Sewing is my therapy.

Last week I posted a little parcel of handmade goodies to Deb.   You could call it a random act of kindness.  I wanted to make her something, to say thank you for being herself.  To me, she is so inspiring.  I love reading her blog and following her on Instagram.  She makes beautiful quilts.  She works hard at studying at University and raising her kids.  I really love her honesty on her blog and on Instagram.  She is not afraid to talk about difficult things like her feelings. I wish I could be so honest.

I included a letter with the handmade goodies.  I only meant to say a few words, to thank her for being so inspiring and honest. In the end, it was a few pages long, confessing how 2014 had been the worst year of my life and the reasons why.  I talked here about my grief at losing both my Nana and then my Grandma last year.  There were other things that made 2014 an awful year.  I am not ready to talk about them here.  Maybe one day I will be ready.

Once I had posted the parcel to Deb, I worried that I'd dumped all my pain on her. She has experienced her own share of pain and grief, she is open and honest about it on her blog and on Instagram. I felt relief to have shared all this in my letter but part of me felt guilty for burdening Deb.

I did not and could not know how she would receive my letter. It was a complete surprise to me that my letter did not burden her but uplifted her.  (She wrote about it here on her blog). I could then see clearly, by sharing my pain and grief with her, I was acknowledging her own pain and grief.  We all feel better when we talk about these things, it is part of the healing process.  It is not healthy to anyone to bottle up their emotions.

Deb has helped to heal me. I feel stronger. I feel supported.  Deb is my friend (even if we have never met).  I loved making all these goodies for her.

Sewing is my therapy. What is yours?

The beautiful simplicity of natural jute rope bowls

 

 Hello,

Earlier this year on one of my trips to Sham Shu Po, I chanced upon a new-to-me shop selling ropes and natural trims.  I bought some gorgeous jute/cotton blend rope and proceeded to become obsessed with it.  Within days, I needed more as I'd sewn it all into bowls.

The colour and texture of it are so beautiful, so simple.

I have now been sewing the jute into nesting bowls.

They are now in my etsy shop with a blue bowl feature. You can find them here.

 

Have a lovely week.

Cat.

A purple quilt for my big girl.

Hello peeps,

Way back in August of 2013, I began planning (on paper) a quilt for my big girl.  At the time she was 7 years old.  I had been collecting different red fabrics for her, as she loved red back then, but she decided her new favourite colour was purple.

She chose the snowball (octagon) quilt block and I was very lucky to find a few metres of the turquoise dotty fabric in my stash, it matched the purples I began collecting beautifully.

Over many months I cut fabrics and slowly sewed the blocks.

I finally sewed the blocks together in May of this year (2015).  My big girl was thrilled.  I was relieved it was finally (almost) finished.  There are no long arm quilters here in Hong Kong, I arranged for this to be quilted in Melbourne on our next trip (in July/August of 2015).  It was quilted by Anita of Hillside Quilting.  My big girl chose the quilting pattern and the binding too.

I wish I could say why it took so long to finish.  I will admit I get easily distracted and start other projects.

It is finally finished.  That is all that matters to my big girl.

The backing fabric my big girl chose, it is called Unicorn Fable in Balsamtree.  It is from Art Gallery Fabric, designed by Sara Lawson.  The range is called Fantasia.

Her new quilt is on her bed, she can snuggle up to her very own quilt, made with love, just for her.

Have a lovely week.

Cat xox.

Everyday beauty.

Hello peeps,

I was clipping and trimming some curves today, and noticed how beautiful the off cuts were.

 

They are tiny fabric scraps.  I used the macro lens on my DSLR to take these photos.

I had forgotten how much I love macro photography.

There is beauty everywhere, if you are open to see it.

Cat xox