"Freedom, Books, Flowers, And The Moon, Who Could Not Be Happy?" Oscar Wilde

Hello lovely lovelies♡ A lovely Sunday morning welcome to you♡ It's a peaceful morning here. Far, far from the madness....and madding crowd. I've just come in from the garden for my early morning stroll snippety snipping pretty blooms here and there. I'm ready for the first of many a cup of tea;  and later, a little slow stitching of my flowery baskets.

I acquired a couple of fabrics this week, with lush flowers flourishing all over. A pretty floral fabric will always find a home in my fabric stash. Two fabrics are designed by Anne Maria Horner 'Good Gracious', and the other, a lawn from Moda, Chelsea Garden.

There's a fabulous quote on the selvedge of the Chelsea Garden fabric. A quote by Oscar Wilde.  Gotta love an Oscar Wilde quote. There are many memorable ones.  He was a man of incisive wit.     The quote?? 'I can be perfectly happy by myself. With freedom, flowers, books, and the moon, who could not be perfectly happy?' Oscar Wilde

And that, got me thinking............=)

I love this quote. I am that girl who is perfectly content with my own company. And, if there's a  tower of books waiting to be read, encouraging me to journey along the yellow brick road in search of new adventures, exciting mysteries, knowledge, and truth......well so much the better. And, if I can walk in a garden where beautiful blooms brush me as I pass by; and there's many a room in my humble abode where many a vase of flowers intoxicate the air with a potpourri of redolent fragrances; even better.

As for the moon.  That brilliant globe bathing the earth with a silvery, ethereal glow;  cannot but cause a little happiness, can it?? Though a full moon hanging low in the night sky is magical, full of wonder; I rhapsodise a little more when the moon is indistinguishable in an inky black sky and a host of scintillating stars are twinkling above. I have been known to slip out of bed in the wee hours of the morning to indulge in a little star gazing. Just me, a mere mortal, diminutive, insignificant, humbled, looking at the cosmos above; in awe at the sight of the glimmering constellations vastly stretching above and across. It is theatre at its very best.

I am moved, in the innermost depths of me every time I look at a star-lit night sky. I send thoughts and prayers travelling through the galaxies to the Creator. In these times, I send many a prayer heavenwards for some of you, lovely lovelies. Prayers of strength. Prayers to be able to cope with each day and the continual barrage of idiocy of late.

Then the quote states freedom can but make a person happy?? Freedom?? What a can of worms, freedom, is. I've been thinking about the fragility of freedom of late. A free society?? A respectful society. A society tolerant of diversity. Citizens of different skin colours, faiths, backgrounds, social classes and family structures; having the same freedoms to live, dress, worship and believe as they wish. Unfortunately, there are some who would have us all live by their rules, their confined and bigoted ideals. One must never become complacent when governments across the world assume sweeping powers and impose significant restrictions on their citizens. Generations past, fought and died to uphold freedom.  But hey........what do I know......right?? 

Now......if I was penning this quote I would have to include fabric into my happiness gauge. I never walk out of a shop with a pretty fabric or two in my bag, unhappy. Though, when I arrive home there might be some misgivings, a smidgen of guilt  with the acquisition of yet more fabric....but that is easily pushed down, down, down...... into the depths of my consciousness.

I wonder if sumptuous fabrics caused Oscar Wilde to feel a little happiness?? After all, he was a fellow who tended to dress flamboyantly. His choice of fabrics were richly coloured velvets, silks.........dressed in a manner, thumbing his nose up at the strictures of Victorian fashion. Indeed his clothing choices were a form of self expression. I read he  considered life should be as beautiful and full of style as art.  Why, I'm going to don a pair of black patent leather shoes, complete with silver bows, just as Oscar would've worn back in the day, and do a happy dance in concurrence. Yep, Oscar Wilde is my kinda guy. 

Of course my happiness barometer would include, family, sweet sweet grandbabies, friends, stitching, oodles of quilts, chocolate cake, sweet puppy dogs, tea in pretty fine bone china tea cups...........a myriad blessings which cause me to smile. I wonder what causes the mercury in your happiness barometer to rise?? =) 

When I wasn't having fun falling down the rabbit hole reading about all things Oscar Wilde this week, more pretty baskets filled with pretty blooms were hand stitched. And yes, some of the new fabrics were stitched into the baskets.

Who would've thunk it......that a whole lot of musings could've emanated from one quote. But, that's my muddly mind for you. I'll blame it on the oasis that is my pond. I sit there with a cup of tea in hand and think upon the madness and chaos of another week that has slipped into the annals of history. My little light is shining a little brighter today because this week, the world just became a little darker. Sending many hugs wrapped in many prayers to you♡ Why, on the next star-filled, inky black night I will slip out, look up into the theatre of the night sky and whisper a prayer for you♡ Take, care, lovely lovelies♡

Sending you, lovely lovelies, a little flowery love♡ Until the next time......

Deary, Deary Me

 

Hello, lovely lovelies♡ Thank you for your sweet words re my post last week. It seems the consensus of opinion is for all of us to keep on stitching and blogging as an antidote to the many sadnesses in this world. 'Keep Calm and Stitch On'; as the Brits would say. So, as a percentage of British blood courses through my veins, this is what I shall do. I, and those of you whom are like minded, will certainly have to stitch our fingers to the bone and blog like crazy, because from tomorrow when Trump and his Deplorables take over the White House, the Dystopian Era begins. Deary, deary me. I've heard the inauguration is being held inside because of the frigid weather conditions??!! There's a chill in the pomp and circumstance. You know......hell will freeze over before......a convicted felon becomes President and is given the keys to the White House! Mmm....but then, I wonder if the size of the inaugural crowd is pressing on his mind???? Oops....a bit naughty of me but you know me, facetiousness will sometimes get the better of me. Deary, deary me.

I've started another quilt. Deary, deary me. I really didn't  intend to. It's one of those happenstance things. I was hunting for the perfect grey fabric for the hexies which will be incorporated into my star quilt and another path opened up for me to skip along. Instead of finding a grey fabric to dance with my Liberty stars, I found the perfect grey for a new quilt where baskets of flowers will be the show stoppers. There really is no rhyme or reason as to the workings of my muddly mind. I see a batik covered in smudgy greys with hints  of leaves and stems all over.......and I think flower baskets! Why......don't you?? =)

I do love quilts filled with baskets of flowers. I've fashioned a couple of quilts featuring baskets reminiscent of the 1930's, but this time I wanted a more modern aesthetic. Simple baskets with floral fabrics being the 'darlings' instead of applique flowers. No piecing of oodles of triangles, nor HST's......no fussy machine stitching of convex and concave curves; just quick hand appliqueing of each basket and fabric bias for the handles. 

The baskets are Kona solids and the flowers are an assortment of florals from my stash. The background as I've said is a grey batik print with a hint of leaves. 

January 20th. Inauguration Day. Martin Luther King Jr Day. My birthday.  Thankfully, down here at the bottom of the world, January 20th arrives sixteen hours before the USofA, so I will enjoy tea and cake in celebration of the day of my birth. I will also raise my fine bone china teacup in honour of Martin Luther King Jr, for he is worthy of celebration. As for the inauguration, thankfully, I will be fast asleep as the Grand Poobah basks in the  glow and warmth of his adoring and worshipping acolytes, as they ceremoniously heap praise and glory  upon him. Deary, deary me, it's too much for me to bear; to witness the 'emperor with no clothes' wearing that triumphant smirk of his.

And.....on that note, I'm off before I get into any more trouble.......because I just know I will.  Deary, deary me. =) I am going to enjoy a little slow stitching of my pretty baskets, this Sunday.

Bye lovely lovelies. Until the next time....

Buds in The Basket......A Quilty Finish!

A beautiful welcome to all you lovely lovelies.

Today I am the bearer of good news....well at least for me. After about six months of machine piecing, hand appliqueing and hand quilting, my Buds in a Basket quilt is finished!! YAY!! So very excited.

This quilt embraces all that I love; a gathering of sweet 1930 prints,  pretty baskets  and  of course,  flowers. This quilt oozes scrappylicious loveliness, my very favourite type of quilt.

If you have been reading along from the beginning of the fashioning of this sweet quilt you will recall I found this book what seems a lifetime ago and was saving the pattern Buds in a Basket for a rainy day.

Little bud by little bud, basket by basket, I stitched and stitched on my little vintage Bernina until all the sweet baskets were joined in rows to form the quilt.

When it came to the quilting of this pretty I decided I definitely wanted to hand quilt. Hand quilting can sometimes seem painfully slow and sometimes.....just sometimes I wondered if indeed I was ever going to stitch the very last stitch and see a finished quilt on the bed; but after months of stitching straight lines up and down and up again.......my pretty is finished! I love the quilting in this quilt, both straight lines and diagonal lines alternating in opposite direction in consecutive rows. The diagonal quilting gives the quilt a gorgeous texture. When it came to quilting the border I decided simple straight lines of quilting would be perfect. I chose a soft pink Kona solid for the binding as the background of the floral border fabric is pink. I think the pink binding adds a soft touch.

Just look at all those happy, little yellow, trumpet-like daffodils heralding Spring! Though still a wee bit chilly for my liking the sight of these bulbs swaying in the breeze whisper to me that perhaps warmer weather and sunshine is on its way down here. I just have to be patient.

Now that my Buds in the Basket is on my bed, I must say the gorgeous texture and bright and happy baskets do greet me with a quilty smile each morning when I wake up. Why, I do believe sleep is just that little bit more blissful when one spends those sleepy hours exploring  the land of Nod, snuggled under a squishy squashy handmade quilt.

Another quilt completed. Why I do declare there is something in the water down here at the bottom of the world. Within the last six months I have stitched not one, but two quilts from the first stitch to the very last.....why I never!! It probably will never happen again. =) Another quilt oozing scrappyness and loveliness to add to that scrappy pile of mine. Love, love, love scrappy quilts!

Puddles and puddles of scrappy quilts......ahh.....bliss!!

Anyway, thank you for visiting my happy little place. You always delight me with your beautiful visits. You have sprinkled sunshine to what was a rather chilly and overcast Sunday. Ahh.....Spring.....where are thou??

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

Linking up this week to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching, Alycia's Finished or Not Friday and Wendy at Wendy's Quilts and More Peacock Party.