Tying loose ends...

 Does anyone NOT have an unfinished project somewhere in their home? 

Total confession here, I have quilt blocks which were sewn in 2009/10/11 that are still sitting in my sewing room patiently waiting for me to decide how to put them together, plus I have a wall quilt which I made very quickly (because I loved it!) back in 2018 and yet has never been quilted or bound. They are two loose ends I'd like to tie up before this year draws to a close. 

But first I had to complete that sweet scrappy hexie table runner I began a couple of months ago. It's been hanging over one of the dining chairs since August (you can see how and why I began this project HERE) and yesterday I made it my mission after lunch to add the binding, hand quilt and wash before sunset. 

Because the hexies had been made from lots of different scrap pieces I thought a scrappy binding would be the best finish, so rummaging again through more scraps I joined many lengths together until there was enough to go around...

Do you use binding clips? They were a game changer for me when I first bought them about five years ago. No more hair slides or pins needed...I love these little pink clips!

Once the binding was attached I hand quilted just inside the edge of the binding...

...and then around the hexie centre.

I had hand quilted alongside the hexies before adding the binding, but left these last two bits of quilting (1/4 inch inside the outer edge and 1/4 inch outside the hexies) until after the binding was attached and hand stitched down at the back. 

Here it is finished after being washed on a gentle cycle and hung in the sunshine to dry...

I love the raised textured feel of anything hand quilted after it's been washed!

I'd really like to get started on completing one of my other UFOs today but fact is I have more loose ends which need tying up over following days and if yesterday's table runner finish taught me anything it's that the sense of satisfaction and contentment you feel after bringing a project to it's conclusion can motivate you to begin tying up other loose ends as well - whether that be unanswered emails, a neglected bible study, cooking what's in your fridge before it expires, sewing on a few lost buttons, cleaning out the bathroom cabinet, finishing a small quilt - or in my case this week, writing patterns and decluttering my workspace in order to begin fresh as soon as possible with the next stage of what God has called me to do. 

If you've got some loose ends to tie within your own life and need some motivation why not begin with a small unfinished sewing, embroidery, papercraft, painting, baking, knitting, crochet or other crafty project? The sense of satisfaction afterwards is better than chocolate! Almost. Ha ha!

As you know, Blossom is quite a way along in her third pregnancy now, only 8-9 weeks until her little baby boy is due and as he's quite a large lad already and she has a number of health issues the doctor may welcome him into the world a couple of weeks early. So you can understand that her already limited 'free' hours of sewing (with a 2 and 4 yo in tow) shall soon draw to a close. She decided to have one last burst of creativity before bub arrives and has been making some more of those adorable cotton romper sets for her Etsy Shop.

We're heading in to another hot summer here in Australia so these would make perfect gifts for those dear littlies in your life if you're like me and don't sew clothes...

She's hoping to get a few more in there very soon before closing down for a long while.

If you're interested she will post worldwide so pop over HERE to see what's left on her shelves.

Okay, that's it for me today as I have a desk to declutter, wash, and reorganise. Oh, I do get excited about a sparkling clean white desk and a pot of fresh blooms on it. And of course, before I even begin tying that loose end there's lunch to prepare for my beloved. Think we'll feast on more of those delicious French Chicken Salad sandwiches (recipe here)...

Tell me, what loose ends do you need to tie? What will you begin with?

Biggest hugs

Coming home, again...

The past week has been a bit of a blur with so much crammed in that I find myself craving sleep, quiet time, vegetables and movies. In that order.

Our three days away were so full-on that hubby and I think we need a holiday to recover from the holiday. Fact is, we drove far and wide through fast flowing rainforest rivers and creeks, regularly found ourselves too tired to eat, drank sweet clear water from a spring, saw more beauty hidden in the midst of the Daintree than a person can absorb in one day, and forgot we'd have no recovery time before returning to work within twelve hours of arriving home again. 

But golly it was good to be away and sweep the cobwebs from our thoughts! 

Next time we do this it will be in the middle of the school holiday break, not the last three days. 

The only sewing I did on the trip was making more hexies. They kept my hands busy on Saturday during the drive from Townsville to Cairns, and then again late Monday afternoon (until it was too dark to see) when we drove home.

By the time darkness fell on the trip home I was finding it difficult to fit all the finished hexies, the remaining papers and fabrics, a pincushion, scissors and thread in the single plastic container I'd brought along. 

I think there's just over 200 made now...

With still more fabric scraps ready to cut, and a new pack of 1" hexie papers purchased, I had to find somewhere to store the hexies already made so I could continue making more.

Then I remembered two tins of Christmas cookies I purchased around New Year. You know how everything Christmas themed is dramatically reduced once the new year rolls around? Well, the tins were $1 so I bought two. And even though there is a santa on the lid (I don't like santas, but do love old Saint Nicholas dolls or ornaments) I actually liked the colours and thought the tins would be great for filling with Christmas gifts for santa-loving friends or family next season.

You realise that plan has been shelved now, right? Because how perfect is one of those tins for storing  my hexies-in-waiting!

I even sorted them in to colours...

To say my heart did a bit of flutter when I sat the hexies side by side is an understatement. 

What I've discovered about this new distraction is how calming it is for my over active mind, which thinks and ponders and plans and creates all day long.

I get such enjoyment cutting the fabric shapes from years of collected scraps, and then to sit down and just mindlessly yet precisely stitch the fabric to paper whether I'm a passenger in Mr E's jeep or feet up in the recliner watching a movie...it's like a mental massage, a soothing exercise in unwinding.

And the nice thing about this kind of gentle pastime is that gentleness flows into your thoughts and you tend to sigh and smile at the same time. I think my breathing slows because the sense of relaxation is quite wonderful, and homely thoughts fill my mind.

In fact, many homely thoughts are gathering in my mind and in my heart of late.

Thoughts about what truly matters in the long term when I look forward a year or two (or five), why I get flustered and overwhelmed on some days and not on others, what am I holding on to that needs to be let go of (perceived responsibilities, possessions, relationships, plans or regrets), can I find true contentment in a rental home now and not keep waiting for that feeling to increase when we have a home of our own (if we ever have that), and what really makes a house, any house, a home?

There are many more questions and thoughts having quiet conversations in my mind as I sit and sew, and what's especially different about them at the moment are the answers I arrive at...answers which come not from stress, pain or weariness, but from peace and calm and quiet. 

By not feeling rushed or distracted, I'm able to think more clearly and let my thoughts roam further which allows me to consider more options, reactions and consequences. This then gives me a wider picture from the landscape of life in which I live...and I also find myself having no trouble following the Lord's advice to "Be still and know that I am God."

Who would have thought some paper pieced hexagons could bring mental rest, clarity, gentleness and a few much needed wise decisions to my life?

God, of course. 

Last week it was my daughter Anita's 33rd birthday and when she visited from Sydney in 2016 her heart was captured by the homeliness and comfort she felt and saw within our walls, so little by little I make things for the small flat (apartment) she shares with her husband and 3 1/2 yo daughter Aminah, and when I have enough to fill a parcel it is popped in the post. 

For this birthday I knew she wanted more of the same so I trimmed some sweet tea towels (and added a cupcake one for Aminah to help mummy dry the dishes)...

I also did something new for Anita that I'm yet to do for our home, adding lace and fabric trim to plain pillowcases. In Spotlight recently I saw a 4-pack of plain white pillowcases and a long forgotten idea came to mind so I brought them home and had a play.

Two were trimmed with blue floral fabric and thin lace for Anita's bedroom... 

....and another was made for little Aminah with pink girlie fabric and wider lace. 

I also sent Anita a wall hanging with my "Home Sweet Home" stitchery in the centre...

...and a beautiful mother/daughter mug.

My own mum died when I was 3 and I have always been saddened at not owning something that belonged to her, something she wore or used. 

With this in mind I sent Anita one of my aprons that I wear a lot, and you know, this meant the world to her...

...because she has a gentle homemaker heart too.

Aren't we blessed, those of us who can sew, bake, knit, crochet, paint or create beauty in other ways?

And the icing on that blessing is when you make another precious soul happy with your gifts. My heart overflowed from Anita's joy and her tears of happiness...and really, these were not 'big' gifts, but simple from-the-heart items to help make her little flat feel more of a home. 

One of the fun things about our return home on Monday night was parcels waiting at the door!

I have been so inspired by Annabel's determination to learn more about essential oils in order to create a home pharmacy, and then using them to make gifts which are inexpensive and 'health-ful', that after the success of replacing most of our cleaning products with Miracle Spray (I discovered it on her blog and shared about it here) I am slowly purchasing large glass spray bottles to fill with cleaning sprays and hand soap, and tiny roll on bottles and atomisers to fill with a variety of essential oil blends.

The large bottles arrived a few weeks back but the small glass atomisers were at the door on Monday evening and they are even prettier than I imagined - perfect for gift giving.

Blossom 'loves' Miracle Spray and I'm sure she and Anita will both want to try some essential oil blends too. 

Another desire is to make clothes, especially nightgowns and pretty tunic type dresses to wear over leggings. I saw this pattern made up by Kelsey (go here to see it) and fell in love as it has that feminine 40's look about it, but the Butterick pattern she used is no longer in print so I hunted one down on Etsy and that was another parcel waiting for me the other night. 

The nightgown I'm going to make is E on the bottom right, but go see Kelsey's for a better idea. 

I'd also like to knit wash cloths again, and crochet the edges of hand towels and pillowcases, embroider along the edges of sheets...so many things. So many lovely things.

You see, all that hexie hand work and the quiet contemplation time it gives has revived my homemaker heart, a heart which has not been as inspired this past month due to health and family and business needs. It's clear that I needed the mental relief, the time-out if you will, to navigate my way through a number of hurdles and concerns and choose the better path forward - and I really do have a clearer plan to improve the balance of life here. There's been gradual improvement since about 2014, but now a bigger yet simpler picture is beginning to take shape, one that will weary me less and increase my delight as a homemaker, wife, mother and writer.

To top my day off you know what I purchased? 

I bought them to celebrate not just coming home from a few days away, but because I kind of felt a little lost lately and now my path is clear again and my heart knows what it needs to fulfill this wonderful desire to live a gentle domestic life.

I'm not happy all the time, nor am I content every day, but happiness will always come again and so will contentment. Sometimes we just need to walk in the shadows for a little while to appreciate the sunshine. 

And for that I thank God who always leads me into beautiful places and reminds me how very blessed I am.

hugs

The Hexie Flower Show (a free pattern)...

When I made "Miracles Happen" a couple of weeks ago, the fabric I used for the bird applique was from a 5 inch "Petit Fleur" charm square and quite honestly I fell in love with it. 

But alas, I only had one 5 inch square in that print so I wanted to use every little piece wisely and to its best and most beautiful advantage.

Looks lovely as the wing and breast doesn't it...

Yesterday Mr E began a week's holiday and we are making time each day to do something together. After an excursion in the morning hubby settled in for a long afternoon nap, so I thought I'd sketch an idea for using another corner of that little charm square remnant.

And this is what I came up with...

I'm sharing this little design as a free gift today because it's a quick project and is great for practicing embroidery on single paper pieced hexies.

It's important that you make your hexie first and blind stitch it onto the fabric you'll be using to embroider on.

Here's a quick tutorial I shared recently for making a single hexie (during the Hussif Tutorial)...

Trace a line a little less than  1/4" outside the edge of the hexie shape. Cut away your fabric along that line.

Fold the fabric over the paper hexie one section at a time and tack the fabric and paper together with thread.
Press gently around the edges with a warm dry iron to form a permanent crease. Wait until the fabric is cold then remove the stitches and the paper from the hexie and give it one more firm press with your iron around all sides.

NOTE:  If you do not have a one inch hexie paper simply trace the hexie shape from the design on your pattern sheet onto a piece of paper. Cut it out on the traced lines and use it as I've shown above.

Tracing the design...

Place the hexie embellished fabric over the pattern sheet and trace the stitchery design without the flower petals. Just add tiny dots slightly away from the centre circle...

Don't forget to trace one daisy onto your hexie...

 

Backstitch the words, and sew cross-stitches where indicated, using two strands of thread.

Satin stitch the centre of the daisies with two strands of thread.

Sew lazy daisy petals using three strands of thread. The larger the petals the more threads I like to use as they seem to 'fill' out the shape and create impact when you're stitching with threads similar in colour to your background fabric.

Just inside the edge of your hexie sew a line of running stitch with two strands of thread...

And that's "The Hexie Flower Show"!

I've no idea how you'll display your completed stitchery but mine became the cover of a needle-book (I have a serious addiction to needle-books this year)...

And can you see that I still have about a third of my original 5 inch charm square left? 

Never under-estimate the value of a pretty charm square and how many projects it can bring to life!

Want to see inside my new needle-book?

I chose a 10 inch layer cake square for the inside fabric, then added folded charm squares from Petit Fleur as the pockets. 

I hid the raw inside edges of the pockets with cotton lace...

...and added a scrap of cotton quilt wadding for my needles and pins.

The binding across the top and bottom is the leftover piece of layer cake that I'd used for the inside, and as I had no more left for the sides I used cotton lace instead. 

Using small pieces of fabric to create a new project is a lot of fun but I think we tend to forget that sometimes and look instead at our larger pieces like yardage or fat quarters for inspiration.

I don't use large quantities of fabric in my designs unless it's a quilt, and I only make a handful of them each year, so I've come to love charm square packs, sushi rolls and origami squares (or maybe you know them by other names such as layer cakes and  jelly rolls)  because I can buy the full fabric range from any designer I like in 'small pieces' and use them to miniature advantage. Gosh, it's fun!

What about you? Do you normally purchase small cuts, fat quarters or yardage?

My free "The Hexie Flower Show" pattern can be downloaded HERE

Enjoy!

Dawn's take on Preston, and the challenge that almost did me in...

The motel we stayed at when I was down in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago was the Bell Rydges in Preston, and my funny, generous-to-a-fault friend Dawn Hay, named the project she shared at Let's Get Stitched in honour of our location - "The Preston Bag"!

 

As soon as I saw it on display at our Sunday stitching day, I was in love. 

Already my mind was planning fabrics and threads, and a day or two to make it when I got back home - I simply chose to avoid the dilemma of never having made a hexie flower before.

I traced the block for stitching at Heather's on Monday, but as is normal with our chatty sewing days not much stitching gets done.

On Tuesday morning I set aside some time to work on the embroidered sections...

...and by Tuesday afternoon I decided to ignore the butterflies in my tummy and dive in with making those teeny tiny half-inch hexie flowers! For added interest I fussy cut each piece of fabric from those I intended using to make the bag (Cabbages and Roses)...

On Tuesday evening I declared to Mr E and Blossom that I would *never* again make a hexie flower less than 3 inches in size, as I could not understand the insanity of people who enjoyed such a trial of dexterity and wits with miniscule shapes.

But onward I tarried, sewing each of the little pieces together and even adding a little chain stitched border around the centre of the flower...

When I went to bed at midnight I only had the borders of the full front panel to stitch.

6.30am on Wednesday - I stem stitch and back stitch the borders whilst bracing myself for the migraine I can feel brewing...

 

9am on Wednesday, I have a migraine bursting from my temples and I take a lot of medication.

Now, medication does funny things. It kind of 'chills' me out. 

What seemed insurmountable suddenly holds interest again. 

After 42 years of migraines, up to ten a month, and still having to function as a young mum with up to seven kids in the house at any one time,  I taught myself to accept the pain and just do things a lot slower.

This ability is what keeps me sane a lot of the time.

So I filled a very large glass with water, and in the quiet of my sewing room I began cutting the fabrics and piecing the bag.

Drawing a pencil line through all the steps as they were completed so I didn't need to tax my mind and think too much about where I was up to at any given time, the day moved on, more medication was taken, and the bag evolved.

By 5.30pm on Wednesday afternoon my gorgeous "Preston Bag" was made!

The negatives:

1. It's so gorgeous I don't want to put a single mark on it, but I made it to carry my sewing things in so I'll just have to be very careful. 

2. I think the hexies gave me the migraine! (not really, it was the tropical low off the coast, but I will still blame the hexies if someone asks...)

The positives:

1. I learned two techniques in Dawn's pattern that were much simpler than the way I do them in my own designs.

2. Teeny tiny hexies are like childbirth. It hurts and you're never going to go through it again. But two days later you forget the pain. I'll make hexies again, just like I had six more babies after the first. 

3. It's gorgeous.

4. I finally got to use those beautiful 'Cabbages and Roses' fabrics from my stash! And don't they look sublime made up in The Preston Bag?

Dawn's "Preston Bag" pattern is available now in her shop as an instant pdf download.

You will find it HERE.

She's the sweetest gal around, and we had a hoot in Melbourne...

...so why not drop over to her blog (here) and say hi! She has more photos of her original Preston Bag and when you see the fabrics she used you will swoon...true. Little teeny tiny houses...yep, swooning.

I still have some of the 'Cabbages and Roses' fabric leftover, so I think while they're languishing on the cutting table I should have a bit of a play. You never know what I'll come up with...

hugs