Of Autumn and flowers and hexies.......and happy things

A lovely hello to all you lovely, lovelies♥ I hope you are all well and taking care during these days of internment in your sweet homes.  Here at the bottom of the world we are in lockdown mode. As the world agonises and groans  from the effects of coronavirus,   I am making the most of  'doing time' in my humble abode and garden.  The days have been pleasantly warm and the garden continues to gift me with sweet flowers. The light is slowly changing; the soft light and hues of autumn are a delight to my eyes. The dahlias are blooming beautifully and the pretty cosmos are just doing what they always do.....splash their colourful, sunshiny smile. One can never feel sad when one gazes upon the cheery cosmos.

This week I have been enjoying the garden, playing florists and stylists.....again, and whiling away my days taking happy snaps. Oh, and there has been the pleasure of stitching sweet hexies, too.  A few more sweet Liberty hexies have been added to the quilt. Sitting in my pretty sewing room, stitching these pretty hexies does indeed feed my soul. Yes, these sweet days at home are a shelter in the time of storm. There is no venturing out in the world, except for a drive here and there (staying in the car of course) or facing the grocery store, which I must say has been quite civil and orderly. Here in this small community we have escaped the frenzied shoppers climbing over each other to get that last toilet roll. Indeed we have escaped visits to the hospital where concussion caused from over zealous shoppers, is treated. Everyone here is behaving like proper grown ups.

I feel thankful for my home on this little island, in this small rural community; far, far from the madding crowd. Having lived in the city for fifty years of my life and since moving to Tassie, I must confess I do not miss the cacophonous jungle of Sydney at all. There is not a day  goes  by where I  do not feel thankfulness for my little home, the beautiful garden that my good husband dreamed into being, and for the pastoral surroundings that hug me every day.  It is peaceful here. It is beautiful here. Living in this little place I am able to block out the frenzied noise of the outside world. Here in this tranquil place, I can just......breathe.

I continually think of those whose livelihoods have been lost, whose lives have been turned upside down; so, so sad. It is sad to think that grandchildren cannot visit their grandparents.....indeed unable to hug one another and spend precious moments in each other's company. As a hugger, this is one thing I have felt very strange about not being able to do. One does wonder how long this situation will go on.

But, let us talk about happy things. Shall we look at what I have been playing with this week?? There are a few happy snaps, but, I thought perhaps you wouldn't mind. =)

I hope I have sprinkled smiles of  autumnal, flowery beauty to your day.  It is Sunday  here. A lovely sunny-ish day where the garden is bathed in a soft light. Later on I am going to find myself a comfy spot and delight in a little slow Sweet Sunday stitching. A walk in the garden will be a must to enjoy some moments of repose in a garden seat, carefully listening; to the soft breeze tickling the flowers, to the distant mountains, to the whispers of my Heavenly Father; and thinking upon you❧

I suppose down here at the bottom of the world where autumn is shimmering it's golden light upon me, and way up there where spring is smiling upon you....it will be a little while till we can all play with our friends, embrace in a warm hug again;  and hold hands while we dosey doe, gleefully twirling and whirling around in a happy dance. Bless you lovely lovelies. Take care♥

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

Linking up to Kathy's, Slow Sunday Stitching.

Home Sweet Home💙

A lovely welcome to my little place♥ It is Sunday afternoon here, and as it seems is the rest of the world; I am spending it in my Home Sweet Home. Home, the very word makes me smile. A most wonderful place to be in these troubled times. Our homes are a safe place, a place of refuge, a sanctuary;  the place where one feels at rest. Sitting here in my humble abode, looking out at the serene, bucolic vignettes outside my picture windows, it's hard to believe the drama that is playing out on the world stage.

As I am a gal who loves her own company and am not really a social butterfly, I rather relish being home. Oh, I love people and I love the conversations and sharing beautiful visits with my friends, but if I have to stay home, then I will enjoy it and appreciate all those pleasurable pursuits that I adore; to while away my day. To be honest, boredom never takes residence here at my little place, nor indeed in me. Boredom and me have never been acquainted, really. There are so many everyday pastimes I take delight in. Though, I am sad that it is the bizarre state of the world that is causing me to stay close to home. I feel sadness for those whose lives have been turned upside down in so many ways by the events that have eventuated over the last month.

On a lighter note, my good husband and I were laughing the other day and decided that if we were never to venture out our front gate ever, ever again, he would happily stay in his garden with spade in hand and me in any number of the pretty rooms in our humble abode, with sewing needle in mine. =) 

It is late Sunday afternoon here. A glorious autumn day. Autumn has sprinkled my day with happy beams of sunshine. In the garden the hydrangeas' frocks have been sprinkled with muted autumnal hues; all so very different. Pretty, soft colours are beginning to peek through the layers of petals. Truly, for long flowering beauty through summer till late autumn, there is no more beautiful shrub than the heavenly hydrangeas; but that's just my very humble opinion 

I have enjoyed a little Sweet Sunday hand stitching today and intend to do a little more this evening. More hexies of my Sweet Sunday quilt have been stitched. It has been a lovely afternoon, playing with my sweet Liberty fabrics and embroidered linens. I suppose I should have waited longer to begin to stitch these pretty hexies together, but truth be told, I wanted to see them playing nicely together. And, play nicely together they certainly do. Love how all these sweet Liberty fabrics bring out the beauty of the sweet print it is sitting next to. But, Liberty prints always seem to do that, don't they.

I know not what tomorrow will bring; but then, we never know, do we. With each new day it seems there is a new development in all corners of the globe. I can only take one day at a time; the day that I have been given. I choose to see a little beauty in my every day. Difficult sometimes, but it is the essence of my being. I am a gal who loves God. I am a gal who has a simple but deep faith, trying to trust God each day. Does this faith mean that nothing ever bad happens to me?? Most certainly not. I have been a christian since I was fourteen years old. Through the years, the Lord and me have walked through many dark and disturbing times together. Why, more often than not my Heavenly Father has picked me up and carried me, because I could not walk another step. In these bizarre days where there is so much uncertainty  and worry of the unknown, I choose faith over fear. Today, I choose to appreciate the beauty of my little place and enjoy it. I choose to be thankful for the blessing of my Home Sweet Home.

It struck me this week that the virtual world we share, you and I need not experience social isolation in our homes. You and I can visit each other and see what we have been up to or how we are going; how we are travelling (not that we are travelling anywhere soon). We can build one another up, support each other, show random acts of kindness....encourage each other. Once again, this little place called blogland is the sweetest of blessings. May you, as you spend your days in your sweet home, find a little beauty. May you take care and keep well. Bless you, lovely lovelies♥

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

Linking this week to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching.

Sweet Sunday

A lovely welcome to you lovely lovelies, this sweet Sunday♥ Here in my little place Sunday has awoken. A cloudy sky kinda day, but nevertheless a day oozing with flowers and sweet fabric to put a smile in my day. A day filled with so, so many delightful possibilities.

With my blue hexies for my chaise lounge all stitched together, waiting to play nicely with the other fabrics..........and waiting for me to decide exactly how I am going to tart up my lovely chaise, I have started a new hand stitching, pretty. Now before you chastise me about finishing the hand quilting of Floralicious Delight before embarking on something new and fresh, I have been quilting this week, but I ran out of thread.

I confess, I have fell headlong into temptation yet again. With no portable, on-the-go pretty  to stitch  whilst travelling in the car over hill and down dale, I was wanting to have something to hand stitch. I happened upon a quilt called Sweet Sunday. I have seen this sweet quilt out there in cyberspace for a while and have always wanted to fashion one. Besides, this pretty oozes hexies and vintage embroidered linens......so considering I have a penchant for both hexies and sweet linens that were lovingly stitching by women in a bygone era, this quilt had my name on it. It was kismet. You know I am always up for a new hexie quilt. Why, she who has the most hexie quilts wins! =)

Sweet Sunday is a reworked Candied Hexagons design by Emma Di Stefano, of Treehouse Textiles, though I purchased the paper pieces from Tales of Cloth. This pattern has seven templates, consisting of small hexies, diamonds and triangles, which when pieced together form a large hexie. It is a fabulous quilt to use up all those leftover scraps and embroidered pretties from other projects. I might add at this juncture that I am not going to follow the pattern exactly. It wouldn't be me if I couldn't deviate from the straight and narrow path of patterns to explore other possibilities.

For my birthday, my husband gifted me oodles of Liberty Tana Lawn hankies. He knows his wife very, very well, does my husband. I do not believe I could've received a sweeter gift. For time immemorial I have swooned over Liberty fabrics. Liberty designs have always made my heart skip that little bit faster. It is always easy to pick out a Liberty pattern from a sea of other fabrics. So, with the addition of some Japanese Lawns and perhaps other snippets of scraps languishing in my scrap box, I am going to use the Liberty pretties to fashion my Sweet Sunday quilt. Have you seen the Liberty hankies out and about?? Perish the thought that one would wipe one's runny nose on these Liberty pretties!!

Sweet Sunday is a quilt which will not be rushed. It will be one where I steal a few minutes and stitch here and there; and of course stitch this pretty whilst travelling along in the car. I will piece each tiny piece bit by bit whenever the mood takes me. Another sweet quilt which enables me to dive head first into my many suitcases of embroidered linens which it seems I have been collecting forever. I am always delighted to revisit my plethora of vintage linens. Always delighted to gaze upon the exquisite needlework lovingly stitched in gentler times.  Delighted too, to play with oodles of Liberty fabrics, and once again play with itty bitty snippets of pretty fabrics.

Thank you so much for popping by my little place. May you enjoy a sweet Sunday sprinkled with beauty. As for me, I am off for a lazy Sunday drive with my husband....and a little Sweet Sunday stitching as the picturesque landscape rolls by.

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

Linking this week to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching.