Autumn Nine-Patch, an Owl, and the book *Still*

Summer is slipping into fall here in central Ohio.  The leaves of trees are in their slow transition from green to bright autumn colors, and the honey locust leaves are already blanketing the ground in gold.  The groundhog tells us whether we'll have more winter or spring will come early but, as far as I know, there's no animal that tells us if we'll have a long fall or an early winter.  I'm okay with that.  The seasons change all in due time and I know autumn is nearly upon us because the days are growing shorter and shorter.  I love this season of early dark and longer evenings and nights, of cool, crisp air, of bright colors reaching toward the sky, then carpeting the ground.  For me, it's a little heaven on earth. Do you love autumn?  

I've not done much sewing, or quilting, or much else, either.  I don't do much, as in my days are not busy, and I still know where the times goes.

I finished this 9-patch top a few months ago, sans border, was ready to be done with it, and put it aside.  

I decided to use double gauze for the backing and realized that this quilt really needed a border, so added the dark maroon.  I chose a teal backing, but it shrank in the washer and dryer so I had to remove a row of blocks from one end of the top so it would fit on the backing.  Then I reconsidered that backing's color and thought maybe orange would be better.  When I bought a longer length and washed it, it shrank even more than the teal.  I decided against it not because of the shrinkage but because the color was too bland.  This quilt had mostly autumn colors but it has plenty of tiny teal squares, too, so I think the teal back will work.  You can see that the batting is also just barely large enough, and I hope it will be enough.  It will get quilted very simply with big stitches using perle cotton.  With all its challenges, this quilt might turn into nothing worth the time!  (I started hand quilting it last night and the gauze grabs the needle so it may be slow going.)

Instead of more greens and blues for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks, I pulled out some fabrics that lean toward army green and some that lean toward golden browns.  I pinned them last week and will sew them this week.

My daughter and I went to the Ohio State Fair in August.  The Natural Resources area must have had a youth art competition because there were many drawings and paintings by children. 

This gorgeous, primitive-style owl captured my attention.  I thought it a fabulous drawing.  (I think the white fluffs in the sky are a reflection on the glass/plastic covering the drawing.  Ignore them and delight in that gorgeous owl.)
 
Have you seen the book Still by Mary Jo Hoffman?

When I saw it recommended and looked at the cover, I guessed it was a book of nature essays in a small format.  I was wrong.  It is a gorgeous book of photographs of natural objects--seed pods, leaves, shells, flowers, etc.--and it's about 9" x 12".

In the photograph to the right, she has arranged stems from a tree into star-like shapes.  This captured my attention because we need a new star for the top of our Christmas tree, and these seem just about perfect.  I need to borrow the book again to remind myself what tree these are from.

I cannot tell you what kind of branches/stems/grass she used to create the arrangement to the right but it intrigued me, as did many of her photos.

If you like seed pods, seeds, branches and stems from trees, and other nature bits, you might enjoy this book.

Hoffman takes a nature walk every day, quietly looking at the detail of whatever holds her interest.  She brings the objects home and photographs them, capturing details.  Often her photographs look like flat lays, with leaves or nuts, seedpods or flowers carefully arranged.  Some of the photographs are of objects that she's gathered over time reflecting their growth from spring to fall or that show the variety found in an object. 

She wrote and included several essays as well as clear, concise details about how she photographs the natural objects.  

This is the kind of books that makes me wish I'd thought of taking photographs of the natural things I collect!

I'm going to bed soon, but I should go and DO something so I can write an interesting blog post!

What have you been up to?

--Nancy.