A Mother's Day Gift

A lovely welcome to all you lovely, lovelies♥ This Sunday past we celebrated Mother's Day. Those of you whom celebrated, I hope you all enjoyed a beautiful day surrounded by the laughter and joy of your loved ones; those loved ones with whom you have surrounded with boundless love, all these years. For me, I had a beautiful day with my husband, driving over this glorious countryside punctuated by stops at cafes and browsing markets. These days Mother's Day is always bittersweet as both my girls live thousands of miles away. But not to worry.....my wonderful husband went all out to see that I had a fabulous day....and I did.

But the subject of this post is not about my wonderful Mother's Day but a beautiful quilt which was fashioned by one of my sewing girls, for her mum. Holly, has been skipping along the flower-lined front path and opening the bright pink front door of the 'The Kim Sharman School of Stitching Excellence', one afternoon every week since she was eight years old. Holly is now fifteen! Yes indeedy, Holly has been twirling and whirling all things textile for seven years. I have written about the cleverness of Holly many times before but my favourite post regarding her fabulous stitching talent was written here.  It was an impossibly sad time. Holly's beloved dad had just passed away tragically; much, much too soon. Holly was just a month shy of her thirteenth birthday. Though I wrote about Holly's wall hanging two and a half years ago, I am amazed at how, in such a short amount of time she has grown up, and blossoming into a delightful young lady.

That is the thing with 'kids' they just keep growing up, don't they; quicker than quick. How does that happen?? One minute they are so small that when they sit at the sewing machine they have to steady their feet on boxes so their short legs can reach the sewing machine foot. They have chubby little fingers, hair in pig tails, percolating with infectious giggles and fun. And then, as if overnight they are tall, confident young people ready to claim their place in the world, making it a better place. From the very beginning Holly displayed a talent for all things stitching. It truly has been one of the delights of my life to watch Holly  grow from a cheeky little girl to a gorgeous teenager who is funny, (she has the best sense of humour with a quick wit and so very droll) smart, delightful...................so, so many awesome attributes. Truly, Holly is a joy!

Aww.......look how sweet and may I say, little she is!

But........let's chat about Holly's quilt she lovingly designed and stitched for her mum. In February Holly decided to fashion her mum a quilt for her bed. I had bought a couple of  charm packs and a jelly roll in the Sweet Pea and Lily range. This range dances with lovely pattern in a colour range of pinks, purples, greys and greens. As Holly's mum's favourite colour is purple these fabrics seemed to be a match made in heaven.

Holly stitched  four patch squares and bordered each larger square with strips of the jelly roll. In between each block she added a grey and white polka dot fabric for the sashing. We thought a border of strips of the different fabrics would be perfect dancing it's way around the edge. The addition of the grey and white dots really make the blocks pop giving it a modern aesthetic. I found a larger grey and white polka dot for the backing and yet another different grey and white smaller polka dot for the binding.

Holly has been piecing and stitching this pretty since February, with the last stitch on the binding being stitched just last week. As for the quilting I thought it would be fabulous if  it was  professionally quilted. I must say the flowing floral quilting really makes the quilt sing.

There is always a sense of joy and accomplishment when I see a young person start a pretty and work on it week after week till all their patience and determination results in a most beautiful finish. Holly excelled herself this time; but then she seems to excel with every pretty she fashions. With each little stitch she fashioned a quilt of beauty, threading love, and thankfulness, and gratitude to her beautiful and amazing mum. I suppose Holly will one day decide that she wants to pursue other activities on a Wednesday afternoon and will stop skipping along the path that leads to The Kim Sharman School of Stitching Excellence. But that's okay, as it is the rhythm of life. For now though, I will just enjoy guiding this delightful young lady in all things stitching for a little longer. I will enjoy hanging out with her for a couple of hours each Wednesday afternoon, being entertained by her funniness, her keen intellect and her witty insights of her day. Holly truly puts a smile in my Wednesday afternoons.

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

'Tis good....this thing they call life!

I am continually amazed where the yellow brick road of my life leads me. If someone was to tell me five years ago; when my husband, daughter and I packed up all our worldly goods, and took possession of a strange li'l olde abode in the far rural outposts of northern Tassie; that I would stroll along my sunny, botanical-inspired hallway to my 'office' each morning and design and play with a plethora of pretties, stitch to my li'l ole heart's content; and teach little earthlings the art of stitching every weekday afternoon......I would've thought that they were stark raving mad!

 

It seems that one's life journey is always preparing one for the curious twists and bends; to the next signpost of the road. For the previous 8 years I was employed at a before and after school workplace, where each morning I would drag myself out of bed in a semi-comatose state and lug myself off to school (at the most ungodly hour of the morning) put on my happy face (I H A T E mornings) and greet the wee folk each morning, prepare their breakfast and chit chat with them as if they were the most important people in my life!!!!! Oh....and they were most important......you see, I was quite the professional!!

Oh, how I miss those benumbed mornings.....NOT!!!! At the time of accepting my child care position, I was also offered a position in a legal office as a legal secretary but I chose the child care route.......a job, it seems, unbeknowns to me, was preparing me further along my bendy road. 'Tis the funny thing about this thing they call life.....every experience no matter how small or trivial, every person one meets along the road is significant and meaningful. 'Tis what makes life an adventure!

This country life is so, so different from my previous city life. Here, it seems that everyone knows me and everything about me......and what they don't know they just make up anyway!! This country life, in this little rural town, is rather akin to a Hollywood stage production, where all the players are waiting in the wings, ready to walk onto the stage, ready for their moment of fame.....or perhaps infamy! Sometimes I feel as if I have been plonked right smack in the middle of the Twilight Zone!! At times, living in this far rural outpost can be so very, very hysterical!! There is  bounteous amounts of fodder for page after page of a very funny memoir. Of course, one would have to change names and places or one could be burnt at the stake! 

 

Not before too long there were whispers that the quirky lady who lives in the purpley, bluey, grey house with the bright pink door, that sits atop a hill; could sew!! Glory be.....imagine that...wonders will never cease!!! All manner of people with varying stitching requests come aknocking on my front door. Sometimes there are those that stay for a chat and after leaving one feels as if  a new friend has entered one's life; indeed might I say, a kindred spirit.

One such gorgeous lady, Vanessa, came avisiting a couple of weeks ago on the proviso to order a bouquet of fabric flowers for her gran's 80th birthday. Instead of giving her gran a bunch of flowers that within a week would metamorphose into a pongy mass of organic matter, Vanessa wanted to give her an everlasting bouquet of bright and witty flowers that would bring a smile to her gran's dial forevermore. We chatted and chatted and enjoyed a cuppa and throughout the course of our chat Vanessa found out that I taught children to sew at the 'Kim Sharman School of Stitching Excellence'.........(well it is....of course my tongue is quite firmly stuck in my cheek)!!! Vanessa asked if I could teach her how to stitch.....and of course I answered with a resounding, YES!

 

When Vanessa visited for her first lesson, she brought along a glorious hexie that her nan had begun to stitch years ago, before her death; but hadn't finished. Be still my beating heart!!! Now those one or two of you who read my drivel of a blog, know that I have a penchant for hexagon quilts. You know that I drift into a state of apoplexy when my li'l beady eyes catch a glimpse of a hexie quilt.....even more so with one that has so many familial memories and love, stitched into every hexie! So you can just well imagine my state of mind when I saw this treasure!

 

Vanessa said that as a little girl she would sit with her nan and cut out all the hexie shapes out of old calendars, paper and whatever else was at hand.  There was no slipping out to your favourite fabric shop and purchasing a packet of paper hexagons ready for EPP. Vanessa could tell me the provenance of every itty bitty scrap of fabric. Her aunt's ball dress, another aunt's debutante dress, her sister's track suit, her nan's first dance dress, dresses that she wore as a little girl. So, so many wonderful memories it seemed, of every fabric that  represented  an article of clothing that had at different stages of life been worn by members of Vanessa's family. This quilt is a precious time capsule of fabrics that were in vogue in different eras.

 

In the bag were hundreds of hexagons ready to be used. The paper is still inside tacked to the fabric. There are even hexagons pinned to the sorted fabrics, where the pins have rusted! Just a little aside..... whilst having a 'bo peep' at the assortment of hexagons, I found a hexagon piece of calendar with the date '7th November, 1994' which just happens to be my much-loved nan's birthday (whose name Elizabeth 'Lizzie' is the name of my blog....the other name, Sarah, being my other nan). Oh, and another aside.....it was Melbourne Cup day that Tuesday in 1994.....the annual horse race here in Australia that stops the nation!! (I just know that you were hanging on the end of your seat to glean that tidbit of information, weren't you??)

 

 

 

There are indeed many, many hexagons that need to be carefully cut out and replaced with new ones. I predict many an enjoyable hour enjoying a cuppa, listening to Vanessa's stories of her family  whilst I teach her the art of stitching and as she gains confidence in her new skill, blossom into a competent gal who happily stitches.....(afterall, those who attend The Kim Sharman School of Stitching Excellence graduate with honours)!!

 

Yes indeedy, I am fascinated by this thing they call life! I am fascinated where life leads me, the gorgeous people that I meet along the way and share my path for a little of the journey. Yes indeedy, I am blessed living in this far rural outpost of Tassie where everyday brings a new experience and a new story for that memoir! Aaaaah....yes.....'tis good, this thing they call life!