I know, it makes me feel like a Halloween grinch. My Autumn Fest line is dedicated to the beauty of fall complete with pumpkins and scarecrows but no witches or black cats for Hummingbird Treasures.

This table topper is the first quilted item I made in my first quilting class two years ago. I think it will always be one of my favorites even if all the points on the stars are not exactly “pointy”. By the way, my younger daughter made the beautiful floral basket sitting on the kitchen table.

We changed the living room around this week and I like the new spacious look. This is a really big deal in our house. Big T likes things like pictures, couches, etc to be in symmetry. I, however, do not balance anything. I like the unsymmetrical look and look for balance in other ways – 2 little things are balanced with one long, skinny thing. So when we finally change a room around to where we are both happy, it is a really big deal (for both of us).

I have been looking for a way to frame the beautiful embroidered angels I have posted in my Etsy store. They are finished and are listed as “ready to frame”, but I have decided to frame one to show how it will look when framed.

I found the cutest gingerbread man fleece at Joann’s today. My one year old granddaughter needs a new sleep sack. These are great because mom and dad don’t have to worry about her kicking the blankets off. So into her jammies and then zipped into her sleep sack and off to bed. I wish they had things like this when my babies were small.

These placemats are from the Hummingbird Treasures Autumn Fest line. The rich chocolate brown with beaded edging is the perfect background for the cornucopia of fall vegetables and fruit. The colors are very complementary with just the right amount of contrast between dark and bright. I found the placemats on a clearance rack and have been waiting for the right design.

The Autumn Fest table runner is longer than usual (54 inches) and perfect for the dining room table. I had fun with this one using the colors of fall to frame the four fall images of scarecrow, autumn wheelbarrow of vegetables, country mailbox and pheasants, and a beautiful fall floral arrangement. To give it that quilted look, I used a medium loft batting for just the right cushiness.

I am still learning how much I do not know about marketing on the internet. My new quest this week is “how do you make a button”? This precipitates a button exchange between blogs to market each others’ sites. I can’t exchange “buttons” until I have one of my own. (And to top it off, I am one of those control freaks who won’t ask anyone else for help until the very last possible moment.)

If there really is anyone out there, let me know. You can leave me a comment on this blog. Thanks.

Marie