Beautiful Things Come Together One Stitch At A Time

Hello lovely lovelies❣ How are you all?? Goodness me, more weeks have disappeared into the history of our lives. I wonder what has transpired in your little part of the world?? Some of you, I know are going through impossibly difficult days; I am so sorry. Some of you are being buffetted from pillar to post wondering, indeed what tomorrow will drop at your door. Wish oh wish I could knock on your door, gift you a bunch of flowers and give you the warmest of hugs; and perhaps, share a conspiratorial cup of tea, in a fancy teacup, of course.

Down here far from the madding crowd Spring is stirring. How do I know this?? Firstly, because the blustery winds of Old Man Winter have whooshed the pages of the calendar to rest on the month of September (YAY) for a while, and, I suppose more importantly, in the garden there are clumps of bright, yellow sunshine in the form of happy daffodils. One cannot be sad when one gazes upon muddly messes of rows of these happy heralders of that long awaited season I love so. Soon, the gloomy days of winter will be but a distant memory and months of happy and colourful flowers will once again begin the dance of the flower kingdom, each taking their turn in succession on the flower stage.

Maisie has recovered and is once again springing around, though under my watchful eye. Again, I have been embroidering my fabric flowers. As I sit here I wonder if embroider is even the correct word?? When I think of embroidery my mind imagines elaborate embroidered stitches so expertly stitched on those masterful masterpieces imagined by needlework connosieurs. The only 'embroidery' I have stitched these last couple of months is a simple back stitch, along with french knots. No fancy stitches here embellishing my fabric flower garden. No lazy daisy stitches, no chain stitch, no beads, or pearls; none of those intricate stitches that one would associate with embroidery. Whatever it is that I have been doing.....embroidery or just plain run-of-the-mill stitching; simple back stitching and a few....well quite a lot actually, french knots; my flowers (except the wisteria) are finished. After many, many hours and days, all the flowers now have the minutiae of their blossomy state.

Irises, tulips, poppies, granny bonnets, lilies, gladdies, water lilies, japanese anemones...........daffies......all are blooming in their full gorgeousness. 'Tis true, isn't it, with each tiny hand stitch, what seems like an impossibly drawn out task, where seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks ........indeed months pass into history, all of a sudden, the interminably slow stitching results in fully 'grown' flowers in all their beauty, are before you.  As I gaze upon each flower and the gazillion of stitches thereon, I am reminded of the patience and mettle that is needed to bring about what is in one's muddly imagination to come to fruition. Why, I believe a hand stitched pretty in all it's entirety is not for the antsy. So with that being said.....shall you and I stroll along my garden to see all the pretty fabric flowers blossoming in full bloom? Oh please do......I think they might make you smile, if only a little.

This week I will begin the begin of  fashioning oodles and oodles of tiny petals for each wisteria flower. I fear the wisteria will take a very long time but not to worry because I am a patient gal. I am not in a hurry. Hopefully in a couple of weeks the beginnings of wisteria flowers and leaves will be tangling their way across the top of the quilt in a pleasing fashion. But for now, I must be off,  as my good husband and my good self are lunching with some friends to celebrate Father's Day. Thank you so much for popping by my little place. As always your sweet visit has cheered my day and sprinkled a little ray of spring sunshine into my day. May you all enjoy the loveliest of days with sprinkles of beauty causing you to smile. Take care❣

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

Linking this week to Kathy's, Slow Sunday Stitching  and Frédérique's Patchwork, Quilting and Applique

"I'm Itching to be Stitching" ❣

Hello lovely lovelies❣ These last few weeks have been ones where I have been "itching to be stitching". It has been an interesting couple of weeks where I have found myself sitting in my sunshine-filled family room, more than I normally would, with embroidered thread and needle in hand, happily stitching details to my flower garden quilt. More wintry weeks done and dusted, which means inching closer to that happiest of seasons.....Spring, Spring, Spring....♪♩♫❣ The garden is beginning to reveal the slightest of notions that beneath the garden beds, the magic of nature is beginning to.....begin the begin. Aah yes.....the daffodils, the bluebells, the irises, so many other early spring bulbs are beginning to pop up out of the cold earth and in a couple of weeks there will be a sea of the happiest of yellows and blues everywhere. Can you tell I am just a wee bit excited????

The environs of the family room has seemed like my home for the past twelve days, as I have been keeping an eye on my Maisie who is recuperating after a nasty accident. Maisie decided to jump over a fence to investigate a new born calf who had found itself in our garden, and in the process ripped her belly open, thus resulting in many stitches. She has been a very sad pup. How do you keep a stitched up springer spaniel from springing through her day???? She would much prefer to be chasing ducks across the paddocks or sniffing out critters in the garden, than being confined inside. I tell you, the first few days it was knee high impossible, but now she is remarkably happy and content...and very sweet. Oh, and there is the problem of the plastic 'cone of shame', the 'Elizabethan collar'.  Sweet Maisie wasn't having a bar of it, so to keep her from doing more injury to herself  I have wrapped a towel around her neck, rather like a thick scarf, so she won't lick her sutures to death and rip them out. Not very glamorous I'm afraid, but I must say the towel 'pillow' works a treat. Maisie cannot get to her sutures and the towel is much more comfy than those nasty plastic cones. Is there a cat or dog in the world that will tolerate these cones????  I have been witness to a new look in her eyes I have never seen before. A look of pure disdain when she looks at me, the nurse from hell. Poor baby......only two days to go to be rid of her stitches, though there is still a small wound which has been left to heal naturally. I suppose I will be keeping a close eye on her this week, too. Yes indeedy, shall we say an interesting few weeks. Now, don't judge me harshly because those of you who have had the pleasure, (and it is one of life's delightful pleasures) of enjoying a springer spaniel as their faithful companion will know exactly what I mean.

So, with all that sitting and keeping an eye on Maisie as she mostly snores her head off as she runs free and chases imaginary ducks in her dreams,  I have been stitching  embroidery to my quilt. With each little simple embroidered stitch, I have 'painted' stitchy details onto all the leaves. I must say  I am loving the texture the embroidery gives to the leaves, especially the hydrangeas. The texture which is added with the embroidery adds that little bit more dimension and definition, taking my fabric flowers to another realm. This fabric flower garden  makes me smile. Love, love, LOVE it❣

Though, I didn't replicate the veins as those afficionados of  all things botanical would think perhaps I should. I apologise profusely to those of you who have a Latin botanical book in one hand and Stirling Macoboy's What Flower is That in the other. Naughty of me I know and though I have stitched the veins resembling those that nature would replicate, I have used artistic license with my stitching. After all, my aim with this quilt is to fashion one with a Monet-esque aesthetic, an impressionistic painting, so to speak. Isn't artistic licence a most wonderful thing. 

I purchased a tin of 72 Derwent Inktense pencils thinking I would add shading to each flower. They are beautiful pencils with scrummy names such as Fuschia, Scarlet Pink, Lagoon, Sherbert Lemon, Spring Green....and so many more. After playing with the pencils I decided that perhaps I wouldn't use them as much as I thought I would. As this quilt will be a bed quilt, I decided that they might loose their intensity with each wash and as I would have to use a fabric medium with the pencils the quilt would lose the soft tactile feel that I love for a bed quilt. Don't get me wrong, Derwent Inktense pencils are fabulous, but I think they might sing a more lyrical song on an art quilt which would be displayed on a wall and not be washed regularly. I was going to shade the irises with several shades of  yellow but decided that stitching with embroidery thread would look spiffier. So, for now I have put them away, eagerly looking forward to playing with them sometime in the future. Though, I did paint the 'splotches' on the corolla of the foxgloves with the pencils. Another thought is that a lot of the fabrics I have used are batiks and dyed so there is an element of shading and interest with a lot of the flowers anyway. With the embroidery on the leaves finished I have begun to add the finer details to the flowers as well.

I am happy with the progress of my fabric flowers. With each embroidered stitch the flowers are slowly blossoming before me. No doubt, with my faithful hound snoring nearby, more delightful stitching will be enjoyed this week. The tulips, gladdies, lilies, granny bonnets, more irises......all need the minutiae, the finer details to make them....well....flowers.  Hopefully when next you visit my little place, sweet Maisie will be fully recovered and back to her springing self, and all the fabric flowers will be in full bloom, with their completed faces smiling at all who gaze upon them. Then I can begin to design the wisteria that will meander in a lovely, tangled fashion across the top of  my fabric flower garden.

As it is Sunday afternoon here, I will be linking up to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching later this evening, where other lovelies all around the globe are putting their feet up, enjoying a little slow hand stitching. With me playing photographer and stylist this morning I too will pick up my needle and thread and enjoy some more embroidery. When speaking to a friend the other day she said it must be lovely to sit, while keeping an eye on Maisie and not feel guilty at all for sitting day after day, enjoying many hours of stitching. I immediately replied that I never feel guilty enjoying all the stitching I do, even if the reason is I just want to stitch.  Why, for me to imagine, design and stitch is as necessary as the air I breathe. Why, it is the very essence of me. No pangs of guilt  here. =)

Thank you all for visiting my little place to have a peek at what I have been up to. May you all enjoy the loveliest of days with sprinkles of beauty causing you to smile.

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

Linking also to Frédérique at Quilting Patchwork Applique