little dresses...

Have you ever forgotten how much pleasure something brings you...

only to rediscover it years later?

That's what sewing has been like for me lately...

It has been years since I had the urge to place pins in a pattern and begin the process of carefully cutting out the required pieces...

positioning and repositioning each piece so as to utilize each precious fabric to it's fullest...





Cut two of piece A and place B on the fold...

Lining up notches, snipping at curves and pressing open 5/8th inch seem allowances...

and marveling at how such simple steps, followed precisely...
can turn into these...

Sweet, sweet little dresses for dear Emily.

Shhh...their for her second birthday in a few weeks...

If gramma can wait that long!

Happy Tuesday,

Patty

morning walk...

I woke up to a beautiful, crisp morning...

the sky was such a brilliant blue.

Since I'd been promising Bear (and my blogging behind) that we'd start walking...



I put on my tennis shoes, grabbed my camera and his leash...



And we set off...



It was still early enough that the streets had a stillness about them...


The morning shadows holding the promise of a beautiful day...



I love the hint of fall in the neighborhood...



The cool morning air...


and first hint of color in the trees.

Isn't it funny how you seem to notice your surroundings more when you walk by...

than when you're in a car, rushing here and there...

Adirondack chairs just begging for company...

The beauty of my humble surroundings...

I was smitten all over again.

Happy first week of fall,

Patty

Saturday afternoon...

My local quilt shop is having a 30% off sale this weekend....
Quality fabric at 30% off...Who could resist, right?


I couldn't...





Isn't it purdy?

I'm such a weak, weak girl...


That's it...

no more...

unless...




I come across some Bliss from Moda Fabrics or Red Rose Farm from P&B Textiles...


But other than that...


No more!



Have a wonderful weekend,
Patty

lunch break...

I'm into my last few days of empty nesting and I've survived...

I have to admit I cried a little...

but surprisingly, I also thrived a little, too.

I've enjoyed hanging out with my honey, even if it was just running errands around town.

I have fallen in love with my sewing machine again...

Caught up on some unfinished projects with deadlines looming...

completed two quilt tops...

Got some practice quilting with my wonderful Janome 6600

(a very generous gift from my folks)

got the front porch decorated...

did some organizing of my craft room...

cleaned a little and even rediscovered lunch breaks...

I have to admit I'm excited to have my little guy back but it's good to know that when the time comes...

I'll be okay...

No wait, better than okay...

Thank you all for your encouraging words...they mean the world to me.

Blessings,

Patty

Vintage sheets...

I have to be honest, never in my wildest dreams would I have ever considered buying someone else's old used sheets if not for blog land.

Had I not seen them laundered, hanging on the line, blowing in the breeze and then neatly folded in piles of softness, I would not have looked twice as I passed them in Thrift Stores.

Now that I know, that's the first place I head...scouring through bedspreads and coverlets, afghans and bumper pads, hunting and searching for that hint of color and design that speaks to me.

So now, I have a growing pile of my own. Waiting to be used in a new dress for sweet Emily, an apron for a friend, a vintage quilt, a pillow or even as a soft, freshly laundered sheet to snuggle under.

There is an unmistakable beauty in vintage that cannot be produced in the new...

Just as there is a loveliness that comes with age...that has not been earned by the young.

Hope your day is filled with vintage loveliness,

Patty

I've linked up to Simple Pleasures...

Sorry PW...

Don't ask me why but I've been having this ongoing infatuation with Chicken Fried Steak...

I mean, how can you go wrong?

You mix the best part of fried chicken...

With steak.

I first indulged in this fantasy about a year ago at a well know Chicken Restaurant in the area.  I dare to admit that I'm really not that fond of their fried chicken (heresy I know), so I thought I would try their chicken fried steak. 

I took one bite and almost lost my lunch...

How could something that sounds so perfect end up so wrong?  (Sounds like a few of my pre-marriage relationships. lol)

Still not satisfied that my infatuation was doused, I knew when I saw a recipe in my Pioneer Woman cookbook I would give it a try myself...I mean, PW wouldn't steer me wrong...She said every cowboy would fall in love with me if I made it for them (loose translation, not a guarantee)...

So last night, under much protest from dear hubby, I rustled us up some Chicken Fried Steak...

Sorry, PW...
I'm sure it was not your recipe but...

The infatuation is definitely over...

If the first few bites didn't convince me, then my rumbling, up all night stomach did.  I think I even felt Bear tossing and turning more than usual last night.

Sometimes relationships are just like that.

Feeling better about letting go,

Patty

Completed snowball quilt top...(yeah)

fall porch...

I took a little break from my sewing (I've been a tad bit obsessed with it lately),

to play on my front porch...

I love the change of seasons...unpacking all my fall goodness for the front porch...

Pouncing the dust out of the pillows and fluffing them up...

Arranging the pumpkins and signs and saying, "hello" to Mr. Scarecrow...

It's still too hot for real pumpkins and much too soon...

These fakies will do fine for now...

Welcome fall...

After a long hot summer...

We've been waiting for you...

Brisk Autumn wishes,

Patty

I'm linked up to BNOTP for Metamorphis Monday...

Saturday morning...

Happy Saturday...

 I hope with your cup of coffee this morning, you are enjoying the fall like temperatures we are experiencing here.

I debated whether or not to do a 9-11 post this morning.

Not because I wasn't sure it was worthy...

 as proud Americans, that morning is forever etched in our minds...

but because the news surrounding it this year is so filled with hate.

I prayed for something to share with you and as is my routine, while my coffee was brewing,  I opened up one of my favorite blogsites Living Proof Ministries, to find the most beautiful post on Compassion International. 

I was reminded that while there is much anger (rightly so at those who terrorize) and hate (unjustly so) toward those that are different, there is also much to be learned and gained in helping those less fortunate and in need.

My devotional this morning is from John 13:4, 14-15,

"So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin.  Then he began to wash the disciples' feet, drying them with the towel he had around him....And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other's feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you."

In My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers says, "Ministering as Opportunity Surrounds Us.  This does not mean selecting our surroundings, it means being very selectly God's in any haphazard surroundings which He engineers for us.  The characteristics we manifest in our immediate surroundings are indications of what we will be like in other surroundings."

He goes on to say, "The things that Jesus did were of the most menial and commonplace order, and this is an indication that it takes all God's power in me to do the most commonplace things in His way.  Can I use a towel as He did?"

What does your "towel" look like and are you using it as Jesus did?  Are you using it right were you are and not waiting until you go on a "mission" trip? 

Can you help a family in need in your neighborhood?

Can you sponsor a child in another country?

How can you lighten someones load or bring a smile to a child's face?

Ask God, 

be still,

and look around...

I'm sure He will reveal it to you.

Blessings,

Patty

Spiritual Sundays