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Now that Halloween is past, we turn our attention to Thanksgiving. For the final project post of Fall Fortnight, I’ll show some fun ideas for placemats and tablescapes to make our holiday celebrations special. Today’s post will have the final drawing entries for a Fat Quarter Shop $50 gift certificate!

From 2023, these Turkey Talk placemats and centerpiece are the ideal base for a Thanksgiving table. The placemats are a square in a square center set on point, with coordinating print on the sides. See the tutorial on how to make them on Turkey Talk Placemats.

Using them ...

It wouldn’t be fall without something Pumpkin Spice, right? So, grab your latte, and fire up your embroidery machine for a Pumpkin Spice wall hanging.

If you’d like this particular saying for your embroidery machine, it is available on Designs by Juju (not affiliated) in a set called Harvest Sayings Set 1. Stitch it out, and trim to 6-1/2-inches square. Match your thread colors to your fabric choices. You could also use a hand embroidered motif. Once again, if you do not have an embroidery machine, fussy cut a motif for the center section.

Next, we’ll ...

Fall Fortnight continues today with a wonderful and easy recipe from Milk Street in their Shorts cookbook – Stir Fry Beef with Mushrooms and Snow Peas. This recipe has an interesting technique called ‘velveting’ which was demonstrated on the Milk Street TV show just a couple of weeks ago. It involves a short marinade to tenderize the beef, and the coating also serves to help thicken the sauce.

Begin by gathering your ingredients. I find that doing a mis-en-place makes cooking easier. I know I have everything I’ll need.

Begin with the 10-minute marinade of velveting with corn starch and ...

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year! Ah, yes, for me this is Autumn. I love the colors of the season, the cool crisp air, and the anticipation of the holidays especially Thanksgiving (my favorite day of the year). When I found this sentiment with an autumn theme, I had to make some projects with it. You saw it on the first hexagon project, and now let’s have more fun with it.

For this runner, embroider this motif, or a similar motif on two squares. If you like this one with the fall theme for the sentiment ...

Today’s free pattern is a small project with big appeal. This little one-handed hot pad is specifically designed to take hot things out of a microwave, with pockets on the top for your fingers and thumb to grip the edge of a hot plate or bowl, or a handle. Of course, they also work for taking pans out of the oven. Chickens seem to be a popular theme for kitchens, and my own kitchen is chicken themed too. So, lets make some Micro-Mitts today.

Begin by layering a cute print, batting and a neutral backing together and quilt the ...

One of the most popular designs for table toppers is the hexagon shape, maybe because it fits on most side tables, and is the perfect centerpiece for dining tables. Today, I’ll give you two free patterns for making them, both pretty easy.

For the first design, you’ll need a 60º ruler. This is not an original design, it is all over the internet, but I have found it easy and quick and makes an impressive project. You’ll also need a length of fabric that has a border print or wide stripe with repeats. How much fabric depends ...

Are you ready for some inspiring Fall Fortnight Fun? I have a bunch of autumn theme projects, free patterns and tutorials to show you over the next two weeks, with small projects being the theme. Lots of sewing coming up, with some great ideas for gifts. If you do not sew, you’ll still want to stick around because I have some items that will be available on sample sale on several posts, as well as a fabulous cookbook, and opportunities to win gift certificates. So don’t skip a post! Join us as we celebrate Fall Fortnight in my ...

Yesterday, our MINI club participated as a group in the Autumn in the Mountains car show. Knowing it was coming up, I found some autumn theme ducks for the cars and tied little cards I made to them as a sort of party favor.

They were so cute with their fall leaf wings and acorn caps, and I think were a hit with the car owners. I took extras so I could put one in MINIs that were not current members.

I made up a photo scavenger hunt for us as well, with things like a British Flag, seen here ...

Did you have fun with Fall Fortnight? In this post, I will give you a bit of a round-up of some other ideas from previous fall inspired projects with free patterns. For some readers, these will be new, for others a reminder of project maybe you’d like to make but didn’t get to yet. Decorating with fall season quilted table toppers and wall hangings gives a cozy feel to almost any room. This arrangement is on the formal dining table that we rarely use anymore. The topper is the Autumn Jubilee Quilt Along project for 2021 starting HERE ...

Today, I hope you will enjoy a review of some previous projects and ideas, mainly involving handwork. I enjoy doing embroidery by hand, and working with wool fabrics. These projects are easy and finish quickly with no raw edges to mess with. Read on for a fabulous giveaway today!!

Wool projects seem to have more appeal in the fall. I do more pillows in wool than other projects. For the Cornucopia Pillow wool work project, you’ll need a 12-inch square of wool in a base color, and scraps of fall inspired colors for the fruits and vegetables. The design ...

Today’s project is specifically designed for those who have embroidery machines, but it can also be done with fussy cuts and fall fabrics. Who could use a new pretty kitchen towel? Just about everyone, I think. So, even if you do not have an embroidery machine, read on anyway for a great giveaway today and some ideas on how to make a fall inspired towel with fabric.

For the towel, you can start with a towel blank, or make your own from toweling fabric. Mine is 18×24 inches. If you are making your own, cut your fabric to ...

The next Fall Fortnight free pattern is a bell pull project with fall designs and fabrics. Once again, you can do this pattern in any theme you wish. Get a start on Christmas with holiday themes, make a gift for a friend with a garden or kitchen theme, or make the fall theme like I did.

Here is the project! Download the free pattern – Fall Fortnight Bell Pull. You may recognize these fabrics as the wonderful Benartex line called Harvest Festival, we used them in previous projects and I still have some left.

Let’s Sew!! First, find and embroider ...

Fall Fortnight means it is time to get my fall things to set a seasonal table, especially with the wonderful cooler temperatures this week. I got out my favorite pumpkin bowls, the copper color chargers and the leaf plates and began to play with putting things together. First, a plate stack is done, adding my white stoneware dinner plates.

The pumpkin bowls are added to the left side, ready to hold a hot bowl of soup. Gold color flatware comes out in the fall as its warm tones go well with the fall colors. The napkins are a nutmeg spice ...

I hope you are enjoying Fall Fortnight! Today, we’ll finish the table topper and have a fabulous giveaway. If you missed the first part of this project with the pattern download, click on Fall Fortnight Begins! When we left off, the topper was assembled, and ready to quilt.

I layered the base with cotton/poly batting and a backing, preparing to quilt. I chose a pantograph of maple leaves to quilt it. The thread is Glide with Bottom Line in the bobbin. I like how the leaves add a dimension of fall to the project.

I went right over ...

The next two weeks will be a flurry of Fall Fortnight Fun! I have two new projects with free patterns for you, a new recipe to try, a pretty table to get us in the mood for fall, and a couple of surprises. The best news is that my affiliate sponsors have all agreed to provide prizes for the event. We will start today with the first project. Since we only have two weeks, there is no time to waste!

Let’s dive right in! Here is the first project, a fun table topper or wall hanging. You might recognize ...

The last 10 days have been a challenge, but it was not as severe for us compared to many others. There are still power outages, and water problems for many, but we have power again, and the internet came back last night. With our generator, and our neighbors, we have weathered the disaster pretty well. Thank you to everyone who left a comment with messages of support on my last two posts, I have read and appreciate each and every one. Thank you to all who donated to our local recovery effort, too! We have many roads and hundreds of ...

Time to sew this week is nice. I decided to start with a quick project in fall colors as a warm up project. I saw this pattern at my local quilt shop and had to get it. This wonderful stripe fabric is left over from last year’s fabric feature by Benartex, the line is Harvest Festival, but sadly is out of print. Still, this quick runner can be made with any stripe design. The pattern is Easy Striped Table Runner by Karen Montgomery, available in her Etsy Store HERE (no affiliation but the pattern is on sale now until ...

Today will be a quiet day, enjoying the cooler air and watching some of the local wildlife if they stop by again. This pretty doe and her fawn came by earlier in the week to munch on the plants and enjoy a late afternoon meal.

They do like to eat a few of the hosta seeds. I don’t really mind, I have a lot of hostas.

One morning, I took my coffee to the veranda to find this web had been put up overnight. As interesting as it is, with the sunlight on the dew clinging to the strands ...