Books & Roses BOM and finishing some projects...

 

Did you make a bookmark last month?

I wonder what yours looks like?

Today I'm sharing the little February design with you. It's bordered top and bottom with old lace and two different types of red fabric - one is regular quilting fabric and the other is a vintage woven linen.

 I kept the bookmark in the regular rectangular shape this month, adding white seam binding ribbon for the tag.

I was asked how my bookmarks are sewn together and the best way to describe it is as a tiny quilt finished in the envelope style. 

I fuse thin Parlan behind the bookmark cover once it's made, trimming to the size I want; then I simply lay another piece of fabric over the front of the bookmark (right sides together), carefully popping in the ribbon tag, and pinning around the four sides. 

Sew around all four sides with a 1/4" seam, leaving a 3" opening along one long side. Pull the bookmark and ribbon right side out and press flat. Ladder stitch the opening closed and your bookmark is complete. 

Have you thought about using the little Books & Roses stitcheries for a different type of project? 

A friend of mine, Joanne in the Netherlands, is using the designs as the centre of 6" churn dash blocks and it looks lovely!

My friend Julie in NZ stitched the bonus 2022 bookmark I shared in late December, changing the year for the name of her friend Gail, who was the delighted recipient of this bookmark!

Be creative with the little Books & Roses stitcheries this year and you may find yourself with many pretty gifts to bless others.

To download the February bookmark design use the link below.

DOWNLOAD Books & Roses block 2

If you have missed the 2022 bonus bookmark or the January bookmark they are HERE

The other day I showed you my progress on a vintage inspired churn dash runner using an old cross-stitched linen as the centre of the blocks.

Now I can show you the completed runner, which I'm so happy with!

 

I did the quilting by hand with white Perle 12 thread, which really enhanced the overall vintage look of the long narrow runner. It was specifically made for the small white bookcase we use as extra pantry storage, and once in place I chose which items to display on top - because you know I'm working to make our dull kitchen a vibrant happy space this year. 

White and green works so well with red, but I'm glad for the pop of blue in the runner because it livens things up. 

The colours worked beautifully with my old kitchen clock and the "Vintage Kitchen" wall quilt I made a few years back (pattern is HERE).

Now I need to sew a curtain to cover the front of this small pantry shelving, but until I'm sure of the fabric design it will stay like this - after all, do it once and do it right. 

Last night I also completed the first dishcloth from the cotton blend yarns purchased last week.

Next will be a blue cloth and then a green. The pattern is so easy and very relaxing to knit a bit after dinner each evening. I found this pattern through Julie and if you'd like to knit a few yourself it's HERE

In the kitchen I'm looking for new ways to use up all the fresh plums which are cheap and readily available at this time of the year. Usually I make the 'once a year cake' (because it's a very indulgent recipe!) and lots of jars of plum jam, but last night I decided to bake a plum crumble for dessert. 

This is the recipe I used, though I added a teaspoon of vanilla paste to the fruit along with the sugar, and had more fruit than the recipe suggested as we prefer just a bit of crumble. 

Served with custard it was delicious. 

This year I'm re-reading The Simple Home month by month...

...and enjoying it again. Each time I read the book something fresh resonates with my homemaker heart.

The chapter for February is on finances, and even though we are very mindful about being debt free (apart from the mortgage which continues to shrink), there's ideas in Rhonda's book which I can work on.

I also love the Winston Churchill quote...

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."

If you've never visited Rhonda's blog or read her books, pop over HERE as there's much information for living a simpler life in the posts she has shared over many years.

Giving is just as important as making, receiving and saving. 

Having a generous heart brings happiness, and when you have young ones to teach it's important that they learn more about giving than getting - after all, this world today has become far more self-focused and self-indulgent than when I was a child. Let's do what we can to foster a giving heart in our children and grandchildren. 

It's time to get started on dinner now. Tonight we're having marinated salmon, Hasselback potatoes and a tossed salad...and this is definitely one of my favourite meals to make and enjoy. 

What's cooking in your kitchen today?? I love to hear of new ideas.

Bless you heaps,

Repurposing project for a vintage linen...

 I was rummaging through my tub of old vintage embroidered linens earlier in the week, the lovely pieces collected over many years from op-shops, garage sales, or gifted by friends who know how much I like them. My plan was to choose a heavily embroidered piece which I could cut into five, 4.5" squares. 

Some of the pieces in my collection are damaged, yet there's still good sections to cut out which can be repurposed for new 'vintage style' projects. I'd mentioned in the last post that I was planning to sew blocks from a free BOM by Sherri McConnell this year, but that decision changed the following day, as I considered it wasn't her BOM that attracted me, but the fact that all the blocks will feature one basic design - the churn dash block. And you know they are my favourite of all patchwork blocks!

So I let my own imagination take over, and considered what colours work in my kitchen (as this is where I intend displaying the shelf topper I want to make) and those fabrics I showed earlier in the week do NOT blend with my kitchen. On their own, they are lovely, and would be perfect for a soft pastel and cream kitchen, but they simply will not work in mine. My kitchen needs pops of vibrant colour to blend with the latte cupboards and the white shelving this runner will be displayed on. 

The old cross-stitched linen I chose works beautifully with off-white solid, blue tonal and red floral fabrics. I ended up making the five blocks, then sewed them together end to end before bordering with more of the off-white cream solid. Next comes the hand quilting.

I needed the runner to finish at 34" x 9" so it can sit perfectly across the top of that narrow white bookcase we use in the kitchen for extra pantry storage, and it will become the first 'update' to this plain white shelving. Once this runner is complete I can begin on a curtain across the front, because 1yo Charlie David spent most of Thursday removing everything 'pantry' from the shelves because it was all on display and how can you blame a little boy for being attracted by all the pretty jars, packets, cans and bottles?? 

Julie shared a link on her blog the other day for a simple knitted dishcloth. I know I've had one similar saved on my computer somewhere, but when there's a link right in front of you it's much easier to just download and print then and there. I headed off to Spotlight yesterday for some yarn as these knit up fast and make lovely gifts, and we messaged back and forth with photos so I could find skeins of the right cotton blend that she'd used. I was thrilled to discover it's the same yarn I used to knit cardigans for Cully May, Rafaella and Charlie David in 2020 and 2021. 

So I have three crafty projects on the go right now - new stitchery designs for my Faith, Heart and Home pattern club; the repurposed vintage linen runner; and knitted dishcloths. I can't get bored with a selection like that - because truth be told, sometimes I get bored with all the stitchery time needed (especially as my designs are all worked to a deadline), so having something different to turn my hands to for a while is just the break I need. 

I think they all have their own purpose. The stitchery patterns are my employment; the knitted washcloths are for future gifts; and the vintage table topper is part of my desire to decorate our home in a cohesive style and colour which brings pleasure to the eyes and joy to my homemaker heart.

At the end of last year I had purchased a new planner, but the practicalities of using it were not the best - at least not for me. So I returned back to a favourite, the Day Designer. Last year I had a large day-to-a-page Day Designer, but in reality I didn't need that much space in 2022 (you know, cause I'm slowing down this year, right?) so I bought this new one which is large but with a week for each double page spread. It's so good, and I love how pretty it is on my desk. 

Planning my days is life-giving to how I think and function within the family, the home, and in my business. I don't add every little thing, but the most important ones I'm aiming to accomplish each day as well as the things which must happen and are not-negotiable. I don't beat myself up if some things get moved to the next day, or even moved a few days forward, for just seeing that I am accomplishing what matters and adding in a bit of joy each week makes me genuinely content.

Proverbs 13:16 "A wise man thinks ahead; a fool doesn't."

Working with the colours that add life to our home; making items which compliment each room; being mindful about all we keep, what we pass along, and what we purchase - these are becoming more deeply embedded in my thinking and planning this year, and prove fruitful in more ways than I had imagined.

I started on my first dishcloth during lunch...

...and now hubby has arrived home from work so I shall bid you good afternoon, and pray that each of you find the weekend to be a productive seedbed of contentment, creativity and delight. 

But before I go, here's a few blog posts I've enjoyed reading this week, in case you're after some inspiration...

LEA from Our Little House on the Mountain

JES from Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth

At Home with ROSIE

Bless you heaps,