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

Keeping Busy

With my oldest son on a mission trip to Guatemala, I'm trying to keep busy and not focus on how much I miss him and how much I'm worrying.

Luckily, this Sunday was our once a month Stitch Club meeting. Don't you just LOVE Cathy's finished needle punch creation above?! The finishing is just perfect! I love how she matched the flowers and used a vintage wooden box. We were all coveting it :)

And Aileen had a great finish, too - I love the fabric!

I worked on a little wool applique.

And we celebrated Joan's Birthday.

Happy Birthday Joan!

Yesterday I took my youngest son and his friend to the Shedd Aquarium.

It's been a while since we were there.

We had fun looking at all the amazing sea creatures.

This little penguin in the Oceanarium was so sweet.

And today I had another finish:

I added a little needle keep from a vintage blue wool blanket to the outside...

And I added a little scissor pocket from the same blue wool on the inside.

"Country Sampler Queen of Spring Sewing Roll"

by Stacy Nash

Good thing I finished this club kit as I have the next Stacy Nash club kit waiting in the wings :)

Hopefully this week will continue to pass quickly for me...

Blessings, Patti

~~~Peace & Calm~~~

The Transformers 3 filming has moved across the river. We can now get in and out of our offices easily and we are only occassionally interrupted by the sounds of major machine gun battles and explosions.

Each year when we go on vacation, I find a topic that inspires me and I find myself taking endless photos of the subject. One year waterlilies, another waterfowl, yet another trees.

This year I was inspired by the sky.

Constantly changing...

Each view more beautiful than the next.

Storms, sunsets, clear skies...

A bald eagle silhouetted in the fading sunlight.

Cotton candy clouds on an endless joyful summer afternoon.

When you have sons, you find yourself doing things that you never planned to do in your life. On this vacation it was...

Renting ATV's from Clam Lake Power Sports in Clam Lake, Wisconsin for a day on the trails in Chequamegon National Forest! Wow! The trails were rugged and challenging for this newbie, but I just loved it! A fun family activity that we could enjoy with our teenage sons. Who knew that I would actually love it and look forward to returning to again next summer!

Here are a few more of my finds... The jar lids, tins and keys are destined for future folk art creations... Isn't this crazy quilt beautiful?! The embroidery work is incredible. It's a cover for a sleeve ironing board. I'm not sure exactly how I will display it, but knew that it had to come home with me. Maybe someday I'll find an antique sleeve board that it will fit.

When I saw this flag, I knew that it was the perfect souvenir from a 4th of July trip.

I also found these lovely Civil War era utensils. Not sure where or how to display, but I just love to hold them, admire their workmanship, and think of the stories that they hold.

Finally, another vacation finish ~

my interpretation of:

Red Geraniums Table Mat

by Primitive Gatherings

Our oldest son has left on a mission trip with 25 youth and adults from our church to the Western Highlands of Guatemala. I know that this will be an incredible opportunity for all, but being a mother I can't help but worry. Prayers are greatly appreciated!

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they display knowledge.

~Psalm 19:1-2

Blessings, Patti

xxx Destruction & Devastation xxx

This is the scene that I encountered when I arrived at work on Michigan Ave in Chicago today...

An earthquake?

A terrorist attack?

A freak explosion?

No, none of the above...


Simply the movie set for Transformers 3.
Can you believe that all this was set up last night?

I'm not sure who the actor is in the center pointing.

This actor's name is now confirmed - Patrick Dempsey (aka Mr. McDreamy) - Thanks Audrey ;)

On his left (in the blue shirt) is director Michael Bay. The two women in white shirts and black pants are make-up artists.

Here are Shia LaBeouf and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley while filming a scene.

But don't worry! All will be safe! Here come...

The SWAT team! Running across the Michigan Avenue bridge.

And wait....

Here come some of the Transformers!

It's interesting to see movie magic. Here is Patrick Dempsey again, walking away from a Transformer (I've been informed by my youngest son that this is NOT Optimus Prime as I had written before as he is now dead. Oops! Sorry!) On the left is a pole with a cardboard cutout on top standing in for the computer generated Transformer robots.

Can you imagine running in those stilletto heels???

Actually if you look closely, she runs in flats and then changes back into the stillettos - good idea :)

And that concrete isn't as heavy as you would think ;)

All is supposed to be cleaned up and gone by rush hour on Monday morning.

That's hard to believe, but I guess it might just be a little more movie magic...

I promise my next post will be more calm and quiet!

Wishing you a lovely weekend!

Blessings, Patti