Tutorials - an oldie, a newbie and rearranging...

 After my post last week with the free Jam Jar pot holder pattern I received a number of requests to show how I made the little hanging loop, so yesterday as I was beginning work on a UFO finish for November it occurred to me that I could photograph the steps to make those loops for you, because they'd be appearing again in my UFO anyhow.

Back in 2016 I released twelve 'gentle domesticity' applique and stitchery designs, but up until now I have only used three of the blocks in actual projects, so browsing through them yesterday I got to thinking about various ways they could be displayed in our home. I also decided that these blocks would become part of my monthly UFO challenge for the rest of this year and into 2022. Will you be joining me? Originally I wrote that this would kick off in November, but after a heavy morning of cleaning and rearranging the living/dining room I retreated to the sewing room to go through my UFOs and choose one to start on immediately.

I barely have any of the fabrics used in the applique left, so I'll be mixing and matching what remains from that year with what's on my shelf now. 

Beginning with the "Take Time to Breathe" block, my idea was to finish it as a mini quilt for the sewing room or a pillow for the bedroom. A few borders later and it was ready for hand quilting...

This was also the perfect time to make some hanging loops like the one I made for 'Jam Jar'. 

Hanging loops like this can also be used to secure button closures so whether my UFO is completed as a cushion or mini quilt, I will use the loops.

You can make these loops any width you like, simply double the width + 1/4" when cutting the fabric. Choose how long you'd like the loop to be and add 1" in length - you can trim it to the right length after the loop is made.

My loops yesterday finished at 3/4" wide, so I began with 1 3/4" wide fabric strips. 

Fold the length/s of fabric in half across their width, right sides together, and sew an 1/8" seam along the bare edge. Gently press the seam open before turning right side out and pressing flat so that the seam lies along the middle.

With the right side of the hanging loop facing you, fold the top to create a point...

...and press the point flat.

You need to secure the little point section with some hand stitching, or you can machine a line across the edge of the back fold instead.

I hand stitched mine, though looking at the photo now I think I'll unpick the front and do it again with ladder stitch instead. A girl can get sloppy when she's tired! 

This is how the hanging loops will be positioned if I choose to finish "Take Time to Breathe" as a mini quilt...

...but if I decide on a pillow they will be used to secure two large buttons at the back opening.

If you'd like to stitch this design it's HERE in my shop and includes detailed applique and embroidery instructions, as all my patterns do. 

THIS WEEK'S "OLD" TUTORIAL...

I also wrote last week that I'd be (slowly) going through my old tutorials to update the pattern sheets and then re-sharing one every Wednesday till the end of the year. I'm choosing those which might be excellent projects for gift giving, and in my mind these Farmhouse Produce Bags stand out as a favourite.

Made from tea towels and scraps of lace, a few buttons and cotton twill for ties, they are not just pretty but very functional. 

The tutorial is HERE along with the pattern sheet to download the words for tracing. 

Yesterday, as I mentioned earlier, began with a big morning of rearranging the living/dining area. Due to our east facing home being hit with the scorching morning sun I always change the layout of furniture to suit the season. 

From late autumn to early spring I have the dining table at the window so we can enjoy a warm sunshine-y breakfast together, but from mid spring (now) till the middle of next autumn the table is moved to the opposite side of the room as breakfasting in front of the window is no longer pleasant and the curtains need to be closed for a few hours until the sun has moved over.

You'll notice in these photos just how bright this area is even in the afternoon, but I'm very happy with the layout now and also thrilled to have my computer desk right where the cool air of the air conditioner can find me.

 Once everything was done, and my short tutorial photographed, I sat down with a nice cup of tea and two Marie biscuits to stitch and begin watching the new season of All Creatures Great and Small (on Britbox). I love this show, and must admit not as much stitching got done as I'd planned...but the afternoon rest was lovely, and I really did 'take time to breathe'. 

I shall leave you today with this photo of Cully May. She starts school next year (in Australia our school year runs from late January to mid December) and is already preparing by attending a local kindy each Monday until Christmas. Her teachers cannot commend her highly enough - "what beautiful manners" - "she's so clever" - "her handwriting is beautiful" - "she's so kind to others". That's the fruit of all Blossom's mothering, and I'm so happy our 5yo is already showing this fruit in her life.

Bless you lovely friends, and I pray we shall all live by the good fruit of the Spirit day by day, giving others the opportunity to see how living for Jesus smooths our rough edges, tames our thoughtless tongues, and grows deep abiding kindness and grace in our hearts.

hugs

Issue 4 of The Homemakers Heart for you!

 

Good afternoon lovely friends, I do hope you've had a lovely week and been looking after yourselves and your home. 

Finally, the fourth issue of my free Homemakers Heart magazine is ready and waiting for you to download. It's definitely been a labour of thought, care and hours this time, but my prayer is that within the pages you find something fun, useful, encouraging and pretty.

I enjoyed making the "Little Bird" pincushion and journal cover in soft blue and cream, very much inspired by quieter days at home and my desire for projects which calm the eyes as well as the mind. I wonder what colours you will use if you make them?

Use the link below to download this issue.

DOWNLOAD Issue 4 of The Homemakers Heart

I'm taking a break...

I was under the weather and needed to rest a few days this week, then in the very midst of this slowing of self, especially in the very overcast and still hours before sunset yesterday, I realised it was time for a longer rest. 

Being a sole business owner/designer rarely offers an opportunity for holiday breaks, and I really don't think we've had one in at least two years - and even then it was just two nights at the lake. But right now I need to retreat a while, so I'm going to step away from the blog for the rest of July, and possibly the beginning of August.

I'll have more time to spend in our winter garden, make a new menu plan of nutritious, tasty and satisfying meals, host my little granddaughters for a fun day each week, create and enjoy sewing in my newly ordered sewing space, read the books sitting piled beside the bed...and generally walk in homemaker contentment without work distractions and obligations. 

Before I got ill, and during the lockdown last week, it felt so good to slowly pull apart the sewing room and actually plan how I'd like it organised. You've seen it many times, and yes, it's organised because that's how my brain works, but this time I looked at aesthetics as well as removing and donating excess, labelling everything clearly, and moving the leather armchair out into the living room to give me a 'not so squishy' room. 

A few photos from one side of the room...

...and the other side.

 

In my month long retreat from the blog I plan to immerse myself more deeply in God's Word and design a whole new series of Scripture patterns, because that's where my mind drifts to as I read my Bible. Having this sewing and design space so fresh and organised makes that task much more productive.

From the garden we're eating cucumbers, sugar snap peas, passionfruit (still!), sorrel, rocket, lettuce, and herbs, and soon there will be tomatoes, strawberries, pumpkins and zucchini.

The garden is definitely a calming place for the soul, so while we're apart think of me there surrounded by the birds, the vegetables, and all the beautiful flowers which have flourished with such abundant colour that they often take my breath away.

And I shall be praying for you, dear hearts.

Would you keep darling Blossom in your prayers as she is down with pneumonia and this makes life very difficult with three very young children. Another reason for me to step away and have more time to help my loved ones.

Be well, be gracious, be creative, and choose joy every day.

Love

PS: my month off will not affect the Simple Days BOM club, or the Let's Stitch Again club. Patterns will be sent as usual. xx

Patterns for the next set of Let's Stitch Again can be seen HERE on the club webpage.

Bless Our Home mini quilt pattern (free)...

 

"You will be blessed when you come in, and blessed when you go out."

Deuteronomy 28:6

Don't we all want our homes to be blessed? When you have lived in as many homes as we have over almost 30 years of marriage (twenty two homes, no joke) and all but the last home was a rental, you get used to praying a blessing over the new dwelling and sometimes that blessing is prayed multiple times during your residency.

In September 2018 we bought our first home, bringing an end to the cross-country rental living we'd known for so long. It felt so different, and even today I find it hard to describe, but there was an even greater sense within our hearts to walk the boundary line day after day during those first weeks, praying for the blessing of God and a cleansing of the land on which we now lived. 

But then I realised how important it was to be a physical part of the blessing, as well. 

Every day when I tend my home, I bless it. Every meal made with love and eaten beside my husband, is a blessing in our home. Every new garden bed, every tree or flower or vegetable planted, is part of how we bless this house. Every time I scrub the shower, sweep the floors, wash the windows, hang fresh curtains...I bless our home. Every hour spent tending this quarter acre on the outskirts of town, is another hour of blessing.

Since we moved into our house almost three years ago, I've come to understand that when I ask the Father to bless our home, He expects me to be a tangible, practical part of the blessing too, and it's another reason why my heart has been drawn into a deeper love for homemaking, and why I love to encourage your homemaker heart as well. 

I first created the "Bless Our Home" pattern in 2017 and later on gifted it as a tiny wall hanging to a friend. Last week I saw a lady on Instagram (Yvonne) had stitched my design and it reminded me to make it again, but this time for my own home. I don't know why I'd not done so sooner, but then again, this was probably the 'right time' because now it means so much more than it did in 2017. 

So, if you'd like to make your own, use the link below to download the pattern.

DOWNLOAD "Bless Our Home" stitchery/mini-quilt pattern

In the pattern you'll see that I drew a 5.5" square and turned it on-point before tracing the stitchery design onto the centre. I've cut out further than the traced line for the photo below so that you can see what I'm talking about...

Then I added a 1.75" wide border all around...

...and then a 1.5" wide green border, before fusing a square of scrap Pellon behind the block.

I love to hand quilt small projects and used three different Perle 12 threads to stitch inside the borders.

There's something very relaxing about hand quilting, and the final effect seems to say "home"...

I trimmed away the excess Pellon, and cut a piece of backing fabric the same size as the bordered stitchery.

Laying the backing fabric right side down onto the front of the mini-quilt, I stitched the two sections together around all four sides, leaving a 3" opening for turning right side out. 

Gently push out the corners with a blunted tool (I use a very large wooden knitting needle) before ladder stitching the opening closed.

Finally, hand quilt 1/4" inside the outer edge. 

I sewed a teeny tiny hanger into the top back corner of the mini-quilt...

...and my new version of "Bless Our Home" was complete and ready to hang in our living room. 

The fabrics used were from the new Tilda Gardenlife range; threads were all DMC variegated apart from the straw-brown used for the basket and flower centres. 

In the pattern I've mistakenly written that the flower centres are satin-stitched, but in fact they are a set of three colonial knots sewn close together. It's been a long day and mistakes happen. But of course, you could do satin stitch if you wanted to. 

I'd love to see photos if you make this pattern. Just email them to me (details HERE) or tag me on Instagram @homelifewithjennifer or #jennyofelefantzdesigns

It's 11pm on Friday night and it's been a long busy day, so I shall bid you all goodnight and pray for you as I drift off to sleep...

God bless your home, and may He bless you as you bless your home,

The privilege and the value...

 

A thought which has been resonating with me more and more this past year, has been acknowledging the privilege of being a homemaker. 

So often we don't look at our roles within the home as a privilege, so let's first step back and consider the first privilege - having a home. Whether this be a rented flat or house, a room in your parents home, a caravan, a home with a mortgage, a granny flat...you all most likely have a home, a place where you lay your head, a space to tend with love and care. A home is a privilege, a place some people can only hope for.

Another privilege of the homemaker are the tools at her disposal which assist in her day to day tasks. Unlike our grandparents who did much of their work without labour saving devices, we have a seemingly endless assortment of cleaning, cooking and washing equipment right within our walls, just a few steps away, always ready for use. 

We have hot and cold running water, a septic system, millions of recipes for using up what's in our fridge and pantry just a computer click away, and so much more.

Having clothes to wear, a washing machine, a clothesline with free sunshine and fresh air, these are more privileges we take for granted. I read of mothers these days complaining constantly about the amount of washing they have to do, due to the attraction of so many cute and cheap clothes on offer in shops for their children. 

In my childhood this complaint was never heard because we only had what we needed, nothing more. What a privilege to have so many options today for clothing, but dear mother, do not complain if you choose to fill the wardrobes with them...instead, give thanks for the privilege of being able to clothe yourself and your family. 

Shopping for groceries and fresh produce, preparing meals each day, baking a treat for a loved one's birthday, these are privileges that not all the world have. 

Opening your front door to welcome family or friends, this is a privilege. Offering them a seat at the table or a comfy chair with a view of the garden, filling their cup with tea or a cool drink, serving a tasty treat or a hearty meal, this is a privilege. 

When I clean, I consider the value of what I am doing. For to be sure everything I do has an eternal value. Every privilege I am given, whether that be the ability and tools to scrub the bathroom, the opportunity to care for my granddaughters, the time to listen to a child and do what I can to help, answering an email from someone who is struggling, being mindful of our budget and choosing to prepare the most nutritious meals I can with what we can afford, caring for a neighbour's pet while they convalesce...all of these things have value in eternity. 

In Mark 10:45 Jesus very clearly tells us that He did not come to be served, but to serve, and through the Scriptures this theme often appears. 

A homemaker has the privilege of serving and this will not go unnoticed by the Lord.

Every time I 'serve' with a willing heart, not whining about my lot in life or complaining that I have too much to do already, I am choosing to invest in eternity for we must never imagine that God is not watching. He has given us many privileges within our homes, and much grace with which to nurture a loving and welcome space for those who dwell within or venture across our threshold. 

The less I look outside my home, the more I am able to do within and the more obvious my privileges become. 

The less I look at my phone, the longer I forget Instagram is there (and I can forget for days), and the more often I take time to write down each day's tasks or goals (and do them) the deeper my sense of peace, satisfaction, accomplishment and gratitude.

This was a busy week with a few appointments, Blossom's birthday at the centre, plus a day with Cully May and Rafaella all to myself, and yet I look around my home and it is clean and tidy, dinner is planned, groceries done and put away, washing and ironing is up to date, candles are flickering and the fragrance of lemon myrtle fills the air. I even completed two new design projects by stitching and hand quilting in the evenings beside my husband as we listened to music or some teaching. I kept on top of things because the routines and choices I'd made to attend to my privileges were in place.

Putting aside the distractions which can so easily draw a homemaker away from her tasks, allows us to get back on track and once there we can maintain the rhythm of home week to week without anxiety, whining or falling behind. And when unexpected rough seasons come upon us, as they inevitably do, we will already have those good routines in place, which though disrupted for a while, we can slip right back into when the storm passes. 

Dear homemaker, think about your privileges in the days ahead. Consider the value of your choices, and how they will be viewed through the lens of eternity. What legacy will you leave through the attitude and actions of a servant heart? 

Yes, there will be those who will only remember your faults, or how you failed them, but if you seek to live your life with eternity in mind there will be many more who's lives your own example will touch and there's value in that, sweet friend.

I am a day-by-day work in progress, sometimes failing, but also overcoming, and that's okay. If we can seek to grow in grace and remember that all we do and the choices we make have value now and in the future, then we're looking ahead and not behind. 

I am Jennifer, a privileged homemaker. How about you?

I'll leave you today with this free pattern. I find there's nothing like Scripture to ground me, especially when my character needs refining...and it always needs refining. Trust me! 

DOWNLOAD the Grow In Grace pattern

God bless you dear ones, and may the days ahead allow you moments of quiet reflection which bring clarity of purpose to your life and revive your homemaker heart. 

hugs