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