More than the shiny tinsel

I am suddenly becoming aware that Christmas is just around the corner! I do most of my shopping online from the convenience of my home, but I had occasion to go to a shopping centre last week. As my husband would say, "There's an awful lot of stuff there that I don't want to buy!"

Sneak peaks of my 2023 Block of the Month design

I've put up my Christmas Tree, decorated the home, even put up some fairy lights in the front yard, bought the turkeys and the ham, thought about how I am going to accommodate the family, and this week I will go searching for the Christmas wrapping paper that I'm sure I had left over from last year!

With all the hustle and bustle of Christmas preparations, how easy it is to forget the reason we celebrate the season. I wrote a little poem, as a reminder of who Christmas is all about.

More than the shiny tinsel

More than the Christmas Tree

More than buying presents

For the like of you and me.

Christmas is Someone’s birthday

It’s Jesus – that’s the thing -

What then shall we give Him

The One who was born the King?

I pray that you will be blessed as you stop to remember the wonderful gift of Jesus, God's gift of love to us, and consider what we can give Him - nothing less than His rightful place as King of our lives.

Happy Christmas to you and your family.

Val

The rhythm and relaxation of crochet

My mother tried a few crafts over the years, but crochet was Number 1 for her. She seemed to always have a crochet hook in her hand and be working on one of her exquisite doilies or tablecloths. 

How blessed I was to be the recipient of so many of her beautiful crochet items. She even made each grand-daughter a tablecloth when they reached 18 years old.

Family members are still using the granny square blankets she made for us. Dozens of beautiful items were given to charities for fund-raising. 

Of course crochet doilies are totally out of fashion now, but I love them and use them. Since I have quite a bit of traditional furniture, they are not out of place in my home. Minimalism is not for me, so I proudly display her amazing handiwork with joy and gratitude and beautiful memories.

The rhythm and relaxation of crochet fills a part of each day for me too now as I sit with hubby in the Aged Care facility. I have made my share of intricate patterns in the past, but it is the time now for simple designs where concentration is minimal. I just enjoy the rhythm of hook and thread without having to think too much of what to do in the row.

A friend asked me would I crochet around some face washers for her and I gladly agreed. That is the perfect project for this stage of my life - only hook and thread required, light to carry, fit in a small bag, easy to pick up and put down, and totally relaxing.

Having finished her washers, I am now making some Christmas decorations which I plan to give to friends. They are quick, easy and look pretty. Free Patterns can be found here:  petalstopicots.com/free-crochet-patterns/holiday/sample-page/

The older I become, the more I realise how much I am like my mother - I even look like her! It gives me a contented heart to think that in this season of my life, I am following in her steps and enjoying the things she loved so much. 

Next post I will show you more of my 2023 Block of the Month wall quilt, which will be commencing in January. 

Meanwhile, happy stitching!

Val

The power of small things!

As I've mentioned before, my darling husband has dementia and is in care at an Aged Care facility. I visit him six afternoons a week. Saturday is my day off for washing, supermarket shopping and gardening. One day this week I wasn't feeling great, but still intended to visit hubby. However a half hour or so before I was due to leave home, I was hit with overwhelming tiredness. I hadn't had a lot of sleep for three or four days, and that particular day I had been awake since 3.30 am. 

Realisation hit me that it would be very unwise and unsafe for me to drive when I felt so tired, so I reluctantly decided I needed to stay home to try to get some sleep. Our lounge recliner is quite comfortable so I curled up on that, took off my glasses and took out my hearing aids. 

I've had hearing aids for quite a few years (and probably should have had them 10 years earlier!). It seems to be a genetic thing for the women in our family to start to lose their hearing in their 50's. At the last check I had only 60% of normal hearing. The hearing aids are great and I manage very well, except for when someone has a very broad accent. The one thing I can't do is lie down with hearing aids in my ears. Apart from the discomfort of them being pushed in the ear by the pillow, they will squeal once they are covered over, so out they come as soon as I lie on my side.

I managed to get some intermittent sleep, not very refreshing, and I probably woke up not feeling any better than a couple of hours earlier. But it was time to get going again, so on went the glasses and in went the hearing aids. A couple of minutes later, I felt this extremely loud, horrendous, scratching noise in one ear. It was absolutely terrible, but what was worse was the excruciating pain that went with it. It was all so bad that I began to think I needed medical assistance and started to plan whether I should call an ambulance, get to the hospital or call in a Home Doctor. 

After about ten minutes of wondering whether I was going to die, I felt something crawling on the outside of my ear ... and there it was - the tiniest ant, not even 2 mm (1/16 in) long. The uproar in my ear stopped, the pain subsided and my panic abated! 

I've noticed a few ants in the house, a signal that we're going to have some rain. Evidently one had decided to sit on my hearing aid and so had been inserted in my ear. It's hard to believe that such a tiny, insignificant thing could cause such torment. 

It made me think how important small things are. Life is made up of lots of little things, and how we handle them is what matters. Like a smile - so easy to give, so uplifting when you receive one, costs nothing - a small thing that can change someone's day. Did you know that you can hear when a person is smiling?  When you are on the phone with someone, particularly at the end of the conversation, when saying goodbye, you can tell by the change in their voice if they stop smiling. I try to remember to not stop smiling till I actually finish the call! 

And talking of small things, here's a pretty box to hold all the small bits and pieces that are part of the Days of Delight Calendar Block of the Month pattern. This month instructions are included for the box, then there's just one month to the finish line.

My 2023 Block of the Month Quilt is currently off at the Quilters. I hope you like the sneak peaks scattered throughout this article. The quilt has lots of small detail that brings it to life.

It's the little things that count. As the famous quote says, We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love. My adventure with an ant this week has reminded me again the importance of little things and the need to put all my heart, soul and love into the small things of life as well as the big things that always seem more important. As God's Word says, "Whoever can be trusted in small matters can also be trusted in great ones." Luke 16:10 NCB.

Happy stitching!

Val

The Vegetable Garden has colour too!

Following on from my last post showing some of my vegetable garden, I thought I would let you see some of the colour that turns up there - it's not all just green!

There's always plenty of flowers on the self-sown cherry tomatoes:

The seed heads on spring onions always fascinate me. I think they are really quite attractive:

Dianthus always put on quite a display and the bonus is that the flower petals are edible:

I discourage the basil from going to seed by pinching out the tops, but when it escapes, the flowers are quite a pretty shape: 

I'm always happy to see the bright yellow flowers of the zucchini, though I was a bit peeved when most of the flowers on my current batch of plants were male. (Yes, males are needed, but they're not much use for producing fruit!!!):

I love the delicate flowers of the chives:

Tarragon is making a lovely show at the moment:

Even the thyme has delicate flowers:

These yellow flowers are much smaller than the zucchinis, though they look similar. The cucumbers they have formed have been amazing:

These pretty pale purple flowers are actually in my front garden. I like them for their lovely striped foliage and the fact that they are very long lasting. It was only when I used an App to find out what they were that I discovered they are Society Garlic and are edible! 

There has also been plenty of colour going on in my 2023 Block of the Month quilt. It is looking so pretty! I have completed the quilt top and am very happy with it. Here's a sneak peak of one of the blocks:

The more I read the Bible, the more I realise how absolutely up to date it is for daily life. The new quilt has timeless truths from God's Word, written thousands of years ago, but totally relevant for 2023. The plan is to launch the BOM in January, so keep tuned!

Happy stitching!

Val

Nearer God's heart in a Garden

In her poem ‘God’s Garden’, Dorothy Gurney penned these lines: One is nearer God’s Heart in a garden than anywhere else on earth.  I think there is a lot of truth in these words. God put the first man and woman in a Garden and walked and talked with them there. The final picture we have in the Bible of the future is a heavenly, abundant, life-giving Garden. There is something special about the beauty of living plants growing and blooming and showing His glory, so it is not surprising that we can feel God’s presence in a garden.

 I love flowers, but the thing that I love doing best in a garden is growing fruit and vegetables!

At the end of last summer, I let some of my lettuce go to seed, and then sprinkled seeds around the garden. Invariably, the seeds that fall in the garden soil don’t come to anything, but the ones that end up on the pebbles that surround the garden beds, absolutely thrive! We had some good rain, so I had hundreds of seedlings pop up everywhere. I gave heaps away and transplanted lots into the soil.

These did amazingly well and for the last 11 weeks I have been able to share a huge quantity of lettuce leaves with my friends. They have been especially appreciated because I had an abundance when supermarkets were charging the highest price ever seen for a lettuce and many people couldn’t afford to buy them!

They are going to seed again now that our warmer weather has arrived, but that gives space to grow different vegetables, like silverbeet: 

I can’t remember ever growing Lebanese cucumbers before so I decided to try them this season. There are a lot of male flowers forming, but the fruit is also appearing:

Fresh peas have been tasty:

and some of the self-sown pumpkin ended up in a good batch of soup:

Zucchinis are forming nicely:

Cherry Tomatoes are thriving:

 The lemon tree is looking as if it will have another good crop:

and the new passionfruit vine and pawpaw tree are growing apace but are a bit small for fruit yet.

Talking of fruit, with Christmas approaching, Australians begin thinking about the wonderful cherries that are grown in some of our cooler climate areas and are a highlight of the Christmas fruit that becomes available. With that in mind, I have some cherries on the October month mini-quilt in the Days of Delight 2022 BOM design.

There's a lot to learn about gardening, but I am very conscious that I can plant, cultivate, fertilise and water, but ultimately it is God who sends the sunshine and rain and makes them grow. Yes, I know God is near when I am in my garden. 

Happy stitching!

Val

The girls are taking over!

We have 15 grand-children - nine grandsons and six grand-daughters. Here they are all together way back in 2011.

Since they live all around Australia, it is no mean feat to get them all in one place at the one time! Since that photo was taken, all but one has become an 'adult', three have married, two of the girls are engaged, and all are making their own way in the world. 

And here's what we looked like in 2019 (and we have expanded even more since then):

With the predominance of males, I am delighted that in the next generation the girls are taking over! Since last I wrote, another beautiful little girl has arrived, making a total now of four great- granddaughters.

Family is such a blessing, and I'm delighted that God has blessed us with some more girls in the mix!

The 2023 Block of the Month is progressing well - staying up long hours to watch the Queen's funeral meant lots of stitching!

I love flowers, but there are usually more stitched ones in my house, than actual ones in the garden. My passion is growing vegetables, but there are occasional burst of colour to delight, such as my Clivea:

and this orchid:

The vegetable garden has absolutely thrived this year, probably because we have had rain during Winter which is unusual, but I will tell you about it another time!

Happy stitching!

Val

Playing with Stitches

I had some time on my hands last week! It's a rare occurrence, and I quite enjoyed a whole week of being lazy, getting up late, staying at home and having hardly any commitments to fulfil. Yes, I finally succumbed to Covid-19!

I am quadruple vaxed and was prescribed anti-virals, so had only two days of slight discomfort, so a very mild dose, and I am so thankful to the Lord for His care. 14 people from our church came down with Covid in a week, so there are no prizes for guessing the probability of the source of infection!

It was a good time to do more work on the blocks for my new 2023 Block-of-the-month Quilt. I have been working on the project for a couple of months, have drawn all the designs, prepared the appliques and stitched all the wording (the part I least enjoy). Now I am up to the fun part. All the appliques are now blanket-stitched on the blocks and it's time to embellish!

When I am playing with appliques, I like to use a matching thread to blanket-stitch them and then use a contrasting thread around the backstitching to highlight the shape, like this from my More Precious than Jewels 2020 BOM:

I wanted something different to outline a butterfly I am working on, so tried out a new combination - the French Knot Backstitch! Every second backstitch has a French Knot on it. 

   

I quite like it. It looks like tiny little rosebuds along the edge!

In my 2022 Block of the Month, we are up to piecing the top half of the quilt, so are on the home run.

There's a number hexagon and the September mini-quilt to complete as well:

If you want to join at this late stage, you still can! - I will send you all the blocks up to this month. Details are here.

One of the BOM-ers showed me a lovely stitch combination she has invented and used in one of the mini-quilts. She has inspired me to play around more with stitch combinations, so you never know what might appear in next year's Block of the Month Quilt!

Happy stitching!

Val