Acorns and Pumpkin Stalks

 

Sometimes a little piece of heaven passes by and if we are lucky enough we notice it, scoop it up and smile each time we catch sight of it.  So it was with Susie’s first paper-pieced pattern – an acorn.  It seems like such a little thing but as soon as I saw it I knew I wanted to make it.  And that is just what I did.  

 

 

I whipped up this lovely little acorn coaster in less than an hour.  And now, each time it catches my eye (and how could it not?) - I smile.  It reminds me that we never know when something we create will touch the lives of others.  (If you fancy making your own little patch of autumn heaven then pop over to Susie’s Sunroom and download her free pattern.  And if you’re new to paper-piecing check out Carol Doak’s easy-to-follow tutorial.)

 

 

And whilst we are on the subject of autumn – this lovely little coaster needed an autumnal setting for its photo-shoot so I whipped up two fabric pumpkins using this free tutorial from Martha Stewart.  I followed the tutorial exactly – up until the stalks.  Instead of using fabric, I created felt stalks that included a base so that they could easily be stitched to the top of the pumpkins, covering any gathering stitches.  Here is how .....

 

To make a pumpkin stalk for a small pumpkin all you need is a 3” square of wool felt.  Make two cuts in the square of felt 1” down from the top on both sides but leave ½” uncut in the middle as shown.

 

Roll up the (larger) bottom piece of the felt tightly and slip stitch it in place so that it doesn’t unroll.  



 

Fold the top (unrolled) section in half and stitch the cut edges together as shown.   Finally trim the corners to create a round stalk base – all ready to slip-stitch in place on the top of your fabric pumpkin.

 

You can easily adjust the size of the stalk dependent upon the size of your pumpkin. 

 

Of course, it is only a matter of time before Martha Stewart meets the Patchsmith in the form of Scary Fabric Pumpkins!! 

The Patchsmith's FREE Pumpkin Face Pattern

Now that will be interesting!