Floral Wraps from A Month of Sundays

With no offence to my awesome kids, the best present for me is a day of no-obligation sewing. Just me and the chance to play. So when Hubby offered that up one afternoon on Mother's Day weekend I took advantage. Sure, it was tempting to sip tea and read but I decided I needed to flex my muscles and take something off the very long want-to-do list: Floral Wraps.

In one long afternoon I got five of them cut and nearly all sewn to completion. I was an assembly line machine. Barely took a washroom break. And it was so worth it. Not only was it satisfying, but now I have these great gifts.

The pattern comes from my book, A Month of Sundays. These days we have reusable totes, shopping bags, and even snack bags. But I'd never seen a reusable floral wrap. Sure, the flowers are gorgeous, but the paper and plastic they come wrapped in, not so much. Now you can buy your own flowers and bring them home safely and in style. Or, you can make a wrap and give it as part of the gift!

The floral wrap uses laminated cottons. There are so many available these days. You could, if you preferred, make your own by laminating vinyl to your favourite material. I am lucky, though, in having a few local shops with a good stash of laminated cottons. (In fact, I may need to stock up a bit more now.) Oil cloth works too, but it is a bit stiffer to work with. If you can't source them locally, make sure to check out your favourite online retailers.

Each wrap contains a pocket to hold the stems and ties to keep it all together. By using the laminated cottons your wrap can be simply wiped dry when you load the flowers into a vase, not to mention the ability to keep them moist as you transport.

These are what my girls' teachers are getting this year as gifts. And perhaps a few other people in our lives. Think of these for Mother's Day, birthdays, hostess gifts, just because...

Embroidery - Properly

It took four years. Four years to get from this to that there.

Their first efforts have hung on their art wall, surviving every single purge of art at their request, for the past four years. Then one night a few weeks ago The Monster asked if we could do it again.

"Mama, can we do more of that up down sewing with thick thread? Except, can we do it properly?"

Of course sweetie. And I panic. Because I have no clue how to actually do it properly. Thankfully I have a rather extensive book library for sewing. A few resources to the rescue and we teach ourselves a running stitch and a back stitch. We stock up on a few bits of floss (all in pinks and purples except for one lonely skein of yellow. We buy hoops. And we put their little brother down for a long winter's nap so he stays out of our way.

They each drew a picture on a piece of scrap osnaburg, lightly and with a pencil, selected their floss, tightened it up in the hoop and we sat down to stitch. And we stayed there for two hours! This activity kept my 7 and 5 year old girls still for two hours. I'm still in shock about that. I was on cutting, floss separating, and knot tying duty.

We've got some skills to learn - sometimes they don't always pull the thread all the way through and we get tangles, and their back stitch and running stitch look kind of the same. But this first effort is not any better than I probably could have done.

And the best part? They want to do more.

Pressing Issues

Some people think in the shower, others on a long walk. Some like to talk it out with a friend or partner. Some others like to turtle under and not think about things. Me? I iron.

Truth be told, I don't like to iron my clothes. My sister and I had this as one of our chores when we were growing up. My mom made us iron all the t-shirts too. Our clothes looked great, even if they smelled like smoke. Now I iron clothes only when necessary.

But pressing a quilt top or readying a back for basting is my go-to task when I have something to sort out in my brain. Whether it be bringing swirling ideas together or planning a difficult conversation, the repetitive nature of pressing, with accompanying steam facial is the means by which I can often formulate my thoughts.

I've got a lot to sort through this week, anyone want to bring some blocks over?

Pillow For a Friend

The rumours started flying before Christmas. A new kid was joining the kindergarten class and he was moving from the other side of the world! When would he be here? Where was he coming from? What is his name? The kids were giddy at the thought of a new kid like a vampire would be of virgin blood. I too was excited for the potential of a new friend.

The first day of school came after the holidays and I immediately picked out the new dad. During hearty introductions I found out that they were expecting a baby, as I was at the time. With razor like focus I narrowed in on the mom the first time I saw her on the playground. I know, it sounds like I was stalking. Perhaps I was a lot like that vampire. But sometimes instinct takes over. Then really pays off.

We hit it off immediately, with a similar brand of sarcasm and humour. She is much kinder than I am though. And she lives a lifestyle that not even I can aspire to. On paper we shouldn't click, but in real life we have a great time. I trust her as a friend, as a mother. I know that she's looking out for my kids. I adore her boys and despite his vegetarian eating habits her husband is pretty great too.

It was her birthday earlier this week. Like most of us she deserves special treats. After we'd spent a morning rearranging furniture in her living room (Yeah, we go for long walks, drink tea, then redecorate each other's houses) I decided she needed something else in the room. Something cozy, something that worked with her momentos from travels in the East, something homemade.

I pulled out the Indian cottons and raided the stash. I also grabbed the bits of Carolyn Friedlander's new line, Botanics, that she'd sent me when I was working on something else. They all went together so well. With this quilt in mind from Quilting Happiness I started slashing and sewing. This is a colour combo I've been wanting to play with for a while and now I want to do more with it.

What I forgot is that my friend is on Instagram. So I posted my fabric pull and mentioned I was making a pillow for a dear friend. When I did not get the pillow done in time for her birthday she hid her disappointment. So when I shared the image of my stellar wrapping job she tried not to get too excited. I was happy to share the pillow with her on the playground yesterday (and not worry about keeping secrets from her).

With fabric from family and friends, inspiration from another quilty friend, sewing while chatting with a friend online, and making it for a friend this little pillow is full of love. But it is missing a zipper, I still lack that skill. So a quilted back with an envelope closure, highlighted with a contrasting fabric, is what it gets. And it works wonderfully.

Just like our friendship.