September

It seems like I blinked and September is almost over!! I LOVE September, and to me it is the start of the holidays!! Decorating begins. Sophie helped :) We have had perfect warm weather and blue skies. The leaves are just starting to turn golden, and a few of them have already drifted onto the ground.

Our Origami Owl party was FUN! The jewelery was adorable, and I think everyone had a great time and we loved having everyone visit our new house. I love the sound of laughter and chit chat....it gives the house such a good vibe!!

Pumpkins and mums by the back door. ♥♥♥♥♥

My favorite jeans needed a patch, so I used a hexie that was sitting in my sewing box. Not perfect, but kinda cute!!

One of the reasons that September seems like the start of the holidays is due to birthdays!!  Happy Birthday Tricia!!!

And a little Halloween sewing. This is a table runner made with The Boo Crew.  This was a fun rainy Sunday project. Love the ric rac. And the little monsters :)

I love September.

I Learned Something New!!

 

YAY!!! I finally figured out how to use photos from my phone on the blog!!! I think you all know how much I love Instagram, and I usually post at least one photo a day there. I don't think I have used my "big" camera in months. But I have missed blogging and am super excited that I can use all of the photos I take each day here too! Here's a little update of what I've been up to since I last posted.

 

We have been painting and painting and painting. Lots of dark walls are becoming a pretty, creamy white. My sweet Dad has been so awesome in painting the vaulted parts of the dining/living room and my sewing room. Did I ever tell you I am afraid of heights?? Well I am and can climb no higher than the second rung of the ladder....

  

Here's the dining room after. Ta-Dah! It is so light and airy, and it glows at night. We are about 3/4 of the way done and should have the entire room finished this week!

 

I have been doing some sewing for my shop and getting a few Fall and Halloween banners listed.  But it is still officially summer, so I've been spending as much time as I can here....

 

This has been my favorite part of the summer. Reading by the pool!! I think I have finished more books this summer than I have in the past few years.  Major Pettigrew was wonderful by the way.  I am going to miss the smell of sunscreen when summer comes to an end.

One of the things I promised myself when I moved was to have fresh flowers as often as possible. This is our TV room and the mix of sunflowers and red gingham makes me HAPPY! Trader Joe's has made fresh flowers really affordable, and I love choosing a new bouquet once a week.  I have a question for you though. The sunflowers get kind of smelly after a few days.....any tips???

Getting Settled

Thanks so much for all of your kind words and good wishes! I am finally getting settled into our new home. Getting into a groove has been a bit of a challenge. Making coffee took me an extra ten minutes....new kitchen and new coffee maker.  I have been taking bits of time out to relax and read. Guernsey Society was sooo good!  I also finished "Saving CeeCee Honeycutt", which I adored. I just started Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and already love Flavia. What are you reading this summer??

 I finally was able to paint my sewing room. I painted the walls and Becky did all of the trim. This is one project that I happy is done!! If you look at the upper right hand corner you will see the lovely dark brown that has surrounded me for the past six weeks. ICK!  I am overjoyed at the result and can't wait to show you more.  I love the big window, and I have lots of wall space for hanging quilts and projects!! ♥♥♥

 Just before tearing everything apart to paint, I started a few blocks from Camille's new book.

Here is one of the rooms that is more or less done. We want to paint the walls a lighter color, but other than that we LOVE this room!! The furniture is super comfy and it is wonderful to grab a book, a glass of iced tea and sit under the ceiling fan. I feel like I am on vacation at a cute cottage and have to pinch myself to realize that I live here.  HAPPY DANCE !!

Pam Kitty Love

I recently had a request for a custom order using Pam Kitty Morning, and since I was low on yardage, I ordered some Pam Kitty Love, and it was love at first sight! While I was working on my order (the dresden pillow) , my daughter was working on a cute embroidery pattern and asked if I would sew it into a pillow. We stared placing scraps of Pam Kitty around the embroidery and knew we were about to collaborate on a really cute pillow! She also is responsible for all of the photos in this post...thanks Becky!!

I think I can officially say that I am slightly obsessed with Dresden plates. I love being able to play with lots of different fabrics and being able to make the plates almost any size I want. I seem to always make them with a large inner circle and small blades. Maybe because it reminds me of a sunflower? One of these days I am going to make longer blades and a small circle....really!!

A quilt was also part of the order, and she requested a simple square patchwork. I think I used a different print for each square, and love how it is modern and vintage at the same time.

A bunting banner finished the order, and again I used a different print for each flag. I am so happy that the puppy pillow is staying with us as I was a teeny bit sad to send this order on it's way.  I am definitely duplicating the banner and pillow for my sewing room! I cannot get enough of these fun colors and cute prints.

Easter Weekend

Marshmallow bunnies and foil covered chocolate eggs.

Crocus (crocuses, croci??) adding cheer to the backyard.

And a little bit of sewing with my happy mail. Little Red Riding Hood by Tasha Noel. How cute is this fabric??!! A bunting banner as I wanted to sew something, but not be in the sewing room all day.

Because the weekend was about spending time with family and loved ones, eating ham and counting my blessings.

Tuesday

You know how some days are almost perfect? Tuesday was one of those days.

I started the day working on an etsy order and got it done and packaged while having my coffee.

Then I hunted down my walking shoes and gym clothes, and headed to Edgewater Park for a walk. It was a cool and breezy day, and the lake was choppy and the sound of waves washed out all of the typical city noises.

Then we stopped at Half Price Books to drop off boxes of cookbooks that I never used and were cluttering up my cabinet. And I actually got a decent amount of money which I spent on these....

Herbs! Basil, Thyme, Parsley and Pineapple Sage. I had never seen pineapple sage before. If you rub the leaves between your fingers, it smells just like pineapple. I also got some verbena. Couldn't resist something called Cotton Candy Mix!

We found the most awesome garden center that has almost every plant you can think of. Their pre-made planters were amazing, and the best part? Big band music playing! For me, that is the equivalent of every day Christmas music. And it makes me happy!! It was a blissful hour of looking at pretty flowers. listening to happy music, hearing birds chirping and water fountains bubbling.

I came home and put on a pot of Starbucks coffee. It is my bi-weekly splurge to pick up a bag of their coffee. YUM!

I am off to plant my herbs and finish my coffee.  I hope that all of you have a day like Tuesday!!

Chit Chat

Hello! How have you all been?

I've been up to all kinds of things this week when I haven't been working or sewing for my shop. I wish I had some new cute patchworky things to show you, but you all have seen everything I have been sewing a zillion times!

So I thought I would share some gorgeous flowers that I found at Trader Joe's.

And the new "buffet" that I finally got for my dining room. I have wanted one forever and can hardly wait to decorate it for Halloween and Christmas!

I also painted my old "vintage" cabinet in my kitchen. The last time I painted it, I chose what I thought was red. But it ended up being orange for the past 5 years :).  I like the white as it brightens up all the wood in the kitchen. And I really love the way it looks with my red and white (and blue) dishes.

Last, but not least

Have you seen The Avengers? It is a totally fun summer blockbuster movie. We saw it 3-D, funky glasses and all. And do you love the action hero cake pops? My son's girlfriend made these in honor of the movie. Cute and delicious!!

Be Cheerful

For the first time in many years, I have a real LIVE tree in my house. The smell of pine welcomes me each morning as I come downstairs to make coffee. Almost all of the ornaments on this tree were handmade by my beautiful and talented daughter. She has been the source of so much cheer in our house and is my own personal elf decorating the house for the holidays.

 The decision to buy a real LIVE tree was made on the spur of the moment last week. We were out and about getting last minute things that we needed for Thanksgiving and went past Home Depot, where they have real LIVE trees lined up outside. We parked the car and were about to head into the store and decided to take a detour to look at the trees. Hmmm we said. A fraser fir tree for under $18.00? That can fit into the budget. We decided to think it over, and head back later that evening. So after dinner, we went back, headed to where the trees were, and it started to rain. And by rain I mean pouring down rain. But we were not deterred.  No. We were cheerful .We were dragging trees and holding them up to see what would not only fit in the house, but in our tiny little car. And can I just say how awesome the staff at Home Depot are? They baled the tree, and the cutest young man helped us put it in the car and gave instructions on how to tie down the trunk.  They were cheerful!

So as you start this wonderful holiday season, please "Be Cheerful and  Pass It On!"

Leftovers

Thank you much for all of the Happy Birthdays last week! I basically celebrated all weekend and enjoyed every moment. I am really looking forward to what this year has to bring.

I had quite a bit of fabric leftover from my Halloween quilt, and as I am definitely in the Halloween spirit, I thought I would play with my scraps and see what I could make.

First I tried my hand at making a mug rug. I know I am waaaaay late to the party on these, but boy are they fun to make AND a great way to practice machine sewing bindings! 

  

Next I wanted to try something using half square triangles, so I made a pillow. I am not loving this to be honest, but it does add a bit of color to my couch.

And I made a table runner. This is so much cuter in person. My dining room is so dark and it is hard to get great photos, but I really wanted to show you this. Once again I machine sewed the binding on, and the more I am doing this, the easier and neater it gets. I think I mentioned that I bought a darning foot for my machine, and I have been playing with it, but I wasn't brave enough to try to freemotion quilt this runner.

I have a few projects going for my shop, and I am trying to decide if I want to add things like table runners and mug rugs. Quilts are such a big undertaking, and the supplies are expensive as well, so I am thinking some small items may help to fill up the shop. Any suggestions?

Weekend Update

The first weekend of October has been cold and rainy, so it has been perfect for hanging out in the sewing room and cutting fabric. I am making the "plus" quilt I told you about yesterday, and have finished cutting, laying out and labeling. When I was laying out the design, I realized that I probably should have added some green fabric to the mix, but I kind of like the vintage look of the quilt as is.

Most of the Halloween decorations are up, and I will be sharing photos as the light in my house allows. Dinner is cooking, the fireplace is going and I am watching The Big Bang Theory,  which is my new favorite show.  A wonderful Sunday afternoon.

The October Project

Happy October everyone!! Can you believe it is October already? To me, October is the start of the holiday season. I love pulling out all of my Autumn/Halloween decorations and getting the house ready for the trick or treaters. But there is one thing missing. A quilt. So I am making one.

Here are the fabrics waiting to be cut into squares. I am still deciding what kind of quilt I want to make, and am really leaning towards a "plus" quilt. It satisfies my love of patchwork squares, and adds an extra design element into the mix. But my challenge is getting this quilt made within the next few weeks so we can use it during the month of October, so I definitely will be making a smaller version. Wish me luck :)

Autumn Afternoon

When I opened the door to add my groceries this is what the backseat of the car looked like yesterday afternoon. Some of my most favorite things! Mums and pumpkins and colored leaves. And what's that on the seat? Look closely....A quilt!! In case you were wondering why everything is in the backseat, there was a hay bale in the trunk! The car still has a faint farm smell to it, not mention hay everywhere.
When I opened the door to add my groceries this is what the backseat of the car looked like yesterday afternoon. Some of my most favorite things! Mums and pumpkins and colored leaves. And what's that on the seat? Look closely....A quilt!! In case you were wondering why everything is in the backseat, there was a hay bale in the trunk! The car still has a faint farm smell to it, not mention hay everywhere.

 

It was such a lovely afternoon. Lunch at the Tea House. A trip to the farm stand. Georgeous weather. Putting lights and decorations on the porch. It makes you wish every Saturday could be as nice!

Daydream Pillows

I had a ton of fabric leftover from the Daydream quilt, so I thought I would make a matching pillow for Becky's room.

 I loved making the first one, so I decided to make another one.

And another.

Sophie likes them too.

I just kind of made these up as I went along. The fabrics were all from a charm pack and jelly roll, so I only had to cut the white fabric. I needed a little help with the envelope back, so I followed this tutorial. As I finished each pillow, it was instantly my favorite. Now I am not so sure.

I hope you all have a fun and happy Labor Day weekend!

Summer Morning

This is what's happening on my porch this morning. A little blog reading, coffee drinking, list making, and knitting. There is nothing better than a front porch on a hot summer morning!

In the Summertime

 It's Memorial Day. I know it is Memorial Day, because along with flags flying, 

my peonies are in bloom!

This weekend has been totally laid back and relaxing. I spent time doing things I enjoyed, like

Planting.

The zinnia seeds have sprouted, and are ready to be planted.

 These still need to be planted. My pots are washed and ready to go,

but I need more potting soil :)

 Grilling.

Nothing better than burgers and hot dogs on the grill. YUM!

I have to admit that I cooked ribs in the crockpot today. Much easier.

One of the best parts of the weekend is hanging out with this cute little puppy ♥. 

I also spent some time this weekend quilting! Will share more later this week.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend, and thanks to all of the 

men and women who serve and protect our country, 

and to Becky, who provided all of the photos in today's post!