Last Rose of the Summer

I sure hate to see summer end.. I really love fall, but it seems to go by so quickly.   We have been having lots of frost,  and all the flowers are gone..  Kenny came in  and brought me this pink rose ,  off of our rose bush.. [how sweet!].  I stuck in  a vase with some  holly greenery.. for a wonderful bouquet .  The last of  our summer flowers..   I will just look forward to   spring returning.

The Dreaded Chore of Ironing!!!

                                        My Most Dreaded Household Chore
 I spent   a couple days last week,   pulling out fall/ winter clothes. And putting away  light breezy summer clothes..  And with that job,   came lots of washing and  ironing...  As I  stood at the ironing board,  really  dreading the  big basket of  over flowing clothes,  I thought about  the ladies of old.  Many of them,  had to go haul in water to wash,   and heat a  "heavy iron" from the cooking stove ,  to iron the families clothes.  It would be  a  definite all  day job.  
  Wow.... Now why  should I be complaining about my  basket of ironing... Not only did I throw them in the washing  machine , turn on the button and let them wash  "by themselves"... But ,  I  turned on an electric iron,   that  got hot all by itself..   It is very light weight.  So .. I must remind myself..   My overflowing basket,  is   not so  bad after all..
   As I  thought of my grandparents and their ways... I ironed away,  and in no time,  my much dreaded ironing basket was EMPTY!!!

Sewing Pattern Swap Package

Kat from the Sew weekly,  started a pattern swap with some of the girls..  My package arrived  all the way from  the UK..   I was so excited to see  the name Rachel Pinheiro,  on the label..  As she is one of my sweet sewing buddy friends..   I excitedly tore open the package to find the MOST wonderful contents..  [I think she went over board, and spoilt me].   It was the cutest  pattern, some really cute pink floral fabric,  buttons,
  trims.   And then..   to add to all this , was a  yummy chocolate flower  and all kinds of flavors of tea.   And then,   she sent the most treasured gift....  She made me a  tissue holder,   I will treasure it forever.   Now how sweet is that?
  Thankyou  Rachel.. Your pattern swap package is  fantastic and I love, love everything!!!

The pattern is so cute..   I am already planning on using it.. I  am hoping it will fit into  one of the SW challenges within the next couple weeks.

Holly Berries are Turning Red

 I love holly bushes.  The beautiful green waxy leaves  with the vibrant red berries. Oh how pretty!!
 When we built our house  , I planted this holly bush.  I wanted   to have one,  so that when Christmas came,   I would have the beautiful greenery & berries  to decorate  with.  When I see the berries starting to turn red, I know that winter & Christmas  are not far away..

Fresh Vegtables & Fresh Eggs

 Yummy, yummy .. Look what Farmer Kenny  raised for us!!!
Fresh turnip and mustard greens... Second crop of yellow squash  [and yes...his wife told him, "it is too
late in the year,  you can't raise another crop of squash".. eeeh..  I was wrong!!   But he will never know that, I remember saying such a thing, haha.
  And he bought some baby chickens in the spring , and they  are now laying..   We get 7 eggs a day..

Plain Pattern Challenge/ FESA Challenge-- Fall Wrap dress

FESA /Plain Pattern Challenge--Fall Dress
Butterick pattern # 5030

 I finshed my first dress for the challenges.It is a fall  dress with 3/4 length sleeves.  My inspiration for this  wrap dress  is Olivia Walton on the Walton shows.  She wears alot of wrap dresses.  And I love her style.
This dress is so comfortable and easy to wear.
   Mary Christmas [my dress form] was eager to model it for me.. Soon, I will share a picture of me wearing it.

The bird that came from Mn

What a beautiful bird that  came all the way from Mn.. to  live with me.. I feel so
honored to have this beautiful hand made  item.  A wonderful crafter made this,
with her own two hands and gave it  to me.. It is beautiful  and so well done.
Thankyou my friend Cathe.

Sweaters/Cardigans - Great Thrift Store Finds

I went by our local thrift store .. I normally don't ever find any thing ..But ..Wednesday , my luck,
was to change.  I have been watching catalogues for sweaters/cardigans to wear with my dresses.
The lady working in the store  ,told me to come and look at this rack,  her friend had just brought
this stuff in to sale  And there was 4 sweaters/cardigans.   I was thrilled.
  If you remember , on my mood board,  was the prettiest cream sweater with red flowers monogrammed
on it.  One of the sweaters,  I bought,  looks alot like that one..  It has blue and pink flowers instead of red.
The bronze color sweater matches my fall dress that I am doing for the plain pattern challenge / fall challenge on Sew weekly..
  I left the thrift store , with 4 beautiful sweaters for only $6.00.   Happy ,Happy, Happy!!!

Birthdays & Friends--What could be better?

I recently had a birthday..   It was a very good one.   My day was full with  family and the wonderful gifts , they gave me..  And late that afternoon,  the UPS truck came.. I wasn't expecting packages, so was shocked,  when he pulled in..  To my surprise,  there was this wonderful birthday present from my friend Cathe.   She is the most thoughtful and fun person .  She sent me all these wonderful things..  Polka dot fabric..[hint. you will be seeing this one show up on SW challenge]  a vintage red fabric [ because she knows  how much I love red and vintage],  a wonderful sewing tote bag.. I have already got to enjoy the  use of it.. [A recent trip to the doctors office,  it held my sewing books ,that I enjoyed ,while waiting .]   and  the most cherished item--- this tiny sewing machine. I wish you could all see it  in person..  It is adorable. The little drawer really opens and the foot petal really works.. So cute..
  Thankyou Cathe,  for a very special birthday..

Amy /Ashlee Halloween Outfits

My twin grandaughters will be 7 yrs old on November 10th.  They are really growing up.  I made them these twirl dresses to wear to halloween parties at school.  And also to the pumpkin patch.  Amy's dress is appliqued with a  friendly ghost on the bodice and has friendly ghost halloween  fabric on the skirt.  Ashlee's bodice has a  pumpkin appliqued on the bodice with  pumpkin fabric for the skirt.
 The girls enjoyed a weekend visit with us .

Book shelf for my Sewing Room

We  have a store in our small town , called Dirt Cheap... It is junk.. when I say junk... I mean junk..  I rarely ever go in there,  because,  I can not find anything in that pile of junk,ha.  Well,  Kenny and I decided to go and see what  we might find..  We saundered around ,and both  said... 'Oh Lord, how does any one find anything, in this pile of junk?"  All our friends, seem to find bargains.. but not us.  Just as we were leaving, we saw these boxes of  book shelfs. Not fancy .. just useful..  And only $9.  We decided,  we would get one,  I could add it to my utitlity room,  to house house hold items.  So , we got it.  brought it home,  Kenny put it together.  It was nice..  So........ my brain starts working,  I could use another shelf , in my sewing room, to hold  some sewing items.  So back to Dirt Cheap for another book shelf.  Here it is , all loaded with my goodies. [ bty... I had to clean my sewing room, move stuff around , to try to make room for another shelf.. Nope... I really didn't need it... just wanted it.ha}

Present from a Friend-- [vintage sewing box]

Kenny and I  went to a small antique/thrift store in our small hometown.. We have visited it so much.. Rarely, do we see anything different.. We were browsing around , when my eye caught this little sewing box. It made me think of our past families.  Things were hard in that time.  They used what they had, and every penny was accounted for.  I could just imagine , some little  lady , with her so important sewing box.  It contained nothing  of value,  but memories for  me.
This cigar box, was not cardboard, but a thin wood.  The past owner,  had taken and put small little cardboard boxes inside the cigar box.  Each held , her much needed possessions. Tiny wood spools of thread,  a little pair of rusty scissors, thimbles, and  paper tape measures, an occasional button.  Laying on top of this was,  this big spool of blue thread???  I really wonder,  what this was?  Possiably... something from  a spinning loom?  I don't know? 
I walked away from this  treasure, knowing I had no need for it, and I already have an overflowing sewing room.   I  wandered around the store,  while Kenny talked with the store owner.  While, I was away, Kenny went and bought the  "special  little sewing box" for me. With much delight, I brought  it home, and it sits in my  over crowded sewing room.  Not only does it bring memories of yesteryear.. but of  a very nice day with my thoughtful husband.

Remembering Grandmother's Sugar Cookies

 I found this ole vintage picture and it brought back memories of my sweet Grandmother.   I remember seeing her  at her old kitchen  table.,  she would sift the flour  in the bowl, and add the baking powder and soda.. and all the other igrediants.  She did it with  such ease..  And  while us kids waited anxiously , for her to roll that dough and then use cookie cutters, that looked just like these, she made those wonderful sugar cookies.   The house would fill with the most amazing aroma. And oh how  hard it was , to  wait  until they came out of the oven..  Yummy!!!