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 bee ..read more

  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 ..read more

  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 a ..read more

  Welcome February ....the month of love I have truffled and gathered each little scrap of beautiful vintage fabrics which a 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 ..read more

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams.  Love the life you have imagined. Thoreau 1817 - 1862 It is May already and I am not sure where this year is going, the world needs to slow down a little in my opinion. Although the days of the beginning of May are a little warmer the evenings are still chilly here in Dorset. Thimble has under gone the yearly transition from Winter to Summer in the colours of the throws and different cushions.  There are always plenty of throws around and candles to light.  Cosy is the word along with my mind set of Hygge as ..read more

  To be creative is to let little pieces of your heart go and place them into each project you make. Pat Bravo. I am reminded every day I have the chance to pick up a needle and some thread and add to the story. To stitch together something beautiful and unique, to patch a small scrap of fabric to a piece, that I am truly blessed and happy.  It is true what they say that sewing mends the soul and the mind.  Happy am I to create and let my imagination go wild, a whimsical world in a way but the happiness and tranquillity that is felt is so wonderful.  I do count m ..read more

  A gentle heart is tied with an easy thread. It is already April and the weather here in beautiful rural Dorset has been very changeable to say the least.  One day it was cold and snowing with snow clouds looming over the entire sky as far as the eye could see.  It was cold and dark and then the clouds blew away towards the sea and bright warm sunshine dominated in the afternoon..  I had lit candles and cosied up to stitch and then as if by some divine intervention the brightness and the warmth of the sun shone down and the candles were blown out and the natural lig ..read more

  Blossom by blossom the Spring begins. Algernon Charles Swinburne The words above are so true, It is still, on some days cold, wet a little windy however there are days where the sun shines through here.  Birds are busy making nests and there are flowers awaking from their Winters nap and blossoms are starting to arrive slowly.  It's the promise of a new beginning and of hope. The days are getting longer and the natural day light is so wonderful and refreshing to me.  The river bank here is starting to come to life and although the river is a bit high and not as c ..read more

  In the quilt of life, Friends are the stitches  that hold it all together. When I hear that familiar click of my gate and the postman walks towards my door my heart jumps a little,  the little hand stitched squares that I sent to my vintage friends have started to arrive.  They are beautiful too, each and everyone so far have the personality of each individual as I know them.  I have finished my square and is on the little pile in my F & M basket waiting patiently to be part of this special project to me.  There is no particular time frame and I awa ..read more

  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 ..read more