This weekend only...

A few unexpected days this week left me a wee bit behind on work so this weekend will be a catch up at my desk to get the first double pattern of Phyllis May's Kitchen emailed out to BOM members on Monday.

Must admit, I was disappointed when we first moved here because there was just no way I could fit my computer work desk and file shelving into the sewing room so we had to create a little corner in the living room. But you know, I really like sitting here to write patterns, do the bookwork, write blog posts and stay on top of Elefantz and personal correspondence now! It's a pretty corner, a cosy and inviting corner...

Once the front garden is established and in bloom I'll even have a gorgeous view out of the front window to my left. That's something very special to look forward to. 

Poor Princess Sophie, who is almost nine years old, struggles terribly with our winter - even though it's very mild and does not require any heating in the house. Born here in the tropics she thrives on our very long humid spring/summer/autumn months but come winter she looks for places to hide away and warm up. I found an almost new $1 baby blanket at the op shop recently when I was dropping off a box of donations from Blossom and after a good wash Sophie claimed it as her own.

Must admit, I love having her inside with us right now as most of the year she spends all her time out in the heat, sleeping under one of her two favourite trees. Bob-the-dog on the other hand, is twelve years old and was born in very cold Esperance (Western Australia) and though moving to the tropics with us in 2009 he has never acclimatised, preferring to be inside spread out under the air conditioner. With the cooler temperatures at the moment he's quite in his glory. 

These days I'm keeping my hands busy each evening with crochet. After the success of Rafaella's 1st birthday blanket using the Sweet Pea pattern from Lucy at Attic 24 I decided to order the yarn pack for her new pattern, Dune. 

But I soon realised after going through the instructions with Rosie (who is progressing beautifully with her Dune blanket) that I should make the decision to switch patterns and make an older one of Lucy's - The Cosy Stripe Blanket. 

My design day is spent concentrating on patterns - planning, sketching, fine tuning designs, stitching, machine sewing, pattern writing, pattern promotion etc - and the Dune pattern would require me to concentrate at night too, and that's why I chose to use the beautiful Dune yarns in the much simpler to keep track of Cosy Stripe.

Loving how this is coming along...

I'm also hand stitching a brand new design of my own during afternoon breaks but as it's still in progress I will wait until I'm further along to show any sneak peeks.

The other night Mr E came home from work and discovered our shower taps were ready to perish. We knew when we bought this house last September that the bathroom needed a lot of work but we had other more important things to update and repair first.

Deciding not to wait any longer we headed out to Bunnings and bought new taps which he fitted as soon as we got home (which meant dinner was rather late on Tuesday night). We also bought matching taps for the bathroom vanity and hubby will replace them over the weekend as well. They were inexpensive compared to most of the taps we saw but they were also our favourite. 

The taps look really classy in our old bathroom but in time we'll decorate and replace everything else around them.

Who'd imagine starting a bathroom makeover with the taps first? Us of course!

We've decided to get back in the habit of visiting garage sales on Saturday mornings, looking especially for planter pots and garden ornaments. I rarely buy anything for inside the house because it's a small home with minimal storage so why clutter the place? If I really love something at a garage sale I take a few minutes to consider carefully these three questions - where can I put it, is there storage room available, and can I donate something in it's place to make room.

You know, so far everything we buy and bring home after those Saturday jaunts has been for the garden so I'm really good at walking away from lovely things that I cannot find a home for. 

But last week there was a garage sale with lots of crafting things - bag handles, buttons, patterns, fabrics etc. My initial response was to 'grab a bargain' and fill my bag, but then I applied those same three questions to what I was holding in my arms.

Mr E even looked with surprise as I put things back and came home with just a couple of lovely large pieces of fabric. The bird print will be a simple spring outfit for Rafaella and the lovely textured print will become a tote bag for me.

THIS WEEKEND ONLY

In my newsletter which was emailed out yesterday I shared the news that I shall be giving my Etsy Shop a makeover next week. 

Some of the single patterns will be removed, such as the six "Alphabet Pincushion" patterns which will be re-released as a full 26-pattern set instead.

I'll also be removing the twelve single "A Year in the Garden" patterns and re-publishing them as one single pattern with a quilt layout.

Now because I'm doing this I felt it only fair to offer you the opportunity to complete any of those sets you may have been partway through with a 25% off coupon which runs from now until midnight on June 10th.

This discount applies to ALL patterns currently in my shop until midnight June 10th. 

GO HERE to shop Elefantz on Etsy with an automatic 25% discount at checkout.

From June 11th and over the following week my shop shelves will be updated with new patterns for embroidery, projects and quilts!

Truly, I get excited about updating things like my blog, pattern shop and even my older patterns and covers. One of my little happy quirks. 

Here's a few patterns currently in the shop you may not have seen?

And it's never too early to stitch for Christmas!

If you've never signed up to my newsletter why not do so today?

It's free and you'll be sure to never miss out on free patterns, new designs, sales, news and tutorials.

Pop your name in HERE today. 

LAST CHANCE TO JOIN "PHYLLIS MAYS KITCHEN" block of the month.

Memberships to join at the special reduced rate will close at midnight Sunday June 9th.

Go HERE to learn more and see all the photos, or to join.

Well, I'd best get back to my pattern writing, though first of all I'll get a warming beef curry in the crock pot for dinner tonight. And I should bake a pudding too.

Hope your weekend is a joyful one, the kind that invigorates your soul and is God-blessed with goodness, grace, laughter and memories which can be treasured. 

hugs

Allie's Own Sweet Needle-Book and a visit to the ER...

Our precious little Rafaella was rushed off to the ER early this morning. She'd woken with a high fever, non-stop vomiting and shaking so Blossom bundled her off and out the door after calling the hospital in advance.

The doctors gave her paracetamol to bring her temperature down and she snuggled into Blossom's arms dozing on and off for the morning, having little drinks here and there between naps (she is breastfed). Slowly her fever came down enough that by lunchtime Blossom was given the all clear to take her home but to stay vigilant for any changes. Rafaella has continued to sleep a lot today (unusual for her) and kept up with the paracetamol and liquids, playing with Cully between naps.

I asked the Gentle Ladies in our group to pray and from all across the world they rallied. Honestly, we are so blessed in our group to have prayer warriors right there, day and night, to hold our needs before God. 

Rafaella had her first birthday a month ago and at the time I mentioned here that I would show you the dress Blossom and I made for her.

It actually began a long time ago when I designed and stitched the bodice.

Blossom gave me the template for the size 1 bodice shape and I designed the stitchery and applique to sit inside.

Then she chose the fabrics for the dress and I used that as my guide for choosing the embroidery threads.

Once completed it was handed over to Bloss who is an amazing seamstress and she sewed it into a gorgeous dress for Rafaella.

Rafaella wore it on her birthday and didn't spill a thing on it...amazing.

Hopefully she'll get to wear it a lot before she grows out of it. 

Question: Are you interested in the bodice embroidery pattern?? It's for a size 1 but would also suit a size 2 dress.

My dear friend Allie turned 60 recently, just weeks after my own big 6-0 birthday. We're oceans apart geographically but are rather sure you could describe the two of us as 'sisters from another mother' because over the past decade we have almost begun to read each others mind (emails?) and find ourselves mirroring the other in the oddest ways. 

Late last year I drew up a stitchery with Allie in mind and when she saw the photo on my blog she left a comment to say how much she loved it! I laughed and laughed 'cause she had no idea it was for her, but I did keep my mouth shut and waited for the right time to finish it as a needle-book...

Close to her birthday it was wrapped up and sent over land and sea from my local post office in the tropics of northern Australia to her home in the USA.

Mind you, I get a tad nervous posting overseas, after all it's a LONG way and things can get lost or side tracked along the journey. Just recently it took two months for my order of Apple Butter to arrive from the Fat Quarter Shop, but bless them, they hunted it down and discovered it almost lost in a depot near Chicago. Praise the Lord it was found and sent back on the right path to my door because it's one of those things that has held up the finish of Phyllis May's Kitchen.

Inside the needle-book I made four pockets for storing packets of various needles, lace, thread or scissors. Across the top there's a couple of cotton quilt wadding rectangles for safe keeping of pins and needles currently in use.

There's true delight in the making of a gift for someone you care deeply about, carefully considering how you can add that touch of something extra...and of course, there's no touch quite like a cup of love is there?

When Allie emailed, 'squealing' that her surprise gift had arrived, I breathed a great sigh of relief. 

Thank you to the postal service in both our countries and to the angels who I prayed God would send to watch over this delivery until it was safely at Allie's door.

You can read about it here on Allie's blog.

Would you like to make a similar needle-book?

I've written up the pattern and included a full alphabet so you can stitch one for yourself and all your friends too...

You can make it your "own sweet needle-book" and bless others as well.

The pattern is ready to download HERE in my Etsy Shop.

I have also put together a handful of kits for this project which include everything you'll need to make one...

These are also in my shop but due to the high cost of postage overseas they're only available to post within Australia. 

I'm testing the waters with regards to offering kits. 

Now that Rafaella is improving my nana heart can rest and as Mr E and I settle in to watch a new movie tonight (about Agatha Christie) I'll continue with my next crochet project which is my way of using the yarn I already have, the leftovers from Rafaella's first birthday blanket "Sweet Pea" by Lucy at Attic 24.

This time I'm following Lucy's Hydrangea pattern and oh it's lovely!

Not sure how I'll place the colours but it doesn't matter because it's relaxing and pretty regardless.

I'll be back tomorrow with the next section of our book study but right now I'd best make those rissoles and mash I promised my husband for dinner.

May your evening (or morning) be restful and calm, your heart light and your smile bright,

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

XYZ pincushion, lovely gifts, konmari and UFOs...

Thank you for the warm and gentle expressions of care after last Sunday's post - both here and on social media. 

Fact is, after 4½ years of single-handedly designing, stitching, writing patterns and publishing The Stitchery Club for 52 continuous months I fell into a mentally and physically exhausted heap last Friday and since then my legs have felt like jelly, every ounce of adrenaline is gone and 'gently pottering around' very well describes my day to day actions.

It was a huge commitment, a joyous commitment, and through that hard work we were able to save hard for a home deposit and eventually buy our first home in September last year. We now have a mortgage, rates and insurance to pay like most home owners, but we don't mind...because we have a home of our own. Work always brings reward and this was mine. 

So....I'm taking things slower than I'd planned this year and here's a few updates...

# Patterns are not going into my Etsy Shop as quickly as I had previously written but they do trickle in as I have time. 

# The Rewind Stitchery Club will still happen but it will also be delayed until mid-February.

# Faith Sewing Club will be another monthly commitment so I'll hold off on that until perhaps mid-April or May and give myself a slightly longer break before announcing subscriptions.

# "Phyllis May's Kitchen" block of the month is still being designed, stitched and enjoyed! This will not be an ordinary BOM...it's quite different, and I can't wait to show you. But for now you'll have to wait while I bring it all together with love and patience. 

On to this week's alphabet pincushion stitch-a-long!

I shared the first one in August last year and since then we've bought a house, moved in, celebrated Christmas and done loads of garden work and renovations outside to turn this house into a sanctuary which reflects my husband and I. 

That's a lot of life events since sharing the first pinnie, so I decided to share the final three alphabet letters this week in a single design because I want to close off 'the old' in January and begin a fresh clean slate in February. 

I have seen many designs of various kinds with ABC over the years but can't remember seeing any with XYZ. You can use the individual letters for small projects and monograms, or do what I've done and finish this stitch-a-long with your own XYZ pinnie.

The alphabet letters were stitched onto a white cotton/linen blend fabric, then trimmed and backed with quilting fabric. A little fabric and lace tag was inserted at the X end before I filled the pincushion with crushed walnut shells and machine stitched a 1/4" seam inside the outer edges. 

I've used two green threads for the main body of the letters. X is stitched with Dark Green, Y in a lighter Green, and Z has a mix of both. I also used both back stitch and chain stitch for the letters. It's small tweaks like this which make simple or relatively plain projects much lovelier to look at.

The XYZ patterns are available as a free download here or here until February 8th. 

After that date they will be in my Etsy Shop

The R, S, V and W patterns are still free to download until January 31st. You'll find the links for them in the previous alphabet pincushions stitch-a-long blog posts (scroll here)

The A-E, F-I, J-N and OPQUT sets are available to purchase from my Etsy Shop

Since Christmas I have received some really thoughtful and creative gifts from a few dear friends and thought you may like to see them.

Sharmayne and her husband Pete came to visit from further south just before Christmas. They were visiting their son and his family not far from here and popped in for a nice long morning tea with Mr E and I. After tucking in to coffee and brownies we left the men to themselves and sat in the sewing room to talk about all sorts of crafty, home and garden things. 

Last week a card arrived in the mail with two beautifully hand crocheted dish cloths from Sharmayne, which I shall use with much gratitude...

Fee has been totally submerged in papercrafts the past couple of years and is making some gorgeous gifts and projects. If you visit her blog you'll find she's sharing regular tutorials, but I'd like to show you the pretty writing set with gift tags and greeting cards which she made me for Christmas...

Rosie and Brian came by for morning tea around New Year and after coffee and scones we left the men to talk 'boy stuff' and sat in the sewing room to talk 'girl stuff' (you can see a pattern here when we have couples visit, right?). Brian retired last year and is a member of the local Wood Turning Club. Whenever I visit Rosie she shows me the beautiful things Brian has made for her...I ooh and aah a LOT.

Well, bless them, when I opened my Christmas gift inside were some tea towels specifically chosen to match my kitchen and a gorgeous wooden bowl and two spools. I have admired the spools Brian makes for Rosie but did not expect to actually be gifted two....

 By the way, pop over here to Rosie's blog and see the beautiful recipe folder cover she designed!

It oozes gentle domesticity. 

Another gift arrived in the mail a week or so ago from a dear friend who'd rather not be named on the blog. 

"The Scrolls Illuminated" is a book filled with lovely water colour scenes taken from our own Australian landscape to mirror the seasons and subjects which correspond to the five complete books of the Bible inside...

I'm re-reading Ruth at the moment and find the full page artworks and those which drift down the margins to be not just beautiful, but calming and peaceful as well. 

The artist is Fiona Pfennigwerth and you can see more pages from "The Scrolls Illuminated" here.

She has also completed The Gospel of John which looks just a lovely.

Other things...

Have you been watching "Tidying Up" by Marie Condo on Netflix? 

I have heard about her books but honestly, that's as far as it went. But then Blossom began watching Marie's show and insisted I watch too...well, you can always teach me new things about homemaking and  I came away from the series with a list of areas to re-organise in new ways. 

I was at Blossom's yesterday and WOW you should see inside her cupboards! The girls room, the kitchen and the linen cupboards are amazing and my sweet Blossom is a very contented homemaker because like her mummy, she 'loves' organisation. 

Due to the fatigue I've gone slow this week but did pull out all the furniture and vaccum under, over, in and around everything in our home - before making a start on how to use the Konmari method of tidying in a way that works for us. 

We have an old bathroom with an odd shower recess and the wooden drawers and cupboard doors of the vanity creak and croak and will not shut properly - BUT I've actually come to like their quaintness. We don't have a lot of towels (or sheets) to store because we only keep what we currently use and a few spare sets so it was easy to fold and store the bathroom towels in the side of the vanity...

There's no colour co-ordination happening in our bathroom, just pops of various bright colours and a small palm in a pot. Over time I'll purchase new towels in similar bright colours but not until the current ones are worn out, though I shall look at buying two new bath mats next time there's a sale. 

So I was 17 rows into my Sweet Pea crochet rug.

I'd already gone up 1/2 a size on the crochet hook after the first two rows because apparently I am a tight crocheter (yet a loose knitter, go figure), but the rug still felt 'thick' and not soft and flowing.

So I stopped right there and unraveled the lot. 

Which was a good thing because apart from the heavy texture it turned out I'd gotten the sequence for the Posy version wrong, was only crocheting single colour rows instead of double and had missed a couple of trebles earlier on.

I bought a larger hook and started over again. 

I even followed the pattern this time.

36 rows along and the hook is perfect for how I crochet, the pattern is correct and the rug is wonderfully soft and flowing.

I'm happy and relaxed with this project now, plus it's given me a wonderful break from designing and stitching. This is my new hobby! 

I bought two crochet magazines the other day as a real treat (we're on a budget) and Mr E shook his head and laughed, "Don't you go making me any crochet clothes! Once you get hooked into something new your mind thinks up all sorts of things..."

I promised I won't. LOL!

Not sure if I've mentioned this recently but throughout this year I am delving into my orphan stitchery box (which overflows) and turning some of my older designs into useful projects. 

"Create Memories" was one of the patterns from my 2016 block of the month "Gentle Domesticity" which I shared on the blog. I didn't offer any instructions for sewing them, or even thread colours, because each of the twelve blocks was made from scraps and as they were not part of any actual project I left it up to those who were stitching along to use them any way they liked.

I made a cushion from "Joy in the Ordinary" and a bedside table topper from "Bloom Where You Are" but I still have ten blocks to play with. Perhaps a quilt?? Not sure...

Anyhow, there's no rush on an answer but I do intend giving the blocks a pretty project as their final resting place sometime this year.

The pattern for Joy in the Ordinary is still free (always will be) and fortunately was one of the few patterns Craftsy/Bluprint chose to leave in my old shop.  With Etsy there's no way to add a free pattern to my new shop so if you'd like to make this block go here and download it.

The full set of 12 Gentle Domesticity blocks is over at Etsy. They are inexpensive because there's no written instructions just the pattern sheets to trace and photos for helps. 

Goodness, I've kept you a while today with my ramblings so I shall sign off with a blessing and my gratitude for visiting, following along and offering your own inspirations when you comment.

Must say, I have gleaned so much from the Gentle Art of Domesticity book study comments since we began three weeks ago! Let me encourage you to go back and read through them...such a blessing.

May the Lord God who holds your precious heart next to His own, pour upon you the blessings of comfort, kindness, mercy, grace, provision, strength and rest today...

big hugs