Sewing for gifts and furnishings, plus a huge pattern sale!

 
This month looks set to disappear almost as quickly as 2024 is about to, don't you think? It is two weeks till Christmas, seventeen days to our 33rd wedding anniversary, and three weeks till New Year! Oh, and Charlie David turned 4 just two days ago. 

As the youngest of my grandsons, his is the last birthday of the year in our family, but on New Years Day my oldest grandson has his birthday. Of course, then we start over with another year of various holidays and celebrations. I'll turn 66 in February, and as each year has seemingly passed quicker than the year before, I am fairly sure 2025 may just be over in a blink too. 

But, let me not wish it away...rather, it's my plan on January 1st to embrace the coming year and be more thoughtful about what I choose to do with my time each month.  I'd like to be making gifts well in advance, creating my own greeting cards, doing a thorough updated plan for a pantry re-stock, 'walking the room' as is my custom early in the year (you can read about it here), planning and planting our mid-autumn and winter garden in March, finally starting my watercolour course, and delving deep into lessons from the women of the Bible (which I'll share with you), plus getting back to sewing my own dresses. There are other things I look forward to, but these are the important ones for now. Time for slowing down and appreciating the simple things of life are also important to the plans I'm making. 

This week I've been finishing gifts, like this cushion which was posted off to one of my daughters...

Cushions like this are marvellous for orphan stitcheries! The little "Berry Sprigs" design was one I did back in 2017, and I've always loved it. When going through my fabrics for a piece that my daughter would like, I discovered there was enough left of this sweet linen tulip print to make her a cushion, and still more to make another for myself soon. The little stitchery was perfect to adorn the front.

After turning in the edges I tacked it in place before securing it with needleturn applique. 

I have quite a bit of cotton twill tape and used that for the closure. It's sturdy stuff and the colour was a perfect compliment to the fabric and stitchery. 

Perhaps if you're still looking for a gift to make someone, you could have a ramble through your orphan stitcheries and fabric stash to make a similar style of cushion?? I did a tutorial HERE in 2020 for a simple tie top pillow if you've not made one before. 

Tomorrow, after the morning housework, I will be sewing some Christmas cushion covers with this beautiful furnishing fabric I bought for $7 a metre on sale at Spotlight last week. There was almost 4 metres on the bolt so I took the lot because rarely do I find such bargains on fabrics for the home, and we do not have any seasonal cushion covers. I'll just do a basic envelope closure at the back. 

Hand stitching - well, I've taken a short break from making tiny dolls for Rafaella so that my hands and thumbs can recover from the first two I made. ;-) For some relaxing (and mentally therapeutic) stitching I've drawn up a new free pattern to share with you on Friday...

...and it's actually the inspiration for my blog and life theme in 2025. And that lovely big pincushion with the scissor pocket above? I did a step-by-step tutorial for one in 2018 that you can find HERE. Again, this is a great project for using orphan stitcheries and fabrics from your stash. I call it the "hold it for me" pincushion, and it's a good size too. 

With everything that's been going on here over the past month - leaking roof, kitchen ceiling falling in, Cully May breaking her foot, and a number of other injuries and challenges within the family and at home, I just never got around to setting up a sale in my Etsy Shop. However, between the 11th and 17th December, you will find EVERYTHING in my shop listed at 20% off!

Click on the photo below to access the sale. You do not need a code, as all my patterns, BOMs and quilts, are discounted automatically. 

Or simply click HERE

Perhaps you're not ready to ponder next year just now? That is fine, as we are all different and do things at our own pace. For myself it was the Lord who directed me the other day with a few things that may be challenging, but which He would like for me to do. I'll be sharing more about that soon, but for now, if you're not sure what He wants for your life in 2025, just pray and ask. 

I admit that when I asked, His answer was almost immediate and surprised me. Then I needed a few days to let it sink in before getting in the Word and making a start. There's a very real faith-walk involved for some of us when God clearly directs our path, but be assured that His ways are higher than ours and will achieve things we could not imagine...especially things for His glory. Trust and obey, for there's no other way. Oh, I love that hymn! 

I shall leave you today with another favourite song, "Hallelujah"...

God bless lovely ones!

Free Christmas gift pattern number 3...

 

With finances tight for many families and singles these days, creating small gifts which can fit inside a card, whether for Christmas or birthdays, means we can still reach out with love to family and friends near or far. 

The three little gifts included in this one pattern today can be sewn using small scraps of fabric, and embellished with beads, lace, ribbons, tiny buttons - the small bits and bobs we save because they are pretty and we hope to use them one day. 

Inside this free pattern you will find not just embroidery instructions, but tutorials for making the sweet gifts. The lavender sachet below can be kept under a pillow, in an underwear or nightgown drawer, or hung as I have done from a coat hanger in the closet. 

The bookmark is a lovely gift to send to an avid reader, and could even be gifted inside a book. Are there some lovely books on your shelf which you will no longer need or read? Consider regifting them with a pretty bookmark, or perhaps you could sew a pretty cover for the book using one of the little embroidery motifs in this pattern set? 

For many years I would gift Blossom one of my vintage novels every Christmas, and she was thrilled to receive the beautiful works of Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott and other favourite authors which I had read with her during our homeschooling years. Now they sit on her own shelves, awaiting the day when she can begin reading them to her own daughters. Perhaps you can do something similar with treasured books to be handed down?

The gift card is such a cute way to dress up a wrapped present, but is also lovely just as it is because it can be used as another bookmark. 

One of my projects for 2024 is to make a box of these kind of gift cards, using small fabric pieces such as vintage or recycled linen, lovely cottons, sweet satins and old lace. I'll also make some of the lavender sachets and the bookmarks, because there's nothing more satisfying than to have pretty handmade, useful, gifts on hand to send away in a card. 

Oh, and I'll also be making cards, something I have planned for the longest of times, but which has not been followed through on thus far.

Use the link below to download the free pattern.

DOWNLOAD We Three Gifts pattern

If you missed the first two free 2023 Christmas gift patterns they are HERE and HERE

Not a lot has been happening here at home. There's been no rain other than the hour we received a week ago, so the garden is a bit worse for wear. My roses easily scorch on the tips of their petals if I don't pick them first thing in the morning, when still at the budding stage, yet they smell divine and grace my desk with beauty and dignity. 

Blossom bought me a bunch of sunshine yellow chrysanthemums last weekend and they are still as fresh as ever! That's what I enjoy about mums - they last and last, decorating your home with their presence for weeks. 

As we need to stay indoors more at this time of year due to the intense heat and humidity, once the housework is done I settle down for a bit of reading and a cuppa. I have all three of Rhonda Hetzel's books, and have read them a few times each, but this little one is brilliant for a condensed read and I have highlighted and made notes all through it - adding more each time I read it. 

If you haven't got her two large volumes, or don't have finances for them, then let me assure you that this small book is simply marvellous for learning of her journey to a simpler life, the success and freedom she and her husband found, as well as the challenges along the way. Its available here on Amazon Australia

It's also available here on Amazon US and I just checked and the Kindle version is only $2.99 at the moment. 

I am NOT an amazon affiliate, just really love her books and think this little one is a great place to start. 

Molly-dog is now one year old, and has become our little shadow, no matter where we are. The funny thing about pugs is that they don't look happy, and yet I have found them to be very happy dogs. Molly loves her toys but her favourite is a piece of checked fabric which I tied with a knot in the centre. She was getting into mischief in my sewing room, you see, pouncing on any bits of fabric I dropped...so I thought, "Aha, you are fabric lover too are you, Missy? Then you shall have your own." Since she got her own large piece she has not touched mine. Yay. 

Many of our sunflowers have gone to seed now, which has brought even more birds to the garden. A gorgeous pair of red-winged parrots visit each afternoon to feast, and they are joy to behold! 

The cockatoos prefer to eat from the bird feeder, as do the rainbow lorikeets, but these parrots swing back and forth on the sunflowers and have dinner there instead. 

I have been doing some more crochet edging, but mostly for my older daughters. I'm sending them new crochet-edged tea towels for Christmas (they live in other states far from us) as they both prefer something handmade for gifts. I bought tea towels on sale at Bed, Bath & Table yesterday, in a mix of styles as both girls (and Blossom too) have very different preferences. These are a few I'm working on today...

I finished this blue one last night. It only takes an hour and keeps my hands occupied while we listen to a sermon, or teaching on various subjects like gardening in the tropics or health related seminars.

I always match the cotton yarn with the print of the tea towel, and leave a few pairs on the table at a time so that even if I only have twenty minutes or so of free time (while dinner is cooking perhaps) I can pick one up and make a start for later in the evening.

This is the new runner I'm working on for the top of a chest of drawers in our bedroom. I'll get back to it once all the girl's gifts are made. It's more of the Cath Kidston cotton duck fabric I have had on hand for years. 

Today is Charlie David's 3rd birthday!!

But I am going to ask you to pray for him as he has been ill for a few days - dreadfully high fever, vomiting etc. It has gone through all of Blossom's children, plus Ross (and it was his first week on his new job), but little Charlie got it last of all. So we shan't see him today as he needs rest and healing. Your prayers would be the best birthday gift. ((thank you))

Did I ever tell you that the 'David' in his name was for King David? Blossom always knew that if she had a son she'd want him to be a man after God's own heart and that she would have David in his name so that she could teach him all about his namesake and how God was able to use him. 

(Charlie David pretending to be Nana at her desk - :-)

How are YOU?? What's been happening in your life this past week? Is there anything you need prayer for? Just ask. xxx

My love and prayers go out for all of you who read along, knowing that our God hears them and acts on your behalf because He loves you so much. His answers may not always be what we wanted, they may not come as swiftly as we'd hoped, and for a while we might think He is deaf to our needs...but no, He is our Father and He always answers prayers in the way that is best for us because He is outside of time and knows the beginning from the end. So, we must have faith, hold fast to hope, always choosing to live according to God's Word, and remembering we were bought at a great price by the blood of His Son.

We have a cyclone on the way, and the Bureau of Meteorology expect it to hit somewhere around our region on Wednesday if it follows their predicted trajectory, however, having lived in this cyclone region for more than fourteen years now, I know that cyclones can change their track at any time, so it may move further north, go south, or decide to make landfall here. For the next few days we'll just watch and prepare 'in case' it comes close to home. Thanks for all the emails asking me about it's proximity to us. I'll update on Monday when I share the fourth free pattern. 

God bless you all!

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Sewing now, sewing soon, new kits...

I think it's been ages since you saw the grandkids? Thousands of you have followed Blossom, and then her children, through this blog since 2008, and emails often arrive asking for updates and new pics. 

The Children...

Well, a couple of weeks ago Blossom and I were out with Charlie, who turned 2 in December, and we were shopping at Big W for some new shoes. I was taking photos of him trying on a few pairs and then texting them off to Ross, when I captured the cutest pic of our young lad and thought I must show you. My husband always wears a collared shirt when going out, even to the supermarket, something he learned whilst being raised by his grandparents. Our young Charlie wears a collared shirt too, and so did my Pop when leaving the house. Our handsome little man is proudly carrying on the tradition...

The two girls are both at school now, and loving it. Their teachers have nothing but praise for them, and marvel at how polite, kind, and respectful they are to the staff and other children. It's a wonderful reflection on Blossom and Ross, which makes me very proud of them and their little family. 

Cully May is 6 1/2 now, and Rafaella is about to turn 5. Gosh, I love these children! They are sunshine and happiness, love my cooking, and most importantly, they love Jesus. 

SEWING now...

Here's what I'm working on at the moment. It's a remake of a design which was included with one of my clubs in 2020. I had been given Tilda fabric to promote and it really wasn't one of my favourites, but I went ahead with an idea and loved it (the idea, not the fabric). Now, almost three years later I am remaking it with fabrics and colours which I really like, and the more I stitch, the happier it makes me.

The verse is a favourite with many of us, I'm sure, so once it's complete and I have re-written the pattern, I will have it available for those who are interested. 

The fabrics have been sitting on my shelf for years, and I think the red and green together are quite striking, so decided to keep the colour palette to those two, plus a brown to lift the whole effect.

I do a little each afternoon and sometimes in the evening, as there's no rush - but having said that, the further along it progresses, the more eager I am to complete it! 

Do you like the simple palette of red, green and brown??

SEWING soon...

In a few weeks I shall be starting a new project, one I have been excited to do for ages. It's one of Anni Downs older quilt patterns, Gossip in the Garden, and one of my friends will be sewing it as well, which makes the whole project even more fun.

For fabrics, I chose the lovely Blume and Grow prints by Natalie Bird. Buying fabric is pretty rare for me, but I decided to treat myself for this quilt, and think these will be perfect.

NEW kits...and a pattern too!

I've mentioned before that my aim the past few years was to use what I already had in my sewing room, and only buy when there was a need, or if I had a specific purpose and project in mind.

Last year as I pondered this decision more and more, I was able to spend time going through all my bits and pieces to see what could be donated, what could be re-purposed, what would Blossom be able to use, what do I still love and want to use, and lastly - what could I make up into kits.

I get messages a lot through my Etsy Shop asking if I sell kits, and if I was an actual fabric shop that would be an easy thing to do...but I am an embroidery designer selling digital patterns, and don't buy large quantities of fabrics and threads to sell. However, I have been known to purchase two or three metres of special fabrics which made my heart go pitter patter, every so often...though not these past few years.

Anyhow, I have decided to make up a few kits here and there every so often, when I have a little project/tutorial to share here on the blog, and my recent tutorial for the Sew Simply Sewing Pouch was so very popular that I decided to make the same pouch with a different stitchery cover and create some kits! You can see below how the same sewing pouch can feature a different stitchery cover...

"Made From The Heart" was stitched in one colour to blend with the fabric I chose, an old Tilda print from her Apple Butter range of prints in 2019. Inside the contrast lining is an even older Tilda print, from about 2014 I think...

The downloadable stitchery pattern for Made From The Heart is available HERE in my shop, and includes the sewing pouch tutorial.

But you may already have an orphan stitchery tucked away somewhere that you can use, and if so, HERE is the free tutorial to make the pouch which I shared on the blog last month.

Perhaps you'd like the complete kit to make one of these pouches? Well, guess what? I have them in my shop, a limited number, in this blue version, but also in a lovely red (also Tilda fabrics)...

And just for fun, I've included the stitchery printed on Sticky Fabri-Solvy because I know many of you use this. I prefer to trace my embroideries onto the fabric, but have used the Sticky Fabri-Solvy for embroidering on cardigans for my daughters and know that it's especially helpful for those new to embroidery, or who don't like tracing.

The kits have everything you need to make the sewing pouch, except a needle and a sewing machine. If you'd like to purchase one of these kits pop over HERE to my Etsy Shop.

Next week I'll have a pre-tutorial for the Little House Corner Stitch-a-long so you can prepare for the first embroidery pattern (all free!), plus I have a yummy recipe to share, and an update on our very sad late Australian summer garden.

Love to know what you're sewing right now, and if you have a big project ahead in your plans? 

Also, have you ever made something that you ended up not really liking, and wished you'd made it differently? Maybe you could plan to do that this year?? I can tell you from my own experience that it's very satisfying. 

God bless you and keep you safe in His wonderfully strong arms where you can rest any time of the night or day and be assured of His perfect love for you. 

hugs

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October bookmark pattern...

This month's bookmark is finally done, thanks for your patience. 

I drew up a sweet stack of teacups to applique, perched them on a stack of books and popped a couple of red roses in the smallest cup. 

On your pattern sheet I've drawn little roses inside each tea cup, just in case you'd rather stitch them than add applique. 

Something else I did this month was to hand quilt the top and bottom feature fabrics, one with diagonal cross hatch, and the other with squares. I also made this bookmark much larger than previous months as some of my reference books require more than the average size to save a page. 

A triple layer of lace and ribbon completed the October bookmark. 

Hope you like this one! Use the link below to download the free pattern.

DOWNLOAD Books & Roses October stitchery pattern

 

Early each morning there's been cloud cover for a few hours, so usually I'm found pottering around the garden, doing what I can to prepare beds and pots for the very hot months ahead. 

There's not a great deal of food you can grow here outside of the winter months, strange as that may seem to most of you, but I'm studying up on what might work. So far, we've got two new pumpkin plants doing well, sweet potatoes just kicking off, more spring onions (green onions) which always do well year-round, radishes, rocket (always does well), a capsicum plant which resides in a pot of snapdragons, and beetroot greens. Much of these are under shade cloth in the raised beds, or for the smaller pots I've used old net curtains to shade them. 

I roasted the last butternut pumpkin yesterday. It was only a small one, but perfect...

For fruit we have a paw paw tree which has established itself well the past two months so we're hopeful of fruit (probably next year), and the passionfruit vine is vigorously spreading over the structure hubby built for it. Our sole blueberry plant surprised us with six blueberries last month, and has suddenly had a growth spurt, so we're hopeful for future fruit. The blackberry bush was so dormant the past six months that we though it had died, but no, it's sprouted to life and is beginning to spread it's limbs across another structure hubby built for it. 

Ginger, which we're growing for the first time, has burst to life in a pot, so I got keen and planted another ginger corm in the raised bed where we had grown tomatoes over winter. 

With regards to flowers - the geraniums, snapdragons, calendula, roses, dianthus, seaside daisy (which grow in the shade of the elder tree) and zinnias are all doing fairly well. Amazingly, the chrysanthemums are still bringing forth a few blooms as well! I have to keep my eye on everything though as our sun is already scorching petals if I'm not checking often and moving pots around to shadier spots if needed.

After browsing one of my garden books, I picked some chive blossoms the other day to make a flavoured vinegar. 

I only made half a jar as I didn't have enough blossoms for the full recipe, but it will be fun to watch this jar turn a deep pink over the next two weeks...

Apparently the flavour is delicious, and as the only ingredients were chive blossoms and white wine vinegar, if we like it I'll make more each year.

This is the book I'm reading - full of garden ideas!

Remember those pretty china teacups and saucers I showed you in the last blog post? Well, Blossom and the children were over on Tuesday and the girls couldn't wait to have a tea party! They even asked for a refill. 

Charlie is almost two now, can you believe it?! 

Every time I try to get a photo though, he's jumping around and not wanting to stand still so the photos are blurry...but, you can still see how he melts my heart!

Migraines are hitting very hard at the moment, so blog posts have slowed...but I didn't want you to wait any longer for the new bookmark stitchery, so thought while I have a free hour I'd give you a catch up on home life as well. 

I truly hope that each of you are doing well, that you're finding joyful things to put your hands and minds to...and that you remember to give thanks each day for the sacred gift of life. Beginning each day with prayers of praise and gratitude, we set our thoughts on the Father above, and this in turn brings blessing to the hours that follow. 

We thoroughly enjoying the extra time spent reading God's Word before breakfast, as well as after. My beloved, who has a stressful job, drives off in a much calmer state of mind. Spending that extra time each day in our Bible study has been, and is, incredibly life giving. In fact, I hear my husband let out a sigh when it's time to close his Bible and go get ready for work...and I think, that's what it should be like, right? We should love reading God's Word so much, that we don't want to put it down. 

Bless you heaps, lovely ones. I've got notes for the next book study chapter, but with this barrage of migraines (weather related) it's not been easy to assimilate it all into a blog post. Soon, though.

Hugs and blessings

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