Fall Activities

This time of year there are a bounty of activities and festivals in the area.  Two of my favorites were this past weekend.  On Saturday my husband and I took our daughter Meagan and 2 of her friends to the Garden Ale House Octoberfest celebration in Gardner, Mass.  Since it falls right around her birthday every year, it has become our tradition to celebrate Meagan's birthday in this way.  Our favorite part of the day has got to be the Chair Luge.  To find out more about this silly event you can go to their website www.gardnerale.com  A very good time was had by all.   Some of the pictures I took found their way out on Facebook.  On Sunday it was off to the North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival which is just down the road.  It has something for everyone from local farms selling everything from produce to grass fed beef, to a juried show of local artisans.  Music, dancing, story telling, hikes and food add to the fun, rain or shine (usually rain but we don't allow that to dampen our spirits).  Saw tons of friends and lots of fabulous arts and crafts.....they too have a website www.garlicandarts.org.  This is one of the best attended fall festivals in New England and right in my own back yard!  But on Monday it was time to get back to work on my other fall activity, my Holiday collection.

One of my favorite fabric designers has always been Laurel Burch.  Her bright and whimsical designs have always said festive to me so when I found the black fabric with the stars and triangular shaped swirls it called out to be paired up with the her Secret Jungle fabric AND included in my holiday collection.  Rather than the usual 3 fabric design of my color block aprons, the black batik was added for a bit more texture.  I felt the print design of the main black fabric with its neon stars and a abstract tree-like design says happy holidays but in a less traditional way.  There were just enough scraps left over to  made a block suitable for a hot pad, substituting a neon green for the green that was incorporated in the apron.  CHEERS!