Old becomes new...

 

I have taken to the habit, after baking a fresh batch of delicious scones, of freezing a few for those afternoons when I'm a tad tired and longing for something to enjoy with my cup of tea. Such was an afternoon this week. After defrosting one such scone, and brewing a large cup of tea in my very special Royal Albert "rose blush" mug, I opted to open a jar of mango jam, one of many I made before Christmas, and smear it generously across the butter. In our family scones are served at room temperature, and never warm. I truly cannot bear to have the butter melted away, for butter is a delight to my tastebuds. Sometimes I wonder if it's the butter, more than the scone and jam, that I enjoy most of all? How do you enjoy your scones?

Before writing any further, I must clear up a misunderstanding from my previous post. As you can see above, I've once again taken one of my own photos and changed it into a watercolour painting scene. This has not been done with any skill of my own, but through the use of a membership my dear Blossom gifted me as an early Mothers Day present. I tried a 5-image free trial with Midjourney earlier in the month, and loved how the recent photo of the front of our home was transformed in watercolours. I showed my Blossom-girl, and she was most impressed too. Then she told me how Ross uses professional Midjourney for his business (in a completely different way to the watercolour style I love) and that they had decided to gift me a one-year membership. So you are going to see more of these gorgeous pics in the coming year. 

With only eight days left in April, I decided that a pair of fingerless mittens which have been awaiting completion since they were stowed away on a shelf in February, would be my April UFO project. I had made three pairs previously, all of which went to the grandchildren. The blue pair I initially made for myself were claimed by Cully May and that just made me so happy. Now all three will have warm hands this coming winter. 

Once the children had them, I started another pair for myself, but this time in a solid cream merino wool, because the lure of knitting a pair with embroidered motifs was hard to resist. I'd used the plain pattern for the kids mittens, though the wool in theirs was variegated in lovely colours...but now I can have a play with something more mature for my own. 

Couldn't resist another watercolour version of a photo, and thought you'd enjoy seeing how artfully it is done. I shall be choosing some to frame at home throughout this year, and perhaps create calendars for Christmas gifts at year's end.

Are you wondering about the heading of this blog post? "Old becomes new" is an idea, or more of a desire really, that I have had for a few years now. I began designing in early 2009, just as I turned 50. Over the past seventeen years, my design portfolio has grown to more than a thousand patterns, and when I look back on them, there's at least fifty I'd really like to give a makeover - you know, in a style more 'me' of today. Naturally one can dream, but the reality is that I won't be able to follow through on that scale of project...but I can pick a few here and there as time allows, simpler ones, and a few that I could share with you as a thank you gift for being here, reading along, praying, encouraging, and sharing your own stories in the comments. 

Today I'll start with a cute design, "Bird in Pot", which was first shared back in 2016 as a tea towel project. Today I have that same design in a PDF for you as a free download, and you can make it up any way you  like...

At the time I first made the Bird in Pot tea towel design, my applique style was fusible raw edge blanket stitch. You'll notice this in the majority of  Elefantz designs during those first 14-15 years...but then I tried my hand at needle-turn applique and a new love developed! :-)

So in sharing this simple pattern with you once again, ten years on from it's first debut, I am re-working it with needle-turn and a different colour palette.

The background fabric is cut from an old linen sheet, and apart from an old Minki Kim brown floral print, the remaining prints are from a 2017 charm pack by Bunny Hill Designs. I love shopping from my old stash! 

I chose to make a few changes from the pattern sheet. Instead of keeping the stems and leaves in one piece as I did with the original applique, this time I have used my nifty bias maker to create needleturn stems, and made some cardboard templates for the needleturn leaves (because I find the points of leaves fiddly without preparing around a template first) ....

Instead of a tea towel, this will become the centre of an autumnal cushion for our bedroom, and I'll hopefully have it completed next week to show you. 

How would/will you make Bird in Pot, and how would/will you display it? Use the link below to download the pattern templates.

DOWNLOAD Bird in Pot

I was reading Lin's blog the other day and she recommended this book (below) so I checked my library and yay, they had it, so reserved a copy. Our driveway is under construction from tomorrow (part of the new upgraded road and water pipes they've been installing for the past two years) and we shall not be able to enter or exit our property with a car for seven days, and fortunately the library is at the end of our long road so I was able to collect the book today, along with a DVD. The movie is one I watched last year and loved, so now I can enjoy it again while I knit and stitch. 

Hubby has just arrived home so I'll sign off now and pray each of you have a restful day/evening, assured of God's hand on your life, and His love displayed through the blessed gift of our dear Jesus, the coming King and Lion of Judah! 

Chat again soon,

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You will find loads of patterns for instant download HERE in my Etsy Shop