Velvety Baby Boo & Cinderella too!

Autumn inspires me so much and I just can't create fast enough! I was hoping to update my Etsy shop tonight, but that is not going to happen... I plan to finish a few more projects that I am working on and list everything on Etsy over the weekend. (These are in addition to my other creations that will be featured at my TDIPT Mercantile page later tonight.) In the meantime, I am posting pictures of the items that I have finished here on my blog. If anything tickles your fancy, feel free to email me at: pgagliardi9@hotmail.com

I just love velvet pumpkins and have created a few in Baby Boo (white) and Cinderella (orange).
The pumpkins feature genuine dried pumpkin stems.

These pumpkins are $10 each plus shipping.

Pumpkin and Acorn Pincushions

I had so much fun creating vintage style tomato pincushions with a strawberry emery earlier this year that I was inspired to create an autumn version. I am offering four different pincushions each featuring different fabrics. All include vintage pins. The acorn emery is attached to the pincushion with a faux suede ribbon.

The cream pumpkin is sold. Thank you!

It's hard to see in the photo, but this orange vine pincushion is pretty heavily aged.


I thought this plain orange cotton pumpkin needed a little sprucing up so I added a little cross stitched skeleton key.


These pincushions are $18 each plus shipping. I will be listing them on Etsy this weekend, but feel free to send me an email if you are interested to: pgagliardi9@hotmail.com

Autumn Leaves

This is my last finished project for now...

I was inspired by the changing leaves. I've aged these fabrics, added actual leaf stems and backed them with paper ~ now they have the texture and feel of real crinkly fall leaves ~ but these will last forever. I've created Silver Maple, Burr Oak and Northern Red Oak leaves. All oak leaves feature a realistic looking faux acorn.

These leaves are $5 each plus shipping. They will be listed on my Etsy shop this weekend, but feel free to email me now if you are interested at: pgagliardi9@hotmail.com

Don't forget to visit TDIPT Mercantile later tonight to see all the lovely new offerings.

Blessings, Patti

A sneak peek and a thief

Fall is my favorite season ~ I'm so inspired by the changing leaves, the growing pumpkins and gourds and the anticipation of cooler days. My mind is whirling with ideas that I just must create and I'm constantly finding patterns by other designers that just must be stitched now! I have about a dozen projects in various stages of completion right now. My hopes are to update both TDIPT and Etsy on October 1st with all of these creations...

These two photos are some sneak peeks at a few things that I've finished... Lots more to come... I hope :)

If you recall last year, we grew a little plot of Indian Corn only to have the squirrels celebrate with a party in our backyard while we were out of town. Not to be discouraged, I grew indian corn again this year. No out of town trips are planned and I diligently looked each morning and evening for any sign that the squirrels discovered it. A week ago I decided to pick an ear and see how it looked - It was regular old corn! I decided to dry it anyway and found that it changes colors as it dried. So I decided I would pick all of my corn this coming weekend and dry it inside so as to not take any chances.

I did my regular check this morning and there wasn't an ear out of place. Tonight I came home to this:

In the 12 hours that I was gone, one or more squirrels ate every ear of corn but one! How could they do that so quickly?!?! I do like squirrels, but I hope that the guilty squirrels are dealing with stomach aches right now! They were going to get the corn the day after Thanksgiving when I take all my autumn decorations down... Well, at least I have two ears of indian corn and some corn stalks to decorate with...

If you have any hints on detering the squirrels, please let me know. I will not be defeated and plan to do some research between now and spring planting...

Hope your autumn harvests are safe from bandits!

Blessings, Patti

p.s. While I was proofing, my oldest son just came in and said that there is an opposum eating what little leftovers he can scrounge *sigh*

Apples

Well, I never did make it to the apple orchard to go apple picking, but I did make it to our neighborhood farmer's market where I stocked up on apples, peaches, end of season watermelon and some cheese curds too.

I thought I'd share some of the apple inspired creations that I've decorated the house with this month...

This is a little painting on a wood plaque that I did some years back during my painting phase...

I didn't get to experience the pleasant delights of an orchard in person this year, but at least this finish helps to remind me of the joy of it.

A wool applique finish celebrating apple season and the harvest moon.

This is the piece that I was stitching on September 11, 2001. I finished it a few days later during one of my youngest son's many hospitalizations for asthma. I bring it out each September in remembrance.

Finally, one of my favorite finishes of all time - Johnny Appleseed by Prairie Schooler. I simply love this piece.

Hope you are enjoying some delicious apples as well.

Blessings, Patti

Apple Orchard Candle Mat

I had so much fun making the Apple Orchard table mat, that I started wondering how it would look in a smaller candle mat size... So of course I had to try :)

At just 8 inches across, it's just big enough for a jar candle. I am offering it for $24 plus shipping. Feel free to email me at: pgagliardi9@hotmail.com or stop by my TDIPT page.

It's Sunday Night Football time! Should be a great game ~ Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers ~ Go Bears!

Blessings, Patti

Beautiful work of Folk Art

The artists at TDIPT Mercantile just had our Autumn Swap. We are matched with another artist and we make a handmade item for each other and fill the box with a few other goodies. My swap partner was Joyce (affectionately known as Miss Kitty) of Ragpatch Primitives.

I was so excited when my box arrived! When I opened it, the first thing I saw was this sweet little kitten card. And when I lifted up the tissue, just look what I saw!!!

My heart started palapatating and I wanted to dive right in, but also wanted to savor this treasure chest of goodies! I wish I could share the lovely fragrance wafting from the box...

Look how sweetly everything was wrapped (except for "L'il Witch" ~ she would not have been able to breath!) Joyce used sewing patterns to wrap it all and tied it with sweet ribbons ~ what a clever idea!

Look at all my lovely treasures! Dark chocolate (my favorite), a cute little notepad, the funnest pumpkin face ornament, a scrumptious Beecharmer's Cottage Loganberry Sage Goatsmilk Soap, and two incredible large vintage quilt squares - all in addition to my treasured L'il Witch!

Just look at this face ~ isn't it great?! Love that nose and those teeth!

Look at these fantastic quilt squares! The fabrics are fabulous. They were made in a nursing home in South Carolina in August 1956 as evidenced by the newspaper backing including comics and ads - how cool is that ?!

But L'il Witch is the best treasure of all!

Look at the beautiful detailing in her face! And that hair ~ Wow! I LOVE that hair!

She's found her spot in the entry way next to our antique sconce. I'll cherish her always!

If you want to see more of Joyce's work, be sure to stop by her blog.

Thanks so much for letting me share ~ I'm obviously on cloud 9!

Blessings, Patti

It's a Party!

The first day back after a holiday always feels like a Monday...

Today it was different and felt more like a party! Why you ask? Because of this...

As I got closer to the office, the crowds grew. The show taping was to start at 5:00 p.m. but the crowds arrived early.


They had maps to lead the way, but I didn't need one.

As the stage was right outside our office windows :)

Remember these photos are several hours before show time!

Not a bad view :)

They had Jumbotron screens at each block down Michigan Avenue.
They started practicing with soundchecks, etc. shortly after noon.

It was lovely to work while being serenaded by...

Jennifer Hudson

James Taylor

(who I was SOOO excited to see and hear!)

With a teleprompter this size you can be sure that no one forgot their words :)

and The Black-Eyed Peas

The blimp was even there.

On the Michigan Avenue Bridge, a tourist bus was parked and they were filming.

So of course we had to go take a peek.

Who is that with Reggie, Oprah's make up artist?

Yes, there she is!

Oprah!

How fun! The green room was in the Wrigley Building, where I work. I didn't have any "close encounters", but a colleague of mine did get to see James Taylor up very close and personal :)

I didn't stay for the filming of the actual show.

Some things are even more important than Oprah ;)

My youngest son's 12th Birthday!

Happy Birthday, honey!

Blessings, Patti

p.s. The show is scheduled to air this Thursday, September 10th.

Flea Market Finds

A wonderful way to spend a morning on a long holiday weekend... at an antique flea market. I didn't find a lot of treasures, but a few. Some feedsack fabric for use in future creations. A few skeleton keys for my continuing key series. And some souvenir folders of photos of Yellowstone to help commemorate our recent trip. And my most favorite find...

This sweet little early calico dress. When I saw it I immediately remembered a photo from my favorite book "Seasons at Seven Gates Farm":

What do you think is a fair price for this sweet little dress?

Post your guess here and I'll let you know the answer in my next post.

Blessings, Patti