Saturday 16 March 2024

Mindful stitching and mindful moments ...

 



Breathe and take a mindful moment.




Life can be hectic for all of us for different reasons.  Mine has been but wonderfully so, sorry I have not posted in two weeks.  I have been away in Cheshire and I did post from there but upon my return I had a friend come and stay,  she needed a rest has had just packed up her home and is preparing to move to live with here children in Australia. 


She is now there for a few weeks then back here for a few weeks then off for good to live.  I want to see as much of her as possible as you can imagine.

My stitching has been really varied and rather prolific and I am doing several projects at the moment.  Obviously the quilt project is coming along but I do leave it for a few days and return to look and decide on things.  I want to add to its history and by doing so not actually take anything away from it as you can imagine.  I feel it is not one to be rushed and then to have to unpick anything and further damage this gorgeous Canadian red cross quilt.

I have little baskets of projects spread across my Threads of Time studio and my lounge.  The quilt is in the studio taking up the whole table with majestic beauty with little applique pins in it with things to sew on and word lists to stitch on to it.  I go in and move bits around and when I am sure I stitch things in place.  In my lounge at this moment in time are baskets with wonky log cabins being made up and little pouches of torn fabrics in different colour ways so pinks, reds and blues which are all antique fabrics .. some tiniest of scraps saved for something else I have in mind as well.  The birds are getting threaded scraps for their nest linings but they are happily gathering bits of old eiderdown and paisley fabrics ...
Gorgeous nests here in Dorset!

Then I have a white linen dress which I am hand stitching on for the Summer and going to vintage fairs , I am looking forward to warmer days and meeting up with friends new and old and choosing one of my dresses to wear.

I have stitched a Oscar Wilde quote around the neck line which reads "A flower blossoms for its own joy" and I am still hand stitching bit onto this dress.  I am not a dress maker so I either purchase a old dress or indeed I get a dress made for me to be able to add covered buttons and hand stitchery to.

Then dear reader I have a basket of English paper piecing as well,  I have cut out about 40 fabric hexagons at this moment and I have the card board inners in a little basket with needle and thread and I am covering and stitching them.  When I get through those I will be cutting out more from gorgeous antique fabrics, yes paisley and eiderdown fabrics are in there! It is such a relaxing thing to


stitch of an evening and is easy to do with my candles and twinkling fairy lights on and my log burner too, the nights are still chilly here in Dorset.  It is not detailed stitching just basting and so it is great whilst watching a film or listening to a podcast.

Then finally I am stitching a meditation roll and that is wonderful too on a long piece of old linen and stitching things on to it (bits of fabrics with raw edges, I have stitched a little cottage on there from fabrics with detail embroidery.  You stitch it all on by basting it and then you choose a thread or threads and you go across all of your fabric with running stitch.  It gives it texture and somehow makes it all come alive.  You then wind it up onto a wooden bobbin and fasten it by a button with button hole or if you do not wish to do a button hole then you can stitch some ribbon on there and wind it around said button.

Some people stitch on fabrics that mean something to them like their children's old


baby clothes or a parent who has passed they cut up shirts or clothes and it is a keepsake. looking back I wish I had done that with my Dads shirts but he passed away in 1999 so .....

I am doing it with lots of beautiful bits of fabrics that are really just scraps but all stitched together they look so wonderful I think.

So you can see I have been busy here at Thimble and loving the hand sewing and the mindful moments that goes along with it.  The sound of the needle and thread going through the fabrics is calming and it certainly helps me, I am still struggling a little from loosing my Mum and I find it best not to have moments where I find myself not doing something right now.  Its early days and its all the firsts.  Her Birthday and Mothers Day with out her here have been particularly difficult but I relieve in my mind such happy memories that make me smile.

Also I have been purchasing new threads and I have fallen in love with Shashiko threads that are variegated especially to do running stitch through my wonky log cabin squares and my meditation rolls...  


I bought a few of them and some needles ( the needles are longer for running stitch as you get more stitches on them)  For those of you who have not heard of it then leave a comment and I will do a little extra blog on it.  It is facinating in its history.  This picture shows two of them but I have around eight different ones now ...


My little garden is jumping into life and to my delight foxgloves, daisies and bleeding heart flowers are starting to surface from their Winters nap.  I can see tulips budding and I have just sewn around my wild flower seeds as well after a really good weeding of my flower beds and by the little fence.  I am certainly looking forward now to warmer days ahead.

The hedgehogs have woken up and need their food every night in the garden along with their water bowls as well,  Soon enough there will be babies with them and I delight in the fact that they come every day to feed and wander around.

Also I have been doing a lot of baking and cooking and really enjoying that as well, I made some huge banana, cinnamon and oat muffins which were addictive.  

Well I really hope that you have enjoyed my ramble today and as you can see I have been busy and productive.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend and as always take care and Happy Stitching.


Sarah XX














Friday 23 February 2024

Stitching time and Quarry Bank

 






A little more laughter

A little less worry

A little more kindness

A little less hurry.





Stitching time is a time to immerse yourself, it is self care time where you can breathe and be as one with the sound of a needle and thread going through the fabric and the whole process of the slow stitch is so calming and healing, my happiest of places to be to just  concentrate on the cloth and thread and no other thoughts come into my head.  I know this all too well because when my mum was so very poorly I just could not pick up a needle for months, it did not work at all. In addition to all of the above you get something beautiful that you have made, hours of love and always a little bit of your heart as well.  I think of that when I am lucky enough to receive a hand stitched gift, someone has taken their precious time to make something from their heart to yours.

Little projects on the go in wee baskets is always a pleasure for me  there is something about it that makes me happy and they are so portable as well.  If I go somewhere for a few days I can just grab one to go.  The beautiful antique quilt that I am currently working on and adding to is just too big to take, to work on, so the the little bits that I am stitching to possibly be stitched on to it are in a basket to be stitched and the things that will be stitched directly onto this very old quilt will have to wait until I return home again.  This way though it still feels that I am still working on my Red Cross Canadian quilt.  I am thoroughly enjoying  adding to its story and wondering what the outcome will be. A already wonderful history contained in this beauty with added history for future generations one day ...

As I am writing this blog today I am looking out into my little garden and it seems that Spring is starting to surface, it is still a little cold out there but for sure the birds are collecting for nests and bulbs are bursting through the soil.  I collect really tiny little scraps from soft fabrics and bits of wool threads and poke them around my miniature apple trees and little birds are collecting it to line nests with.  I used to do this at my old home and it is heart warming to see.  I like to think that their nests are soft and cosy with scraps of vintage paisleys ... 


My log burner is still very much used still of an evening it is so cosy and it warms the whole cottage the candles are lit and it is still a delight but I am happy to say the evenings are getting lighter, I love my seasons and try to embrace each one.  As you know if you are a regular reader that Autumn is my favourite and there will be a little nod to that on the quilt project.

Also since I last posted I have been in Cheshire and whilst there, being a member of National Trust I visited Quarry Bank ... Oh my what a most wonderful place it is.

The mill that Samuel Greg built in 1784 was around half the size of the mill we see today. It was designed as a long, low block with tall windows that flooded the mill with light – however the lower panes were obscured to prevent the workers from gazing out and becoming distracted.

In 1796, the mill doubled in size with a second water wheel added, and a new weir built to feed it.

Around 1820, a new mill block was added, which created space for more spinning and carding machines, with 300 workers operating 10,00 spindles.

After Samuel Greg died, his son Robert added two weaving sheds (and 305 looms) and a cloth warehouse. Various other improvements took place during the 19th century including a new fireproof scutching room, steam engines and a boiler house. By 1855 the major building works at Quarry Bank were complete. (copied and pasted from the website)

Samuel Greg also built a house there for the family and cottages for workers.  Today all but one of those cottages are rented out and one remains for people to visit and look at the cottage as it was then.  There is a little school which remains a working school to this day.


I was in awe and on those very same looms they still produce fabrics and they spin the wool and make their thread .. I was in heaven watching these centuries old machines working their magic today.  Although I very rarely if at all purchase new fabrics I made an exception with this gorgeous linen fabrics because it was made on this antique weaving machines.  I bought some to line my rice bags that I am busy making.

Then I thought ah how about a competition so I have purchased two fat quarters and a


linen draw string bag from Quarry mill and that is the prize.

So to enter you will have to go over to my instagram page which is one.tiny.stitch and follow me on there and write a comment on there so that I have your name to pop into my antique bowler hat and then pick out a name to win this most wonderful prize.

On the instagram you will see photos of the prize and you can not miss it.  The competition is open for two weeks from today.  So pop on over to be able to see the photos of this lovely prize.  Think of the possibilities of what you can create with this oh so very beautiful fabrics.

Well that is enough rambling for today and I hope you have enjoyed your read.

It is back to my hand stitching now and I wish you all a wonderful weekend and please take care.

As always Happy Stitching!

Sarah XX


















Tuesday 13 February 2024

A Winters tale in stitches

 








Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home and slow stitching ..........



The hygge that surrounds me is so cosy, happy and full of contentment and warmth. 

 Right now I do not mind at all about the weather.  Switch on the fairy lights, light a fire and candles in all the darker corners, with a faint smell of cinnamon and design and stitch.

I have been listening to podcasts as well , which have been interesting but equally the sound only of the crackling fire and the needle and thread through the layers of fabrics are very enjoyable too.

Not having to go out to my Mum daily has been both strange (and I do miss her so ) and freeing - my mind is now fully only on one thing and that is to be creative and stitching.

Having several projects on the go is really delicious for me.  Firstly I have been tearing strips of fabrics in different widths to do some wonky log cabin work, yes wonky not at


all perfect and it is so much more beautiful to me than precise strips and using hand dyed ribbon pieces too.  Some raw seams on show it has been a epiphany of sorts.  In my world the more naive it is the more I adore it, tattered and torn and worn with a few battle scars and darning to wonder at.

So the reason I am quietly stitching some wonky log cabin squares is because I would like to also do some hand embroidery on them and then make a Japanese rice bag or two .... Gorgeous to look at and of course you can put things in them so beautiful and useful .

So I have found making a little snip in fabric and then tearing strips very satisfying and mind freeing.  Making a box of light and darker strips.  It is something I can do when it is darker in the early evening and then as the stitching is by hand and running stitch it gives me a break from the beautiful quilt that I am adding to which is more precise in every way. although the fabrics that I am adding here and there on that are antique beautifully worn and wonderful too.

 Some of the fabrics I have chosen are holey and scrappy which adds such charm and wonders in my opinion and because it is not as precise as normal log cabin I can do it


on my lap and not be at my work table it is perfect for later in the day.

I came across a tutorial on how to hand sew rice bags and I was enchanted and the same lady also showed you how utterly beguiling wonky log cabin can look.  It is so tactile as well I am just loving the results.. It has become fairly addictive I have to add, and I can see that I may have to cover a journal in some of these fabulous wonky log cabin squares. You can use frayed edges which you do not turn under and it brings texture and interest and with finger pressing which is encouraged  there is no iron in sight ..

And the other project is book covers, well hand made paper journal covers actually and you know me and my love of journals if you are a regular reader .. by the good daylight it is the Red Cross Quilt and by the time the sun is setting I am tearing strips of fabric with a grin on my face and maybe listening to a pod cast by the fire or indeed watching a film  or maybe listening to Lucy Worsley on a podcast or one of her historical programmes which I simply love.

Winter is a season of recovery and preparation.

 ***  Paul Theroux  ***


Also this year I have told myself I need to sketch and water colour more and my


thoughts are that when the weather gets better and the beauty of nature wakes up a  little that I can combine a lovely walks  and some sketching ... this is my plan this year as well as go on a holiday somewhere later in the year. 

Having the River Stour on my doorstep as well as the gorgeous Jurassic coast line no more than an hours drive away I have the best of both worlds.  Going along a beach walk with rock pools and seaweeds to sketch and of course to dry and press it makes for a long and happy walk, granted not a fast walk but so enjoyable never the less.


A beach is not only a sweep of sand, but shells of sea creatures, the sea glass, the seaweed, the incongruous objects washed up by the ocean.

Henry Grunwald


I have bought myself a seaweed book to identify the types and there are some beauties along that coast line. In the warmer months and during the week before the School holidays will be a perfect time to indulge my new found interest in seaweed to sketch and stitch ..  Who knows if I am very lucky the sea may give up some of her treasures to me such as sea glass and old pottery fragments and some amazing shells


to photograph and draw.

As you can see I have some clear ambitions this year and I intend to honour them too along with as many vintage fairs I can get to.  My first one for me is on Saturday 2 March and it would have been my Mums 80th Birthday.  So I am going to the wonderful Re-Claimed fair held in Chipping Norton.  I am in need of some more delicate antique fabrics for my latest passion of log cabins and English paper piecing!

Well that is enough of my ramblings for today and I hope you have enjoyed your read.

As always take care and Happy Stitching!

Sarah XX





 



Tuesday 6 February 2024

A quilts journey ...

 



Welcome February ....the month of love




I have truffled and gathered each little scrap of beautiful vintage fabrics which are worn with time and stories of their own. pieced, snipped, looked at and held with care and with each tiny stitch is a speckle of my heart.

This project has brought peace, tranquility and a smile to my face. I keep thinking about stories that are contained within the layers of this really gorgeous quilt and the snippets of fabrics, words and threads I am adding, which is a wonderful process and is adding to the tales of the cloth therein.

The feeling that I am adding to this quilt and the thought patterns that I have about seasons as well as all sorts of wonderful little things to explore.  Quotes and sayings with flowers embroidered and applique too.

As I have mentioned this quilt is Canadian and I purchased it from Emma of Little Wren Vintage.  She purchased a bundle of them to sell and all but this particular quilt had labels on that they were Red Cross quilts and she is convinced this one is too.

Having done a little research of my own and practically scanning the quilt with a magnifiying glass  I believe it to be as well. So one of the things is I am going to add is a little cross in a bottom corner to honour that piece of kind history.

It was during the second World War that the Red Cross worked on many relief projects to help ease the suffering of so many that were directly impacted by the war.

One of these projects was to send quilts to soldiers or those who lost their homes due to the relentless bombing raids and as a consequence lost their homes and in lots of cases lost family and friends.  These quilts have become very collectable and are known at ' The Red Cross Quilts'

Thousands of these beautiful Canadian quilts were sent to England.  Each quilt were either gifted or indeed made especially and they had a little label attached which read 'Gift of the Canadian Red Cross Society'

The shame ( in my opinion) is the ladies who made them remain anonymous and it was actually forbidden for them to put their names on the quilts they made.  It seems there is no journal or paperwork on actually how many were made or who worked on


them.  A hidden history lays within each and every surviving Canadian quilt.  The history of many families would be enriched by this knowledge I am sure.

We so need these quilts and indeed the women who made these quilts of comfort not to be forgotten, the kindness and the comfort in those dark times needs to live on as those who made them have all but left us and very few if any at all are still alive to tell us their stories which are now hanging by a thread.

I believe this an important part of Canadas and Britain's history as it is thought that over four hundred thousand quilts were made and sent!

For me now it is very important to only add and not take away the tales of this beautiful quilt that I am now a custodian of.  The idea I have had is to make a fabric envelope that I stitch on and to pop in a handwritten little letter inside for future generations.  On it I am going to embroider the words ' Every quilt has a story'.

I would like to applique and embroider a little cottage on there to represent me and a cosy new home that this quilt now lives in and I have spent the last 10 days sketching ideas and words and quotes for ideas to look at.

My decision has been made to stitch bits onto little squares of antique French linen and lay the quilt out on my dinning room table and pin things on it to make sure they look part of this patching of history and plotting where the words may  go as they will be stitched directly onto the quilt.  I do not want to have to unpick anything at all and feel this way is best  This quilt is delicate with some fraying and a few holes that I am not going to mend or cover over... Its battle scares are so important that they should be seen and pondered over as to who it comforted and made to feel safe in such a uncertain time in history.  

This quilt played a part in WW2 and a kind part that should be remembered with pride.


The enjoyment of the sound of the thread pulling through the fabric of the quilt is a sound that is really very hypnotic to me and its part of the mindful process that is slow little stitches.  I will not be rushing this beautiful project and a awful lot of thought on my part has gone into this, not wanting to take away from its beauty and the stunning work of a lady or indeed a few ladies, but to add to its history with care and love of my own.

A quilt will warm your body and comfort your soul.


I really hope you are enjoying going on this quilts journey with me and enjoying my ramblings too.  I have so many thought and ideas and I wonder do you have any ideas? If so please pop them in the comments below I would be very interested on reading your thoughts on it,

Also I have another two smaller projects starting as well that I will show you along the way.  I think it important to leave the quilt for a day sometimes to look at something else and come back and double check that it still looks right in my eyes and then continue on.  I want to add to here and there but not cover another's work with mine as I have said many a time .... to add to NOT take away from.

As always take care and Happy Stitching! 


Sarah XX




Monday 22 January 2024

A Quilt's Story in Stitches.

 







Every quilt has a story 


These quilts above are ones that I found from several sources last year and if you are a regular reader I was on the hunt and truffling around for a quilt to do a project with and I reported on actually finding one, or in my case four of them were candidates for what I had in mind.  Life got in the way as you know and it had been shelved.

Now I have chosen the one for this project that I feel most suitable with subtle colours and this beautiful quilt is very worn in places, weathered and full of history.  You can see it has been used, and loved for generations. Now to mend and add to its story I think.

So what to do? I have been pondering this enigma for days now....


Tiny little stitches with antique threads, plus some patching with old linen carefully sutured in place; more little anecdotes for the quilt to tell its future custodians.

I can just imagine if it could talk, the life story of this beautiful Canadian double quilt would be a wonderful tale spanning maybe 150 years.

To think of what it has seen in that time; wars, revolutions, poverty, peace and untold riches that we can only dream of.  And love, a lot of love when the quilt was first made, and through the years of keeping people cosy.  I would love to cosy up with a warm drink and listen to the stories it could impart on me and I would sit so quietly and listen to every word!

The chance to add another chapter to this history is an opportunity too great to pass.  Adding a little footprint from the here and now, flowing from one century to another.

Hopefully, this is only the next piece of its journey, and not the epilogue for its life story, so that future generations can continue enjoying its beauty, and purpose, and revel in the same wonder as I have in its rich history.

I don't think it is appropriate to try and 'improve' the quilt, because that cannot happen


in my humble opinion, but more like continue its history, perhaps a new chapter from my heart to the heart of this magnificent quilt.

Who knows in a hundred years from now someone else may come across this fabulous thing, lay it out on a dining room table and marvel over it as I have done for so many hours with such joy and wonder.

The project, I have decided to do, will be a labour of love and I intend to enjoy every morsel of it.

The quest to find it, to laying it out, to mapping every little mark, loose thread, hole and frayed piece, to planning and implementing of every new stitch sewn and every little patch with words and embroidery ... will bring me such joy and I hope it will do the same for you.  

Welcome dear readers to the journey of ' A Quilt's Story in Stitches.

Believe, and you can accomplish is my motto to live by.  Making fabric art or indeed adding to something with some hand sewing is artisic.

I had an email from a lady the other day who wants to start to slow stitch but does not want to make a mess of it, her words, not mine.  Well there is no mess, nothing is wrong or right in this most peaceful of pastimes  You could stitch an outline of a moon or a flower ... or indeed just stitch running stitches here and there.  Add some French


knots or don't it really does not matter

I urge anyone who has never hand stitched like this before to give it a try.  Simple little stitches and you have something of beauty.

Don't just dream it, sew it!

Your creative work will tell your story ...





So today in preparation I have gently washed the quilt and it is happily drying nicely so that it is fresh and clean.

I am designing some patches to to stitch.  I have some really beautiful French linen and am cutting out some pieces upon which I will stitch some things and then I will be attaching these to the quilt.  This is my starting point .  

Only adding some bits here and there and not taking away the natural beauty or its story just adding to it as I said above.

I hope you have enjoyed  my ramble today and that you will return in a just over a week to see some progress of the story of this exquisite Canadian quilt.






Tuesday 9 January 2024

They say sewing mends the soul

 









Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind.

Johannes Brahms.



Its been too long I know, it has been a very emotional 6 months and the passing of my dear Mum.  My sister and I moved into her care home with her for the last 9 days of her life to be with her 24/7.

I have not picked up a needle and thread for so long and it is time that I did.  Christmas then followed very quickly after her funeral and all the chaos that brings ...  not feeling it as well was a difficult time and I really should be inline for an oscar.

It is now time to get back to me and I can imagine what my Mum would be saying to me to get back to the land of the living and indeed my passion.

So this week it starts firstly I have gone through my neglected studio and cleaned the cobwebs away ( literally) and sorted through my design journals. I have two new ones, which I received for Christmas .. thinking family think its time too!! and I have sorted through fabrics.


Designing things to stitch is a joy and I have decided on something fairly small to get me going again and with Valentines on its way it had to be a heart I felt.

Looking forward to getting back on here, sorting through treasures, going to Vintage Fairs of which I have at least 10 in my 2024 dairy and the relief I will feel about not feeling guilty of being there for the day when I should be with Mum.  To be able to look around and laugh and meet up with friends will be a joy and my Mum would want that for me so very much.

The weather here in Dorset is very cold and frosty indeed and yesterday we had some snow as well to be able to light the fire and fireside stitch is a real joy of mine as you know and to be able to talk sewing and antique finds and fabrics with you all once more has really lifted my spirits today.


One tiny stitch at a time ....

My mission to myself is to design and ponder over new ideas.  Stitch my heart and start writing on here again weekly .. especially now that I have threaded some needles this morning with determination and with a huge smile on my face.

I was lucky enough to receive some beautiful gifts at Christmas and I had some gorgeous threads and some vintage fabrics from a friend ... thinking she thought lets get her going again shall we! Well it has worked and I am very grateful indeed.


The sun is shinning here even though it is bitterly cold and I have the rest of my day planned and it involves cutting out my fabrics for my project.  I have drawn my pattern and design this morning already.  Also I think I will do some more designing and ideas.  I am a wordsmith as you know and love adding words to my work as well as a button which is my thing.

Before Christmas I did manage to go to a small vintage fair in the Cotswolds for the day as a Birthday
treat for myself.  I met up with some wonderful friends there and it was a real tonic.  Such a beautiful fair in a wonderful little hall and so pretty.  I was able to wander around happily and I did manage to purchase some wonderful little bits of fabric for my sewing.

My favourite colours are always red and white and being that time of year stall holders had gone all out on those colours with antique quilt pieces and fabrics I was so happy with the fabrics that I bought.  It is only today that I have started to unwrap them and put them away to be perfectly honest with you but will be using some in my heart sewing.


I also managed last year to go to the Vintage Bazaar in Frome as well to meet with some of my great vintage friends and I bought three most gorgeous quilt pieces from a quilt never made it seems.  They are hexagon pieces with the old papers still inside and for me they will be framed and the papers will be on show because to me this is the beauty of them with the fabric just showing. If you look carefully at the photos you will see dates on the papers on one.  Look out for Old Bond Street and the date underneath it, this is the large photo at the end.  ...I was thrilled to find them and bought them from Donna Flower ... 

Beyond pleased with these beauties I can tell you.  The history of them and the story they could tell.  Who started them, how many were actually made, why were they not finished into a quilt ( although I have to say I am most excited about them just as they are!)  All these things have my fire inside me for embroidery and slow stitching again.

I will be hoping to actually blog weekly with my ramblings of stitching tales and tales of Thimble Cottage along side some wonderful Vintage Fairs this year and the truffled treasures found.


Thank you to those of you that have sent me messages of condolence and I appreciate everyone of them. Your words have comforted and encourgaged me again.


Until the next time Happy Stitching.

Sarah XX











Monday 27 March 2023

One tiny stitch at a time and momigami.

 













See a pin and pick it up, and all the day you'll have good luck.  See a pin and let it lie, bad luck you'll have the day.

Unknown.



It has been a hectic week here at Thimble.  Trying to get some form of order and projects finished.  Lots of photography has been done as well.

Eventually when I got to sit and hand sew it was bliss.  I have been designing little projects which I love to do and now a bit of a pile of stitching lays before me.

The rhythmic process of one stitch after another is a real therapy.  It does not feel like work at all to me, I just try not to think about anything but what I am sewing.  lists are my friend as once I have written down things they are off of my mind which means I can forget that for a while and then just cross things off one thing at a time which enables me to loose my self in the sewing moment.  It stops me panicking and my heart rate slows which is not only calming but fills my soul with happiness.

Procrastination is the thief of time !


When my needles are threaded and my work table has everything set out before me it is such a lovely feeling.  I am able to look at everything and with my sketch that I have scribbled down its a new stitching journey and it fills me with joy.

Collecting all the fabrics or quilt pieces, threads, buttons together along with words, quotes or sayings. I keep a journal on quotes etc or just words in general to use and this journal is always with me on the my work table for reference.

Sometimes I have the radio on in the background or sometimes nothing at all .  If it is
raining ( which has done a lot of this week in Dorset) I love to listen to it tapping on the windows, or if we have a little sun and the birds are busy in the garden then I like to listen to the blackbirds singing or my crows calling.  

As I sit writing this the rain is softly falling and the tip tap on the windows is almost hypnotic , I love the sound however I would love a couple of days, at least, of sunny weather and dry to tackle my over grown garden beds.  The grass needs its first cut of the year but is longer and of course wet .... Things are popping their heads out of the earth and are competing with weeds right now.

I do not have a big garden and it will take me maybe 3 hours to do and when done will make me feel so much better to look out on a tidy little garden but the weather is not playing ball. 

Also this week I have been collecting bits of antique paper and book plates to have a go at 'momigami' which is a japanese art of hand kneading paper.  When you have gone through the process the paper becomes fabric like and is easier to stitch onto. 

It is possible then to add pieces to your stitched art work and it makes for a wonderful mixed media piece, yet looks more like old fabric.  With gorgeous antique papers it

will look really beautiful I think after reading up on it a bit and looking at some photos on the internet.  It has a slightly crumpled look to it but becomes really quite strong.

You keep folding it in and kneading and then smooth it out and repeating in different directions.   Have any of you ever tried it?  If so please comment on here and let me know what you think or how yours has turned out.  I would love to hear about it and have a little chat with you on the subject.

Momigami is pronounced mo-me-go me and dates back to the 10th Century.  It can bring such texture to hand stitched pieces and also be used to cover journal as well. I am very excited to give it a go.  The process takes a while but it also is mind relaxing they say so watch this space.  I will probably have a go at the weekend.

The photo above is some fabrics I have sourced and I love the way they go together, playing around with bits for projects can actually keep me busy for hours, truly.  I am getting together bits with texture and old labels on and thought this might be just the things to go with some kneaded papers.  Making it a slow stitching piece that is just beautiful to me really.  Then I can hand stitch and embroider on it and either make a little wall hanging or indeed frame it.  What do you think.   I am very excited to see how this develops over the weeks to come as this is a piece purely for me!

My darling Mum is more stable this week which means I am able to do more here at
Thimble and then go in a sit with here for a few hours.  I do take in little bits of hand sewing or a design journal and doodle when she is comfortable and sleeping.  I know the difference when she appears to be sleeping but does not want to open her eyes, to sound asleep.  If she is sleep listening as I fondly call it.  Then I talk or read to her other than that I sit there and sketch or stitch.   I like to be there by lunchtime so I can try and coax a little food into her and fluids.

I am looking forward to some dry and warmer days and I can open her patio doors in her room to look out on the garden of her care home.  I get my love of nature from her and then I can talk to her about the flowers and birds.  The home had chickens at one point and a cockerel and I can tell you she was not really keen.  They were very noisy and they re homed them.  Peace restored to the gardens with blackbirds, robins and butterflies after that.

Anyway I must away for now.  I hope you have enjoyed my ramblings today and that you cosied up with a warm drink for your read.

Please remember if you know of or have done some momigami then I would really like to know.

For now take care of you and Happy Stitching!


Sarah XX