So Long, Summer!

Once again, summer seemed to fly by and it's Labor Day Weekend.  I've been spending the last, lazy days of summer enjoying time on the porch...reading some great books.  And, making sure to enjoy these last days of the season.   The beautiful wreath above is not mine and is not on my door.  Last weekend John and I went for a morning walk in downtown Lancaster and happened on this amazing scene.   What an interesting decoration.  Oh, and we took the short drive to downtown to visit the Lancaster Public Library.  The library had a summer reading program for adults...for each book you read you filled out a short form - author, title, rate the book 1-5 stars, and describe the book in three words.   At the end of summer a drawing was held from all the entries.  I was thrilled to be a winner!

My prize was a great tote bag filled with three new books, plus a gift card to a local restaurant that has great soup and sandwiches.  What a win-win....I had the pleasure of reading some really great books and I won a prize.   Watch for a post on "what I've been reading" lately in the future.

After picking up the prize, we walked to Lancaster Southern Market....an old market building that has been remodeled and used as a food hub and shared working space.   You can read more about this unique place here - 

Old Friends/New Place for Lunch

The market was not yet open for lunch when we arrived, but the great little coffee shop at the entrance was open so we stopped for some tea, a cappuccino, and delicious coffee cake.

And then continued our walk around Lancaster....

The great Seasons oil and vinegar shop was not yet open...

and we strolled past an old movie theater that has been converted to apartments.  I love that they did not disturb the beautiful tiled entry...and that they kept the flavor of the place with old movie posters.

Stumbled upon this little shop that also was not yet open....but we definitely be on my list to return and visit soon. 

Summer sunflowers growing in the city were so pretty.

Once the calendar turned over to September though, all of my summer decorations in our home were looking tired, and I was eager for Fall.  I usually have a bright patterned cloth cover on the side table between our chairs, and have some matching pillows scattered on the sofa and chair.   I was not quite ready to retire the bright summer colors for the deep, dark ones I use for late Fall and Winter. So I was excited to find this fabric while shopping for some other items at our local Walmart.

I thought it was the perfect blend of late summer/early fall colors  And it was a precut 2 yard piece that cost only $10.97 !  That is a bargain price compared to what a decorator fabric costs at a local fabric store.  I will say that the weight is not quite as heavy as a Waverly fabric, but still very nice.

I took the old topper off of the table ( you can see it is more colorful...I usually put that out in mid May and keep it on till Fall)

and laid it on the fabric...cut it out, leaving enough fabric to turn the edges under.

I did not sew the edges...I used "stich witch" bonding  and just turned the edge under and pressed it to hold.

It worked great...quick and easy.

I had enough fabric left over to make two pillows...but just for the front of the pillows.  I found a pillowcase that I was not using and cut that up for the back of the pillow as the color went well.

A simple edge on the back pieces...and just made a fold over backing.

The finished product!  I love the colors with the dark chairs...

This pillow looks good on the sofa and blends with the moss green pillows...

And one more pillow on my favorite chair, too.

I was inspired to dig out some Fall leaves and decoration and will spend this week getting my Autumn decorations displayed.

Hope everyone had a great summer, a fabulous Labor Day Weekend...and is ready for Fall.

Do you change your home with the seasons ?  Let me know - leave a comment.  I love hearing from you!

Have a great week !