Tying loose ends...

 Does anyone NOT have an unfinished project somewhere in their home? 

Total confession here, I have quilt blocks which were sewn in 2009/10/11 that are still sitting in my sewing room patiently waiting for me to decide how to put them together, plus I have a wall quilt which I made very quickly (because I loved it!) back in 2018 and yet has never been quilted or bound. They are two loose ends I'd like to tie up before this year draws to a close. 

But first I had to complete that sweet scrappy hexie table runner I began a couple of months ago. It's been hanging over one of the dining chairs since August (you can see how and why I began this project HERE) and yesterday I made it my mission after lunch to add the binding, hand quilt and wash before sunset. 

Because the hexies had been made from lots of different scrap pieces I thought a scrappy binding would be the best finish, so rummaging again through more scraps I joined many lengths together until there was enough to go around...

Do you use binding clips? They were a game changer for me when I first bought them about five years ago. No more hair slides or pins needed...I love these little pink clips!

Once the binding was attached I hand quilted just inside the edge of the binding...

...and then around the hexie centre.

I had hand quilted alongside the hexies before adding the binding, but left these last two bits of quilting (1/4 inch inside the outer edge and 1/4 inch outside the hexies) until after the binding was attached and hand stitched down at the back. 

Here it is finished after being washed on a gentle cycle and hung in the sunshine to dry...

I love the raised textured feel of anything hand quilted after it's been washed!

I'd really like to get started on completing one of my other UFOs today but fact is I have more loose ends which need tying up over following days and if yesterday's table runner finish taught me anything it's that the sense of satisfaction and contentment you feel after bringing a project to it's conclusion can motivate you to begin tying up other loose ends as well - whether that be unanswered emails, a neglected bible study, cooking what's in your fridge before it expires, sewing on a few lost buttons, cleaning out the bathroom cabinet, finishing a small quilt - or in my case this week, writing patterns and decluttering my workspace in order to begin fresh as soon as possible with the next stage of what God has called me to do. 

If you've got some loose ends to tie within your own life and need some motivation why not begin with a small unfinished sewing, embroidery, papercraft, painting, baking, knitting, crochet or other crafty project? The sense of satisfaction afterwards is better than chocolate! Almost. Ha ha!

As you know, Blossom is quite a way along in her third pregnancy now, only 8-9 weeks until her little baby boy is due and as he's quite a large lad already and she has a number of health issues the doctor may welcome him into the world a couple of weeks early. So you can understand that her already limited 'free' hours of sewing (with a 2 and 4 yo in tow) shall soon draw to a close. She decided to have one last burst of creativity before bub arrives and has been making some more of those adorable cotton romper sets for her Etsy Shop.

We're heading in to another hot summer here in Australia so these would make perfect gifts for those dear littlies in your life if you're like me and don't sew clothes...

She's hoping to get a few more in there very soon before closing down for a long while.

If you're interested she will post worldwide so pop over HERE to see what's left on her shelves.

Okay, that's it for me today as I have a desk to declutter, wash, and reorganise. Oh, I do get excited about a sparkling clean white desk and a pot of fresh blooms on it. And of course, before I even begin tying that loose end there's lunch to prepare for my beloved. Think we'll feast on more of those delicious French Chicken Salad sandwiches (recipe here)...

Tell me, what loose ends do you need to tie? What will you begin with?

Biggest hugs

Sorting...

No house yet, but it will happen, and in preparation for our hoped-for move I've begun to go through each room very slowly, looking with fresh eyes at each item we own and evaluating whether we need it or even want it.

I've found as renters who regularly move we just tend to gather and pack what we have and move on, whether that be to the  next suburb, a new town or far across the country (and Australia's rather large).  Yes, there's habitually some culling of our excess and a thinning of books, clothes, coffee mugs and paper products, all which make their way to a number of local charity shops, but this time it will be so much more.

Because we're now preparing to buy a home of our own, a let's-put-roots-down home, a we-can-decorate-it-any-way-we-like home, it's time to gather only that which matters, has purpose, is beautiful or fulfills a need. 

This is why I shall be going along wall by wall, shelf by shelf, cupboard by cupboard, room by room here in our (hopefully) final rental house, and taking time to consider what's coming with us and what is not.

Yesterday I began with the cookbooks, of which I have many, two full bookcases in fact. 

Some came with me into our marriage almost 27 years ago and the remainder have come along since then. In fact, quite a few of the recipes I learned from the older books are still family favourites today and been passed along to my daughters.

But as I emptied the two bookcases I chose to consider each book on it's individual merits and after three hours of browsing pages and copying the odd recipe here and there, had reduced my collection of cookbooks to one small bookcase...

Sadly, a number of the rejected cookbooks I was packing into boxes for the charity shop had not been opened in many years so I did chide myself for what was obviously a series of impulse purchases.

But how exciting it was to place our little old bookcase (which dear Blossom had painted white ten years ago after we purchased it at a garage sale) in the corner of the dining room, full of cookbooks I was keen to keep and use! In fact, needing a rest after all that decision making and page turning, I brewed a cuppa and pulled this one off the shelf to browse as Mr E was sorely in need of a baked morning tea treat for his lunch box. 

Within the pages of Baking Day I found a wonderful collection of sweet recipes but when a bookmarked page fell open to Frangipane Jam Drops the decision about what to bake was clearly made for me...

Another thing I'm doing as we draw nearer to the lease expiring here and a home of our own looming closer is to use up the pantry supplies and the freezer items in order to begin fresh in a new kitchen when the time comes. 

Jars of jam, mayonnaise and pickles from the fridge are slowly being used up and as I had a quarter jar of apricot conserve on hand it made a delicious filling for the the jam drops.

With a pot of fresh chicken and corn soup simmering on the stove when hubby arrived home from work I thought the cookies could be a simple dessert later that night but he thought they'd make a nice pre-dinner snack as well. How can you disagree when your husband obviously loves your cooking?

Today I drove over to Blossom's and spent time with her and the babies. What a lot of laughter, deep conversation, twirling and sorting we did! 

Laughter at the two little girls and their funny antics, deep conversation about our shared interests in minimalism, organisation and house hunting, twirling like ballerinas for Cully May until I got so dizzy we decided to stop, and sorting through Blossom's bookcase for excess to donate because she, Ross and the children are moving next month and they've also decided just to take what they really love and need. 

My car boot loaded with boxes from yesterday's cookbook cull and now Blossom's donations as well, I waved goodbye to these three lovelies and headed to the Salvation Army store on the highway close to home to drop everything off.

Tomorrow I shall start on my office. 

And that will require much coffee, and surely a few cookies as well.

Have I ever told you how much I love a good seasonal de-clutter?

Well I do.

But this is better.

On the sewing front new patterns are being completed for August, including this Jane Austen quote which I love...

I have an idea to design a series of Jane Austen quotes.

This one will hang in my home soon, and perhaps many more to follow. 

Perhaps a wall of them? Mmm.

God bless you and keep you, 

May His love fill your heart, 

His Light shine through your darkness,

and His provision be generous in supplying all your needs.

hugs

New embroidery patterns are regularly added to my shop for instant download.

Shop HERE for Elefantz Designs.

My once a year paper cull...

I really don't purchase a lot of fabric - in fact its become less and less as the years pass.

I'm quite content to look, admire, and move on these days, but I cannot say the same thing about my love of magazines. 

Take me to the newsagency and if there's an interesting decorating or crafting magazine in my line of sight I'll most definitely stop to open my wallet - especially if it's from the UK.

Magazines of the home-making, country life or sewing kind are "my one true weakness" as Miss Lane would say (ever watched Lark Rise To Candleford?) and I'm quite okay about that, as is my beloved Mr E, bless his precious heart!

I never allow my magazine or book collections to overfill my bookcases so once a year I pull all the magazines off their shelves and I sit for a day or two with scissors, coffee, snacks and a bin.

As I'm still not 100% recovered from this head cold I thought a couple more slow days at home would be in my best interest, so today heralded the start of this year's magazine declutter.

The morning began with a good healthy breakfast...

...then I waved Mr E off to work and settled down to the task at hand.

I work on one shelf of magazines at a time...

...cutting out photos of homes or rooms that inspire me, patterns I might make, recipes, colour schemes that catch my eye, how-to's, and other things that I'd like to have on hand for reference.

Over the course of the morning and into early afternoon I thoughtfully turned each page of over 50 magazines, removed what I wanted, and threw the rest in the bin.

Everything I keep is stacked on one of five themed 'piles' so that when I finish this task sometime tomorrow they can be placed into plastic sleeves and organised into a set of binders for easy access in the future...

I'll show you how I do that with some photos next week, just in case you'd like to sort through your magazines too.

I filled and emptied my bin many times over today, and having clear shelves to look forward to means I might just change the furniture around too. You know how one task leads to another which leads to another? I thrive on these 'adventures'.

I should say that there are some magazines I do not take apart or throw away, but I'll wait till next time to show you what they are.

I wonder if you can guess??

Thank you for the prayers over our little Frankie! She's getting better every day. We appreciate your care and concern more than we can say. xxx

hugs

Tidying...

It seems I have caught a mild spring cold, the first head cold I've had in a couple of years.

In fact when I went to find tissues the box was empty.

 "Now why had we not noticed that?" I ask Mr E.

"Because we don't get colds anymore, so we don't have a reason to check the tissue box" says he. 

I remembered a few handbag size tissue packs stored in my sewing room, waiting to have pretty covers made as Christmas gifts, so I decided these will suffice because my intent is to fully recovered by Saturday and no longer in need of tissues.

Fortunately I spent time earlier this week tidying the house, de-cluttering, sorting and dusting, and it's lovely to sit back this morning and see everything sparkling still!

After removing every 'in use' table-runner, quilt and cushion cover from the house, I had loaded the washing machine three times over and filled the clothesline. While everything dried in the midday sun I vacuumed and mopped the floors before looking through my other quilted items for replacement displays.

 Our little phone table was the perfect spot for THIS project from the other day...

The small bookcase where I store my kitchen storage containers now has a little window display on top...

...and I spent a good five minutes just smiling at the vase of pink gerberas and chrysanthemums which grace the top of our large bookcase.

I filled a very large bag with books to donate before scrubbing my old cook book shelving, re-packing it with the health and cookbooks I intended keeping, and created a nice pile of favourites to browse through over the weekend for fresh menu ideas. 

I especially love Jamie Oliver's new Everyday Super Food...

The dusting and sorting continued into the office and across my fabric stash. 

Everything is ordered the way I like it now - a Lecien shelf, a Tilda shelf, a fat quarter shelf, random yardage shelf, ideas and notions shelf.

Maybe I've never told you before, but I'm truly OCD about visual order. Could be why I tidy, sort and de-clutter more than the average gal...?

I'm so pleased this was done a few days ago because yesterday we relaxed for Mr E's birthday (although he did fix the lawn mower, mow the grass, and give the Jeep an oil change) and today I've woken with this spring cold so the only things on my agenda this afternoon will be browsing through a pile of old and new magazines (a favourite pastime of mine) and the finishing stitches to a couple of hand sewing projects...

 You see, when I was tidying the other day I set aside a number of fabric pairs that 'caught my eye' for home decorating. These were one such set...

I thought they'd make a simple, yet pretty, cushion cover for the living room.

After fusing some scrap cotton quilt wadding behind the floral fat quarter I began hand quilting around the bouquet sprays with Perle 12 thread. It only needs another hour before it's ready to be finished on my sewing machine...

 The other bit of hand sewing I'll finish today is a new design for The Stitchery Club next month...

But, I'd better go now and make a large jug of veggie juice and cut up a plate of fresh Vitamin C rich fruit so I can flush this bug from my system. You see, Mr E and I are off to the football tomorrow night, hopefully to see our team win their semi-final match,  and I intend to be fighting fit by then.

It was another of his birthday gifts and must be enjoyed after all...

Have a wonderful day,

Achoo!

hugs

One creative space, ready for use!

I am ready to begin creating in 2013!

New rule : 15 minute clean up every night. If I obey myself the room will always be this peaceful. ;-)

**Need to make a new machine table cover, and a cover for my chair.**

 

 *dream* was a Christmas gift from my adopted little sis, Vikki.

 

 

*My daughter Kezzie hand stitched that lampshade for my birthday last year.*

   

 The stack of small plastic containers hold all my projects-on-the-go. 

(How do you store yours?)

 

Don't you love the fabric I've used to cover my cutting table?

 I bought 4 metres at Spotlight last year, and have used 2.5 metres on the table. The remaining fabric will become an apron and perhaps a pillow...?

I know it's easy for me to start designing this year with my creative space all fresh and tidy. Having everything organised really frees up my brain space! 

~ decluttering and donating ~

Many of you have shared in your comments recently, and also HERE on my Facebook page, that your craft rooms are messy and in need of a good clean out. Can I encourage you to stop sewing for a few days and just dive into that room and give it a good going over? 

As I was unpacking the boxes in my sewing room yesterday I filled three huge plastic tubs with fabric and sewing notions to give away. 

There were fabrics I'd had for ages that I was sure I would never use, and heaps of extra bits and pieces that were lovely, but which I'd bought on impulse and knew I probably would never play with.

When Blossom and I drove to the Endeavour Foundation this morning to donate those big three tubs of goodies, I felt a huge weight lift off my heart!

Hanging on to stuff that won't be used is a sure way to accumulate more clutter in your sewing area than anything else. 

Do you have more sewing bits and pieces than you need? An overflowing pile of craft magazines perhaps? Why not grab some empty tubs (Rubbermaids in the US?), and start working your way through your stash. Make a clear decision to only keep what you know you love, and will definitely use. 

You may find that sewing space suddenly a lot roomier.

Let me know if you're going to take this challenge by leaving your comment below. You will be a great encouragement to others! :-)