Permission to pause...

It's been a tough couple of weeks inside my head.

The tropical wet season pattern of heavy cloud, high humidity, rain showers, sun, heavy cloud, high humidity, rain showers, sun etc. which hasn't altered in a while plays havoc with my migraines.

About 80% of my migraines are triggered by barometric pressure and there's simply no pill or treatment available to stem that tide.

Today I was going to push myself to get today's book study post up but quite frankly I'm not thinking clearly and don't feel like reading. I'd rather curl up on our bed with the air conditioner running, a comforting audio book playing in the background while the painkillers take hold, and my life holding no distractions or expectations until things inside my head settle.

So I'm postponing this week's book study till next week.

And I'm also going to offer some encouragement to those of you who feel hurried, overwhelmed with expectations, in pain or quite simply frazzled by any number of things life has brought across your path. I read this quote recently and it's pretty much what has become my time-out pass today, but I think there's a wealth of wisdom in the advice offered for you too.

So sweet one, give yourself a rest - whether of mind or body - and allow God's peaceful spirit to calm you, His grace to cover you, His generosity to supply your needs, and His guidance to lead you into tomorrow.

“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.” -- St. Francis de Sales

Sending you the biggest hugs,

A vintage finish and childlike creativity...

Earlier this week I finished the second version of my vintage style needle-book but hadn't taken any photos due to time spent with sick family members and rather dark and cloudy days which do not offer favourable light in my south facing sewing room.

Yesterday, between more clouds and more rain and the odd scattered moment or two of sunshine I made sure to have my camera at the ready and the needle-book open and waiting, just in case. Thankfully when a good shaft of light spread through the window and across the sewing room table I ran in and began snapping away until I had a few that looked good. 

Last week you saw the completed outside but without the button and ribbon which I use to fasten the needle-book closed. The pretty red rose button was perfect and I chose a crinkly ribbon in the same soft tone as the faded doily...

To make this kind of closure you sew a button on one side and stitch the centre fold of your ribbon to the opposite side, then the ribbon is wrapped around the button in a bow. Very simple...

For the inside of my needle-book I cut a circle of cotton quilt wadding and along the top half added a paper pieced flower using half inch hexie shapes. A line of red chain stitch was embroidered around the centre hexie, four green leaves embroidered around the flower and a few aqua cross stitches added to highlight that colour in the floral Tilda fabric (apple butter) used on the outside cover and lining.

(I have a tutorial for the leaves which includes a free pattern HERE

Once the flower and embroidery were completed I blanket stitched the circle of wadding to the inside of the needle-book, being careful not to stitch through to the outside, and then using Perle 12 thread crocheted around the circle using a simple pattern of two dc in one blanket stitch and two trebles in the next blanket stitch.

Last week I showed the small half-circle of cotton wadding which I'd crocheted. This was secured inside the bottom half of my main circle with a one inch wide length of cotton lace.

It's a nice place to put your pretty pins...

....and when you lift it up there are needles hidden underneath. 

For my part there was a lot more detail added to this second version, most especially the hand crocheted edges around the cotton wadding which to be honest I thought gave this needle-book that 'something else' it needed.

If you don't do crochet (I am a newbie!) you could hand stitch some fine lace around those edges.

This new needle-book shall be one of those treasures I'm keeping to hand down one day to a daughter or perhaps a granddaughter.

The basics of making this style of needle-book can be found in THIS blog post where you will see the steps taken for making my original version.

The changes I made for this second version have been explained in today's blog post. 

My sweet Cully May 'created' a new flower the other day on our walk by the ocean.

No wonder Jesus tells us to be like little children. They see such wonder all around and for a 2 yo there's much that is exciting, adventurous and new to discover with each new day.

I have felt a bit stifled creatively this year and mostly that's from the many interruptions to life which included floods, the clean up, ill health of family members and the many migraines which batter my head during the tropical wet season. But it was also from a sense of overwhelm about what we were facing and embracing in this new-to-us journey of home ownership, the things we'd not been prepared for.

When Cully May and I walked by the ocean on Monday I realised she has no time restraints, no expectations, no concerns of the world clouding her thoughts. Her young eyes see creation in all its glory and her response is always JOY and amazement.

You and I need times like that, don't you think?

Hours where we lay aside all else, every burden and expectation, and simply walk outside to look with fresh eyes at the beauty which lies before us. We too need moments that fill our hearts with wonder and joy, but how often do we take that time to do so?

When Cully May picked a pink flower and a yellow flower and put them together, declaring, "Nana, look, I made another flower!", her mind was not cluttered with other things, it was free to create.

I'm going to take more walks in future and clear my thoughts so I can take in God's gift of nature and receive the creative inspiration it offers so freely.

What about you?

hugs

Taking in the view....

What a week this has been!

My sweet Blossom has been quite unwell so on Monday I whisked 2yo Cully May away for the day and we had the best of times strolling by the beach, picking flowers, cooling by the waterfall, home to my place for lunch, a movie and plenty of play with her favourite thing - stickers. 

One the way back to mummy we stopped by the 'sticker shop' and after she chose a few new sheets of them to take home we slowly browsed a while so I could find a treasure or two myself and it wasn't long before I found something perfect for a project I had in mind.

A gorgeous cream hanger, perfect for a mini quilt.

Monday night I was about to make a start when a migraine took hold so I set it aside and then on Tuesday afternoon Mr E came home from work rather ill with a nasty virus. 

He continued to get worse on Wednesday and by Thursday morning we knew some medication was needed as an infection had set in as well. 

While he slept (a lot) I cooked a pot of chicken soup, made nourishing smoothies and did little bits toward my mini-quilt project...

Once the antibiotics kicked in late Thursday evening he picked up quickly and by this morning my beloved was much improved. Great sigh of relief!

No longer needed as a nurse at home I set off to help Blossom for the day as she was well again herself and had a number of errands to run so an extra set of hands to watch Cully May and Rafaella is always a good thing - besides I love spending time with them!

We walked a lot, got all our errands done and had a lovely relaxed lunch in a cafe we often go to.

My feet are sore tonight and my body weary as it has been a long week but I am also happy to have been there for my family and rather surprised that in between everything I was able to turn one of my stitcheries into this gorgeous little mini quilt!

The pattern for "Taking in the View" is here in my shop and if you make it I hope you email me a photo because I'd love to see your version.

Tomorrow or the next day I'll show you how I finished my vintage style needle-book but for tonight I am going to put my feet up and enjoy some apple pie and a movie with hubby.

May the Lord bless you and I with a peaceful, healthy and beauty-filled weekend,

hugs

Gentle Domesticity week 10 book study...

A World at Our Fingertips

Moving on in the chapter about Texture we read Jane Brocket’s thoughts on the value of our hands.

“I like the way they knead dough, create stitches, hold yarn, thread needles, sort beads and buttons, and deal with fiddly machine parts.” (page 78)

This section really caused me to stop and consider my own hands, the importance they play in my everyday life and how I too often neglect their care.

“Hands are so vital to creativity that I can’t understand why we value the more useless parts of our anatomy more highly.” (page 78)

Jane describes two large Tessa Traeger black and white photographs which are hung in her home and how they are daily reminders of the beauty and design of the human hand. The photos were not in her book but I did find them online.

I really loved this one with the round bread loaf sitting on the aproned knee of its baker. 

Hands that knead dough, hands that create food to nourish tummies and feed young souls...these are the hands that I can relate to from my childhood watching Nana mix and chop and knead and roll and stir;  and now those hands are mine as I follow the same rhythms of making and baking in my later years.

The second Tessa Traeger photo celebrates the gnarled and dirty hands of the soil, the fruit of the gardener's toil. 

 “Our hands play a huge role in active domesticity. We employ them to carry out harsh activities…scrubbing, scouring, washing…yet these same hands are also our entrée into the kinder world of the gentle arts.” (page 78)

“The gentle arts exploit the often overlooked, underused cleverness and dexterity of our hands.” (page 78)

Exploit in this sense is a positive expression because Jane is referring to the skill our hands employ when attending to the detailed work of hand crafts, skills which are not commonly noticed when hands are predominantly busy at everyday chores.

“Softness, gentleness, warmth, coolness, strength and fragility are all at our fingertips when we knit and stitch and quilt and bake.” (page 78)

The Art of the Stitch

Just as in our previous chapters Jane takes us once again to the artist’s canvas to study paintings, this time a particular artist, Stanley Spencer (1891-1959) who had a keen eye for texture of the knitted kind.

(Portrait of Eric Williams 1954)

Though famous for his religious, ship building and pot-boiler landscapes it is Spencer’s domestic scenes which capture Jane’s eye with their detail of the woven and knitted kind.

“I know of no other artist who exploits the textures and colours of clothing and textiles the way Spencer does.” (page 80)

(Gardening 1945)

“Just look at the surface textures of the knitted garments in Hilda Welcomed (below) – the swirls, the bobbles, the entrelac, the Fair Isle, the ribbing, the rows. It’s like an illustration for a book of knitting techniques…” (page 80)

(Hilda Welcomed 1953)

“Virtually no other artist paints knitting and knitted stitches with the clarity and complexity that characterises Spencer’s approach.” (page 81)

The next photo is one of my own favourites. Mrs Baggett’s pearls immediately catch my eye, and the very precise way she holds the knitting needles – something I’ve seen other women do but never achieved myself as I tend to look somewhat clumsy in my knitting style. Also to my eye Spencer has captured the sheer size and weight of the garment being knitted – is it perhaps the back of a sweater for Mr Baggett, or maybe not a garment art all but an afghan?

(Portrait of Mr and Mrs Baggett 1956-7)

And then there is the graveyard through the window. Spencer painted this just a couple of years before he died – was he thinking about his ultimate end, the way an ordinary life one day fades away?

Mr Baggett talking on the red phone also captures my attention. The couple are pictured right beside each other, yet they are far apart in unrelated endeavours…and then there’s that graveyard in the background that once again stirs my imagination. Perhaps he was a vicar and Mrs Baggett is knitting for the poor?

The more I study each painting the more questions I ask, and the wider my perceived story flows. 

Are you enjoying the wonderful offerings Jane shares with us of domestic life through art as much as I am?

Let’s let our imaginations come alive this week.

Choose one of the Stanley Spencer paintings featured above and share your thoughts in the comments below or on your blog for this week's link up...

* What first caught your eye when you saw the painting?

* Did you imagine a story behind it? What was the story?

Next week we will be reading the final pages of this chapter, 82-87.

Every week in the Tuesday book study post I'm encouraging readers and lovers of the gentle domestic life who have a current blog and have blogged about Living the Gentle Domestic Life this year to link their relevant weekly book study post for others to come by, visit their blogs and be inspired. 

 Please do not link to the same post on your blog each week.  Your posts should be new and relevant to the current week's study.

NOTE: If your link is advertising or not a true reflection of the heart for living a gentle domestic life it will be deleted. 

I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts this week!

MISSED any of the book study posts?
Links to the previous nine weeks are listed in the Link Up below.

hugs

Old things and old ways...

OLD THINGS...

A couple of years ago I shared a tutorial for making a vintage doily into a lovely needle-book and pin-keep. Yesterday I started on a second version with another vintage doily in the very palest of green and adorned with pretty cross stitch roses....

The doily covers the outside of the needle-book and inside I use scraps of cotton quilt wadding and other embellishments.

This is the original version I made in 2017...

...and inside I embroidered little daisies and added vintage buttons.

My intention was to replicate exactly the same needle-book this time, though using a different doily and fabrics.

But it's funny how one thing can make you look at a project with fresh eyes.

In my tutorial the circle of soft cotton wadding in the middle has pinked edges, so yesterday when I'd cut the wadding a little larger than I needed I went off to get the pinking shears. Just seconds after searching the drawer where my scissors are kept my memory jogged and I remembered giving them to Blossom ages ago.

So I could wait until I saw her again or I could come up with plan B.

Plan B won out. 

Firstly I decided to keep the circle open inside the needle-book and add a half circle across the bottom. Then I thought "what about a hexie flower instead of embroidered daisies?"

Not content with raw edges on the cotton wadding, and after sewing cotton lace across the top of the half-circle, I chose to blanket stitch the raw edges...

Much nicer.

But what if I crocheted the edge of the half-circle??

Now remember, I'm a newbie at decorative crochet, but after successfully making the sweet pea blanket for Rafaella's first birthday my confidence to give something new a try was rather high.

Armed with a very tiny crochet hook (which I bought in a bundle at the op shop) and some Perle 8 cream cotton I simply did two dc in one blanket stitch, and two trebles in the next blanket stitch and kept going with that sequence.

As I crocheted with the fine cream thread I remembered the calm and contentment that crocheting Rafaella's blanket had brought to my days and decided crochet really is my 'time out' hobby to pursue. 

It looked just right for this project when completed, as though it was meant to be all along. 

And perhaps it was.

I still have to embroider leaves around the hexie flower and decide whether to attach the large circle of cotton wadding to the inside of the needle-book with basic blanket stitch or jump right in and add crochet there too.

It might be another few days before this is finished and maybe I'll add some more little tweaks before then, but I'll be sure to show you.

In the meantime if you would like to follow the original tutorial its here. 

OLD WAYS...

Recently I found a copy of "Treasures from My Utmost for His Highest" by Oswald Chambers at the op shop.

I ponder one page a week because in that one page is so much wisdom and personal evaluation that I cannot move on until I've made my peace with God and taken deep within my soul the lessons He is using from this book to draw my heart away from the world and back to Him.

The world today is rushing forward very quickly and at a rate where it's becoming too easy to forget the gentle pace of life from my youth and early mothering years. Today there is a constant sense of 'urgency to reply now' when hearing the beep of a mobile phone text, a messenger request or opening a list of emails - things my generation did not know of twenty years ago.

I don't remember my Nana rushing through anything. Her daily rhythm was slow and thorough, one task then another, all done with love for Pop and I, all done with diligence and hard work followed by a sigh of personal satisfaction because she worked to the beat of her own drum. 

Nana couldn't see inside anyone else's home so she couldn't compare her housekeeping to theirs. She didn't watch what others were cooking up and serving to their families so following her simple week by week menu was fine and stress free. Walking to the shop on the corner in her well loved apron to buy a loaf of bread was not frowned upon - her neighbours did the same. 

A life lived without 'looking over' at what others were doing, wearing, watching, cooking, making - that was Nana's life and it was a life well lived.

Today we're able to watch others 24/7 through social media, the internet, YouTube and reality television among other things and comparison is difficult to avoid. I think there's almost always a perception inside of us today that we need to try harder, look better, be accomplished at all we do, think more profoundly, have better relationships, climb the ladder, show we're smart, be more religious, be less religious - you name it, the list can go on - but mostly it stems from looking at someone else and feeling dissatisfied with who we are.

The past few days I've been pondering this verse and Oswald Chamber's thoughts on it...

To me it says that as long as we're looking at ourselves with discontent, focused on our inabilities or human frailties and failings, we'll never believe that God can use us.

But here's the truth Chambers is offering - it's not about us and what we can or can't do.
It's about God and what HE can do if we offer ourselves, our lives, up for His service. It's about walking with Him where we are, in all our broken humanity, and really taking time - slow time - to know Him, to study His Word, and to believe He Who made us has a purpose only we can fulfill, a very real purpose He will equip us for in order that it be accomplished.

I intend pulling back from social media over coming weeks.
I am choosing to slow my days, temper my thoughts with gentle rhythms and routines and swim against the tide of today's rush-rush urgent-urgent mindset. My heart is preparing to listen for God's plan for my future rather than pursuing the plans I made for myself - the ones influenced by the world I have found myself watching. And I am going to be 'all there' for my family and loved ones because they deserve the best of me and not some rung-out weary woman who finds herself  'tossed by the waves' because her mind is in two places at once. (James 1:6)

I'm praying for wisdom, clarity, understanding, grace, opportunity...and courage to pursue more intently the values and integrity of the Proverbs 31 and Titus 2 women.

I guess I want to be more like 1960's Nana in the 21st century, to live inspired by her beautiful character and faithful trust in God, but also able to use the things of 2019 with thoughtfulness and mindful integrity.

I am who I am, God made.
You are who you are, God made.

May His blessings abound in your life always,
hugs

Why the fabric comes first and a new baby...

CHOOSING YOUR THREADS

A Case Study:

Erin loves to embroider beautiful designs for her home, family and friends. The first thing she looks for in a project that features a stitchery block is whether it has a story to tell, tugs at her emotions, or simply makes her smile. She gets a real kick out of wearing her heart on her sleeve through the projects she makes, and right now she is keen to make a birthday gift for her next door neighbour, who also happens to be her best friend!

After browsing through the stack of craft magazines she borrowed from the library yesterday Erin decides to sew a country style cushion. With her pattern choice made she carefully combs through the small tub of special fabrics she likes to use for her embroidery.

 “What will best suit this project?” she wonders. Linen? Pale lemon gingham? Solid white homespun? Or maybe some tea dyed muslin?

She decides on the lemon gingham with its sweet hint of hearth and home because she is going to stitch a farmyard scene that features pretty russet chickens and a black and white cow very similar to her Aunt Mabel’s favourite milker, Daisy Mae. Erin’s best friend is a farmer’s daughter you see, and her home is filled with country crafts so Erin knows this gift will be perfect!

She sorts through her deep drawer of threads and places the colours she thinks will work well with her project onto the small table that sits beside her old and well-worn dark grey recliner. She has a regular routine of stitching in front of the television for a few hours each night after the dinner dishes are cleaned and put away, her husband comfortably settled nearby with the remote control and a favourite sci-fi series to watch.

A few days later her pretty farmyard scene has come to life and Erin cannot wipe the satisfied smile off her face!  She can’t wait until Saturday when she has arranged to have the whole afternoon to herself in the sewing room. Her bright and cheery stitchery block will soon become the centre of a large cushion, and before she meets her friend for a birthday morning tea on Tuesday she can wrap it lovingly in the huge sheet of yellow daisy paper she bought months ago for such a gift as this.

Saturday afternoon arrives and after waving her husband off to enjoy his fishing she opens the door to her sewing haven.

Following the directions in the pattern from the magazine she trims the block to 8½” x 10½”. Turning to the large set of shelves which house her generous stash of quilting fabrics, Erin begins to study them closely.

Fat quarter after fat quarter are taken from the shelves, held against the stitchery, and then returned to the shelf. A slow half hour passes, and the joy of this project’s completion has begun to wane. Oh, why did she choose that deep turquoise thread? And the dirty-red-brown of the four chickens really stands out so much that all of her bright Christmas red fabrics clash dreadfully with it! The blue isn’t right, and the gold thread she used for the apples on the tree is nothing like the canary yellow she favours in her fabric purchases.

Glancing at her watch she decides to grab the block, her purse, the car keys and head to the quilting shop before it closes…

 I used to be like Erin, and I know many of my friends were too.

It took me years to figure out what I was doing wrong but one day I had an epiphany – choose the fabric first, then the material to embroider on, and last of all the threads.

No frustration, no waste of fabric or money, no more ‘not quite right’ finished projects that fail to truly satisfy the eye. Just a satisfying process which co-ordinates beautifully from start to finish. 

And isn't that what we're all after?

In my designs below you can see this process in action, how the threads and fabric look as though they were made for each other. That's the joy of picking your fabric first and using it as your guide for choosing 'just the right' threads - everything works together in harmony...

You know, it’s very easy to take a fat quarter or even a small square of fabric with you to the thread or quilt shop to choose the right skeins for your project, but it's much more difficult to take the completed stitchery to the quilt shop and try to find a fabric you like that will blend perfectly.

 I hope this has little story has helped some of you?

It's amazing how many people I've shared it with who have told me they'd never thought to choose the fabric first.  And now they do.

The stitchery patterns above are inside the April issue of the Rewind Stitchery Club. If you'd like to make them yourself just pop over here to my Rewind page.

A new baby in the family!

In the early hours of this morning my daughter Anita and her husband were blessed with a second daughter, Khadija, another precious little one to love and cherish.

Mother and baby doing fine after a very long labour and eventual c-section.

Daddy overwhelmed with love for Mother and all she went through to bear this new daughter. 

Big sister Aminah over the moon.

Nana over the moon and round the sun.

It's been a happy day at Elefantz, yet there has been sorrow in Christchurch.

I ask that God bless you. I pray that the small things in life bring you unexpected joy today and in the days to come. Sometimes we have to look for them, and sometimes they seem to be all around...but there is good to be found everywhere, despite the darkness and the sad and the evil that wants to rear its head and fill us with fear.

Hold fast to what is good and holy and kind and compassionate.

Hold tight to Jesus.

Hug one another and say "I love you".

Call that friend you're missing.

Forgive and make amends.

Be a light.

Shine God's light.

Let peace guide you always.

big hugs,