A free 2020 stitchery and a few other things...

Having a number of designs already stitched and in my 'gift idea' box is such fun when occasions roll around through the year.

But I also enjoy stitching something new, or re-doing an older design from years past.

That's what I did with this cover for my 2020 gratitude journal. Originally I shared a much smaller version in redwork to welcome 2015 and I loved it so much that it seemed just right for a remake - much larger and this time in colours and with my signature spatters of tiny applique.

Whilst stitching it I thought you might enjoy having the pattern as a new year gift?

 (download LINK at the end of this post) 

Perhaps you keep journals or diaries, maybe a housekeeping folder?? Actually, I like the idea of a new housekeeping folder - excuse me for a moment while I jot that idea down on a sticky note......(scribble scribble).....

Funny how ideas for new projects just pop into my head as I write. There was a time when I had sticky notes everywhere but now I only have a few and they last but a day because I'm diligent to write them in an Ideas Notebook before day's end.

Do you like the little bookmark too?

I bought a box of these beautiful scripture/encouragement cards a few months back and thought how lovely they'd be with a length of pastel ribbon and gifted in greeting and birthday cards.

One side of the card has a Scripture and the other side has a lovely quote or encouragement.

The thing with fun ideas though is that once you're on a roll you keep, well, rolling!

That's how I ended up with lots of bookmarks and three completed gratitude journals a week before CHRISTmas...

After completing my 2020 journal I made this gratitude journal for a dear neighbour using one of my Bird Seed blocks.

There's a button along the spine which holds a pink ribbon that wraps the journal closed with a bow.

The third gratitude journal is very different from the first two because I made it for my darling Blossom and the journal itself was not new, but my own, one in which I wrote and drew Scriptures and quotes which filled my heart a few years ago...

There's plenty of pages left for Blossom to continue this journal and perhaps one day pass it along to her girls.

The design on the cover is one I stitched in a simple grey and cream variegated thread a number of years ago to preserve my old blue Bible. It was crumbling at the seams and I wanted to hold it together so I made a cover because there are so many hand written notes in the margins and passages underlined...it simply meant a great deal because there's part of my journey with the Lord inside. 

This new version of the same design is larger and just as meaningful because God's WORD is living and powerful, and still the anchor which holds my life steady in the many storms which have ridden rough-shod over my years. It's also what carries my precious daughter through her own storms, and to watch her immerse time each day in the Bible, to hear her abundant and overflowing love for Jesus as she discusses with me the revelations God has shown her, to see the Jesus-type changes in her character and the effect it has on her loved ones...well, I knew this verse had to be on the cover of the handed down journal I was gifting her.

It's a precious thing to have your child weep with joy over such a gift...and it wasn't tears for the cover I made, it was the love for Jesus she saw within the pages of my old journal. 

And I know there will come a day when her daughters will feel the same reading the love their own mumma pours into the remainder of this journal and perhaps a few more. 

Sow the seed of Jesus, ladies; never stop, never lose hope, never back down, never be afraid of rejection. Just be faithful to plough the soil of your children's hearts and invite Jesus to scatter the seeds of loving and life-giving truth through you.

LINKS:

The free 2020 stitchery pattern (download available all year)

The Word of God pattern.

The Bird Seeds set of four designs. 

(see the other three below)

We had a very relaxed Christmas; just breakfast at Blossom's with all the joy and laughter a morning can hold with Cully May and Rafaella centre stage and delighting everyone.

The girls loved the dolly cribs we gave them, as well as the bedding I made. In fact Rafaella thought the crib and bedding looked too good for her dollies and climbed in herself!

Oh, we laughed and laughed!!

There's truly nothing quite like the hugs, kissed, antics and joy of granddaughters.

Ross is really hard to buy a gift for but the way to my son-in-law's heart is through traditional foods he grew up with on Cyprus so after a little probing I  found out he loves Tiropita and has not had it in years. When I walked in with a large tray of freshly baked Tiropita he was the happiest man alive!

Later that day his cousin (also from Cyrus) called and once he knew there was Tiropita at Ross and Blossom's house over he came! Apparently I made it better than most and the photos sent of them tucking in to it were happiness to my heart. 

You know, it really was a simple Christmas, yet it was one of the loveliest in many, many years. 

I find as I get older that if you listen carefully, over time most people share with you the things in their life which evoke special and loving memories...like Ross and the Tiropita. 

It was a simple gift and yet it gave him great joy and a reliving of very comforting childhood memories.

Other simple gifts for family members that morning were these small lavender sachets accompanied by those bookmarks I made.

After New Year I will show you the beautiful gifts dear Blossom made me. Truly, handmade from the heart is so very special.

I will sign off today, my final post for 2019, with a little encouragement I shared on Instagram and my FB page today, a message which carries from my heart more than I could say, but I do pray it blesses you.

“The righteous flourish...
planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age;
they are ever full of sap and green.”
Psalm 92:12-14

This promise has stood the test of time; its truth resounding more and more as my years in the Lord’s service as His handmaiden pass by. The once young strong hands now bear the evidence of age marching on and yet I find beauty in my hands such as never before because they tell a story of this life; they hold miracles God-gifted in times of trial; they reach forward to the next moment, the next labour, the next embrace, the next page to turn in His living Word.
These hands will still bear fruit today and in the years to come should Jesus tarry His return because they have been freely offered to God for His moment by moment service.
Ageing is beautiful when you reflect on all He has taught; even more wonderful when you consider all He has yet to teach.

May we each stay teachable and bear the fruit He promises even into old age...

hugs,

Question: What can I do with this stitchery and another free pattern...

A common question I hear from lovely gals who really enjoy hand embroidery is -

 "What can I do with the finished piece? I have plenty of UFO stitcheries and don't know how to use them. "

I have to tell you that predicament never fazes me because I love the fact that gift giving whether for an occasion or 'just because' isn't hard when you have a beautiful supply of hand embroidered blocks to play with and some fabric scraps, buttons, lace and notions.

There was a time when I used to over-think the making of gifts, imagining there'd be a mountain of work to do and everything had to be perfect and intricate. And you know, that thinking would often delay the process and cause me to feel quite anxious.

But not these days.

There's a lot of time and care given to a piece of hand embroidery and when you focus on making that block the 'star' of a final display it allows you to breathe and think simply.

Like my "Have Faith in God" design.

It's been in my completed stitcheries box for three years waiting for a chance to shine and I'm sure if it could talk it would have squealed in delight when I pressed it, trimmed it and began to cut border fabrics yesterday.

Two fabrics which blended beautifully became the border and binding, and a length of soft pink seam binding ribbon sewn into the top edge holds the little star hanger in place. So simple. So sweet. No fuss. 

I'm sharing this pattern with you today because you might just like to make it yourself.

DOWNLOAD the pattern

Three other stitcheries found themselves shining yesterday as well.

Again, my formula was simple borders and maybe a few little notions.

Bless Our Home is a very tiny design stitched onto unbleached feed sack so I chose a small print floral border in colours which blended with the threads, but to add that something extra there's a row of hand quilting just inside the stitchery border. This little mini had no binding but was finished in the envelope style.

Another little hanger, more pretty seam binding ribbon, and I was tempted to keep this for myself!

It's all wrapped and ready to be posted now, but I am tracing it again because I really do want another for our home.

Buttons on a border are nice too.

When I chose the fabrics for "Laugh Every Day" I wanted to break the clean line between block and border so I added four odd buttons (all the same colour but different styles) into the corners.

Again I chose a small hanger, seam binding ribbon and a contrast binding fabric. 

The buttons are tied into the corners for an extra cute effect. 

This became such a happy mini quilt!

Framed stitcheries are another of my favourite gifts to give.

"Fly Free" only needed a narrow contrasting fabric border and a slightly aged frame to look lovely.

We go to garage sales every weekend and I've always got my eye peeled for old frames. Over time my collection has grown and I can usually find the right one in my stash for housing a completed stitchery.

I've got even more blocks ready and waiting in my sewing room to be made into their final display and I'm excited to be doing this because it only took me four hours to complete all the ones I've shown you today.

I hope that seeing a few very simple ways to use your completed embroidery blocks has inspired you to pull your UFO's out for an afternoon of sewing?

Besides my afternoon of sewing yesterday there's a lot been happening around the home, especially since my husband finished work for the year and set his energies to working long hours in our garden.

The weather is incredibly hot and humid now so I'm up at 5 am to do my part before the day gets too hot and then he takes over a bit later and does the heavy chores till lunchtime. We have an early dinner around 5.30 and then he goes back outside till around 9 pm to get more yard work done in the cooler hours. 

We bought the biggest pile of mulch at the weekend and it was dropped out front of the house so there's been about 300 wheelbarrow trips from the front to the back over the past three days. 

This was the morning of day two and still plenty of mulch to shovel and barrow. At the start the pile was as tall as him (6 foot)...

Three quarters is now over the backyard where we're working at improving the soil for our autumn/winter food crops, and the rest is piled right at the back fence for covering another garden bed still in production.

We also have two huge bales of sugar cane mulch which we got from the farm early this month (when we he picked mangoes) and that will be spread across the front yard later this week. 

Like most of Australia we're hoping for rain, but in the meantime we're managing the gardens as best we can and doing all the dry-weather chores. I can't complain though, our water restrictions are nowhere near as bad as many other towns, yet.

Today Blossom and the little ones came over for morning tea and she brought her grandmother-in-law as well. Rita, who moved to Australia from Greece, was 80 the other day, so we had a little party for her. What a wonderful morning we had! All four generations of women, so much history to share, good food, coffee and little girl hugs and laughter. 

Mr E sat with us for a while before heading back outside with a 3yo work buddy. 

Cully May brought her gum boots (wellingtons) so she could help Poppy gather fallen palm fronds, small branches and leaves. Once she was slathered in sunscreen, her hat and gum boots in place, water bottle by her side, off she trotted behind him for a good hour...she really loves being his little shadow and he certainly enjoys the time with her as well. 

I'll do my last pre-Christmas blog post later in the week and you'll finally get to see some photos of my free 2020 Block of the Month.

May your days be not wearisome but fruitful with laughter, hugs and warm memories as we ponder the Christ Child born in a manger.

May your mind fill with God's peace, your hands with good purpose, and your heart with thankfulness as we remember His decision to leave the throne of heaven to walk amongst men that He might show them the way to the Father.

May we stop, often, to give Him praise.

hugs

PS: I bought the little hangers from ebay (many people are asking) as well as the seam binding ribbon. Both are inexpensive. 

Free Christmas pattern and catching up...

I've been absent from blogging almost a week. 

An almost week-long migraine with one day and a few hours of relief. You see the weather here is ghastly, the heat wilts you at every turn and the humidity squeezes each breath...but it's also the main migraine trigger in my life and the one I have no control over. 

Anyhow, I'm 'humming' with this migraine today...it's there, my constant companion, but it's dull in comparison to what it will be tonight and the medication has taken the edge off for now so I wanted to blog a special Christmas pattern for you to make before time ran out. 

The watering can filled with berry sprigs is a design from 2018 and I always thought it should be finished as a Christmas display. Last night I stitched the words from a favourite Christmas carol beside the lace heart adorned watering can and popped it in a very old hoop. Truly, my heart was filled with joy and I've been singing that carol all day long.

You know, the words in this carol resonated beyond comfort and joy as I stitched.

In what can be a very busy and stressful season at the end of the year these particular words struck a chord...

" God rest ye merry gentlemen, let nothing you dismay..."

We genuinely need to rest amidst the busyness if we are to experience tidings of joy, comfort and merriment. We need to let go of the anxieties which seem to be stirred up as Christmas approaches and be not dismayed.

"Remember Christ our Saviour was born on Christmas Day..."

It's about Jesus, this day which isn't actually the day of His birth, but which we choose to hold high in remembrance of a GIFT which no man can equal, no woman can reproduce, no department store can vanquish.

Christmas is about setting our minds on things of wonder and glory, miracles and hope. 

It's a time of gentleness towards one another, kindness and thoughtfulness, not a season of rushing to and fro and amassing debt.

I pray you experience glad tidings of comfort and joy this Christmas, both as the giver and the receiver.

DOWNLOAD the pattern

At home...

Time with Blossom was spent planning handmade gifts for our family and a few friends, and raiding my bookshelf for ideas meant a big pot of tea and delicious treats. I supplied the tea and my sweet daughter provided the cake, all glistening with gold sparkles and utterly delicious.

We have gathered many supplies from both our craft rooms and only needed to purchase a few extras, such as these soaps which have given my home the most wonderful fragrance.

Mr E and I always buy these soaps for ourselves but after Christmas I'll get a few extra just for fragrance in the sewing room and the living room...

Wrapped in pretty papers and raffia ribbon they will be lovely gifts for neighbours and friends.

(I *love* receiving pretty soaps!)

After the big craft raid in my sewing room I thought it was time to pull everything out and give it a good clean, a re-fold and better organisation.

Here's how that began...

And here's how it finished up later that day.

I still have the opposite side of the room to do but that can wait until my head settles.

At least for now I feel creatively refreshed and ready to begin sewing dolly quilts and pillows for Cully May and Rafaella next week.

In the kitchen I had a glut of eggs to work with and I remembered an old recipe I used to make for the kids when they were younger - Sweet Impossible Pie.

It's all mixed in one bowl, poured into a pie plate and during baking it settles into three distinct layers.

Before the bake...

After the bake...

The yolks from our chickens are rich yellow and make this tart even more lovely.

The three layers are a soft, almost pastry base - then a custard centre - and finally a crusty coconut top. Mr E and I had it last night with tinned apricots and we'll repeat this dessert tonight. 

You'll find the recipe HERE

There are a few variations, one of them a citrus pie which is delicious, but for yesterday I simply made the basic favourite. 

I shall sign off now and go greet my dear husband who has just arrived home. It's the highlight of my day when he walks through that door...how blessed I am to be his wife all these years and to see so much love in his eyes each morning. 

May the December days ahead bring a renewed appreciation to all of us, for what we have and what we have to give; for Jesus who loves us; and for tidings of comfort and joy.

hugs

New patterns and block 6 in the free Words of Life project...

It was a pretty big morning here with a new 'baby' born - not the chubby, cuddly kind though. 

My very first issue of Faith In Hand was emailed to all Club members just an hour or so ago, and I have to tell you that moment was huge in my heart because today was the fruition of a dream which the Lord in His wisdom delayed for a whole year.

But we all know HIS timing is perfect so experiencing that 'go forth' directive which spoke into my spirit about two months ago was indeed joyous (and a little scary at the same time). 

Now I know that many people prefer not to join monthly clubs but like to buy patterns individually as they have need or opportunity so I've listed the three patterns inside my first issue of Faith In Hand as individual purchases HERE in my Etsy Shop today.

REJOICE...

SET YOUR MIND ON THINGS ABOVE...

ESTABLISH THE WORK OF OUR HANDS...

(this pattern includes the mini quilt pattern as well)

Next week I'll have more new patterns to list on Etsy.

They're not Bible themed but they are so pretty and I really hope you love them as through out this past year I've been quietly stitching away on a number of things that made my stitching heart quite satisfied.

And of course there's a FREE block of the month next year to look forward to so if time permits I'll give you a peek at that on the blog next week too.

NOW...let's complete our Words of Life Table Runner project. 

Today we're stitching block 6, Faith, and we'll bring all the blocks together as a simple table runner.

You know, I couldn't do what I do if I didn't have faith.

It always surprises me when people praise my ability to design and stitch because they are looking at a woman, a very ordinary woman, who relies solely on the gifts that God gives her.

It's really not in my DNA to create this way. 

But it's in HIS and He chose to answer a prayer, the same prayer I prayed for two solid years as my teenage children neared the end of their homeschooling.

"Lord, what will I do after homeschooling? Father, please bless me with a portion of your Creative ability so that I can glorify You with what I make."

That was it, a simple prayer, an earnest request.

And He not only heard me, but He answered me.

In early 2009 I began sharing free designs here on my blog and within months my patterns began to appear in Australian craft magazines.

In FAITH I offered my meagre talent to Jesus and promised to give Him the glory, praying that as I was found trustworthy with His gift that it would increase. 

Once again, He answered, and over the years His inspiration came again and again with a new idea and the ability to bring a mental picture to life with needle and thread.

Our LORD requires us to have faith and to be faithful, and from my own experience I can assure you that when I am faithful HE IS MORE FAITHFUL.

DOWNLOAD the pattern for Faith (which includes the table runner finishing instructions)

If you missed any of the previous blocks in this project they will be permanently listed in my blog sidebar as free downloads.

I've included the finishing instructions for Words of Life in the pattern for block 6, Faith, as I thought that was much easier than scrolling through blog posts in the future.

My beloved is home from work today with a virus so I'll sign off now and raid the fridge for bits and pieces which will make a nice easy healthy lunch for him. And brew a pot of green tea with lemon and honey too...

Bless you every so much!

hugs