Treat yourself, and two UFOs...

 

After so much happening lately within the family, my plan for this week was to catch up on things around home, work in the garden, and go visit a friend. But the best laid plans can easily be changed.

I began to feel unwell last Saturday night, and by Sunday morning I suspected there was more to it than I'd at first thought. By Monday morning I had a full blown virus, and it's been downhill from there every day since. So I've not left the house in a while, and have had to pace my days between shorts bursts of energy, and long hours of feeling blah. 

Kelly-dog has stayed close to my side, perhaps sensing that I'm not on top of life at the moment? 

This morning (Thursday) after doing the basic chores of breakfast, dishes, making the bed, hanging the washing, and feeding our pets, I was preparing to settle down with a herbal tea and watch Olesya's new vlog (a new one is up every Thursday my time), when I thought "Jennifer, why don't you make yourself a nice morning tea? Do something special."  And so I did. 

You see, I never bake scones for myself. I only bake them for family and visitors. With hubby at work six days a week, it has never occured to me that I could just bake them for my own delight. 

As the scones were baking, I went out in the garden to pick fresh herbs to make a pot of tea, and pondered the idea of making a fuss of oneself every so often, with a special morning tea. It just didn't seem right, and yet, why was that so? I still cannot answer that question, but I think many of us need to take a moment some days, to treat ourselves by the simple joy of creating a special meal for one. 

I found my lovely white tray, gave it good dust and wipe down, lay one of my very favourite little welcome mats across the base, and once the scones and tea were ready I headed out to the garden where the view is so lovely now that the petunias and dahlias are coming in to flower. 

Instead of sitting inside to watch Olesya's vlog on the telly, I popped the iPad up on our outside table and spent a lovely relaxing half hour or so watching her and her husband working to create rustic beauty in their remote forest house in Belarus. You can watch her HERE

I chose to finish off the last of the marmalade and the raspberry jam with my scones, and enjoyed two large mugs of delicious lemon balm, mint, tulsi and ginger tea. Kelly-dog thought he needed a treat too, so I had added a plain scone to my plate for him as well. It appears he and I will repeat this morning tea regularly. 

To keep my hands entertained during the past few days, I pulled out a few UFO projects that would be easy to pick up and put down. The first is a crochet blanket I began last year around August, the end of our winter season...but our short winter was even shorter and it was soon far too warm for crochet, so it was put aside for this winter. It's a warm winter so far, but very pleasant, and the evenings are good for crochet as we have all the doors and windows open, allowing the cooler night air to fill the house. 

Now, at this stage I must tell you what happened last night. I was in the kitchen tidying up not long after my husband had arrived home from work. It was dark outside, and I was just using the pantry light as it offers enough vision into the kitchen. Hubby had gone up to the pool to clean it and to check on our cat Sophie. I had packed up the blanket and the balls of yarn, and carefully placed them in a basket on the small table by the couch, ready for me to work on a little later. 

When I finished in the kitchen, I came into the living room and discovered Kelly-dog in his bed with a ball of yarn, and then looked over near the couch to see the basket upended on the floor and my blanket was nowhere in sight. 

Well, I found the blanket wrapped around a tree in the backyard. Yarn was wrapped around plants and strewn across the ground, and my favourite purple crochet hook was missing. Hubby and I searched with spotlights in the dark to find all that was missing, but we were unable to retrieve my crochet hook. half an hour later I had rewound yarn, removed all manner of leaf and twigs from the blanket, and given Kelly a jolly good talking to. 

This morning as I hung the washing on the line I spied a flash of purple under the passionfruit vine, which is so wild it has covered the large red Ixora, and heavy with fruit, lay mostly along the ground. I thanked the Lord because I think that hook has moulded to my hand and is incredibly comfortable, so I was not looking forward to breaking in a new 4mm hook at all. 

The second UFO project I have been working on is the remake of Phyllis May's Kitchen (here is the original), but this time as a quilt and with my own name in the main block instead of Nana's. 

I began these more than two years ago, and after completing eight blocks I put it aside, with the idea of getting back to it a month or two later. Last year I did the embroidery and applique on the final four blocks, but then put it all away again, as I was not very inspired to do the borders at that stage. This week I felt it was the perfect time to do a little each day, and yesterday had completed the final four block borders. 

Throughout this remake I have added vintage lace, vintage buttons, and old doilies to most of the blocks, and am now planning how to display all twelve blocks as a quilt. Below are some of the photos...

I think I shall sew some favoured patchwork blocks to fill out the quilt, making it a better size for our bed. And if I'm honest, this may take a while, just as every step of the project has been thus far. ;-) 

There was also a third UFO I'd begun to complete, but my computer has been acting up today and I can't get the photos loaded, so it can wait till another day. All I did with the third UFO was finish one of the eight blocks, and then trim them all...while I figure out how I shall display them, for this will not be a simple idea and I shall need time. 

I do hope you are all looking after yourselves? Are you in need of a special treat for one? I have decided life is too short to wait for company, or a visit to a friend, before enjoying a lovely morning tea. In these wintry years of life, we should make time to not just be a blessing to others, but a blessing to ourselves, especially, if you're like me, and are blessing others in one way or another almost all the time. I do love to bless others, it comes quite naturally, a gift from the Lord to be sure, but I am realising it's okay to bless myself with a simple and special morning tea on a regular basis as well, for I love morning teas! What about you? 

May the Lord bless each of you with wisdom to understand His Word, so that you may know His good and perfect will in every situation you face. I find that no matter what is happening in our day to day lives, whether in the valleys or on the mountain tops, we need to know our Bible so that we can draw from it all the wisdom, faith, courage, hope and direction we need - and so that we will not be deceived by false teaching, which appears to be rampant now. 

Currently I am working on the next Bible Study to share with you, and as my love is for ministering from the aspect of womanhood and gentle domesticity, it will be about one very special Biblical woman whom some may overlook, but her example is profound and covers many exemplary qualities. I am excited to gift you this soon. 

Hugs,

Join my free stitch-along!

 

It's been a while since I wrote a post updating what's going on in my sewing room, but here is one at last.

Last September I showed you the beginnings of my remake of Phyllis May's Kitchen, which I renamed Jennifer's Kitchen (you can see the updated photos HERE), because I'm sewing the blocks into a quilt this time. The original version was a fabric memory book with pockets, dedicated to my darling Nana, Phyllis May (you can see all the original photos HERE)

In the above picture, I'm showing the new flour canister and mixing bowl block, which was recently completed, plus the comfort food embroidery done and ready to be bordered as a 10.5" quilt block. 

Right now I'm almost finished the preserving block, just a bit more detail to add and I can add lace and borders on it too. 

I love having a few things on the go at once, especially during the long summer days. Oh, and bless you for the care and prayers about our flooding rain! The rain has cleared for a while and though the yards are still sodden mud slides, the sun is shining once more...regardless of the heat, I welcomed the sunshine. 

But as I was saying, having a few things in process, sitting pretty and inviting beside my stitching chair, is wonderful. I tend to get most of my chores done in the morning, or I use that time to visit with Blossom. These early afternoons I brew a cuppa, or pour a large iced ginger water, perhaps indulge in a scone or slice of cake, and with fabric, needle and thread on my lap, I stitch and listen to an audio book. Around 3.30pm I pack everything away and begin the afternoon chores, and then start preparing dinner. 

Having something to stitch is good for the soul, whether that be a long term project, such as my Jennifer's Kitchen quilt blocks, or quick makes when you're in the mood for something smaller. And that's what I had in mind for this new free stitch-along...

I have been meaning to to do this since 2021, as I had flour sacks and some lovely fabrics ready to make a few kits (I am always getting enquiries for kits)...but you need time to plan this sort of thing, and my time last year was happily taken up with home and family, garden, health and regular Elefantz business commitments.

The project for this stitch-along is what my Nana would have called a supper cloth. She had a fairly small kitchen table, but always covered it with a tablecloth, and when afternoon tea was served, or when guests called, she'd throw a small supper cloth across the centre of the table before placing the large tea pot, sugar bowl, milk jug and a plate of home-baked treats upon it. 

My "Little House Corner" supper cloth has been made from a beautiful unbleached flour sack, which I purchased from an Amish supply store across the ocean in the USA. In every corner there's a different little house, hence the name...

The sides are bordered in a pretty floral gingham print, many years old.

The border is added to the supper cloth before any embroidery is added, so that's where this stitch-along will start. I'll have the border tutorial for you, along with the first of four little house stitchery patterns on Friday, March 3rd. Then I'll share the remaining three little house stitcheries over the following three Fridays. 

I made a blue bordered cloth for a friend's birthday last year, and it's just as pretty as the red bordered cloth I have kept for myself. I suggest you choose your favourite print to border your own Little House Corner supper cloth. Choose threads which blend with your fabric - my number one embroidery rule.

As I bought a lot of the flour sacks (with this idea in mind), I have made up 18 kits to sell, which are now listed in my shop. The kits include a genuine unbleached flour sack measuring 33" x 36", and plenty of pretty fabric to border your supper cloth. 

The fabrics are not the same as the floral gingham used for my own cloth, but there's a choice of five beautiful prints which I think you will love. Unfortunately, due to postage costs, these kits are only for sale within Australia. 

For those of you who want to join this stitch-along and supply your own fabrics, you will require one large square of flour sack, calico, homespun, linen, or other solid cream fabric. If you can get a piece 36" square that's great, but as the flour sack I've used is slightly smaller, my supper cloth (after trimming the hems already in place) ended up being 35" x 32". I could have cut it smaller to make a 32" square, but didn't mind having it finish as a rectangle. 

However, as I'll be making another one with you, I may go for the square this time.

To purchase one of the limited flour sack & floral fabric border kits (with free postage) go HERE to my Etsy Shop. Remember, these kits are only available for posting within Australia and as soon as they are sold there are no more. 

(green floral)

(turquoise floral)

(pink floral)

(aqua & blue floral)

(red & blue floral)

Anyhow, I'd best be away and get back to the sewing room...because I'm busy cutting kits for other projects, things I'm fairly sure you'll like - but I'll wait till next week to show them. 

Bless you heaps,

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August bookmark and what I've been sewing...

 

The weather is warming again, as it normally does once we pass the middle of our tropical winter, so I have put the crochet hook down for a while and been busy in the evenings with my remake of Phyllis May's Kitchen (see the original pattern here). 

This time the blocks will become a quilt, and I've changed the main block to 'Jennifer's Kitchen' - which I am sure my sweet Nana, Phyllis May, would not mind at all. 

The applique fabric is Cook Book (a Lori Holt fabric), and once all the blocks are complete I'll decide how to border them in a quilt layout. 

I'm really happy with the remake so far, a change from the original vintage florals of the memory book.

Slow stitching without a deadline is very relaxing after busy days around the home and garden. 

Do you remember early in July when I showed you my damaged pillowcase, and the first steps of mending it? 

It's completed now, though there was more mending required than originally thought. Perhaps this will give you an idea for pillowcase makeovers?

I drew a basic flower design, and used needle-turn applique to cover a hole which had marred the pillowcase.

Then I saw that the edge was fraying, and a side seam had come away, so once the side was repaired with a simple French seam, I covered the end with some treasured Cabbages & Roses fabric and a bit of cotton lace. 

I think I'll make pillowcases for all my granddaughters next, using brighter colours and more flowers. They will love that!

The August bookmark was a rush job this time, as I had forgotten all about it until yesterday. I'm still very fatigued and forgetful from Covid, as are other members of the family who caught the B5 variant. 

((It really knocked us hard, but not as bad as the children. Blossom's three children here, and Anita's three children down in Sydney (2000 kilometres away from each other) had Covid too, and now all six grandchildren have lost their fingernails, and little Charlie has also lost his toenails as well. ))

So when I realised how close August 1st was, I drew up a design, stitched it last night, and made the bookmark today. I chose two lovely Tilda fabrics for my thread colour inspiration, and was happy to find ribbon in my stash which also blended perfectly. 

Use the link below to download the free pattern.

DOWNLOAD August Bookmark Stitchery

If you've missed any of the previous month's patterns they are HERE

Look after yourselves, okay, and look out for those around you. I ask God at times like this "what is my gift, that I can help others?" and usually the answer is cooking and baking...so that's what I did over the weekend and early this morning. 

You see, Blossom's really struggled since she had Covid, especially with the children having been so sick with it too, so today I took over enough meals and treats to last a few days...it's a simple thing, but it meant a lot to her. 

Is there a simple thing you can do to help out someone who is feeling poorly, or is in need of a blessing?

In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'  Acts 20:35

Big hugs and many blessings,