Simple Pleasures

I have always been a person who enjoyed the end result more than the process.  I don't enjoy planting bulbs in the fall, but love the flowers next spring.  I quickly tire of the sweater I'm knitting but love the baby sweater wrapped and ready to give.  This way of thinking has often been true of my quilting as well.

As we have all been told, life is found in the process.  So I have tried to slow the creative process down and enjoy each step.  I've discovered that no matter how uncertain life may be, how difficult a situation I may find myself in, there is a certain comfort I find in quilting during those times.  I can look at a pattern, choose some beautiful fabric, measure, cut and sew.  While I'm working on my quilt, I have ample time for personal reflection.

While I sew, I can also be thinking through life issues, asking God for direction, making lists of the positives and negatives, figuring out what to do next.  In the end, if I have followed the pattern correctly, I will have a quilt that I enjoy and just maybe I will have some peace in my soul that overflows into my life as well.

For more Simple Pleasures visit Dayle at

A Collection of This and That

Joyfully,

Simple Pleasures

In the summer of 1987 I was busily preparing for my August wedding.  I stopped by an Osco Drug Store and ran in to grab a couple of items.  Walking by the magazine rack, this issue caught my eye.  I picked it up and began looking through the pages.  What happened next was a moment that forever seared my mind, it was as if I had an awakening.  I realize this sounds a bit dramatic, but honestly, at that moment it was if I had stepped into a foreign land but had arrived home all at the same time.  Looking back on it now, I consider it a gift from God that He took that moment to show me what it would be that I would come to love; beauty, family, elegance, vintage...the list could go on and on.

So my love affair with Victoria magazine began and I happily found myself devouring every issue.  As a new bride it helped me to see home and family in a whole new way.  I started to develop a love for cameos which were oftened featured in their pictures.  When the arrival of my son came three years later, my husband surprised me with this beautiful ring.  

Not long after my daughter was born, four years later, my Grandmother passed away.   This cameo, belonging to her was given to me.  These two pieces of jewelry mean a great deal to me and I hope to pass them on to future grandchildren.  Who would have thought that a trip into a local drugstore and a magazine, would develop a love that would lead to a family heirloom?  

For more Simple Pleasures visit Dayle

at A Collection of This and That

Blessings,

Simple Pleasures

I love that my teenage daughter still squeals with delight over Barbies!  Two more to add to her collection...

The Twilight saga continues!

Happy 16th birthday, Maddie!

Visit Dayle for more Simple Pleasures.

Simple Pleasures

I love vintage linens.  Especially the whimsical embroidery given to common household items such as a dish towel.  

I love that someone took the time to pretty up the things they used everyday.

It brings a smile to my face whenever I see it.  I love to hang one on the stove to be reminded of a simpler and gentler time.

I'm joining Dayle today for Simple Pleasures.  

With joy,