Your creative work will tell your story, through design and stitches.

 

The hum of bees is the voice of the garden.

Welcome, you are most welcome please find a cosy spot to snuggle up with a warm drink and join me for a vintage and stitchery ramble.

The weather seems to be improving some what, well it is now March.  There are still so many snowdrops around all the little country lanes it is really breath taking and then you have crocuses as well along with tulips and daffodils appearing, it is becoming Spring and to be honest this year I am so ready for it.  For England at least it has been a long and very cold Winter.  The Frosts have been harsh as has the frozen rain and snow.  There have been floods down by the River Stour and so walking along the river banks have not been possible.  I have missed wandering along and I have worried about the wildlife along there too.

I take inspiration for my designs from nature and wonder at its resilience and beauty.  It will not be long now and an abundance of cow parsley will line the country lanes and the river banks and the little hum of bees dancing from one flower to the next collecting the pollen, yes this year I am so ready for some warmth.

My studio once again will be where I work frequently with the stable door open and the air with the beautiful scent of roses once again fills the Summer breezes with beautiful floral scents.  In December through till March I have stitched by my log burner to be cosy and warm.  The log burner is still being used of an evening because we still have frosty nights at the moment but the days are becoming warmer and the sun has been out.. what a joy!

I have, as always started new journals for the year and they are starting to fill with ideas, quotes, sayings and little sketches and patterns for my projects.  

Plant dreams, pull weeds and grow a happy life.

Old plant and flower books are a great way to look in detail for wild flowers and garden plants. 
Foxgloves are not out yet but I can study them in detail from my ever growing collection of old gardening books.  I have found some beauties in my time and I continue to look in every charity shop I find for ones I have yet to give a home to.

Books are a passion of mine and I know they take up room ( I do dream of having a room dedicated to them like a snug come library) but the smell of the pages and what you find in some, little treasures like hand written notes on some pages or pressed flowers and I have found a very old letter in one and it still lives in that book today, in my little collection every little bit of treasure stays with the book that I find it in. 

As most of you know I moved house five years ago and the one thing I could not take with me was a very tame lady blackbird and I named her Miss Muddy Beak and I miss her so and wonder about her especially this time of year when nest building starts.  I would put out the tiny scraps of fabrics, usually old paisley and she would collect it and I joked she had the best decorated nest in Dorset! she always had a muddy beak from foraging and that is how she came to be named Miss Muddy Beak.  I really hope she is ok. her partner used to sit in my pear tree and sing every evening and a black birds song is beautiful.  There are a pair of blackbirds that frequent Thimble Cottage garden but they are not as tame but they do sing and chirp for food.  I so wish though I could have said to my gorgeous tame pair, I am moving, are you coming?

This week I am busy in the studio, still cleaning and moving things about.  Making fabric bundles and
getting project baskets made up.  It pleased me in vintage wicker baskets I have notes, fabric and thread bundles and a sketch in there to pick up and stitch and I like to do two along side what I am working on.  It does not strangely make me panic but encourages me to work well on what I am stitching and look forward to the next.  I write down in one of my journals ideas for things when I think of them and then they are ready there to sketch.

Life goes so fast it seems to me now, can you believe it is March already and I do not wish it away but this year I have wished for better weather and feel the sun on my face and the garden to spring back into life.  I have missed the scent of lavender and roses and the hum of the bees this year more than usual.

I went to the re-claimed fair on the 1st of March and caught up with friends had a lovely piece of cake
and coffee, laughed and had long chats with friends and strangely they were all in agreement that this Winter has been a long one. I bought some beautiful fabrics for my collection and use and that means I will do a little sale soon to pass on some bits of antique fabrics that I have enjoyed and used in my work.  I always keep little bits to remember the beauty and feel of them. I have added two photos of my treasure.

Threads of time studio is going to be moved around a bit and I have got some help coming to help me move some heavier pieces ... not everything can me moved where I might like because of windows but it is time for a little change about.  I will give me a chance to vacuum behind and under things that I can not usually get to, a Spring clean and a little face lift is just the thing. A little change around will do me and the studio some good I believe ..

Designing things to stitch is another part of what I do and I have found when I draw something, I then trace it so I always have a copy of the exact piece to reproduce it if I need to and to date it, I keep them in files so that I can always have my original sketch and a copy always of the design before it is stitched.

Also I have been sourcing things to hand dye with madder and dye some fabric ( antique French linen) I am after that deep red that madder produces I have some designs in mind and so I can not wait to get started.  It can take days to produce with mordanting the fabric and then dyeing it and leaving over night etc so thought to be able to be patient with it I would throw myself into that along side the make over in my studio and then I am not tempted to not wait.... Its important to me to get it right.

Lists have been made of things to do and what I would like to achieve along side some things I need to do at Thimble cottage.  Getting ready for Summer in the studio and garden as well, it is a busy time of year along side designing and stitching

Well thank you all for joining me today and I hope you have enjoyed our little catch up.

As always take great care and Happy Stitching until the next time.

Sarah XX