Three UFO finishes...

Now that we have signed a lease on this house for another year there's some re-organising to be done.

I am fully committed to bringing visual peace and order into each of the rooms, but at the moment there's so much Elefantz 'work stuff' spilling over into each room that it's hard for me to see my home as a sanctuary, and I am a person who needs a sanctuary.

Over the weekend I began sorting through everything and writing lists - strategic plans really -  to downsize my supplies during the next month. I also decided to complete some long overdue UFOs, a few each week, which will mean one empty box of guilt removed from the sewing room.

Here's what was completed on Friday night and Saturday.

The 'spots and dots' block I pieced inside a churn dash is now a very sweet pillow which will be posted to one of my toddler granddaughters next week. The back was made from vintage Tilda, in an envelope style with no buttons as this little girl is still at the 'chewing' stage, and the raw side edges are hidden safely inside a French seam.

Second finish was the quilt top I made last year which I'd planned to hang on my office door. At last, the bright and tropical genuine 1960's print has come alive with machine quilting and binding. It beautifully brightens my office entrance!

 The third UFO finish over the weekend was using Blossom's "Freebird" block she designed and stitched back in 2010 to make a small table runner.

Blossom stitched this block twice. The first was used in a charity quilt a group of friends and I designed and stitched for the Fresh Hope organisation in 2010. This copy has been safely stored at my place as a gift from Blossom until I could think of how best to display it.

These are the two blocks that Blossom and I made for the "Springtime" quilt...

...and this is the sweet table runner which now frames her precious redwork design. I used some old French General fabric as that's what the donated Springtime quilt was made from.

It's a wonderful feeling to make use of what has already been partially made, and especially when you're delighted with how they finished. 

Maybe you have a box of UFOs that may need airing??

I imagine you'll be re-inspired to finish them if you brew a cuppa and gently pull each one out for a look-see today. You never know...

hugs

maintenance and ufo progress...

I slowed on my progress to complete the Fat Quarter Shop's Wishes" BOM quilt top that I made last year. 

Who could imagine that choosing a simple border fabric would cause the project to grind to a halt?

Well, it did. 

When my head becomes so muddled I cannot make a clear decision the best course of action is to pack up the project and walk away. Mr E's second best advice  has always been to 'walk away', and he's a wise fellow so I listen and comply.

Now, almost two months since the last block was sewn and the main area of the quilt top pieced together, I chose the 2" wide final border print. Whew! 

 Now all I need do is decide how to quilt it.

If it was winter I'd throw it over my knees and hand quilt...but as yet, winter is a dream I hold on to. 

 After stitching the border to my "Wishes" quilt top I could not escape the evidence of fluff build up in my sewing machine. It's been a few months since I last gathered all the lint from inside and around the bobbin case, but THIS article jogged my memory to stay on track with machine maintenance.

I thought some of you may need a little reminder too?

Now I'm ready to sew again!

There's a true cool breeze blowing through the office today and even though it's 10:15am in the tropics I haven't had to turn the air conditioner on yet. That's pretty exciting to me, so I might continue on with my cleaning mindset and tidy my desk and fabric shelves. After my second coffee of course.

What are you planning today?

Oh, in case you wondered, Mr E's first best advice is to "breathe"...

hugs

 

 

ufo progress tuesday....

You noticed, right?

This is not my usual UFO Finish Tuesday.

This is 'fessin-up' Tuesday if the truth be told.

You see way, way, way back in 2009  I began sewing sweet churn dash blocks to make a large bed quilt for Mr E and I. 

The date is even printed on the churn dash block pattern I printed off the web that first day...

I actually declared  on this here blog that I'd sew two blocks every day until it was finished. 

Now if I'd carried through with that promise to myself we would have been snuggling under this dream quilt for about 5 years by now. 

It would have that frequently washed, loved intensely, can't-believe-I-made-it-myself feel about it.

But no. 

I kinda got side-tracked with becoming a designer, and that beautiful vision I'd held so dear to my heart got lost in a wall of thread, fabrics, blogging, and hundreds of patterns to write.

The few times it came to mind (usually when moving house the four times between then and now)  I told myself it wasn't the right season because Princess Sophie was moulting and cat hair would over the quilt, so I'd best wait till the following autumn.

Do you make excuses like me? 

Well, I've wanted this quilt so bad, and because this is my Year of Gentle Domesticity - bringing my heart all the way back to the love of homemaking - I'm going to finish it. True this time.

The box where I store the fabrics and blocks is unhidden and sitting in my sewing room...

I'd forgotten how many beautiful repro and 30's style prints were in there...

...until I went searching through layers of them to find my churn dash blocks!

In my head I thought there might have been about 14 blocks (haven't been inside this box to count them for at least 3 years)  but when I took them out from under the fabric and counted them I had 23!

I'm in love all over again so I've decided to put any more UFO finishes on hold until this one is complete.

I've got the original block pattern to make more 8" blocks, and if you're wondering where it's from you can still find it HERE...

What's your longest waiting UFO?

Are you ready to finish it?

 

PS:

I've been nominated for best embroidery photography in the Craftsy Blogger Awards!

If you believe my pics are the best in that category I'd love you to vote for me over HERE.

Voting closes midnight Wednesday.

Thank you. xx

hugs

Letters...

I have a friend named Ruth.

Ruth writes me letters. Lovely, long, funny, newsy, personal letters.

Amongst other things she watches over a large busy household, opens her home to regular overnight guests, home-schools her younger sons, is hands-on at her local church, crochets for her grandchildren, reads prolifically...and she writes me letters.

And when those letters arrive in my mailbox a few times every year without fail, I feel awash with love and the deepest sense of being cared for. 

When I was growing up I had a penfriend in Japan, a boy my age. His name was Takao and I can still quote his full name and address because it was engraved by my pen on scores of envelopes over three or four years.

In our early teens we lost contact, and I don't remember why, but our few years of correspondence gave me such joy, and a good supply of Japanese chewing gum, coins and stamps!

Hand written letters aren't as common anymore. Remember "Little House on the Prairie" when Ma would wait months, sometimes a year, for a letter from her own mama to arrive? That kind of thing is foreign to us these days with our 'instant' electronic mail and popular social media sites for second by second peeks into each others lives (and moods).

For better or worse modern communication is here to stay, but I do lament that quite often. 

Especially when I open a letter from Ruth.

My breathing slows as my heart beats at a restful unhurried pace, because I'm not being pulled toward a reply just now...I'm accepting an invitation to sit awhile with a dear friend and enter into her day to day life as though I were there.

But before I delight in unfolding the creased pages of familiar script, I brew the kettle, drop two big spoonfuls of tea leaves in the pot, and take down from the high shelf above my head a cup and saucer once held by fingers much older than mine. 

And then, I journey to a friend's home and heart through the melody of her pen.

Bliss.

I think it was a year ago that I first designed and shared the pattern for "Sparrow". I made it in pretty pastels, and framed it in pink wood. Sparrow resides permanently in our home as a reminder that the Lord is caring for us.

A couple of months back I stitched a second version, this time in country colours...

When I'd sewn the last stitch of the verse I stored it away because although I planned to give it to a friend I still wasn't sure which friend that would be. Do you ever do that?

As January rolled over on the calendar the name of the recipient became clear in my heart, so yesterday I added borders...

..and after quilting and sewing down the binding, I wrapped it in paper and tied it with a bow.

Mr Postman has it now and when it arrives at my friend's door I hope it brings a smile to her heart...

 (the free pattern for Sparrow is here)

So, I guess what's weighing on my mind today is a desire to stay connected.

Whether it be to someone close or far, it still requires effort to reach out and say "Hi, I'm still here, and I want you to know that our friendship/relationship matters - and that I am so very thankful  to have you in my life."

Emails are nice most of the time, but they bring with them a sense of urgency to respond that kind of overwhelms me some days.

But cards? Letters?

They don't require an urgent response. They come with gentle care and a freedom to simply enjoy.

 I've gathered all the sweet cards that have been purchased over the years into one place, and today I'll buy a big pack of postage stamps.

This year I will write to one friend or loved one each week on a card. There will most likely not be a long newsy letter included very often, but it will be a message to say they mean a lot to me, and I cherish them.

Ten or fifteen minutes a week, one card, one stamp, a heart made full at the other end...

Hugs

UFO finish Tuesday...

It was fun giving myself the goal of completing one UFO each week during November and December last year, and I think it's important that during A Year of Gentle Domesticity the habit continues... 

On Sunday night I chose to find a use for the two blue and white patchwork blocks I made last June....

I'm working at 'refreshing' our bedroom at the moment, and these looked perfect for the centre of two small toppers to cover our bedside tables.

Mr E and I do not having matching drawers. His is slightly rectangular whilst the top of mine is square and a little larger, so even though I used the same fabric to border both blocks, they are slightly different sizes when finished, and I also chose different binding fabric for each.

I got them made to the binding stage late Sunday evening, then Monday morning I brewed a strong coffee and put an episode of 'Rosemary & Thyme' on the telly while I hid the stray quilting threads and blind stitched the binding to the back. 

An hour later both were done and I cannot tell you how  lovely that feeling of accomplishment was for me!

I gave my beloved the more manly of the two, those striped borders instantly bringing memories of my dear Pop to mind. It's like shirting isn't it?

I used the stripe for the binding too...

Mine was the 'pretty' block, (naturally)...

...and I'm really pleased with how the outline quilting allowed the darker shapes to stand out.

The fabrics used in these blocks are from Rachel Ashwell's 'Chambray Rose"...

...and as I still have a good supply I may use them to continue a blue and white flow in our bedroom.

What have you finished recently from the UFO box?

hugs