Spring Finish, Fall Start

I'm still not sure how I'm going to handle the border on my Torah stitch so this week I just decided to put it aside and pull out some other projects. It wasn't long before I had a finish on BBD Song of Spring. I just love the use of the 4 sided stitch on the alphabet. It sort of gives it a lacy effect.

As I mentioned on an earlier post, this sampler was stitched in memory of my Aunt Bev. It is meant to be finished as a pillow but that will come at a later date.

For my newest start I pulled another Blackbird Design. This one is a companion piece to the Pumpkin Blossom pincushion and is meant to be finished on a sewing box. 

It won't be long before the stitching on this one is finished too. It's small enough that it might actually work on top of a tin rather than a box. As you can see, this one can be personalized with the stitcher's initials, one on each top corner. 

I also have a fabulous new wall hanging which shows off one of my previous finishes, Plum Street Samplers Turkey Love. I changed the date on this one to reflect the celebration of the first Thanksgiving on Canadian soil.

My dear friend Thea, who loves to quilt, offered to once again beautify one of my finishes. She had a bit of a hard time with this one because the linen was a bit stretchy and tended to move as she sewed around it. She actually had to rip out her first attempt. For all her troubles I'm going to stitch her a sampler. 

The mail this week also brought me the most wonderful gift. I was the lucky winner of a Facebook giveaway by Handmade by Nina in celebration of 2000 likes. She was giving away 3 different hand dyed linens, as well as hand dyed ric rac trim to match. When the parcel arrived this past week, I was thrilled to find that it also included 4 of her overdyed floss.

 The linens are cocoa, wildberry and marble in 36ct, 32ct and 40ct respectively. The trim is called Cherry Cola of which I have the matching floss already. The floss are Nutmeg, Pearl, Red Grape and Heather and they look fabulous against the linen! Thank you so much Nina! They're truly lovely!

The weather here has been just lovely this past week. Our temperatures are above normal for this time of year and the days have been sunny with cooler nights. I took the opportunity to get out and visit our local orchard to pick up some apples and cider. 

As you can see, Cannamore Orchard is home to The Spooky Wagon Ride. I don't know how it is operated now but when my boys were in high school they volunteered at the orchard as characters in the wagon ride. The orchard would give a portion of the monies taken in to their school band. This was one of the band's major fundraisers each year. I remember that Jeff played the role of a warlock on one of the wagons, telling tales as they followed the ride. I think Chris was one of the costumed characters who jumped out of the cornfield at the visitors. They worked the ride each weekend in October leading up to Halloween and there were times when it was a cold, rainy night and they thought they'd freeze. Not once would they opt out though. They were committed to that band!

During my visit inside the orchard store I spotted this apple sampler.

One of the owners told me they found the sampler in an antique shop. When they removed the backing to repair it they spotted a date from the late 1800s. She couldn't remember the exact date.

Besides apples, the orchard also has a bountiful supply of pumpkins.

Gourds too!

In addition to the spooky evening ride there are also activities for the younger children including a small maze. I'm thinking of taking my grandchildren here when they come at Thanksgiving. The Canadian Thanksgiving takes place the second Sunday in October so it won't be long now.
Our other option is to take in the new attraction at Upper Canada Village in Morrisburg called Pumpkin Inferno. There is nothing scary about this attraction which boasts close to 6000 pumpkins carved by local artists. I'm leaving it up to my son as to which attraction he thinks is best. 

Now I'm off to stitch Plum Street Samplers Mystery stitch, Mary's Sampler. Anyone care to join me?