Seams of Life

Simple Abundance

 

I just had to share this book I picked up at the thrift store yesterday Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy by Sarah Ban Breathbach. Its a collection of essays, one for everyday of the year, that remind one how to celebrate and enjoy the simplicities of life. I started to read it from the beginning, however when I flip through it, every title captures my attention and I end up reading it. Just look...

 

The Habit of Being and Celebrating the Common Days, bestill my heart! The essays cover so many topics that are important to me like homemaking, gardening, and even thrifting. All are geared toward finding the pleasure in these simple things.

 

 

These days I'm trying my best to enjoy the things I have and not always want for more and I'm also trying to impart that lesson to my children. I'm so happy to have found this book at this juncture in my life.

We are about to depart for a weekend of fun at my family's favorite amusement park, Lake Winnie. I plan to enjoy and live in each moment and try to do the same for the rest of the summer and you can bet this book will be close by just in case I need reminding. Have a great weekend!

peasant dress

 

I made this sweet peasant dress from this tutorial today. When I first read the tutorial it seemed a bit daunting but the dress actually came together much easier than I expected. I've been wanting to make a peasant blouse forever and found the tutorial after doing a Google search.

 

The fit still needs a little tweaking. For some reason the top just doesn't hang right and I suspect it maybe the cut of the sleeves throwing the whole thing off.

 

It still came out sweet though and the whole project only took two hours tops. I plan to make more using lightweight flannel so the girls can wear them as night gowns

During our "photo shoot" Carlee discovered that these flowers smell minty. Even more sweetness to end my day.

help in the kitchen

The veggies keep pouring in from the garden. The only problem is that they trickle in (not actually pour) a basket full at a time. This means that chopping, freezing, and pickling has become a daily thing. I'm not complaining, but I'm not always able to fit a veggie time into our daily routine. Lucky for me I have a little help dealing with this welcome problem...

 

He can't peel a tomato, but he can chop a mean pepper. Yes, my son likes to help in the kitchen and I'm very happy to let him. As far as my first time canning/pickling, its going well.

 

This is what I've done so far: 2 jars of pickled banana peppers and 1 jar of pickled jalopenos.

pocket skirts

 

Or skirts with pockets. I finally cut into my Eric Morris fat quarters bought way back when. I don't buy designer fabric very often and when I do I hold onto to it waiting for that special project to come along.

After holding onto these pretty prints for so long, I finally decided that I had to see them walking around, fullfilling their purpose. So I cut them into pockets and sewed them on skirts for my little girls.

 

Now I get to see these prints in action, holding tiny fists and fists full of blackberries.

 

thrift store Thursday

 

My home is slowly starting to fill with wonderful vintage goodies that I love. Above is today's thrift store score, a pyrex dish that matches a bowl I already have, two lovely embroidered pillowcases, and four skeins of 100% virgin wool yarn.

A sigh of relief...

because I just finished my last full quarter of school. Only one more class to go and I'll be finished! Its been two and a half years of working full time and going through school full time and I am so grateful that its almost coming to an end. I am so ready to focus all of my extra time and attention toward my family and all things domestic.

As a celebration of sorts, I did a small decorating project that has been in the back of mind for a while.

 

I recovered this old chair. It most likely began its life as an office chair, but recovered in this nice fabric I found in the remanents pile at Hancocks and it makes for a pretty sitting chair in our book corner of the living room. And to make it even more comfortable, I sewed a little pillow. It didn't turn out exactly as I had envisioned. I wanted the front to have more gathers and it looks more like it happened accidentally rather than on purpose but thats ok.

I also used some yard-sale wallpaper to cover the back of the little bookcase next to the chair.

 

I was inspired to this by an article in Country Living. When everything comes together it makes a cozy little reading nook. I'm all about cozy nooks and I plan on making more of them around the house.

from the garden::

 

So far its good pickins' from our little veggie garden and more to come I'm sure. We've already picked a generous amount of squash and consumed a good amount of squash casserole. In fact, after I finish writing this post, I'm going to search for more squash recipies because I suspect the only squash recipie I have will soon be worn out. The banana peppers, jalopenos, and cucumbers are going to be pickled and the bell peppers will be chopped and frozen. It seems that this little garden is going to a bit more work than I thought but the pleasure of eating food you've grown yourself is well worth it.

We've also been working on another garden project...

 

a bottle tree. Folklore says it will aid in keeping evil spirits out of the home and garden. We just think they're an eclectic, pretty piece of "yard art". Plus it gives me something else to scour for at thrift stores and yard sales. I'm on the look out for some blue and green bottles, they make the prettiest bottle trees. For some really great bottle tree pics and a little history on the bottle tree, check out this website.

and the winner is...

Marie-Noelle!!! Comment # 61 picked by the Random Number Generator. I hope you enjoy my little prize Marie-Noelle, I'll be e-mailing you soon for your address. Thank you and everyone so much for stopping by and leaving a comment. I have really enjoyed reading everyone's comments and have picked up a few more summer sewing projects for myself.

And most of all, thank you to Sew Mama Sew! for putting together the May Giveaway Day. It gave me a wonderful opportunity to see so many new-to-me crafty blogs.

May Giveaway Day!

 

I'm so excited to be participating in Sew Mama Sew's May Giveaway Day! I usually miss these kind of things. I didn't have time to sew something special for this event so I thought I would give away the next best thing...fabric!

I have a little bundle of fabric scraps from my stash, some vintage, along with some coral and blue embroidery floss to give away. The size of the fabric pieces vary, but all are a bit smaller than a fat quarter and all are woven cotton. All the prints have a "dainty" flower theme perfect for summer sewing projects.

 

The May Giveaway official starts on Wednesday May 27 and I will keep my giveaway open until May 31. If you'd like a chance to win just leave me a comment about your summer sewing projects ( international commenters are welcome). I'll pick a winner at random. Good Luck, thank you for stopping by my little blog and enjoy the rest of your Sew Mama Sew! May Giveaway Day!

"veggie garden" bench monday

  

In the garden this year:

yellow and green bell peppers

jalopeno peppers

bannana peppers

Georgia sweet onions

sweet and silverqueen corn

roma, rutgers, better boy, goliath, cherry, early girl, celebrity, and heirloom pink brandywine tomatoes

strawberries

carrots

crookneck squash

purple hull beans

cucumbers

pumpkins

That should keep us busy this summer. Even a small garden like ours requires so much work, but this year I am enjoying every minute of it. I'm looking forward to harvesting, sharing, cooking, eating and canning (for the first time) all the fruits of our labor.

Some of my enjoyment is due to reading Animal, Vegtable, Miracle: A year in food life by Barbara Kingslover. I recommend this book to every gardner and everyone who wants to eat healthier. I have learned a lot about food from this book and the way Kingslover writes about gardening has inspired me so much.

So this summer I'll be weeding, fertilizing, composting, watering, and eventually picking in our garden.