My Creative Space

"My Creative Spaces" is being hosted by Shannon from the blog "Thoughts and Thimbles". I have been following Shannon's blog for years, her sewing, decorating and homemaking tips have always been an inspiration. When I recently read her invitation to fellow bloggers to participate and link-up I thought it would be a great time to share a little bit about where I sew and how I organize my supplies.

The photo above was taken in our dining room, where I do the majority of my sewing. I have always enjoyed sewing by a window, the natural light and view of God's beautiful creation brings me great pleasure.

Beside our dining room table is an antique cherry server that a dear friend gave me before Adam and I married. I had no idea then just how handy this lovely piece would be. There are two drawers in the bottom of the server, the one drawer was designed with dividers for silverware but I am using it to store my ric-rac and bias tape. : ) I am storing some lace and elastic in the other drawer.

Our dining room is rather narrow and I found it awkward to do any ironing in the dining room, but the kitchen is off the dining room and a great place for my ironing board.

The ironing board cover was made by my sister Rachel and given to me as a wedding gift. I really like the cheerful colors and how well it coordinates with my iron.

The table in our living room was built by my father when my sisters and I were little. The wood used to build the table came from the woods surrounding my grandparents home. I am so pleased to have this table as part of our home! I have many fond memories of cutting out my first sewing projects on this table with my mom.

I enjoy using tea cups to store special little sewing treasures. Not only is it attractive, but handy. Many time I will set buttons for a  current project on the saucer.

My little pincushion mouse (sneaking around the teacup) is the perfect place to keep my hand sewing needles. The peach calico mouse is filled with sand, which is helpful in sharpening needles.

Last Christmas Adam gave me this lovely antique sewing box. I store all of my most special projects in this box.

I must confess I am a bit of a "basket case". I have baskets in almost every room of the house, and each is filled with fabric or other supplies for projects. The basket in the photos above is especially handy as it has a lid. I store my yarn in this basket. Our cat Winston is very fond of yarn, and this is a great way for me to keep my yarn collection protected!

Some of my supplies are currently being stored in our laundry room. My thread is on a shelf near my washing machine.

This bookshelf is also in our laundry room. I have my fabric organized by amounts suitable for certain projects. I have more fabric over at my mom's house that I haven't had time to bring home and organize.

I have found photo boxes to be a terrific help in keeping my supplies organized. Each of the boxes contain different supplies such as buttons, ribbons, patterns and the like.

And to close, the view out our dining room window. Truly an inspiration while sewing!

"And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us,
And establish the work of our hands for us;
Yes, establish the work of our hands."
Psalm 90:17 

Naples

The other week my mom, sisters, nephew and I took a trip to the town of Naples. Naples, New York is known for it's foliage covered hills and delicious grapes. In the photo above you can see a hill, and that there is surprisingly still a lot of green.

The LORD blessed us with a perfect autumn day- crisp and sunny! While in Naples we visited a truly charming antique shop, fabric shop and farm market. While at the farm market we purchased gallons of grape juice, homemade doughnuts and I found some cinnamon creamed honey for Adam. He enjoys stirring a spoonful in his tea.

             My lovely mom and sisters. Micah was cut off in this photo, not sure how I managed that...

                        But here is my dear little nephew! Isn't he the cutest?

Grape juice! The main reason for our visit. There is nothing like fresh grape juice, absolutely delicious!! While driving to Naples we passed many vineyards. It was truly a beautiful sight to see the grape vines filled with vibrant purple grapes, I wish I had taken a picture. The LORD has certainly blessed our area this year with an abundance of produce.
  
"Those who live at the ends of the earth stand in awe of your wonders. From where the sun rises to where it sets, you inspire shouts of joy.  You take care of the earth and water it, making it rich and fertile. The rivers of God will not run dry; they provide a bountiful harvest of grain, for you have ordered it so.  You drench the plowed ground with rain, melting the clods and leveling the ridges. You soften the earth with showers and bless its abundant crops.  You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance." Psalm 65:8-11

The First Fire of the Season

The night before last Adam built the first fire in our wood burning stove. Growing up my family always used wood as the main source of heat in our home. I love the cozy feel, the great smoky smell and orange fire glow. I made tea for Adam and I as he tended the fire, and once we had a nice little fire started we sat back to enjoy the warmth.

The stove was my mom's wedding gift to us. Since the stove is new we had to begin with small fires in order to cure the paint. It certainly makes the house cozy, and takes away the dampness in the air.

Our cat Winston seems to be in approval of the wood stove, and fall in general. He has spent a lot of time outside chasing leaves, and when not outside chasing leaves, inside admiring the leaves. : )

October

"There is no season when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on, and produce so pleasant an effect on
the feelings, as now in October."
-  Nathaniel Hawthorne
 

                                                    (image from Pintrest)

October's Bright Blue Weather

"When gentians roll their fingers tight
To save them for the morning,
And chestnuts fall from satin burrs
Without a sound of warning;

When on the ground red apples lie
In piles like jewels shining,
And redder still on old stone walls
Are leaves of woodbine twining;

When all the lovely wayside things
Their white-winged seeds are sowing,
And in the fields still green and fair,
Late aftermaths are growing;

When springs run low, and on the brooks,
In idle golden freighting,
Bright leaves sink noiseless in the hush
Of woods, for winter waiting;

When comrades seek sweet country haunts,
By twos and twos together,
And count like misers, hour by hour,
October's bright blue weather."
-  Helen Hunt Jackson

                                                  (image from Pintrest)

Hope you all have been enjoying a beautiful start to October. Here is upstate New York we have been blessed with truly lovely autumnal weather. The foliage is reaching peak in our area. It is such a treat to see God's handiwork on each and every tree.

Yesterday I baked my second apple pie of the season, and pumpkin is sneaking into many of the treats we are enjoying. I love the cozy flavors and feelings this time of year brings.

May you have a blessed start to your week!

"Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs." Psalm 100:1&2

Decorating for Autumn

This past Friday Adam and I took a drive out to the Apple Shed, an apple farm and farm market. It was a lovely drive through the country. The day was sunny and warm, the perfect goodbye to summer and introduction to fall. All of the corn fields were a bronze like gold and the soy fields a more yellow gold. The fields shimmered in the sun, wild asters growing along side the road created a lovely contrast with the gold of the fields. What a blessing to live in the country and see God's creation everywhere I turn.

The leaves are beginning to change color on the big old trees surrounding our home. Crimson leaves are scattered across our lawn. They stand out quite vibrantly in the gloominess of today. This time of year it is so fun to be cozy, wearing warm sweaters, drinking hot tea while working on a sewing project or cooking up a big batch of soup.

Over the weekend I took some time to pull out my autumnal tablecloths and do a little decorating. The photo above is our kitchen table. I found the lovely vintage tablecloth at an estate sale a year or two ago. It was fun to use it for the first time. : )

Last weekend we purchased some Indian corn. I used ribbon I had on hand to hang it on our front door.

I arranged miniature pumpkins and gourds I found at the Christmas tree shop last month on top of a set of bowls, so it looks full but really isn't. : ) This is on the side board in our kitchen.

Mom gave me this table runner she made several years ago. It adds a nice autumnal feel to our dining room table.

This is our table set for dinner Saturday evening. I made vegetable soup and cornbread. Our area is known for cabbage, so the soup has plenty of chopped cabbage, as well as, carrots, corn, onions, potatoes, garlic, celery, tomatoes and ground beef. It was a cozy and hearty meal. I took my sister Rachel's recommendation when making the corn bread. Rachel always adds some cream corn and shredded cheese to her corn bread, and I must say it was very tasty!

  I found this little poem on Pintrest.

Happy Fall!

Peach Pie

 One of my favorite things about the month of August is peaches! They are my second favorite fruit and pie, second only to blueberries.

Last week Adam and I purchased a basket of peaches. We enjoyed eating them with our meals, mixed with yogurt and for a weekend treat I pulled out my cookbook to bake up my favorite peach pie recipe.

 The recipe I use is very simple, but very tasty. You simply peel and slice your peaches ( you will need 4-5 cups of sliced peaches) add 1 cup sugar, 1/4 flour and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.

Once again I used the easy pie crust recipe my sister shared with me, but this time I had far better success rolling out my top crust. A fellow blogger suggested that I should roll out the crust between two layers of wax paper. I was so pleased with the outcome! Thank you Anne. : )

And the finished results!

Peach Pie Recipe:

4-5 cups slices peaches

1 cup sugar (brown or white work great, I use brown)

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix together and pour into pie crust. Top with crust or crumble topping.Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until crust is golden and filling bubbling.

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Here is the revised recipe for when using canned peaches:

2 quart jars of canned peaches, drained

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix together and pour into pie crust. Top with crust or crumble topping.Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour or until crust is golden and filling bubbling.

Photos From My Week

The first of our mums to bloom. I just loved the color. It has been fun to watch the blossoming of  different flowers in the gardens around the house. Each month I am surprised by another beautiful, colorful flower that the previous owner of our home planted.

Adam has begun to stack our firewood in the garage . It gives us a nice cozy feeling to prepare for the winter ahead.
 

Laundry I hung out on my line in the side yard by the old garage. Unfortunately the old garage is rather dilapidated, but Adam is planning to tear it down come spring.

I enjoy hanging my laundry outside, it always smells wonderful, like fresh air.

This week I finished reading "Exit Betty" by Grace Livingston Hill. Isn't that a great dust jacket? I thought it looked very dramatic and exciting. "Exit Betty" was quite exciting, I found it hard to put down!

 Wednesday of this week my mom, sisters and I visited one of our favorite little Mennonite fabric shops. While there I purchased these three new fabrics. I thought they would make some lovely aprons for my Etsy shop.

A BLT I made for Adam on homemade sour dough bread. I have had so much fun experimenting with sour dough bread. I will probably post more about it in the future. I made my own starter, and I must say it was a lot easier than I had expected.

And to end this post a photo of the little scrubbie man I purchased Wednesday while fabric shopping. He is waiting in my cupboard until I encounter a truly hard to scrub pan. But until then I have to chuckle each time I open my cupboard and see his smiling face. : )

"The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." Psalm 24:1