I am forever drawn to handmade objects. They have been a part of my life since, well, always. From the rag doll my mum made when I was little (who I treated with a lack of due care I suspect. on looking back), to the numerous dresses and jumpers of my childhood, something was always in production.
My Granny made her own bread (I will never forget the delicious smells that came from her kitchen). But what I remember most are the knitting, tatting, crochet, embroidery and sewing - I have often wondered if home is where my love of textile based crafts began.
During the past few months we have had many crafting sessions and longer projects going at any one time. Although this is not unusual, having the time to actually enjoy these pursuits without always rushing to the next event has been wonderful. We have been dyeing cotton with avocado stones and I finally began a patchwork throw using some of my favourite outgrown clothes from all the years of small people. We have made several air dried clay garlands and decorations. Then there have been an almost continuous list of embroidery of various sorts, it's fair to say any spare moments have been filled creatively.
Or sometimes having a little hammock holiday...
When I began this blog in 2015 (I think, I forget when it's birthday is now) there were many creative projects involved. Some of them have found their way back here and some are still offline, saved in a folder to pull out and replace or re-photograph another day.
I miss sharing more creative posts here at times. I feel the pressure to put myself into a clear box of 'this blog is about..." because that is the done thing (I once read). But what if I don't want to sit in a box of just one topic...? What if I want to explore all aspects of creativity and amazing creative people and wonderfully designed interiors and creating through photography, and wild flowers and. Well. Everything else.
I am a compulsive creative. I turn to making something, anything, whenever my head is too full of other stuff. I can get lost for hours in the process and I completely LOVE making something from nothing. The concentration crafting requires leave no room for over thinking on other things. So to keep this offline feels in some way insincere.
So here is a little embroidery project I sewed last week. This cottage garden bouquet kit was very kindly gifted to me by Nicki Franklin of The Stitchery. With absolutely no obligation to share it with you, but it's so pretty, why wouldn't I? Nicki sells some beautiful kits and haberdashery supplies, alongside her embroidery subscriptions and workshops. You can find out more about them on her website...
Needless to say I spent last weekend picking this up here and there, in between a fairly exhausting garden digging and edging and weeding and watering day. I learned a new stitch (I had never tried bullion stitch before - I only mastered french knots a couple of months ago) and am ridiculously pleased with the end result, imperfect as it may be. And I do love foxgloves and hollyhocks.
I took a few photos as I sewed for no particular reason other than beautiful light and colours and the satisfaction of a pretty project completed in a couple of days. Now I just need to find a frame for it. Off into the depths of the loft I go...
J x
