Wednesday, July 3, 2019

A free stitch-along and two little girls...



About four years ago I shared a free BOM called My Vintage Kitchen. 
It was all redwork and was inspired by a piece of fabric from my stash.

For the longest time I have wanted to remake that project in bright homely colours and scrappy fabrics because to be honest, I'm kind of over redwork. 

And you know, that's how Phyllis May's Kitchen came about. Wanting to design a beautiful vintage style project that celebrated and honoured my beautiful Nana I went to those tiny 3" blocks and brought many of them to life in a much larger detailed form with applique and plenty of extra touches. 

But before that began I'd already started re-stitching those original 3" redwork blocks and knew that one day I'd share them again with a fresh layout, pretty colours and a new centre block.

Well, that time is now and I cannot wait to remake this with you!

Beginning Friday the 5th July I will be sharing one free block every two weeks until the end of October. 
Each fortnightly pattern will include detailed embroidery instructions and a simple scrappy border for the stitcheries. At the end of October we'll sew all the blocks together as a sweet wall quilt. 

Now when I called this version My SCRAPPY Vintage Kitchen I wasn't kidding. This morning after I trimmed all the blocks and took their individual photos I went through my tub of random fabric scraps and pulled out a whole bunch which will help bring this new vintage kitchen to life.




I'm seriously excited whenever I get to play with scraps and 'use what I already have'. And that's another tick for me...following God's directive to me this year in using what I already have because eight of the nine stitcheries are older ones I've freshened up with more detail and colour. He's such a wise and caring Father to impress upon my heart the way forward in 2019 and every day it bears fruit if I stop and ask myself "are you using what you already have?" before making purchase or design choices. This is and has been the most wonderful life lesson.


So what do you say? Are you going to stitch along?

DON'T MISS ANY FREE BLOCKS:

Just so you don't miss any of the nine blocks I share during the course of this project go over to my blog sidebar and pop your email in the "never miss a blog post" section.

OR you can follow me HERE on bloglovin'.

OR you can sign up HERE for my free newsletter.

And if you have a blog or some social media space perhaps you'd kindly share this button and a link to my blog so your friends can join in as well?


I'm really, really excited about this stitch-along and I can't wait to see how you make My Scrappy Vintage Kitchen your very own.

Make sure you drop back on Friday when I share block 1.


Yesterday Blossom came over for the day with Cully May and Rafaella...and what a wonderful day it was!
The girls had their first picnic on the new tablecloth quilt I made them...




...and then they headed outside to sit in Poppy's chair, follow him around and do some simple garden chores.

Rafaella spent a lot of time climbing in and out of Poppy's old chair and crawling up onto my lap to eat tiny red tomatoes from the garden and sip my lemon water. It's hot work being in the garden!






Close by Poppy was digging a trench to lay soil and cover a walkway in pebbles...




The girls played in the dirt, picked cherry tomatoes and scattered sugar cane mulch...










Cully May was so excited when Poppy picked her a flower!

"What's this flower called, Nana?"




"It's an orange Hibiscus, Cully May."

"I love it! Thank you Poppy for picking my flower!" she called to him. 

Blossom showed Rafaella how to water the pots of rosemary and lavender out front...




...and soon enough she felt quite able to do it all by herself.




My beautiful Blossom really doesn't like to have her photo taken but I did manage a quick one that caught her by surprise. Yay!




Late in the afternoon, after a big day in the garden and picnicking, we popped them in their car seats, cuddled everyone goodbye and Blossom headed home. Within minutes the little ones were fast asleep...




Mr E and I were rather weary too, but it's the kind of weary that makes your heart smile and fills your thoughts with joy.

This morning Blossom sent me these pics of the girls playing in their tent while she 'tried' to get an hour of sewing time in. She has a large front room which is divided into a sewing space for her and a play space for the girls...it's bright and cheery, just like them.




I made that pink quilt for Blossom when she was just 11. 
I'd only been sewing and quilting for a few months and it's still my most favourite gift to have made her.
The girls have claimed it now and honest, that makes it doubly special.




May YOUR heart bubble over with the same measure of JOY mine has this week being surrounded by three of my precious girls.

hugs


26 comments:

Caroline said...

Your girls are so beautiful!

Susan said...

Oh, yes, this is a delightful post, on both fronts - embroidery and beautiful, beautiful girls, all of them. Cully May looks so much like her mother, I think. They all have wonderful cheery smiles, and the pictures made me smile, too. I'm so excited about the Vintage Kitchen blocks, and had just gotten the layer cake for the Phyllis May blocks, and I think there will be enough for both these projects! I did post it on QuiltBOM.wordpress.com.

Nanna Chel said...

The girls are just beautiful, Jenny. I have an almost identical photo of the girls in the car which was taken on the first day my grandchildren started Prep and Grade 1. The photo I received of them before they headed off at the start of the year showed them all excited and the one taken on the way home showed them asleep just like your girls. It was so funny. Some things never change.

dixigirl said...

Beautiful girls, big & small. Love the idea of the vintage kitchen blocks. TY.

Caroleen said...

Beautiful posts. Love reading about your adventures with your family Enjoy you sharing your devotions as well. These little girls are so fortunate to have you as well. They’ll be wonderful seamstresses one day I’m sure.

Wendy Duwe said...

Loved reading this one! Thank you for sharing the precious time spent with your family! The pictures just show love you all share. God bless and lots of love and hugs from South Africa.

Kay said...

The girls are growing up beautifully, no wonder they bring so much joy. x

Little Penpen said...

The girls are growing so quickly and they are so beautiful. Blossom is beautiful and needs to get in front of the camera more often. Your kitchen stitchery is adorable.... looking forward to seeing its progress.

Jenny said...

I've been quiet in your comments & on FB for awhile but I haven't missed any posts. You understand how sometimes you have to pull back & snuggle in at home.

Your girls are so precious. It fills my soul with joy to see the sweet times you have together. I'm so happy for you!

And I am excited to see the 'new' patterns! I've been filing away the Gentle Domesticity quotes. I was following so faithfully & had to set it aside too but I've saved the posts so I can still go through it with you at a later date. I may have to do that with the patterns as well but your creations give me hope so I'm looking forward to seeing them.

Cheryl B. said...

Me, me, me!! I want to do a stitch-a-long!! Ahhh granddaughters.....aren't they fun!?! Reminds me so much of mine. They love being in the garden or my sewing room! I need to get up on this Wednesday before the 4th of July, a very important day in America, and get some stuff done so I am ready!

Lin said...

The girls are so gorgeous and just like their mama. I am tempted by your stitch-along! xx

Dots said...

I'm really pondering that 'use what you have'. I need to do that for sure.
Sleepy girls in the car seats. They need a couple of 'pillow straps'. There are free patterns on line. They are stuffed long pillows that fit on those straps to keep their little heads from bobbing and falling forward.
The girls are getting so big, growing fast.

Joanne said...

Hi Jenny,
Wonderful! My Vintage Kitchen! That will be a fun project! I will be posting abutton on my blog!
The table cloth quilt looks great!
Never too early to learn about gardening!
hugs,
Joanne

Joanne said...

Hi Jenny,
Your My Vintage Kitchen is posted!
https://teatimegardening.blogspot.com/2019/07/my-vintage-kitchen-stitch-along.html
see you Friday !
Hugs,
Joanne

Tammy said...

Oh my Jenny what a very very happy and beautiful post. The girls are so adorable. Bee is a beautiful as ever. Motherhood agrees with her. And my Vintage Kitchen sounds absolutely amazing....Love seeing how you and Mr. E are busy transforming your property to be more self sufficient....I so wish I could convince my husband to do some of this.... I posted a link over to your my vintage kitchen sew along on Facebook earlier...

Kathleen Kingsbury said...

Oh my gosh my face is so sore from smiling at picture after picture of these beautiful girls!!
kakingsbury at verizon dot net

GeneGribouille03 said...

Quel beau post avec tes ravissantes "filles" beaucoup de joies dans cette journée et elles sont si mignonnes dans la cadoue, beau projet à suivre ton vintage garden belle journée amitiés Geneviève de France

Darlene said...

Precious! The girls need slumber slings for when they sleep in the seats. You could probably make these yourself. Check this out: https://mommyparadise.com/products/slumbersling-no-1-crash-tested-toddler-car-seat-head-support-flannel-orchid

Christine M said...

I loved stitching your original Vintage Kitchen. Those beautiful granddaughters of yours are growing so fast. Love the tent! xxx

TerriSue said...

Dear Jenny, Your two little ones are just too precious. I was able to go over and spend time with Emily on Monday. I "got" to hold Winnie while Emily took a nap. Little Rory Lou is the only one who doesn't call her Winnie. She insists on saying Winnifred which sounds so cute coming out of her mouth. I was able to give her lots of cuddles also. It is such a blessing to live close by and to be able to see them. I would like to do the Vintage Kitchen.

Anonymous said...

Jenny, This post is just lovely! Such fun spending time with your little girls! They're so adorable! And since we rarely catch glimpses of Blossom --- it's great to see her, she is a very beautiful woman - she should for sure be in front of the camera more often.:) From the various lovely things you have posted about her here on the blog --- she must be beautiful inside & out! Her precious girls very much resemble their Mama!
You are truly blessed!
~Sue M.

Helen L said...

Tell your sweet daughter that she needs to sit still for pictures more often; such a pretty young lady!! Hugs, H

Deb said...

They are such lovely, happy little girls. The new Stitch A Long sounds wonderful after my move I have rediscovered quite a bit of fabric stash that needs to be used.

Mazie1956 said...

What a precious family and such special times!

Debby said...

Thank you Jenny for your sharing your work, your reflections, and your Godly wisdom. Blessings.

Gloria said...

Thanks for sharing your sewing and family. Your girls are beautiful you are so blessed. I miss my granddaughters being that small but even as young teens they are a joy and I love spending time with them. Family is special! Blessings to you and Family