Fall is in the Air !

- Pumpkin Pendant
- Fall Festival at Old Economy
‘Autumn Spice’ Pumpkin (size 20)
(MOTIF #10, Round 3)

Thanks to Frivole, I now have a cute ‘pumpkin’ to add to my collection of pendants.    Frivole used Mark Meyers’ Apple Pattern (her link below takes you to his PDF pattern) and by using Autumn Spice she made it into a pumpkin.    So I thought I’d give it a try, although I left off the outer picots and obviously, I didn’t do the leaf. That was too much for my brain to handle today!    I simply added a spiral chain and formed it into a stem.

http://leblogdefrivole.blogspot.ca/2012/10/small-pumpkin.html
 

ERNTEFEST AT OLD ECONOMY 
Harvest Festival, Sept. 29-30, 2012
http://www.oldeconomyvillage.org/

We had great weather for the Erntefest at Old Economy on Sept. 29-30. Fortunately the predicted rain held off on Sunday, and both days were sunny and a perfect temperature. Our tatting group has been participating in festivals at Old Economy for at least 25 years, and I’ve been attending for 22. Here’s a quick tour.
 
This is one of the 17 preserved historic buildings built between 1825-1830, of the Harmonist Society at their final home, named “Economy“ (now Ambridge, PA), north of Pittsburgh, PA, along the Ohio River

This building (known as the Mechanics Building) is a sentimental favorite of our tatting group, because the representative “School Room”, located in the corner section, 1^st floor (with the five windows shown here) was our ‘home’ for almost 20 years. and it was a perfect size room for our demonstrations and exhibits of our tatted lace. Around 2008 the school room was moved to another area, and ’our’ room was returned to its original purpose - the shoe shop. So we have had to move to other areas of the Village to set up our tables and displays. The original Harmonist printing press is also in this building and is a working press! Also of importance is the Wine Cellar, located in the basement. 

There are several long gravel paths in the Village. This one links the vegetable garden to the huge Feast Hall (only partly visible here), with flowers lining the path. I have no idea what these amazing red ‘snowball’ flowers are.

Looking to the left is another path leading to the stone structure in the circular Pavilion area, which contains a statue of the Greek Goddess Harmonia, holding a lyre. Five different paths radiate out from this pavilion area, and it is a popular spot for weddings.












This photo was taken down farther on the path in the area of the vegetable and herb gardens, again looking toward the Feast Hall, now far in the distance. The closer buildings (2 houses forming an “L” shape) contain 17 rooms, and are collectively called “The Great House”. They were the residences and offices for the leaders of the Harmonist Society for conducting business with the outside world. The Harmonists exported their wool, cotton, silk and wine to many countries. They also invested in the railroads, oil and real estate, and used steam to power their factories.

The 5-story Granary Building, (near the Feast Hall) with wood exterior, is where we were situated for this weekend's Festival. 

Evelyn and Peg (Carol Lawecki's mom) are in the background, at the large table.   Pam, our newest member (not shown here), joined us on Saturday.
 

The Erntefest is a quieter Festival, emphasizing the everyday lives of the Harmonists and is not a ’craft show’. We were flattered to be invited to participate, especially since there is no evidence that the Harmonists did any tatting. We have become popular with the visitors over the years, and we represent needlework of the Victorian Era, which is when the Village was active.

I hope you have a good weekend!