Free Saturday tea towel pattern and rambles...

 

As I promised earlier in the week, here's the Saturday tea towel stitchery from the Days of the Week series which up until now had been shared through my bi-monthly Homemakers Heart magazine.

I just haven't had time at this end of the year to do a November/December issue so I'm giving you the final two days of the week stitcheries here on the blog to download. 

I'll share Sunday before the end of the month. 

Each of the 'days' in this series has a little theme, and Saturday's theme is letter writing - something I used to enjoy, but which became difficult the past few years due to the increasing discomfort of arthritis in my right hand, the hand I try and save for designing and stitching my embroidery patterns. Stitching is in fact very good for my hand - it's gentle and rhythmic, very soothing. But holding a pen and writing long letters is painful, so I save my writing for menu plans, shopping lists and cards.

I often think about typing a letter to old friends, printing it up and posting away to them, but then I'm held back by the thought they'll think I'm lazy for not 'writing' in my usual cursive script. My own fault really as up until today, in this blog post, nobody but my husband, Blossom, and of course our doctor, knew about the arthritis. Sigh. Silly me.

I was wondering how many of you also have issues with your hands? In many ways we're blessed to live in such a hot tropical climate, as cold climates would make the condition worse. Hubby and I can feel it more during winter, even though our winter is probably like your spring - and yes, he has arthritis too, but for him it's in his neck, wrists and knees. Poor love.

Are you held back from writing letters because of something similar? Perhaps we just need to explain to our friends (or family) and begin typing and printing...popping our words in a pretty envelope and adding a lovely bookmark or something similar? That's definitely my plan from now on.

Use the link below to download the stitchery pattern.

DOWNLOAD "SATURDAY"

If you've missed the first five days in this tea towel series just pop over HERE and download my free magazines.

The garden is alive with lizards, and whilst I am taking cover from the heat in my air conditioned home, they bake in the sun. I hadn't seen this one before and am not sure what type it is, but it has the most beautiful green stripes. Fortunately he stopped under the Syzygium bushes for a while so I had time to grab my camera and take a few photos.

Elsewhere in the garden we're doing a lot of mulching around the herbs, flowers, and the handful of remaining edibles. 

One big surprise in the ghastly heat of the past two months has been a resurgence of growth in our strawberries! 

I thought they were all dead as everything was dry, brown and shrivelled - but they are in a small planter stand my hubby made out of wooden pallets and the petunias which are scattered between the strawberries still had a little life so I just kept watering every day, thinking of the dead strawberries as mulch. Well, low and behold, they grew back - far healthier than before, and this time they're not being eaten overnight by critters. 

My roses continue to flourish...

...as do the geraniums. These pops of colour are gorgeous!

And no matter how hot it gets here, no matter how humid, the chillies thrive. We have two types - Birdseye, which self seed every year, and these Santa Fe Gold which have quite a burn so are used sparingly.

Blossom and the children had head colds last week but it didn't stop Bloss from sewing Cully May the MOST gorgeous princess dress! 

Our sweet 5yo slipped on the tiles out back when her and Rafaella were cooling down under the hose, and ended up with a black eye...but mummy made it all better with a princess dress and a wand to match. Honestly, there's so much detail in this dress...

I'd only just bought Cully May the gold sparkly shoes the week before - how perfectly they matched her dress. 

Something really lovely about Blossom's two girls is how excited they are for each other when Blossom makes either one a new dress. They're never jealous, only excited. Bloss was so proud of Rafaella that she made her a wand too, which matched the silver sparkly shoes I'd bought her.

Now don't get the impression these two sisters are little angels - they can get wound up with each other, just like most siblings - but they do love each other very much, and are thrilled when one or the other receives a gift. They're also excellent big sisters to Charlie David, and he adores them. Tomorrow they'll all come over for the day and I have been instructed to bake 'blueberry & raspberry muffins" for Cully May, and "pancakes with peanut butter and strawberry jam" for Rafaella. 

Young Charlie is happy to eat either. 

Yesterday I pulled the pantry, kitchen cupboards, drawers and appliance cupboards apart for a very long and exhausting tidy up. In the process I put things aside to donate, threw away out-of-date items, and began working on the principle of storing like-with-like instead of storing things where I can fit them. This required me to carefully plan where it made sense to keep my appliances, cake trays, bowls etc in order that I make the best use of my limited space. 

Recently I've been reading a few blogs from homemakers I follow on Instagram, and a common theme with those who have small kitchens has been creating 'work stations'. Whilst I don't need to go that far, it did make me consider the placement of everything I use daily, weekly, monthly or rarely.

In the midst of that spring clean I baked a loaf of bread using some new flour from Laucke Mills. It's a sprouted wheat grain, which I've been after for ages, and was on sale, so I bought 3kg, which for us will become 12 loaves of bread.

Have to say I chose to do half-and-half in my bread dough, half of this flour, and half of regular white bakers flour, and I'm glad I did. The bread is delicious, it's very hearty but still fairly light, and my hubby prefers a lighter loaf - so he was happy. 

We had it with chicken pasta salad last night, and toasted for breakfast this morning with homemade strawberry jam, peanut butter, and fruit on the side. Yum.

Last night I pulled a book off the shelf to read as I was bone weary and needed to lay down, but unable to sleep as I was staving off another brewing migraine. It's been years since I read "The Simple Home" but I had to laugh because in the midst of my spring cleaning through each room, I noticed Rhonda's October chapter was on that very subject, so even though it's November, I'm reading through October.

The book is written month-by-month (following our Australian seasons - but you just choose the opposite seasonal month for the northern hemisphere) and expands on Rhonda's first book "Down to Earth".

If you've not heard of Rhonda Hetzel why not pop over to her blog, 'Down to Earth' HERE and have a wonderful roam around - so much to inspire!

I especially like the quote written on the October page...

"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."

(Thomas Edison)

That made me think of Annabel, and her consistent work ethic. Hers is another blog I highly recommend for inspiration and encouragement. 'The Bluebirds are Nesting on the Farm', can be read HERE.

Well, that's enough for today - thank you if you hung around till the end. 

I won the battle against my migraine last night and only have a dull thud today, but still, I intend taking things slow for the remaining hours of Thursday. 

As the early morning gardening is done, and this blog post written, I shall now gather some stitching, choose a good movie, and brew myself a very large pot of Vanilla tea to sip and enjoy with the home-baked rock cakes from Tuesday (before hubby eats them all!).

I hope and pray your own day is one that revives the body and mind, puts a smile on your face, and brings joy to those very dear people who share your dwelling. 

hugs

Catching up and a free tea towel pattern...

Well it's been nine long days since my last blog post and even for me lately that's a long time! Hubby has been home on school holidays for the past week, you see, and still has one week left before the final term of our Australian school year begins and he has to slip back in to teaching mode for another ten weeks.

So right now we're working around home and in the garden doing needed repairs, removing spent vegetables, weeds and unwanted plants, building new raised garden beds, planting carrots, radishes and more herbs...as well as fixing the unexpected problems like the dishwasher flooding the kitchen and my laptop seizing up after the latest big Microsoft update. 

My dear man had to improvise with the split dishwasher hose because there are none in the country (cause they come from China no doubt) and bought some industrial hose which he configured to the machine perfectly. My laptop on the other hand needed to have everything saved onto the external hardrive (I do this every few months anyhow) then the whole laptop wiped to have Windows re-installed along with all the various drivers and apps that keep my busy business running. This was not a smooth exercise for hubby, who is brilliant with techy computer stuff, because my laptop refused to recognise the hard drive when we were ready to transfer all the files back over - aaah, the joys of computer life. So he manually (over 24 hours) transferred them over and was rather relieved to see the back of my desk when it was complete. So this led me to be 'absent' for three days in the last nine.

Another day was spent reacquainting myself with all the updated functions (why do Microsoft have to keep changing things????) and just when we thought everything was going smoothly again our dear hen Bess died. 

When we got the two chickens a year ago we knew they were getting on in years but they still laid regularly and when Bess got a bit poorly a few months back I did everything instructed to make her well again. And she did bounce back so in the end she had a couple more months of scratching in the garden and staying close to our other hen, Daphne. But poor Bessie, it was her time to say goodbye so Mr E has buried her beside his shed and planted a tree over her grave. We affectionately call it the Bessie Tree. Daphne was lost for the first two days without Bess but she's come good today and has decided that hubby is her best friend so while he's been washing and vacuuming and polishing our old cars this morning she stayed right beside him. 

We have two new 'point of lay' hens arriving mid October and we're praying Daphne and they get along well. But in the meantime she's decided human company is a comfort. 

Late yesterday afternoon I was tidying the linen cupboard and pulled out a set of check tea towels I purchased months ago. I always refresh and decorate my tea towel supply in January as a ritual beginning to the new year, but as this has been a year which many of us would find hard to describe with a single word or phrase I decided not to wait for next January and began sketching a simple design to stitch onto a small aqua check towel. Small patterns which are cute and refreshing to the eye really brighten a kitchen and the area around it...and they're fun to stitch too. 

I'm hoping to create a few more tea towel patterns soon but first I must complete the December set of Faith in Hand designs as I always work two months in advance. However, I do find that stepping away from 'work' and just creating for pure delight is a great boost to the overall creative flow so perhaps I should sprinkle these extra projects in between the essential designs?

Use the link below to download the pattern...

DOWNLOAD Cook With Love PATTERN

Cook With Love is a beautiful phrase don't you agree? 

It's so easy to let kitchen weariness and even boredom creep in to meal making, especially when you're unwell, tired or on a tight budget...and I feel this way at times too, despite my absolute love for preparing food. I find that when those moods threaten to darken my thoughts it's time to watch a few favourite cooking channels on YouTube, recipe accounts on Instagram or old episodes of the Great British Bake-Off. Every single time without fail I am inspired and can't wait to get back into the kitchen and create with whatever ingredients are on hand.

Recently a friend, Teresa, shared photos on Instagram of a French chicken salad sandwich recipe she'd made from a recipe she'd found (also on IG). It looked scrumptious and as I had a bit of leftover roasted chicken breast in the fridge (we reintroduced a little meat back in to our meals over the past six weeks) I gave the recipe a try...after I baked a loaf of fresh bread first.

I made enough for two days of lunches and hubby was rather chuffed about that. 

The French chicken salad recipe came from the Mon Petit Four blog and just in case you'd like to try it yourself HERE is the link. 

Another delicious treat made this week was a very easy, dairy free, chocolate pudding.

The main ingredient is avocado, which you cannot taste surprisingly, and I can assure you this will be made over and over again. I served it in jars with chopped strawberries on top...

Afterwards I added some strawberry jelly as well (jello) because my husband simply loves jelly. 

Tomorrow I'll be restocking our depleted avocado supply. We go through 6 to 8 a week but this might just tip the scales over that. 

You'll find the recipe HERE at Downshiftology. 

I think that's enough catch up for today. We still have chores to do and I want to spend some time planning something special to share on the blog from October...but that's as much as I can say right now. I wonder if you have any ideas what I'm up to?? Hmmmm.

God bless your precious hearts, and may your joy in Him increase more and more each day, for He joys in you dear one...never doubt that. 

Loving hugs

PS: Before I go...almost forgot!

There's only a few days left to join Faith In Hand for the October patterns....

pop over HERE for that info. Thank you. xx

Tea towels anyone?

On Wednesday I took Blossom out for a special pre-baby 'pamper day'. We went to the hairdressers for a shampoo, cut and blow dry, then to the nail salon for pedicures before lunch and cappuccinos at the Coffee Club. 

Opposite where we were having coffee was a discount store with a big stand of gorgeous country style tea towels out front so after lunch we headed over for a browse. 

Now, I *love* fresh new tea towels and regularly update my stash because we do a lot of cooking in this house and my poor kitchen towels bear the brunt, so I purchased half a dozen whilst Blossom cooed over the baby wear display nearby. 

Whilst these new purchases won't require any extra embellishment from me, I do still have a supply of tea towels standing by which are destined for embroidery or applique. Why? Because I love to have a few 'special' ones for use when guests come to visit. 

Earlier this year I did a tutorial on how to make this pretty appliqued tea towel (read the blog post here)...

 ...and at the time I was hoping to create a new one each month.
Unfortunately 2016 (so far) has kept me on my toes with family health challenges so the plan has not yet come to fruition, but last night I remembered some applique bird pieces I shared with you last year and decided they'd be perfect for a new tea towel project!

Here's the little applique shapes (read the blog post here)...

...and here's the tea towel and fabric I pulled from my stash last night.

They're a perfect background for the bright little bird shapes!
I'll hand applique the birds in place on a strip of the peachy/pink gingham before I sew the completed section across the bottom of the green towel. The preparation didn't take long as I already had the applique pieces ready to use...

After mixing and matching body, wing and chest sections I peeled away the Vliesofix and fused the birds onto the gingham...

Once the shapes have been blanket stitched I'll attach the gingham trim to the bottom edge of the tea towel using the same method I showed you in this tutorial...

If you'd like to make some embellished tea towels over the weekend those little bird applique shapes are a free download here in my shop.

My "Bird in a Pot" pattern is normally $1.50 but until August 1st I'm sharing it as a freebie in my shop too!

Thought you might like to see sweet Blossom at almost full term...

She had taken a beautiful photo of the two of us earlier in the day, reflected in her vintage mirror...

So close.
Counting the hours till she and her DB hold their precious daughter.

Have an especially lovely day.
I'm off to Heather's for some stitching and to swoon over her latest craft makeover and to eat delicious food and drink endless cups of tea and coffee whilst trying to contain laughter and not split my sides! I know I'll fail dismally, but it's worth it for the fun we'll have.

hugs

Stitching and ditching perfection...

 A comment the other day prompted me to share this post.

Both Janita and Jayne asked whether I fuse a stabiliser  behind the stitching area of my tea towels before I begin any needlework embellishment. Good question, ladies. 

Stitching on tea towels is a wonderfully relaxing project for me, and I have a nice pile of them ready to be 'made pretty' over coming months...

In fact, I'm working on two new little motif designs at the moment which will be stitched onto some of those kitchen towels in the coming week. They will complete the set of patterns for the May Stitchery Club...

But back to that question - do I fuse stabiliser behind a tea towel stitchery?

No, I don't. 

Tea towels (cotton or linen) are usually very hardy, twice the thickness of quilting fabric, and when washed they 'pull' in - so if you stitch on them before you wash them for the first time you tighten the weave and secure the thread rather well.

Here's a couple I've stitched this year, both front and back. 

This one has been  stitched, but not yet washed...

'Baking' was embroidered in backstitch and satin stitch, with lines of running stitch either side of the word. Once it's washed it will tighten up the threads...

In the tea towel below, you'll see how the threads

 tighten slightly in the fabric after washing...

Nothing has unraveled, and this towel has been washed at least 10 times. 

 I have often heard stitchers say 'the back should look as good as the front'  and if I had been embroidering Kate Middleton's wedding gown then that would have been my goal.

But I'm a home sewer, a very blessed designer who enjoys creating with the home, family, and friends in mind, so I cut myself some slack and I encourage you to do that with your own work too.

You see, if I concern myself with whether the front and back are both perfect then I doubt you'd see much happening from my sewing basket! My work is not an ugly mess, but it's not a perfect mirrored replica of the front either. Most times the back of my handwork is hidden by a frame, or backing fabric if it becomes a quilt, pillow or other item...but my tea towels are out there for all to examine, and I'm not bothered by that at all. 

So don't you be. 

I collect vintage linens, the hand-embroidered kind, and one of the things I love  about them is imagining the woman who spent time with a needle and thread, creating home-made magic with her precious fingers not knowing that her work would one day be treasured by me.

I pulled these from my stash of old linens so you could look at the front and the back...

Now I don't know about you, but when I look at these, front and back, I see HAND-made beauty.

 And if looked at your own work, I'd see that too.  

 It's about LOVING what we make, not agonising over our skills or feeling inadequate.

So please enjoy what you stitch, smile while you stitch,  and deafen your sweet ears to the scrutiny of others who feel the need to nitpick your work - and if you're the one who examines with a critical eye, please don't crush the spirit of your fellow crafters, ok? Build them up with confidence and encouragement instead.

Keep creating dear ones, because one day they become treasures for someone like me... and isn't that marvelous!? Our work lives on...

hugs