Bright Hope

"Strength for today,

And bright hope for tomorrow.

Blessings all mine,

With ten thousand beside!

Great is Thy faithfulness!"

[My lens has been fogging up from all the humidity in the air, but the evening light here is so lovely!]

The words ring true for me these last few weeks. It would seem as if heaven decided to open up above and pour out the richest of blessings to me. I'm so grateful...

• Musician's gathering at the coffee shop for laughs, discussion, and cultural experiences
• Tangerine colored sun settings in the western horizon that cast a peach glow across the skies while lighting the clouds a lovely lilac color above the rich green meadows and the purple mountains
• Phone chats with my sister
• Jeremiah 33:3, Psalms 31:19
• Pumpkin Spice Lattes (they haven't been advertised yet, but here in a mountain town of GA, they've been available since early this week!)
• Mozart in orchestra (among a few other composers)
• My last class today finished at 2:50pm, and I have a three day weekend ahead of me. Yay! :)

ETA: Use SHIPFREE when checking out from Peasant Cottage to receive free shipping this weekend!

Me? Win?

This summer I happened upon a blog called "Dressed Her Days Vintage."

 

It was a charming read of vintage dressing and styling, (a recent post was on cranberry red lipstick - imagine the fun!) and the owner of this lovely blog had a giveaway in the works of four patterns she was willing to part with. All one had to do was pick a favorite and tell her so (and probably subscribe to her blog, but who wouldn't want to?!).

 

I spotted a gorgeous evening wear dress pattern from 1936. The 30s fashions intrigue me with their cuts, their pleats, their collars, and the overall distinguished feminine appearance.

 

So I entered. Just like the scores of giveaways I've entered in before with knowing that I was probably wasting my time. In fact, in the last year or two I've completely given up on entering giveaways all together!

I actually forgot about it, until a couple days before leaving for college. I visited her blog to see who the winners were, trying to not be envious of the winner who wanted the 1936 dress pattern as much as I did. Scrolling down to see the usual unfamiliar names listed, my eyes got big. Really big.

Cheri, of ajoyfulhandmaiden.blogspot.com, 1936 dress pattern

Surely there was a mistake. Someone else has a similar blog name to mine. But if there was a similar blog to mine, they surely couldn't own my name and my not-so-widely-used spelling of it! It had to be!

Within minutes I received a personal e-mail saying that I had indeed won the pattern. I was and still am completely delighted since I've never won any giveaway in my life before. :) With being in college now, the making of a dress will have to wait until December. But that should give me enough time to decide what fabric to use. Any ideas?

For Rachel

Oh the sorrows of being a college student. Gratefully, I haven't had to endure very many of them but just one every year.

Last year, a very dear friend had asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding, and if I couldn't be that, if I could at least come up for the weekend? Her wedding date was just a week or so after the fall semester started and there was absolutely no way that I could leave school. It was pure torture for me not to be there. 

This year it is happening again.

My friend Rachel, who I have known for just about half of my life time, is getting married next month. I can't say that when I first met her I was to sure of her (the feeling was probably mutual, but I've never asked) ;) but as we've grown older, matured, (we have, haven't we?) called up, or written to apologize for being self-centered, have prayed for each other and together, bounce off sewing ideas or patterns with one another, and have grown in Christ: I am so fortunate to be blessed with a loyal friend like Rachel.  I think she is the only close friend of mine who has put up with me the longest. ;P

Needless to say, this past weekend was her bridal shower, and since I'm obviously in college I had to have my family be the bearer of the gift.

I chose to make the Emmeline Apron for her, that way if she didn't like one fabric, she could turn it around and wear the other side (with hopes that the other would suit). Watching the pins she'd put up on Pinterest aided me in color choices, though I never had a concrete idea of her kitchen colors.

Fabric: "Caitlin Stripe" by The Alexander Henry Fabrics Collection

With black ties and neck strap, I figured that it would make up for any color deficiencies in the apron that may not be "her color." She has Diana Berry's gorgeous "black tresses" you see, so black looks well on her.

Fabric: "Covent Garden" Style #4071 by Benartex

Every new bride will need recipe cards, right? I'm hoping so, as I picked up a packet of them the last time I was in Anthropologie. They seemed to match the apron quite well and the visual appeal is much greater than that of a standard white '3 by 5' or '4 by 6' card.

Anne Shirley said when her kindred spirit got married, "Diana was the bride of my dreams" and when the pictures start pouring in of my friends's wedding that will be in a few weeks, I'm sure I'll be saying the same thing of her wedding... Much love to you, my dear friend!

I think I'll go call my one last single friend and make her promise me to not get married when I'm in college! :P

Rambles of PG Tips and Audrey Hepburn

With school not starting until Monday, the last couple of days have been spent in both preparation (it is SO wonderful to have my bow rehaired!!) and relaxation.

This morning I woke up to grey skies and heavy rain. Still in my pajamas, I plopped myself on the couch and had my devotions, then did some journaling while enjoying a steaming cup of PG Tips tea.

(A week or so before I left for GA, I stopped off at a favorite kitchen store that carries alot of European specialties, including an aisle full of teas and tea related things. Carrying mostly loose leaf teas, that is where I buy my Twinings Earl Grey tea and now I buy my loose leaf PG Tips there, too.)

To some of my friends great dismay, I have never jumped on the bandwagon of being obsessed with Audrey Hepburn. Yes I like classy styles and I've heard she was a lady of class, but "I'm just not into her." My friends would then ask, "Well, what movies have you seen her in then?" My reply, "None whatsoever." Can you picture them all fainting now? :)

No, actually none of them have fainted. ::winks:: My friend is making sure that I get a taste of Audrey Hepburn by introducing me to "My Fair Lady" this weekend. Yesterday we only got into about 30 minutes of it, and today I think we're going to finish the rest.

So, what is your favorite movie with Audrey Hepburn? and why?

Cruzin' down south

This week I traveled down south for my sophomore year of college studying violin. The Lord gave me safe travels and gave me picturesque scenery.

I'm back in the state of southern accents, high humidity, and peaches. Greetings to all and any readers nearby!

What to Take to a Picnic

Slice homegrown tomatoes.
Drizzle on homemade french dressing.
Sprinkle with freshly chopped basil from your garden.

Take to church picnic.
Come home with an empty plate.

A Quilt Top Tote

Perfect for a quick run to the farmers market or grocery store. The outside was made in a lovely patchwork of scrap cotton fabrics from favorite dresses and skirts of long ago while the inside is cream cotton.

I think I'd have enough scrap fabric to make one hundred of these. No joke.

Nearly 600

Working on starting a new post, I realized that I'm nearing 600 posts here on the blog. That is alot posts. This winter I will have been blogging here for 7 years. That is alot of years. Anyone still here from the very beginning?

Now before you all start thinking this is a "goodbye post," let me tell you that it isn't! :) The upcoming months are shaping out to be some super busy ones that I may not be able to write as often as I have this summer. I mean, there ins't much gardening going on (my apologies if you've gotten tired about my excitement over beans and berries!) in October or September for that matter if we get an early snow fall, nor do I have  alot of sewing projects to do. I think I unknowingly did a sewing marathon of some kind this summer! ;) But I have some great posts lined up that I'm excited to share with you.

In the mean time, I've having a little celebration party for this blog and all of my favorite readers (sure, it includes you!) so anything in my two shops will be 25% off if you punch in 25SALE when checking out. How long you wonder? The entire week including Saturday!

The Gift of Music

This spring and summer I've had the delight to teach two girls, and today they gave their first mini recital (even if it was for their families). Teaching, as I told their mothers today, is stretching but also very rewarding. It is my prayer as a teacher who is still learning violin (and the skill of teaching it to others!) that I'd be able to perceive their weaknesses and praise their strengths.

A couple of weeks ago, on of my students mother's gave me a book that was found in her parents possessions. Little did she know that I love antiques almost as much as violin. What could be a better gift than a combination of both? :)

Sorry that the following picture is sideways (it refuses to turn around!) but if you crank your necksideways, you'll see the copyright date of 1885.

Being strict in posture and technique, I must say that I was quite appalled at their illustrations just inside the front cover! Everything shown (other than the feet) is quite atrocious! Sometimes its good to learn from our forefathers, but this is not one of those things! ;) If a violinist is looking for some help in the right direction, it won't be this but my teacher's DVDs over at Violin Virtuosity. Her scale book is the only one a violinist (or violist!) will ever need, just in case anyone out there is looking for one!

The book starts out with beginner exercises...

...and closes with some more advanced etudes.

While I probably will only use this book on display and not in my teaching studio, I'm grateful for the generosity and the gift of music, the gift of violin, the gift of students, and the gift of God's grace!