October 2021

October 31

Winds of Autumn

Designed by Barb Adams

Stitched and Finished by Brandi Fitzpatrick

Fabric - 32 ct Natural linen by Zweigart

Threads - WDW Grape Vine

My Notes

I am so in love with this piece. It's my first finish as a drum. I've always been intimidated by the process but for this one I decided that Barb's finishing instructions sounded doable so I decided to give it a try.

The linen that was called for was 32ct. Tombstone by R&R Reproductions. My local LNS (Cecelia's Samplers) was out so I just went with a basic Natural linen by Zweigart. The called for thread was Onyx by Gentle Arts. I used Grape Vine by Weeks Dye Works. I thought it went better with the linen and I had it in my stash.

For the finishing fabric I would have loved to use the same as Barb did, but it was a Blackbird Designs fabric that was no longer available. So I just took myself to Hobby Lobby with my stitched piece and found a piece of grey fabric that I thought went nicely.

I pretty much followed the assembly instructions as they were written. I sewed it by hand using a ton of pins to keep everything in place. My advice is to just take your time and it will all come together. At about the halfway point I wasn't sure it would, but it did! I didn't have sawdust to stuff it with so I just used crushed walnut shells.

After everything was sewn together and stuffed I finished it off with the decorative Herringbone stitch along the top seam. I used a strand of WDW Grape Vine. Let me just say that my Herringbone stitch skills could use some work but I'm happy with how it turned out. By the way I watched several YouTube videos on the stitch to remind myself how it is done. That was helpful but to me it is still an awkward stitch. But it's pretty when it's finished!

I hope this encourages you to give this one a try. If I can finish it you can finish it!

Happy Stitching!

A Season on the Wind

Suzanne Woods Fisher

Amish Fiction

Ben Zook was as free as a bird--until a chase for a rare White-winged Tern takes him to the one place on earth he planned to never return: his Amish home in Stoney Ridge.

Desperate for photographs of the elusive tern, Ben hires local field guide Micah Weaver, planning to "bag the bird" and leave Stoney Ridge before anyone recognizes him. But he neglected to plan for Micah's sister, Penny.

Ben had become Penny's spark bird during one long-ago summer, when she had introduced him to birding, even sharing with him a hidden eagle aerie. Penny always hoped Ben would come back to Stoney Ridge. Back to his Amish roots. Back to her.

The only problem? Ben has absolutely no memory of Penny.

Read An Excerpt

My Thoughts

Are you a birder? I think you are really going to like this book. Are you a casual enjoyer of the birds around your house? I think you're going to like this book too! I must admit a couple of things. First I am in the latter category. I enjoy birds but have very little knowledge about them. Second, Suzanne Woods Fisher could write just about anything and I'm confident that I would enjoy it. So with that being said let me tell you what I thought about this particular book.

A Season on the Wind takes us back to the community of Stoney Ridge. We get to catch up with a few of our old favorites like Hank and Edith Lapp. (By the way doesn't Hank remind you of your crazy uncle . . .over the top and somewhat annoying. But he belongs to you and you love him anyway!) We also get to meet some new faces. Siblings Penny and Micah Weaver are recent arrivals in Stoney Ridge. They have taken over the farm of their late grandmother and are busy settling in and getting Micah's local field guide business up and running. We also meet Ben Zook and his cousin Natalie.

Ben is a world renowned birder and he has come back to Stoney Ridge to photograph the elusive White-winged Tern that has recently been spotted in Stoney Ridge. Unfortunately there is a whole lot of baggage associated with Stoney Ridge for Ben.

Penny, Micah, Ben and Natalie all have some serious wounds in their past. Most of the events that caused the wounds seem impossible to reconcile . . .but God! Ms. Fisher does a beautiful job of telling their stories and letting us come along to see how God uses His creation (birds) to reach His creation (people).

I fell in love with these new characters and look forward to them popping up again in future books. I just can't recommend this book enough. Whether you are a bird person or not, get this book for the pure enjoyment of the story.

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