Crazy Flowers♡

 

Hello lovely lovelies♡ How are you on this 24th day of July?? Goodness, another month speeding to the end of this year. It's a rather chilly Sunday here today. Much cooler than in some parts of the world. Gosh, some countries are experiencing sweltering temperatures.....and devastating fires. This planet of ours is certainly screaming that all is not well. 

But, to all things stitching. This last little while I have been playing with fabric scraps.  Playing with insignificant, little smidgens of fabrics left over from past sewn pretties that have been left languishing in dark hidey-holes; waiting....waiting....to be incorporated into another pretty.  So much playing that cheery, colourful flowers have bloomed. This time every year, mid-winter, I always seem to need to fashion something which explodes with happy colour; to chase the chilly, wintry doldrums away. The garden at the moment is drab and rather sad in all it's winter hibernation (and decay) so just because I am in need of some happy colour, right before my very eyes  a 'bloom' of crazy flowers has grown. I only meant to fashion a few crazy patchwork flowers to see what they would look like, but after diving into the pile of scraps, alas, I couldn't stop. Yes, they became a wee bit addictive. Octagonal flowers dressed in happy, scrappy, crumbs of fabric.

I used the EPP octagon and square shapes from my Hydrangea Cobblestone quilt; the quilt, which alas, I am still hand quilting. I traced around the octagon shape onto white fabric, added a quarter inch all the way around, so I could turn each side of each flower under, in readiness for hand piecing. Then I began machine stitching scraps of fabric onto the white fabric until a crazy flower eventuated. For the centre of each flower I have used tiny morsels of a rose print. Easy peasy.....oodles of colourful crazy flowers blooming all over a little quilt. Crazy Flowers....sounds like the perfect name for a quilt, if you were to ask me. For the squares, I used a Kaffe Fassett fabric 'Flower Delight' cutting intermittently here and there to add to the beauty of the garden of crazy flowers. Gotta love a Kaffe fabric♡

Of course, the gloom of winter never really touches the magic of The Fernery♡

Isn't it funny how a quilt begins and slowly grows?? One starts with a 'tureen' (well I do) overflowing with scraps; then one begins to throw these pretty morsels of fabric up into the air and voila, a 'bloom' of flowers, a garden of crazy flowers grows. It is always such fun to play with fabric scraps. Though, oh my goodness, playing with scraps certainly explodes into one helluva mess! This evening I will continue to stitch crazy flowers and little floral squares together, joining all the other lovely ladies at Kathy's place. Some happy slow hand stitching, me thinks. And.....because I have been waxing about all things scraps I will join in the fun over at Cynthia's place for 'Oh Scrap'. 

Hoping you enjoy a lovely Sunday when it arrives at your doorstep.  If you are sweltering from unbearable heat try to keep cool and please take care. Now, if you like me are shivering from the chills of winter, rug up, throw another log onto the fire and enjoy a lovely cup of tea♡ I am having a little holiday away from my blog for a little while.  See you in Spring♡ When you next visit my little place, perhaps the daffodils and irises will be sashaying before your very eyes♡ Have a beautiful day, lovely lovelies♡

 Until the next time.......

The Blue and Green Bag.....'Tis Finished♡

 

Hello lovely lovelies♡ A lovely, Sunday morning welcome, to you♡ Another week closer to spring. Well it is for me. =) I hope your week was a pleasant one. Mine was, though my body is a little sore. Do you perchance remember the wall in my boudoir which I covered with pages from books of glorious photographs of flowers?? I wrote about it here if indeed you want to have a bo peep. Well, all the colours have been bleached by the sunshine and over time a lot of the flowers and leaves have faded to varying shades of blue, and I must say the wall is beginning to look a little under-whelming. I love the colour blue, but I was missing the pinks, purples, yellows and all the others hues of the flowers. As happy as those magical sunbeams are, they cause colours to fade over time. This is the reason why I change the quilts on my bed so often. Of course, I could close the curtains to have everything remain in pristine condition, but if there is sunshine dancing all around the room, then I will always embrace those happy sunbeams with open arms. So, throughout this week I have been clambering up and down a ladder, pasting with Mod Podge, new pages over the old ones. As I purchased five books of Seeing Flowers, I have a lot of pages left to use. And, I must say I am loving the wall filled with colourful flowers, once again. I haven't finished yet as I can only do the 'ladder thing' for small amounts of time. But I will continue throughout this coming week. I will need to climb higher on the ladder to get to the top.....oh joy.....not!

I finished the blue and green bag. Last week I had finished the embellishing and needed only to make the bag. I machine stitched the front and back together; stitching the lining also; then inserting the lining in the bag. For the lining I used the wrong side of the vintage coverlet. Then I fashioned the flower and leaves for the flap closure. For the flower I ruched a length of ribbon into a flower arranging it onto an array of leaves which are fashioned from wire-edged ribbon. A vintage brooch was stitched onto the flower. So, so easy and so, so pretty.

Another new bag. Another bag embellished to the hilt with a tapestry, remnants of doilies, ribbons....and other such pretty fripperies. I have used up most of the coverlet which is wonderful as I am endeavouring to whittle down my stash. I suppose I will just keep fashioning bags and perhaps a cushion or two, from these beautiful textiles which once upon a time in a bygone era, dressed people's beds.

Thank you for visiting my little place. I am going to enjoy some morning tea, oh, and a piece of raspberry yoghurt cake...yum! The sun is doing its darndest to shine here in this happiest of places; the fernery. The pansies, the geraniums, the stocks, the polyanthus.....all are doing what flowers do; just smile and impart pleasure to all who gaze upon them. A spot of reading, too, me thinks. My new In Her Studio magazine has just arrived. Have you seen it?? It's a fabulous, quarterly magazine with page after page of sumptuous photos and wonderful stories of creative ladies and their studios. I delight in poring over each exquisite photo and the lyrical words the artists write. The book?? The Complete Language of Herbs with fabulous information and drawings....paintings, of all things herbs. Oh, and because it is Sunday, later on I will find a stitching pretty, and enjoy a little slow stitching. 

May this week bless you with sprinkles of beauty, much joy, and many smiles♡ Sweet Maisie and 'sweet' me wish you a lovely day♡

Until the next time......

New Beginnings♡

Hello lovely lovelies♡ A Sunday morning hug to you♡ I hope this week has been kind to you♡ My week?? It passed  quickly....again. Another month blew by and another is just settling in for a while. July. Cosy sleep ins, and with quilts wrapped around me enjoying morning cuppas, joying in the misty mornings unveiling as the dawn breaks. Those winter mornings of mist-cloaked landscapes are a delight to the senses. I am reminded that winter days are filled with loveliness, even if they do chill my bones. Though, with misty, winter mornings aside, I do hope winter gets a hurry on.

This week?? After the previous two weeks of being completely absorbed with the border of Skipping Around The Garden Path, I longed for a more relaxed week. And relaxed it was; well mostly. It was a week where I happily chatted with my daughter who lives in San Fransisco, on my computer, no less. Thank goodness for modern technology. It has been so important these last four years to keep up to speed with my daughters, seeing them and chatting if only through a virtual screen. Counting down the days I will be able to hug my daughters in person, in one of those never-let-go-hugs, but I will chat about that another time.

It was a week where there were sad conversations with friends who are wading through very deep waters; where one or two of God's miracles would not be amiss. Life......the happy times filled with simplicity and joy......the complex times filled with struggles and sadness. As I always say sadness and happiness.....joys; are forever constant companions.

It was a week where there were new beginnings. New beginnings of designing and stitching new pretties. With my Skipping Around The Garden Path neatly folded and put aside in readiness for quilting, and the hand quilting of Hydrangea Cobblestones slowly inching along, some new pretties were imagined. A new beginning of a bag, just because I need a new one (not) and a small quilt which will be a table topper. When I say I don't need a new bag, well I kinda do. I am in need of a blue and green one. =) I am that gal who loves the choice of a a variety of  bags, co-ordinating with different outfits. No black or brown bag, which goes with everything for me. Besides, as I have all the pretties here in my humble abode needed to make a bag, it doesn't seem extravagant. I am lessening my supplies, one little bag at a time. Though, I fear I would have to fashion hundreds of bags to  make a dent in my Aladdin's cave of pretties. Oh okay, truth be told, I just wanted to play with all my pretty fripperies; again.

You know the story; the making of my bags' story, for you have read it ad nauseum when you visit my little place. Once again I played with vintage coverlets, old tapestries,  pretty laces, doilies, french ribbons, tiny crochet flowers snipped from snippets of doilies. My fingers playing with pretty ribbons, curling and twirling, folding and coaxing into an eye pleasing arrangement. With my fingers  slowly stitching all the pretties, enjoying my days, thinking upon my family, my friends, the books I have finished reading etc etc....and at times nothing much at all, really. It's amazing how at times my head can be filled with nothingness. 

For this bag I chose a sweet tapestry of a little cottage being hugged by blossom trees; nestled behind a hedge of a garden of green, floral lace which once served as a blouse;  with an assortment of flowers dotted here and there. The ubiquitous ribbon, too, threaded through a buckle, weaving its way around the tapestry; framing it. Throughout this week, sitting in my sewing room bathed in sunshine; has been so calming, so soothing.

The beginnings of a new quilt was enjoyed as well. A quilt which will be a table topper though of course it could grow exponentially. A few years ago I purchased a couple of  Moda charm squares and a jelly roll with the name Cheeky. Pretty fabrics in pinks, reds, greens, blues and yellows with patterns depicting flowers and spots throughout.

I finished the book The Dressmakers of Auschwitz. A deeply moving and powerful account of a group of women who survived by sewing in Auschwitz. I have read numerous books  about the Holocaust but this one opened my eyes even more. With each new graphic account I am even more horrified of the evil which humans (I use the term 'human' very loosely) perpetuated. Another book I read is written by Philip Yancey. Where The Light Falls is a moving memoir of his sad and tragic childhood and teen years in a fundamentalist, conservative church in the south of America during the 1950's and 60's. Oh my goodness, some of the  unbending ideologies that were purported are unbelievable. When I read of his accounts and memories I wonder as to how he grew up to be the free thinking  man of grace he is today. A fascinating and gripping memoir with not only sad and tragic reflections but pages punctuated with his humour. His droll sense of humour tickled my funny bone. I have read a few of his books and much of what he has to say about Christian truths resonates with me. I read it in a day and couldn't go to bed until I read the last written word.  It was  in the wee hours of the morning when I finally switched off the light. I am still reading and enjoying Home Sweet Home. I pick up this beautiful book randomly, joying in each page, each lovely photo and the lyrical words. This book is not one to be rushed but is meant to be savored and appreciated at a snail's pace.

A recent op shop find. A sweet, little, glass jug♡ Of course it had to come home with me. Love the little swan floating across the jug♡ I am dreaming of the days when I can replace the pretty fripperies with a lovely bunch of spring-filled bluebells♡

Thank you for gracing my day with your beautiful visit♡ It is another sun-drenched day where later on I will find a sunny nook and let the sunbeams work their magic. A little nook to enjoy a little reading as I have a growing pile of books to whittle down. A little sunny nook to sit and ruche a length of ribbon into a flower, and coerce some french wired ribbon into leaves. These will adorn the flap of the bag. Perhaps this evening I will enjoy more hand quilting of Hydrangea Cobblestones, too. The needle slowly inching it's way along the path of the fluttering butterflies. Some gentle, meditative hand quilting. Doesn't that sound like just the thing for a relaxing Sunday?? Bye for now. This week the aim is to finish the bag. May your week be blessed with touches of love and kindness; and sprinkles of beauty♡ Have a lovely day, lovely lovelies♡

Until the next time.............

FrédériqueLinking up this week to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching

and Frédérique's, Quilting, Patching Applique