How are you coming along with your Gentle Domesticity blocks so far? Have you stitched them all, or just the ones you love best or find most relevant to your life? Seeing completed stitcheries by members of my Gentle Domesticity Facebook group has been a blessing beyond words. Their love and home-hearted delight in every stitch is so evident.
Now here we are in June and it's time for you to download block 6!
June's stitchery reminds me that every decision or response I make in my home or within my family, is an opportunity to create a memory which may last longer than my years on earth.
Have you considered that?
On Friday I spent the day with my dear friend Heather and her daughter Barb. We were discussing this very design and the message within, how it's too easy to be distracted by 'things' or 'work' and miss opportunities to build on relationships and create lasting memories.
It made us think about community and how we are not created to be alone. The saying "many hands make light work" was one I grew up with and I saw it lived out in our street through the coming and goings of my Nana and Pop and their neighbours.
While the children played in the street after dinner our parents, in my case grandparents, would bring their cup of tea outside and chat about the day, swap cucumbers for tomatoes, ask advice on this that and the other, all the time keeping a keen eye on us kids. If help was needed to stack wood for Old Mister Brown's autumn fire the men would see to it. When young Mrs Johnston came home from hospital with baby number three all the women would see to it her washing and ironing was done, the two older children were bathed, her house was spotless, and a pot of rabbit stew and steaming jam pudding were waiting on the table for the family to enjoy. People worked hard for their families, but they still took time out to care for their neighbours.
When I was 7 years old my Aunt Nita, who was 90 years old and could barely see, taught me to knit. She sat me down on her front porch in a pillow strewn wicker chair and slowly and patiently took my little hands and helped me make magic with pointed tortoiseshell needles and soft pink wool. When I was 17 and expecting my first baby I knitted an intricate lacy blue cardigan, all the while remembering Aunt Nita's gentle coaching, her soft wavering voice, and the aroma of freshly baked cinnamon sprinkled apple pie cut into generous slices which she served after our lessons.
Fifty years later I still have those childhood memories firmly etched in my mind and on my heart, and even though I cannot go back in time and live like that again, I can harness what I know and choose to care, choose to be kind, and create memories for another generation.
There's a lot of food for thought in this block, don't you think?
I'd love to hear about the special memories you hold dear from childhood. Would you share one with us in the comments? Though our Gentle Domesticity community may be online through a blog, we can still inspire and encourage one another.
Block 6 is a free download HERE in my shop until July 4th.
Blocks 1 - 5 are also in the shop as a $2 purchase.
Heather has been stitching all my Gentle Domesticity blocks ahead of time. She's been my sounding board since this idea grew two years ago, a God given friend who blesses me in more ways than I count.
I'd love for you to visit Heather's blog, At Home With Heather, and see her beautiful Gentle Domesticity stitcheries, they're gorgeous!
Just click right HERE and you'll be on your way to meet another homemaker-sister-of-the-heart.
hugs,
18 comments:
Just adore this block. Such gorgeous memories for you.
The memories from childhood for me must include my amazing and ever-so-patient Grandma. There wasn't a craft she couldn't create. Being left-handed didn't stop her from teaching me to crochet and knit.. She merely had me sit across from her and therefore we acted like a mirror image. If only I had realized how precious our time together was and that it wouldn't last forever. I am eternally grateful for my wonderful Grandma who taught me so very much. I love your Gentle Domesticity block designs Jenny Dear...Thank You Sew Very Much.
Jenny this time you have my heart smiling and my eyes leaking! Thinking about my Grandmother's and Aunt's I will tell you about them at some other time. I loved them all and it is a very very long story! But they all had a hand in rearing me for many many years..and my one and only Grandpa...the other Grandpa died in WWI. Any who..I am getting to mushy here.
Thank you for these lovely Designs..I have not made one YET..but I have been working on the Postcards. Just need to do the last two!
Thank you Jenny for all you do <3
Hugs and Blessings to you and yours,
Jan
Precious memories are held in our hearts and I thank you for taking the time to share this post with us and for the new block you have so lovingly and thoughtfully created.
So marvellous!
I lived with my Grandparents for 2 years from when I was about 10 years old. Every morning when I came downstairs I would see Grandma sitting at the table with a cup of tea and her bible open. She would invite me to sit with her while she explained about whatever part of the bible she was reading and about Jesus' love for me. I didn't realise how precious those memories would become and how important this gentle introduction to the best way to start each day would be for me. Thank you Jenny for this precious block, allowing me to wallow in golden memories and making me determined to leave my own for those I love. Bless you heaps xx
I stayed with my grandmother on weekends during my senior year of high school while working in town and also during that first summer after graduation. She was a tiny woman, not even 5 feet tall, but she taught us that we could do anything if we put our minds to it and never gave up. Although she has been gone for some time now, I still remember her with so much love. I've completed three of the blocks so far and can hardly wait to start this lovely new one! Diane from Minnesota, USA
Nunca defraudas con tus diseños, delicados y llenos de temática sin olvidar el delicado colorido de hilos y telas
Besos
As always your work inspires and comforts. In this day of multiple uncertainties, returning to a more simple life, being thankful for what we have and working hard to live our best lives, needlework is a calming force. I am also very blessed and try to thank God often and share as possible. While I didn't have a specific stitching mentor I was inspired by family members who used their skills to create their best lives. My Aunt was an expert seamstress and admiring her work provided much inspiration. My Fraternal Grandmother was a professional seamstress and tailor and made her living as such. But my greatest inspiration was my Mother's Stepmother. She did not sew a stitch. She was a quiet, strong woman. She raised her children, my Mother and an orphaned family member. All this time she was the strength behind my Grandfather, a minister. She was a talented pianist and was well known for her talent. She knew me, She supported my fledgling efforts and Hers is the name I used when naming my blog because She was my strength. Miss her everyday.
What a lovely block Jenny.... I was trying to resist taking on another sewing project as I already have so many on the go but when I saw this on your FB page, I couldn't resist any longer.... I visited your Craftsy shop and I now have all the blocks ready to get stitching! This is a beautiful design and I can't wait to get started! Christine x
A lovely block Jenny - thank you. I remember being taught to crochet by my 'Auntie' Rose when I was about 9. So pleased to have learnt at that age as it is such a useful skill for so many things. She was brilliant and I remember her crocheting an outfit for my Tressy doll while I was learning. xx
A beautiful design, Jenny, and a beautiful post. I watched my grandmother cook for many years, and picked up a lot - but her measuring cup was a coffee cup with no handle. =) I watched my mother embroider, and she was magnificent. She died when I was 9 and had no chance to teach me, with years of sickness, but its amazing what I learned just by watching her. My aunt taught me to crochet handkerchief edgings, and I moved on from there. She was not patient, but she was persevering. =) I learned to quilt on my own, but both my boys remember learning their shapes playing with my tin metal templates under the quilt frame, so I passed along at least one crafty memory!
Thank you! I was just having the very same discussion yesterday...
Beautiful sentiments and a beautiful design. I look forward to stitching it and creating memories with my daughter at the same time (she is stitching the set with me)!
Love hearing your memories - that was another time, wasn't it? Nowadays, everyone seems so distracted and impatient. I have a gazillion cousins, and none of us have gotten together in the last 20 years. The only time I see them is for funerals.
I grew up in a neighborhood like that. Our driveway was the spot to be after work. I miss those days....I love this block darling girl, it inspires me to start creating some memories for others!
It's super lovely Jenny. Unfortunately 3 of my grandparents had passed away bdfore I was born and the relationship to my Mum's dad - the one remaining was fraught. But I have enjoyed watching my children grow up with their grandparents on my husbands side and have such wonderful memories.
Thank you very munch, Jenny. An other precious desing.
I have been fortunate to meet two of my great-grandparents, and three of my grandparents. His memory is a treasure for me.
Have a blessed day.
Jenny , muchisimas gracias por el nuevo bloque, siempre es una delicia leer tus publicaciones..
Nora
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