It’s that time of year again when the trees are aglow with color.  I found the Falling Leaf sashiko sampler and knew I had to give it a try.  Easy to sew with enough creativity to be inspiring, I finished it in no time.

To start, gather fall colored thread.  I chose sashiko threads red #12, orange #4, yellow #16 and green #7.

Then, think about how you want it to look when you are finished and plan your colors accordingly.  Unlike other sashiko that follow a particular pattern, this one is free form.

I chose to mix the colors throughout and, using a basic running stitch, sewed the leaves first and then the background pattern.  It took about two hours to complete and was fun to plan out where to put the various colors.

Now what to do with it?

I sewed around the edges of mine to make it into a napkin.  I then put it inside a Horn of Plenty along with apples, gourds  and small pumpkins.  It will look perfect for our Thanksgiving centerpiece.

Here is a demonstration video, we did for the online show When Creativity Knocks that we filmed while at the Detroit Maker Faire

This is a quick project, we have the kits of precut oilcloth and chalkcloth to make place mats or portable drawing mats available in our shop.

The artists of TwoTwelve (where I teach classes), have created some lovely and unique fairy doors which have been scattered throughout downtown Saline for a fairy door hunt.

Download your playing card here and go out for the hunt.