EARLY - blocks 9 and 10 Joy in the Ordinary BOM...

 

Yes, these blocks are very early, but for a good reason. After much prayer, I have decided to take a break from blogging beginning September 1st. Not sure how long yet, but time is needed to wait on the Lord, and prayerfully consider whether to continue the blog in 2025, or to gently close the door instead. After 16 years, I do believe that a blogging break will do me good, regardless of the final outcome. xx

As many of you are working on my free Joy in the Ordinary BOM this year, and as I'm not sure whether it will be a one, two or three months blog break I'll have before sharing my decision moving forward next year, I shall share with you Blocks 9 and 10 today, and then Blocks 11 and 12 in a few days time. 

Block 9 - The Coathangers...such normal, ordinary things to be found in our homes. How reliable they are, and how very needful too - yet they are so ordinary that I rarely give them a thought other than to hang, or remove, items of clothing. I think it may be that way with the people in our lives sometimes - we're so used to them being around that we may forget to stop and take notice as to how they're faring right now, or to encourage them by sharing what we appreciate about their character, and perhaps how they inspire us. A seemingly small thing like this can lift a precious heart from the valley, and fill it with kindness, care and love. Who do you know that needs to be checked on, or may need a boost of loving care?

Block 10 - Reading...this year I have begun to read more from an actual book, and not much from the internet. Our local library has become a regular place to visit and as I browse through subjects which interest me (a mix of herbal medicines, Mediterannean cooking, gardening, healthy living) there's a delightful joy in coming home to brew a cup of herb tea and sit quietly turning the pages of a real book, discovering new things, whilst carefully sifting out what is uneccesary. Learning this way is gentle, and slow, and quite enjoyable. If I find a book that would be valubale to my studies in various areas, I try to find a second hand copy, and if that fails, only then do I purchase a new one. 

My book shelves have slimmed down over the past year, as I have donated and sold many of my sewing/craft books, but now they are slowly being refilled with books on topics which my husband and I find welcome in this season of life. After all, why hold on to what is no longer of interest or required? Having less these days is proving to be 'more' because what we have, is what we will read or reference from. 

One shelf which never slims though, is our collection of Bibles, as we enjoy comparing versions next to our Concordance, and the Jewish commentary we have on the culture and traditions at the time Jesus walked through Israel. It's incredibly eye-opening to understand so much of what He spoke and did through the lens of who He was minstering to (Jews), and how they would have known exactly what He meant. 

Use the links below to download the free blocks 9 and 10

DOWNLOAD the free pattern for Block 9

DOWNLOAD the free pattern for Block 10

I will be back on Tuesday with another blog post, and the patterns for blocks 11 and 12. In that next post I'll answer some of your questions too.

God bless you all!

hugs

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Keeping busy and making time to breathe...

 

This quote by Laura Ingalls Wilder is one that I come back to regularly, as it encourages my choice to live a quiet life, a life unhurried, closed away from the world outside by a tall fence on all sides. Surrounded by the many trees my husband has planted in our six years here, and the gardens we created to provide beauty, food, herbs, restful places to sit and watch the numerous birdlife our quarter acre attracts each day - this is our sanctuary, our quiet place, where we truly do take time to think our own thoughts, talk to God, and separate ourselves (as much as we can) from the chaos of a world that shouts increasingly louder, demanding more attention than we choose to give.

 

(the garden is flourishing right now)

It sounds as though we live somewhere out in the country I suppose, but in reality we live on a very busy main road, and when we first moved here this challenged our heartfelt desire for peace and quiet. For those of you who were reading the blog back in 2017/18 you may remember that we spent almost a year searching for our first ever home, after renting all our married life. We had a list of things that we felt were important, and we offered this list to God each day, trusting that in His perfect timing, He would lead us to the right home - and He did, just weeks before our rental lease expired. 

(winter blueberries ripe for the picking)

It was a sunny end-of-winter August day, exactly six years ago last weekend, when we first came to see the house. The road had traffic, but not so much that we thought about it on that Sunday morning. Going through our list of requirments we were surprised to see that it had everything, plus a swimming pool - the one thing we did not want. Ha ha! The price was a bit more than we could spend, but we went away and sat by the river to pray and wait on God. About a half hour later we went back and made an offer 20K below the asking price, fairly sure this was what we were meant to do, and completely putting our trust in the Lord...and the offer was accepted. The house had been empty for months and the owners just wanted it off their hands.

(the cosmos are self seeding everywhere)

It wasn't until we moved in that the almost constant stream of traffic drew a line through "peace and quiet" on our list of requirements. Fortunately the excitement of setting up a real home of our own subdued that particular disappointment for a couple of months, but eventually reality took hold and we struggled to sleep with the zoom zoom of cars and trucks passing through the night. 

(lemon balm, chives and pentas mixed with morrocan mint)

The neighbours assured us "you'll get used to it" but we found that hard to believe. Our greatest desire in having a home was to live in peace and quiet, to have sanctuary away from the outside world, a place to refresh, renew, and flourish in our later years. It had been a family joke for decades that whenever our children asked their father what he wanted for his birthday/Fathers day/Christmas, his answer never changed from "peace and quiet, please."

(white yarrow, so pretty, and lovely in teas)

God's plans are regularly not the ones we'd choose for ourself - have you found that? The swimming pool we did not want has become an integral part of our health regime, with both of us swimming year-round, regardless of the weather or temperature. It's a blessing we never forsaw, yet we cannot imagine being without it now. 

(another self-seeder, sweet basil)

But that lack of peace and quiet...mmm...?? Well, as the years passed by I learned a very big lesson. Peace and quiet can be found anywhere, if you just focus on what's important within your home, the people within, and the GOD who is the real peacegiver, the One who will meet you in the storm, in the scorching summer days, in the noisy daytime traffic, in the partying of neighbours, in the (eventual) quieting darkness of the night...in your prayers, and in His Word. That changed everything for us.

(more self-seeding, pretty marigolds)

Seeking peace in a loud world is something many of us need more than ever these days, especially since 2020, as that year triggered more rapid changes across the globe than any year in my lifetime, and the changes continue to increase. Life as we know it now, especially for children, is nothing like the life my husband and I grew up in. I won't go into that too much, but I do lament the loss of those carefree years of old which my grandchildren have never experienced. But what I can rejoice in is their visits to our quarter acre, where they roam and play and wonder and explore and discover in complete freedom for hours on end...and that is something I am sure God planned when He led us here. 

(we have so much sage, lovely in teas and cooking)

So where am I going with all this? Well, we may never get all we ask for, and God may lead us in ways we do not understand at the time, but with our very limited view of tomorrow, next month or next year, we can be confident  that when we lay all aside to trust the Lord and follow His lead, we will one day see with fresh eyes all that He was preparing for us, all the goodness of God displayed for we who love and worship Him. 

The past few days have been very busy with not much time to rest up, but oh what a wonderfully productive few days it has been! I go to bed each night aching, but arise happy to start a new day. 

Last post I think I showed you how I am growing and drying calendula again. Our calendula flowers are harvested every day, and left to dry outside on the back table. Once dry they are stored in a glass jar, ready for using in herbal medicines/balms/tinctures. 

Firstly I make a calendula infusion of the dried flowers in extra virgin olive oil, leaving it sit in the dark for a month or more. Then I strain it and bottle the calendula infused oil, or use some to make balms and salves. 

Last Sunday afternoon (after a visit to the farmers market that morning) my kitchen looked more like an apothecary's back room, but I did tidy along the way so that ingredients didn't get mixed up. 

The final result was worth the month long wait for the infusion to be ready, as I ended up with pure calendula oil, calendula & lavender balm, and calendula & lavender salve - all of which I share with my daughters Blossom and Kezzie. 

Of all the many books I have on making herbal treatments, this is my current favourite, The Garden Apothecary. The pure oil is beautiful as skin care and also put away for making more balms and salves. The balm is lovely for dry patches on the skin and on my hands after gardening, and the salve is especially made for Cully May who comes up in the most painful sores when bitten by mosquitoes. It really makes a difference for her, praise God. 

I've run out of the shea butter component, but have ordered more, so when my next infusion is ready at the end of September I can make more salve and balms, plus some lip balms too. 

Sunday morning we had been to the farmer's market and arrived home with a bounty of fresh produce - far more, and much cheaper than the supermarket. Weighed down with overflowing bags of produce, hubby and I both were surprised when our bill was just $23! 

I spent all day Monday in the kitchen, storing, preserving, roasting, pickling...and baking some sweet treats for us and Blossom's family of course! 

Here's just a few things I made for the week ahead (the rest was preserved in other ways, or vacuumed sealed in the refrigerator to use fresh) - pesto made from the green radish tops, pickled radishes, pickled red onions, garlic mayonnaise, fresh tomato salsa, roasted garlic & chive labne (made after hanging Greek yoghurt for 36 hours), and herbal tea to serve over ice. 

Blossom and Cully May LOVE the labne and enjoyed a batch with crackers yesterday. I now need to make more!

On Monday I also made 2 litres of almond milk, trays of roasted capsicums and tomatoes, a tray of peanut butter stuffed medjool dates, and some sweeties were baked - ginger & coconut slice, and a chocolate slice. 

On Tuesday I spent the morning in the garden as I had potted plants that needed to be moved into shaded areas, seedlings planted out, fertilising and a bit of pruning, and planting out the coriander roots from the two huge bunches of coriander (cilantro) we got at the farmers market. I had removed all the coriander leaves and stems for use in salads, curries, and salsa, plus a lot was frozen (for use in future curries), leaving around 4 inches above the root base for planting out. In just 24 hours they were already sprouting new leaves, so we will probably be able to harvest right up to November hopefully. Coriander doesn't like our heat or humidity and when I grow it, it just withers by mid spring, and this winter (when it normally flourishes) it just didn't grow well at all. 

After gardening, I went back to the kitchen and roasted pumpkin for salads, mashed pumpkin for pumpkin bread and muffins later this week, made a huge batch of meatballs and sauce (using some of my roasted tomatoes, garlic and capsicums from the previous day), made a bowl of French chicken salad to have on rolls, sliced up the pineapple and some watermelon, and made a chocolate avocado pudding. 

So you can see that I had three busy days back to back...and then yesterday (Wednesday) I did our regular grocery shop, and popped over to visit Blossom and the children who were excitedly waiting for Ross to return from a work trip away in Brisbane. 

When I arrived back home, and after watering the garden, I decided it was time to stop, to allow the satisfaction of a productive few days to settle in my thoughts, and take some time to breathe...a good reminder from one of my Gentle Domesticity designs. 

A cuppa, some ginger slice, and time with my sketch pad brought the afternoon to an end. I prepared another pattern for my free Promises Project (here), and shall spend the next few afternoons stitching it.

A long blog post, I know, but I hope it encouraged you in some small way to trust the Lord with His plans for your life, be they large or small, and to find delights within the sanctuary of your own home. 

This verse says it all really...

Oh, and I have been working on more UFO projects for this month, another three blocks in the Anni Downs quilt pattern, and more of that cross-stitch a began a few months back. Have you been working on some August finishes too??

There's a number of questions which readers have emailed me or left in comments the past couple of months, so I shall endeavour to do a blog post to answer what I can in the near future. But for right now, I'm taking time to breathe, to rest from my labours, and possibly to give the blog a bit of a holiday very soon. 

God bless, and many prayers, 

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FInishing what I started and a FREE pattern for you!

 

As promised the other day, I have a bonus free pattern for you this month, one which I hope will encourage you to keep track of all your UFO projects, or WIPs as some call them (works in progress).

Back in December 2017 I designed and stitched this notebook cover for my Stitchery Club members, as a reminder to them throughout 2018 (mostly a reminder to me!) to take stock of all those projects we had begun but never quite finished. 

I made sure that I wouldn't lose track of this notebook's purpose, slotted in amongst all the other books which at that time stood side by side on my desk, by stitching along the spine, "finish what I started"...

It worked well most of that year, but then we bought our first home in the September of 2018 and other things took priority in my mind, naturally. A first home when you're almost 60 is quite an adventure! :-)

It's six years later and I'm revisiting my notebook, and wanted to offer the pattern here today as a gift for any of you who'd like to join in as I make a start on completing as many uncompleted projects as I can this month, and then on through the rest of 2024. 

I began by laying out quite an array of completed stitcheries (my own designs, some old and some new that have never been released) and writing up a plan for August...

Already I have completed the first two on my list. Both had their stitcheries completed, but I'd gone no further in a practical sense, other than a mental picture of how I'd finish them 'one day'. Very happy this week as 'one day' arrived.

The Faith Hope Love stitchery was included with my September 2020 issue of the Faith In Hand club...

On Wednesday afternoon I trimmed the block and needleturned it to the front of a teatowel (a matching towel to the one I cut from in the photo above). That evening I added a lovely crochet edging...

It's now hanging on my oven and looking just lovely! You'll find this stitchery pattern HERE in my shop if you do not already have it. 

The second project I completed this week was something new. I designed and stitched 'Pray' last year, but never got around to sewing it as a hanging heart until yesterday. 

It could easily be appliqued onto a quilt, small wall hanging or other display, but I chose a wee stuffed heart to hang near the Bless Our Home mini quilt. 

With the project complete, I was able to finally write the pattern for Pray, which you'll find HERE

Now, back to the free gift pattern I promised you. Use the link below to download it.

DOWNLOAD the pattern for 'Finish What I Started' notebook and embroidery

You may have noticed that I have also given the blog an update, with some lovely cheerful colours and floral displays. Planning an August that shines a focus on completing forgotten projects, and following through on old plans that were lain aside for more important things...well, it has brought a very refreshing, cheerful air in our home right now. 

For finishing things isn't just about sewing, though I will focus mostly on that this month - it's about making use of the bits and pieces which have been purchased over the years for making candles, lotions and salves...it's about starting the watercolour course I bought back in 2020...it's gathering the courage to paint some shelves and add a bit of decoupage on things...and its about getting serious with making my own clothes, cutting my own hair (eek!!)...making greeting cards...and so this list goes on. 

Already having everything I need for these projects, activities and lessons means no excuse not to slowly and methodically enjoy every one of them. And that's the best thing - ENJOYMENT. 

Now I had best head out to the garden and clip some more calendula flowers. One of my unfinished projects last year was the making of calendula oil and salve. I did grow and dry the flowers, but went no futher - however last years flowers have now been sitting in a jar of extra virgin olive oil for two weeks, and in another two weeks I can strain them and make the salve, saving some of the calendual oil for skincare. 

This year I am growing a lot more calendula, with a decided heart to make good things for my family too. Each day I pick about ten more flowers, and when dry they go in the jar. the more flowers you pick, the more grow...its marvellous. 

Have a lovely weekend dear ones, and I pray you can find time, with a hot cuppa or cool drink, to write down all the many unique ways you, in your own life, can complete projects or ideas this August. Even if it's one you've put aside for five years, or five weeks...enjoy it, and let the satisfaction of a task completed encourage you forward to work on another. 

God bless, and may His great and mighty hands hold you safe in His care, and give you many moments to laugh and smile and be grateful in the weeks ahead. 

Hugs

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Block 8 Joy in the Ordinary...

 

As I write this blog post August is just hours away, and so we edge closer to the end of another season. Each year I long for August to move slowly so that I can enjoy every moment of winter's farewell, and especially this year as the season has been a tad cooler than usual in our tropical corner of the country, and with it I felt my body able to rest more, giving in to the weariness accumulated over the previous long, hot seasons. It's been lovely to snuggle my feet into socks and slippers when I rise and move around the kitchen preparing our breakfast whilst still dark outside, a thick cardigan warming me as I work. Oh yes, I truly love this time of year. 

Being the end of a season, with spring only a month away, my mind gears up to re-organise spaces in the home, and this past week it was time for a jolly good scrub and scuttle of my sewing room. Measuring 100 sq feet (or 3 metres x 3 metres) I have a lot of things to squeeze into a small space that doubles as sewing room and Elefantz office. There's nowhere for my computer so that is out in the living room.

The "before" photos are below. Many cups of tea and a lot bit of chocolate sustained me as I worked here for three days...

I began on Saturday morning, pulling almost everything out of it's place in order to decide what to keep and what to let go of. It was also an opportunity to gather the many stitcheries from my original designs over the past 10-12 years and sort through them - some to use in projects, some to re-photograph for patterns, and others to sell in my Etsy shop later this year. The huge job of sorting/organising 'stuff' came to a conclusion mid-Monday morning, and then it was time to sort through all my paperwork and business stuff. Everything was completed by Monday evening, at which time I sat down and made plans for selling, donating, using and creating storage. 

I'll show you the "after" photos in another post sometime in August. 

Tuesday morning I gathered the pile of UFO's which had been put aside as I cleaned out the room, and made decisions on what order they'd be completed in coming months. The large quilt projects are now also in order so that I can focus on one at a time and hopefully (slowly) complete them over the next couple of years for the grandchildren or daughters. I also spent a couple of hours re-photographing some of my older designs, the ones I really love, to pop in MY SHOP soon. 

But back to the newest pattern in this year's free block of the month, Joy in the Ordinary

It's was quickly sketched and stitched last Friday, but it was only yesterday that I realised how well the little embroidery hoop and needle marries with my new theme for August! With a pile of small UFOs (small in comparison to a quilt) carefully sorted on my cutting table at the moment, it really will be a month to "Finish what you started"...

I'd love to know if you have a pile of unfinished projects too? I chose not to count the large projects that take many months or perhaps a year to complete, like appliqued quilts (of which I have five in various stages of progress, plus two of my own ongoing BOMs being shared here on the blog with you), but am focused on the smaller UFOs which easily accumulate, because (for me) the fun part of applique or embroidery is finished but the sewing together of the whole project has barely begun. 

IMPORTANT NEWS...

I'm going to share another blog post tomorrow or Friday, with a very special 'extra' free pattern for you, as an encouragement to begin working on your own UFOs, so be sure to drop by or go HERE and subscribe to get my blog posts via email. 

Please note, this is NOT the same as the newsletter I send out a couple of times a month - that will be ending August 30th, as my newsletter provider is closing and the cost for me to move to another newsletter provider will triple what I pay now. 

Use the link below to download the new pattern

DOWNLOAD block 8 of Joy in the Ordinary

Missed the previous seven blocks? They are HERE

I will leave any other news for the next post, which will be before week's end. I have finally gotten myself organised to blog regularly, and as the focus in August will be finishing what we started, there'll be a lot of different things to share - and not just sewing. Golly, I am so excited to be able to regularly blog throughout the next month and hopefully on through the rest of the year. God has put many things on my heart and you'll hear about those along the way too.

So, my dear friends, I shall sign off to day with a prayer and a blessing over you all...may the Lord who is so gracious, provide for you in the way you most need through August, and gently nudge you if you're stuck, redirect you if you're going the wrong way, and speak words of life and encouragement if you are wandering in the valley. 

Okay my lovelies, go gather those UFOs and let's begin a month of finishing some of them. Let me know in the comments what you are planning, what UFOs you've completed, and any other news about your life right now. 

God bless and sending you the biggest hug, 

Don't miss out on any Elefantz news or free patterns. 

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