Wishing on stars ....

Star light, star bright,

The first star I see tonight;

I wish I may, I wish I might,

Have the wish I wish tonight.

On these dark early evenings when I am waiting for my husband to return from his very long day I have been sitting here in my sewing room looking out at the night sky.  The joy of a frosty night is stars!  I always look for the brightest one in the sky and imagine it is my Dad and it makes me smile.  The shepherd crooks with their fairy light lanterns twinkle in the garden and it is part of my day I have grown to love.

I have been sat up here and writing and it it has been a wonderful week or so doing that.  If it is a starry night then this is where I am to be found.

If it is a cloudy evening then I am probably downstairs by the fire and stitching little hexagons and listening to the crackles that the logs make in the grate and the patterns that form in the flames.  There is nothing like an open fire and the smell of one as well.  Although when you light a fire it can not possibly become really warm in the room instantly, it does seems like it and it is a very cheerful and welcome sight, especially for when my husband walks through the door at the end of his day.



I have gone star crazy and on the sill in my sewing room I have a very old barn star and star fairy lights as well.   It is such a gorgeous shape a star and very beautiful I always think.

This said I would like to design a simple sampler type picture featuring the words at the top of this page and stars.  I have some most beautiful antique mother of pearl buttons as you can see from the picture above but also some fabric ones mingled in.  Simple but effective I believe and it will remind me of my late Dad as well.

I think you may remember I bought some beautiful frames when I went to a vintage fair early last summer and they are made from old distressed wood so I am going to choose one of those and cut a piece of vintage quilt to size and away I go.  The quilt you choose has to not be a really thick piece because stitching words on there could be a bit of a slog and not good for the fingers trying to push the needle through.  I always though, when using quilt pieces, get my quilting wax out and get some on my needle.  I buy them in the Shaker Village and they are little pieces of quilting wax formed into a shape with a pattern on and tied with ribbon, again they make me smile when I get one of those out because the Shaker Village memories come flooding back.

The Shaker Village is looking for some staff at the moment and oh boy if I lived near there I would apply to do a couple of days a week or even a day because it would be such a wonderful day and not like work at all to me ...the serenity that the village gives to those who wander through the large white gates .  It is a through road as well even when the village is closed you can drive through.  On one side is the shop, barn and offices ( the office and barn are original buildings preserved} and then on
the other side of the road is the village its self.  Sorry I digress!

Anyway today I am going to look at what frames I have stashed and what quilt scraps that I have that will do for this project nicely .. I am thinking a piece of thinner vintage quilt that is not too patterned as I do not want to go crossed eyed looking at stars, words and highly patterned in a frame it may give people a migraine ! so you can all see where this is going can you not? Yesssss my readers it involves a truffle session in my quilt pieces this morning! now singing Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah-Zip-A-Dee-Day! enough to frighten anyone in ear shot, except the neighbours who actually have gotten used to my eccentricities over the years!

I remember my dear late neighbour came volting across my wall to get to me screaming at the top of my lungs, he thought I was under attack... well I was because a bloomin arachnid had  made itself known to me and I was going mad in my conservatory with my weapon of choice, a wet sock from the washing machine!! Miss him so much and boy since he died 4 years ago now my interest in vintage and antiques and Coates threads has tripled and with all the fairs that are now around the glass of wine and chats we would have had on the subject either by the fire or in the garden in the Summer.  He would have guided me in the right direction and is missed by all the neighbours and talked about weekly.

There is something comforting in having stashes of quilt pieces and fabrics.  It is a case of going through and finding the piece of something you wish to work with.  No popping to the shops just sifting through the little piles of gorgeousness to find just the right piece of history to bring out and add to.

So you can see I am going to have a wonderful few hours doing this but I have to remember I have set myself a goal and I want it finished and in the frame by the end of this weekend along with another little project,  so not too much time choosing and cogitating about which fabrics to use.  I have to be decisive and get on with the job in hand.

So on that note I am going to love and leave you and wish you all a really Happy Stitching Day! XX