Blue Morning Glories

"Morning glory is the best name,

it always refreshes me to see it."

--HENRY DAVID THOREAU

I have always loved morning glories.

Some years back we planted seeds along the lattice

that surrounds the access to our septic system.

Who wants to look at an access point to a septic system, anyway?

They grew really well there,

and re-seeded for several years after that.

However, at the end of the summer we ended up with dead vines

covering the lattice, and they were very hard to remove.

As we changed the focus of our garden spaces,

we did away with the morning glories.

Fast forward to the present.

The arbor that we have on the side of the house needed some attention.

The two climbing roses that grew over it,

seen in this post no longer bloomed,

likely because of the lack of light over the past couple of years.

So, after deliberating for a year, we finally decided to dig them out.

They were loaded with thorns and grew very fast,

so walking under the arbor was a pain in the neck

(or should I say a thorn in my butt!),

and decided to replace them with the morning glories seen above.

I couldn't believe that we found some already grown in pots

(Lowes garden center),

and in such a beautiful shade of blue.

We have planted one on each side of the arbor.

I will let you know if they work out,

since there may not be enough sun for them either,

but if they don't, we'll try something else.

Have a great day, friends!

The Zingaro Dahlia

"What grows in the garden,

so lovely and rare?

Roses and Dahlias

and people grow there."

--From the TV show A Gardener's Diary

A while back I started some dahlias in pots.

I know that I had previously written about 

some others that I started and later transplanted into the garden.

But I never have much luck with them out there,

as some of our local critters seem to munch on my babies before they ever amount to much.

So, I purchased some more dahlia starts when it was getting late in the season 

when they were at a substantially reduced cost, 

and decided to try my luck with them in the porch.

One of them just started to bloom.

 How pretty is this?!

When they get near the end of their season, I will transplant them into 

one of the gardens that is a little more sheltered from the "wild things".

In the meantime, though, I think that I'll just enjoy them on the porch!

I hope your week is going well.

Just think...

At the end of 2015 I purchased an inexpensive 2016 calendar. The company that printed it is "DaySpring", and the tag line under the company name is "Your heart. God's love". The cardboard that supported the calendar was not just a plain piece of cardboard; on it was printed the most beautiful sentiment which was credited to Roy Lessin, the DaySpring co-founder. This has been sitting on my desk ever since, and I read these words of inspiration every time at sit down to post to this blog. Here I would like to share it with you.

"Just think,

you're here not by chance,

but by God's choosing.

His hand formed you 

and made you 

the person you are.

He compares you to no one else--

you are one of a kind.

You lack nothing

that His grace can't give you.

He has allowed you to be here

at this time in history

to fulfill His special purpose

for this generation."

Underneath this sentiment was also printed the following,

a verse which we have all seen before

and one of my personal favorites:

To every thing there is a season, 

and a time to every purpose under the heaven.

ECCLESIASTES 3:1

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I thought I'd share the photo of the baby in the pram.

I haven't shared a photo with friends in a while,

and wanted you to have this beauty.

Right click and save to your computer.

 

I wonder what God's purpose was for her?

For me?

For any of us?

I guess that time will tell.

Fabric and Paper Collage: Thankful

"Give thanks for a little

and you will find a lot."

-- A HAUSA PROVERB

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I am giving some thought as to all that I am thankful for. 

But I am not so thankful for the sadness in France this week. 

My prayers are with the people that were so adversely impacted by the recent events in that country. 

What terrible irony there is in that "the city of love" played victim to those with such hatred in their hearts. 

Though I have never been to Paris, my great grandmother was born there, 

 so I feel a kinship to the people of that city and a love for the country that helped
 ours become what she is today.

Though I hope that the people of France are finding something to be thankful for,

it might be a little hard right now.

But it will come. 

As it did after our own terrible day some years back.

France, this one is for you...

This week I will join Wen's Simply Neutrals Tuesday.

Wendy was born in France,
so my prayers are especially with her.
You can find Wen's blog here.

Ghosts: A Halloween Snippet Roll

The moon is hidden behind a cloud...

On the leaves is a sound of falling rain...

No other sounds than these I hear;

The hour of midnight must be near...

So many ghosts, and forms of fright,

have started from their graves to-night,

They have driven sleep from mine eyes away;

I will go down to the chapel and pray.

--HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW--

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Recently I purchased some Halloween digital images on Etsy, and decided to make something fun with them. There were seven cool ghost images on the sheet, and I didn't really have the time to make seven different art pieces with them, so decided to create my version of a snippet roll instead, using up bits and bobs of things that I had left over from other projects. Some time ago I had purchased a couple of rolls of burlap ribbon and never used them (what else is new?). Since it was about 5-1/2 inches wide, I decided that I would see what I could come up with. Below are some photos of the result.

Since this piece was a little more than

three feet long,

and I don't have a wide angle lens

for my camera,

this was the best that I could do

to capture the entire piece...

So below are some closeups of the

different sections.

I love these images which are from 

DigitalAntiques on Etsy,

and you can find them here.

I used the burlap ribbon as the background,

adding the images, lace,

old buttons, crinkled seam binding...

...black polka dot netting...

...and some vintage rhinestone bling, scrim,

and ribbon woven through an old

mother of pearl buckle.

After all, even ghosts deserve a little beauty...

More fabrics, laces, buttons,

crinkled seam binding,

and a black fabric flower...

...seen a little bit better in this photo...

At the bottom I sewed on a lovely piece 

of black floral lace,

and fringed the edge of the burlap...

Since it it not a snippet roll in the truest form,

as it is too bulky to wind up on a spool,

I created a hanger with this lovely 

black and tan twine...

I did not back this piece since the burlap

was so loosely woven and I wanted the light

to show through.

To give it a little pizzazz, though,

I used a circle punch to cut pretty

scrapbook paper into circles

which were glued on behind the buttons, 

buckle and flower to reinforce them...

The best part was that I completed this whole

project in less than a day's time,

and used up a lot of stuff that I just

had hanging around!

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Today I am linking with Wen's Simply Neutrals Tuesday Party,

and you can find the fun here.

Please be sure to check out the contributions by the 

rest of the folks who participated!

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By the way, do you believe in ghosts?

Reflections: Three Years of Blogging

"Reflect on your present blessings,

of which every man has many..."

-Charles Dickens

My blessing is you,

the readers who have supported me

during the past three years.

If you haven't been with me from

the beginning,

here is my first post.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my blog,

posting comments, 

and in general, 

putting up with my ramblings about

basically nothing!

Have a great day!

Fabric Collage: Our Brothers and Sisters

Hello there! I recently purchased this beautiful old photo of a sister and her two brothers in their adorable sailor suits, so of course I couldn't wait to create something with it. 

"Our Brothers and Sisters are There with Us"

For this one I used satins and velvet

in beautiful shades of aqua...

...along with vintage laces

and old buttons...

...and a wonderful quote

accented by beautiful old vintage velvet ribbon

and a worn mother of pearl belt buckle...

The collage is completely hand stitched,

and sewn to linen burlap.

This piece is now listed in my Etsy shop.

Many thanks for coming by!

Fabric Collages: Remembering Childhood and Family Faces

Hello dear friends! I have created two more fabric collage pieces. My creative spurt is running rampant. I wonder how long this trend will last! Ha!

"What we Remember from our Childhood"

You may remember this lovely old photo from my

having used it my art book that was published in 

"Sew Somerset" last winter.

My post about it can be seen here.

I absolutely adore this little girl and her dog,

so I just had to use it again... 

This one was done in all neutrals,

and, of course, old lace and mother of pearl buttons...

...with a beautiful quote that rests on

a thick piece of vintage brown velvet...

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"Family Faces are Magic Mirrors"

You may also remember my post, seen here,

about the beautiful girls in this photo,

so I knew I just had to use it again...

Lately I have been enjoying playing with color,

but, of course, I will always love my neutrals...

The two pieces are both sewn onto linen burlap, 

and are now for sale in my Etsy shop.

Have a wonderful day!

Fabric Collages: Family and Home

Hello everyone. I hope that you are having a great day! The sun is actually shining here in NC, so what could be wrong with that?

I have created two more fabric collage pieces.

"Family is God's Gift to You"

The inspiration for this piece came from this lovely old

photo that I have had for awhile. 

It depicts a group of people lakeside,

and makes me want to believe that it was taken

during a large family reunion.

It seems like those are rare anymore in today's world.

For this one I again used silky fabrics,

and since I imagined this was a nice summer day,

I used shades of teal and turquoise,

with a touch of

burgundy and deep pink...

I couldn't resist the flower trim

and this quote...

...along with this vintage lace that makes me think of leaves...

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"Home is Where One Starts From"

The center point of  this one is a 

beautiful piece of an old cutter ruffled log cabin quilt,

done in silks and velvets.

I built the collage around it by

adding a photo...

...of a group of people sitting on the steps 

of a front porch.

I thought that the photo complimented

the pattern of the quilt.

I also added fabrics that matched the 

piece of quilt,

along with some floral trim   

edged in gold...

I finished it off by adding these beautiful

vintage carved mother of pearl buttons, 

which I thought added to the summer 

day's theme...

And, of course, how could I not use this perfect quote!...

Both collages were completely hand stitched,

and sewn onto 18-count linen.

I have just listed these in my Etsy shop.

Thanks for coming by today!