We've enjoyed an extended autumn. But now it has turned colder and the last of the lingering leaves have drifted off, taking autumn with them. Leaves and flowers that gradate from light to dark or from one color to another have always attracted me. As a young girl, my grandmother showed me how to iron the prettiest leaves between layers of waxed paper. I would try to draw those leaves with my crayons, overlapping yellows, oranges and reds. Now I work with ribbons whose ombre shading replicates the subtle coloring of flower petals and foliage. My favorite dyeing techniques are the ones that give me swaths of changing colors or blurry streaks. They are a pleasure to work with but none are beautiful as the genuine item.