Sometimes a gal has just gotta sew

Another week has passed. Another week somewhat similar to the last one with daily zaps of radiation treatments for my husband, daily strolls around the city, some drives to surrounding towns and a week where a gal has just gotta sew.

Another week of carting my sewing necessities from our home in our far rural outpost, to the city cottage where we are staying during the week. Oops.....you can see I seem to cart one or two suitcases filled with my pretties. Yes indeedy, it takes a few holdalls to carry all what may be required in readiness for a little embellishing. I have to lug oodles of pretties with me because I just never know what I will need. Invariably the little pretty that I really, really need to make the finishing touch has been left at home.

At the moment my husband is having his daily snooze whilst I sit here effusing about my latest tarted up jacket.

As I hinted at in my last post, I found this little jacket at an op shop whilst strolling around Launceston. I am always on the lookout for jackets with 'good bones' that I can add the 'Kim Sharman' touch. Normally I don't do a lot of brown but this jacket tripped me over as I walked past a rack filled with rather unremarkable garments.

Did I say I am not a fan of the colour brown? Paradoxically, the last two jackets I have embellished to an inch of their lives have  been various shades of the hue brown!! Why oh why is there never a lovely blue, grey or even purple jacket to be found in these op shops?? Perhaps one of these days I will happen upon one.

Anyway back to the tarting up of my new find. I have always loved the look of a double breasted jacket or coat and I must say I rather like pin stripes as well. I love the wide, overlapping front flaps with the parallel columns of buttons.

First things first. I decided to banish the rather plain fastening doodads that were stitched on the jacket.

Normally jackets have buttons, times four or six or whatever......BUT.....I have decided I want five different buttons. As you know I am a gal that loves to play and be a little different. There are some seriously funky buttons in this lot.

Then of course, I dived into my slew of pretties in the name of all things embellishment and came up with these.

I thought it would be rather cool to stitch some upholstery fringing down the front of the jacket.

To make a statement on the sleeves, I stitched these lovely trims to the cuffs.

As for the collar I thought I would keep it simple and just border it with this pretty velvet, swirls upon swirls, ribbon. Ooops...did I say simple?? Wow.......unbelievable! I did audition other trims but thought them a little over the top.....even for me.

This jacket doesn't have a breast pocket so I thought I would gussy up my jacket by stitching a corsage-like pretty, using vintage lace flowers, crochet flowers, ribbon, a pretty fan brooch and other triflings.

There you have it, another tarted up jacket, which when stepping out and about town, one certainly won't become lost in a crowd. Another jacket which was perfectly fine and acceptable unadorned, but for me who is not a fan of wearing what all those other gals are turned out in, needed a little sprucing up....a little gussying up. Another pretty, making merry with needle and thread and oodles of bits and bobs. Another pretty with a wee bit of experimentation. Another pretty which has been transformed with each soothing stitch, calming my spirit, relaxing me, causing a li'l of my anxiety to flee for a while.

With each stitch my jacket  has slowly come together into another upcycled garment. displaying my own personal and unique taste and creativity. That is the best thing about this kind of sewing.....there is not another jacket quite like this one. Not to mention the fact this kind of stitching is rather akin to therapy sessions without having to unclasp the purse! I once read somewhere, that sewing mends the soul.

Yes indeedy.........sometimes, oh all right most of the time......this gal has just gotta sew!

I wonder what this gal will stitch next week.........perhaps I will find a grey or even a blue jacket to tart up or deconstruct??

Whatever this week brings this one thing I know for certain........

.....I am eternally thankful for the peace of God which passeth all understanding!!

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

Thank you........again I say thank you !!

Thank you everyone for your lovely thoughts, prayers and those warm and embracing hugs you have sent to this li'l corner of the world. They have all been received with much thankfulness; they have meant so much to both my husband and I. You will never know just how much they have comforted us in those moments where one feels at a loss, those moments when one feels alone.....thank you! The blogging community is filled with the loveliest of ladies who genuinely care, you are all little smiles from God!

My husband's treatment has begun and we have settled into a daily routine of hospital visits, walks and resting up. At the moment he is not unwell, but I suppose this will change sometime down the bendy path we find ourselves upon. As we live in a 'far rural outpost', which involves a 3 hour return trip to the hospital for ten minutes of being zapped with radiation, during the week we are staying in a cute little hundred year old cottage across the road from the hospital. Driving to and from the hospital each day was too exhausting. As there is no treatment on the weekends we wing our way back to our humble li'l olde abode......back to the peace and 'normality'.

In the mornings we have been going for a daily walk and exploring some of the cafes, parks and the 'sights' which the city of Launceston has to offer. The doctors have ordered my husband to walk for forty five minutes each day. and to "fatten"' up.....so who are we to disobey!! The problem with this 'edict' is that I am afraid I might just "fatten" me up as well!! The task of fattening up my husband is an impossible task. He has never put on a single ounce, pound, gram or indeed kilo in all the thirty seven years we have been married........(yes.......I was a child bride).....so the task of expanding his girth and wherever else fat likes to deposit itself in his anatomy is futile......but try we will!

Oh, there have been a few op shops and vintage establishments to explore as well. Rest assured, I wouldn't dream of making my husband wander around these treasure troves. No, on these occasions he is comfortably ensconced in a cafe, seeing to the task of fattening himself up and taking it easy.

Mmmm....how serendipitous.......this quirky establishment, the Vintage Red Fox, decided to include a cafe right next door!! Just means one doesn't have to travel far from perusing all those vintage goodies to partaking in a cappuccino.....or two!

Of course I took my sewing machines with me to the 'big smoke', with a suspicion perhaps my sewing mojo would percolate to the surface once again.....and percolate it has. Whilst my husband has been resting in the afternoons I have been enjoying a little sewing, in a sunny spot at the back of the cottage. Sewing is my happy place, a place that somehow helps me to smile for a little while.

Whilst packing for our 'holiday' in the city, I found this piece of vintage Hungarian embroidery. I had an idea formulating in my brainpan that I just might fashion a bag with oodles of vintage pretties. I had stashed this gorgeous embroidery away ages ago because when I washed it, all the colours had collided into each other and caused it to become a li'l 'muddy'. The once bright flowers were now tonal with all the colours that had escaped. Upon unearthing this pretty embroidery, I decided I like the muddiness of the flowers. I like the tonal qualities of the flowers AND I love the 'it has been around for a very long time' look, the vintage feel this piece suffuses.

So.......hankering after a quick project AND being in need of a new, sling across your body, boho type of bag, I decided to play with all my pretties once again and stitch a bag to carry around town.

I must say I am loving the worn and antiquated look of this 'looks as if it has been around for a good while' Hungarian embroidery. 

After gathering oodles and oodles of pretties together, I started to play. Oh how I love to play with vintage pretties, stitching and placing them wherever they magically find themselves. It is so calming and soooooo easy on the brainpan. With the meandering of ruched velvet ribbon around the Hungarian embroidery, the adding of doilies, the sprinkling of pretty trims, crochet flowers and the twining of cord; the prettying of the front of the bag is singing a colourful melody.

The bag is fashioned with a charcoal grey, canvas-type fabric. I chose a gorgeous vintage fabric from my "dowry of cloth" for the lining. Love, love, lurve the oranges, greens and purples of this fabric.

With my vintage inspired, boho bag all stitched up, I might just enjoy a little more playing with my bits and bobs.

Remember me saying I have been darkening the threshold of a few op shops this week......well I found this Victoria Cooper (an Australian Designer) cute little jacket. Can you guess what I might be doing this week? However did you cotton on.........am I really that predictable? Yes indeedy, amongst the hospital visits, appointments with doctors, and the morning walks, I might just find myself sitting in a sunny corner in the cute li'l cottage some afternoons, tarting up this little pretty whilst my husband rests.

We are at home for the weekend which means I can dive deep down into my plethora of pretties in readiness for the tarting up of this jacket. Once again thank you all so very much for your kind thoughts and prayers! Both my husband and I have been overwhelmed with your kindness, prayers and generosity of spirit!!

Wishing you all a lovely weekend.

This too shall pass...(now would be good)

Little did I realise when I wrote my last post just how life would propel my family down the most difficult of paths that we have ever walked along. Little did I realise as I sat in the sterile, hospital room with my husband, gazing out at the vignette of the autumnal trees with the lovely church spires ascending to the heavens, that our lives would change forevermore.

My husband has been diagnosed with Cancer, and whilst I have always regarded my blog as a happy place, always wishing to beam a spark of cheerfulness and sprinkle a little colour and whimsy to you lovely people who follow my blog, I feel I need to explain why I have not visited each one of your delightful blogs of late.

These last couple of weeks have been a constant revolving door of doctors, specialists, MRIs, CT scans etc etc. We have been bombarded by a plethora of information that I have been engulfed by an anaesthetised numbness. It has been an emotional couple of weeks. I have my 'blubbering idiot' moments, my moments of sheer panic and my moments of calm.

Both my husband and I have a deep faith in God. Our daily walk is one of faith, one of trust in God, even though we have no inkling of what tomorrow may bring. We have no idea what paths this next journey will lead us down, but we believe that we can only take one day at a time. To look at the gargantuan boulders in the middle of the road blocking our way, to look at the Tolkien-esque huge and looming trees overhanging the road, swiping us as we pass would only cause me panic. There have been many moments these last weeks where I have come face to face with this execrable creature, they call PANIC! I have cried many, many tears. Why oh why was I born with an oversupply of tear ducts??

There are many of you, I know, who have a loved one walking along the insidious path of cancer, or indeed a loved one struggling with an overwhelming illness. I have sensed from your writings it is a grueling and exhausting journey, a journey filled with the gamut of conflicting emotions. I am thinking of you with compassion as I write.

We live in a small rural town where friends have been amazing. Both my husband and I have been humbled and overwhelmed as to the loving support and care some of these salt of the earth 'treasures', which we are honoured to call friends, have shown us. Smiles from God indeed!

So.....the ensuing weeks....months......will find me waiting in hospital rooms whilst my brave and wonderful husband undergoes treatment. It will be strange to think the world outside will go on as usual whilst I am waiting.....waiting.  My husband truly is the best man I know. As I wait, perhaps I will stitch my hexie quilt (aaaah yes....my hexie has been rather neglected of late and has a ways to go) or perhaps there will be the clickety clacking of knitting needles, breaking the hushed tones of the waiting rooms. I have a feeling the stitching of a pretty or the knitting of a woolly will perhaps keep my mind from sliding down that slippery slope.

So over the next coming weeks, months, from time to time, I hope to visit your lovely blogs and read  your engaging posts; as you all in your own unique way bring a smile to my  heart......please forgive me if I miss one or two.

As I finish, I am comforted in the familiarity that God whispers in my heart...."do not fear, I am here". He and my family have walked many a difficult path together through the years and I am assured He is walking with our family today....tomorrow......and at times, carrying us. He has done so many a time before and I am assured He will once again. So in the coming weeks........months, I pray God will steady each one of my family's hearts, quiet our minds so that we may hear our Heavenly Father's voice and throughout the difficult days ahead, we will recognise the peace of God in our hearts. AND.......perhaps, dare I utter it, there might even be moments when my husband's and my wicked and droll senses of humour gurgle to the surface.

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

Life just keeps getting in the way

The thing about life is it just keeps getting in the way of this blogging caper. How dare it!! 'Tis been a little while since I last waxed lyrical (to the point of boring you all to death) about my hexies. Life these past weeks has continuously interrupted me; in monotonously keeping you up to speed on all my hexie goodness. 

There has been some progress but I fear my scrappy hexagon quilt is not going to be lounging languidly on my sofa anytime soon. Alas no....though I have been whirring away on my 'new' little Bernina, whipping up framed hexies, I have only completed six rows of my quilt. As most of this quilt is hand stitched it will be a while yet till my hexie quilt is seen in all it's finished glory state.

The joy of a scrappy hexagon quilt is that each individual hexie seems to find it's own way, intermingling with all the other colourful hexies, that juxtapose side by side to each other, singing the most lyrical of colourful songs! Love, love, lurve all that colour and pattern! I love the higgledy piggledy-ness of it all.

Six rows of colourful, scrappy hexie yumminess.

I also have started to  prepare the bias strips of fabric to cover the seams at the back. The bias strips are also hand stitched. Normally I would finish the quilt before undertaking this step but this time I have decided to do it as I add a couple of rows of hexies; I have found it is easier this way. Again, there is no rhyme or reason as to the placement of each strip; just oodles more of scrappy higgledy piggledy-ness.

So there you have it....short and sweet!! Is that a sigh of relief I hear percolating from your lips?? Who would've thought that I could possibly have written a 'short' post......wonders will  never cease!!

So toodlepips for now. I must dive back into this thing they call life, hoping  there will be moments of hexie loveliness sprinkled throughout. Hope you are all enjoying a lovely week.

A little vintage shopping and ................... a few hexagons

One of my all time favourite things is to jump into our old tin lizzie and go for a drive with my significant other and see what pot of gold lies at our rainbow's end. There is always some quirky place down a country lane which needs to be explored. Sometimes there is nothing to tickle my fancy BUT sometimes there is so much treasure to be found, I can hardly contain my excitement.

A little over a week ago was one such day. Meandering over undiscovered hills and down dales brought a few exciting sightings.

At one little shop these pretties were unearthed.

A soft as soft pure wool blanket of the prettiest green, a lovely white tablecloth and this pretty coloured, large doily. They were all bargains. I think I will fashion the doily into a round cushion embellished with a few flowers.....(of course). Oh, and there was a length of sweet 1960's floral fabric. These blues are my all time favourite!

Then lo and behold at another strange li'l place where  teeny tiny bugs seemed to reign supreme was this gorgeous frippery!

Yes, this gorgeous embroidered gal was just hanging out, waiting for me to take her home. "Waa-ll aah do declare.......isn't she beautiful?" As ever, the handiwork on this southern beauty is amazing. Indeed the embroidery on the back is as perfect as the front.

She of course is going to hang out with some of my other ladies that lay dilly-dallying in my dowry of cloth.....waiting.....waiting....for me to fashion them into a pretty, which another generation can enjoy. All these embroidered beauties vary in height from about 24 inches to 36 inches. They are all exquisitely stitched! The southern gal on the left is embroidered on what was once a coverlet emanating from the 1930's. These pretty ladies are just dripping with oodles of sugary, syrupy southern charm; don't you agree?? I can never resist bringing a southern gal home with me when I happen upon one.

THEN........not I......but my husband, discovered this piece-de-resistance, an old Bernina Minimatic 707 sewing machine. Be still my beating heart!!

I know, I know....how on earth did I miss this little beauty. Alas, my engrossment was fixed on all these embroidered and crocheted pretties. Aah yes......vintage heaven.

Can you understand why I might have been a li'l distracted? Though these pretties are all neatly arranged and you can see in an instant what is on offer, I prefer to dive into baskets burrowing deep, deep down to the bottom in search of pretty embroideries. I find scrunched up and rumpled embroidered pretties usually are a lot kinder on the purse than those starched, neatly displayed pretties such as these above. None of these pretties came home with me......my large southern belle was a lot cheaper than any of these.

BUT.....back to the 'find of the day', my Bernina sewing machine. I have always hankered after a Bernina. Many of those who "are in the know" swear Bernina machines are one of the best machines one could purchase. This model was produced in 1971 and would have been a sought after acquisition in it's day. This particular machine, with an electronic foot control was the top of the line model for 11 years.

It is a solid machine with a very small free arm width, which is brilliant for sewing little children's sleeves, pants, cuffs etc. It is certainly making my life so much easier when tarting up children's clothes. When the free arm isn't required you just place the little table back. It is a teeny, tiny sewing machine......'tis so cute (that is of course if a sewing machine can be deemed as cute).

I must say I am enjoying stitching with this mechanical sewing machine. This machine has only had one owner and was only for sale after her passing. It has been serviced diligently every year and I must say it purrs like a kitten.

This machine truly has the most meditative and soothing sound, with the most beautiful straight stitch; with perfect tension. It's whirring sound takes me back to my childhood where I would sit and watch my mum sew on her Singer treadle machine. A sound which always seemed to be rather akin to a comforting and reassuring hug.

Though this machine only has eight stitches in it's bag of tricks I am finding I don't really need much more as I have my Janome 6600 to turn to for all those other sewing jobs. My poor old Janome is feeling her age....after all she has been in use every day of her life for the past ten years, both by me and oodles of children who walk through my front door! I suppose 10 years is not venerable for a sewing machine but I have demanded a lot from her and have put her through oodles of stress. She is a grand old girl but she is feeling a little weary. I am actually in the process of purchasing another sewing machine. I have my eyes on a new Bernina but as they are expensive I need to do a lot of research. Pray tell, what machine do you use.....or indeed what machine would you recommend?

I have been sewing the 'frames' of some hexagons on my little Bernina, that I have been preparing for yet another scrappy hexagon quilt, and it has been such a joy. Yes, I am in need of some hexagon therapy....another hexagon quilt is going to live in my humble abode....just because I don't have enough!!!

As some of you know, I go into a state of apoplectic shock when my beady li'l eyes spot a hexagon. To me there is nothing quite like a hexagon quilt. I love the higgledy piggledy nature of a hexagon quilt. I love that there is no rhyme or reason to the scrappy makeup of these quilts. I love the fact that oodles of disparate fabrics are thrown together with a myriad of colours and designs. Yes indeedy......love, love, LOVE hexagon quilts!

Normally, when I stitch a hexagon quilt I would sew all the hexagons by hand but as this fabric is 100% cotton, and cotton's DNA tends to have a perfectly behaved disposition, I have decided to machine stitch around the frames. I will then stitch all the hexies together at the back, by hand. If I have piqued your interest and you would like to have a bo peep at some of my other hand stitched hexies, I wrote a post waxing lyrical of all things hexagon, way, way back when..........here.

Yes indeedy, I am so thankful this old girl caught the attention of my husband. Wasn't he a sweetie to say "you really, really need to buy this beauty"! Such a discerning man is my husband! AND....she was only sixty smackeroos.....so I am a very happy gal....delirious with great joy actually! I might say if I hadn't purchased it, another lady was ready to pounce and whip it up into her arms and head for dem dar hills! I actually thought she might do me some harm and I would be no more....but no, I live to see yet another day....or indeed, to sew another hexagon or two!

So.........'tis toodles from me. I will be in hexie heaven this week as I have oodles more hexagons to stitch. Soooooooo much hexie love!! Wishing you all the most wonderful week!