Comfort Stitching - Autumn

Autumn has arrived , rainbow leaves tumbling in the wind .
Breezy dog walking down our country lane , I gather pretty leaves and wish that they would keep their beautiful brazen colour on the trees for longer ... the weather has been mild during the day , cold by night ..but no frost . Last night we had some rain ...dry today here in Mullion , but the cold North wind is blowing .
 Time to dig out the warmer jackets .

                         So I came home with my handful of pretty leaves .
To my cupboard of wool to find Autumn colours , needle and thread ....

I found an old vintage tray cloth , a lovely , soft piece of honey coloured  linen and with a pencil drew around my leaves ....I found a way to save my pretty leaves ! I began to stitch ..just simple easy needle-painting with my crewel wool .

I felt that I had to work fast in the beginning , as my leaves are turning crisp and the colours changing . This , I thought , is good for me, teaching me not to obsess about my work nor linger too long .....

Always several projects on the go ! I,m making wreaths and birdies and dolls and aprons and always thinking , thinking ahead of what I will make in the future .....

Once I have stitched around the outside of  my leaves , I worked the veins , I chose my colours and realised I could slow down the pace , this is not a race after all and now it becomes more relaxing ......the way I like to stitch .....what I call my "comfort stitching" ...... sigh .... breathe ......relax .....

    "Comfort stitching" is just my stitching for joy and relaxation .....please dont ask me " Yes , but what is it going to be ?" ...It is just a joy to do ...a simple reflection... a meditation ....a prayer .

                       The soft crewel wool is comforting in my hands .

Today I noticed the Oak tree changing , they turn from Emerald green and gold then to paper bag brown and hang on to the branches far longer than the other tree's leaves .

         I gathered a few branches blown down during the rain last night .

               I worked the outline and veins of a plain brown Ivy leaf .....

...enjoyed painting the scarlet Hawthorn leaf ...the trees are heavily laden with berries .

Another Ivy leaf ....this one is butter yellow . I worked closely couching the veins in the same colour as the rest of the leaf .

This afternoon I baked a chicken,bacon and mushroom ,n,vegetables pie with a puff pastry crust , a pile of mash and buttered carrots . We took the dog for her second walk down the lane .I gathered a few more Hawthorn leaves as my other ones had changed their hue.
 Later on I relaxed on my bed and worked the little randomly scattered straight stitches between the veins on that brown Ivy leaf . I work these stitches which gently support the"long and short"stitches that I will stitch over the top of them .
 I noticed some dark spots on the sycamore leaf and put them in with tiny colonial knots ...I need to work the darker edges .

             The two original leaves and two freshly fallen Hawthorn .

 I left the brown Ivy leaf after couching the veins over and over...this leaf is just varying shades of brown ..tough on the eyes ....I will come back to it later .
I embroidered the central vein of the second little pencilled in Hawthorn leaf and am just deciding which way to work the colours .
   So that is as far as I have come with it today .
I,ll do a little bit more of it in my bed before I fall asleep .

 This is one of my dolls that I acquired a couple of years ago....but I will tell you about him another time .
 The Chicken pie was yummy !
  What are you "Comfort Stitching " ?