As Summer wanes...

When summer gathers up her robes of glory,

And, like a dream, glides away.

~ Sarah Helen Whitman

School starts tomorrow, so at Winding Vine summer has come to an end.

The weather & temperature lets us know that the summer weather will be here for a while longer...

I thought that I should hurry and complete a few final summer projects before moving on to autumn.

"Star Spangled Banner"

design by Maggie Bonanomi

Country Sampler Club Kit

I finished stitching this up while my oldest son was in Guatemala, but couldn't decide how to finish it ~ frame it, make a pillow?

I finally decided this weekend to turn it into a bellpull, add some army blanket points, and back it with antique ticking.

"Country Sampler Liberty 1776 Sewing Pouch"

design by Stacy Nash

I finished this club kit as well.

I made the dog a little shorter and longer in honor of our new family member Orion :)

I also substituted some antique ticking for the heart.

and added an additional heart inside the flap for storing needles and pins.

I think I'll move on to some early fall projects now...

"As long as the earth endures,

seedtime and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

day and night

will never cease."
~Genesis 8:22

Blessings, Patti

A Contented Heart

Do you ever feel like life is better than you could have ever imagined?

Do you feel like God has blessed you infinitely more than you deserve?

I feel this way on a daily basis and even more so earlier this month when I celebrated my birthday. In addition to my oldest son returning home from Guatemala and having the best rescue dog ever make our home his forever home, we also went to the best estate sale ever.
We bought my birthday presents there :)

We missed the first day of the sale, but were excited to see the half off sign on the door when we were finally able to go on the last day...

I've always wanted a stack of firkins and we found the bottom two and the top one at a reasonable price ~ I started hyperventilating immediately! I just love them and find myself just looking at them and smiling periodically (my sons think I have gone crazy!)

We also found this beautiful wood bowl and...


this great wooden trencher.

I love the make-do repair where it had split. It adds great character.

There were really wonderful antiques throughout the home. And wonderful handpainted murals on the walls of the dining room. One thing that really intrigued me were the wonderful clothes from the early 1800's through the 1920's. Each outfit was labeled with who wore it, when they were born, when they wore it and when they died. My favorite was a brown silk dress worn for a wedding in the early 1800's. I wondered aloud to the man running the estate sale, "How could the family part with these incredible treasures?" He replied that there was simply so much and that the family had taken so many incredible treasures out before the sale that these were merely the leftovers. Who knew that a 1920's suburban home just blocks from my own house contained such incredible finds...

I went home and lovingly cleaned my purchases while my mind thought of all the other wonderful things that I saw. I decided to go back the last half hour to see if anything was left that they might want to make a deal on...

I came home with this lovely wool blanket in perfect shape gifted to the family on Christmas Day handwoven by an aunt from sheep on her farm. The blanket was gifted in 1934, but the dealer running the sale insisted that it is almost 200 years old. I don't know about that, but the blanket and letter are just precious!

I also picked up this old cutter quilt.

a pewter childs mug, a redware santa, and a sweet original paper cutting made and signed by Claudia Hopf.

Each of these are treasures that I will cherish.

I truly possess a contented heart!

Blessings, Patti

*Our new little bundle of joy!*

My entire life I have wanted a dog.

Unfortunately, I am extremely allergic to them. When I was a child if I just went in a house where a dog lived (even if they weren't there) I would become very congested, have a severe asthma attack, my eyes would swell shut and I would break out in hives from head to toe.

Needless to say, I avoided anyone that owned a dog.

But still every birthday I would wish for a dog.

Luckily, as I've gotten older my allergies and asthma have become a little easier to control. and last month I found an allergy doctor willing to work with my dream of having a dog. I'm currently getting 3 shots twice a week. Eventually they will decrease to once a week and will continue for 3-6 years. It's a small price to pay to finally have a dog.

My youngest son has dreamed of having a pet dachshund since he was a preschooler and has asked constantly ever since (he'll be 13 next month.) Finally our dreams have come true...

Meet Orion.

A 7 year old red dapple miniature dachsund rescue from Midwest Dachshund Rescue.

Our perfect dream dog!

We brought him home last Sunday and I have found that I can't sew, I can't get on the computer, I can't do anything but play and sit with the newest member of our family!

(I think that we are in love :)

He settled in from the moment that we brought him in the door - no accidents, no crying

just lots of kisses and playing fetch, lots of long walks and snuggling.

And just in case you think that all he does is sleep...

He is extremely playful, is a terror to his toys and will play fetch for 24 hours straight if you let him. He's just much easier to photograph when sleeping ;)

My allergies/asthma aren't quite under control yet, but I am coping lol.

Thanks for letting me share!

Don't Breed or Buy While the Homeless Die. Adopt a Rescue.

Believe me you won't regret it!

Blessings, Patti

August arrives

“Fairest of months! Ripe Summer’s Queen
The hey-day of the year
With robes that gleam with sunny sheen,
Sweet August doth appear.
~ R. Combe Miller

The TDIPT Mercantile artists have updated their offerings.

I am enjoying the final days of summer with my favorites ~ geraniums.

Stop by my page for more peeks at my offerings.

I want to thank everyone for your prayers and well wishes for my oldest son and his youth group on their mission trip to Guatemala. It means so much to me!

They returned on Sunday morning at 2:00 am. They had a wonderful and meaningful time. It's been a hectic weekend and I'll share more about it soon...

Blessings, Patti