Goodbye, holidays, welcome normal life

Finally I managed to take a picture of one of our talented acrobat visitors at the birds' feeding place. The squirrels usually take a leap from the branch, but one even experimented gliding down the wire where the box is hanging. It reminded me of one of my favourite Little Golden Books, the one with five brave fire soldiers, only the squirrel slided with his head first! The smallest squirrel manages to sit on the edge by the seeds, but this position is the only alternative for the grown-up squirrels. I wonder how they manage to swallow anything?




The lovely fabric roll I posted about in my previous post made me think of my one and only genuine Liberty dress, and why I didn't have any rest bits of the fabric to use for the hexagons in the Grandmother's Garden quilt I made for my daughter. Many, many years ago I made a trip to London, had afternoon tea at the Ritz and went shopping at Liberty's. I bought myself a floral print fabric (who could have guessed?) for a nice summer dress. My mother was going to sew it, because at that time I hadn't started sewing yet. She is a special kind of woman, mother of six, started her family during the war and was always used to making the most of what she had available. And, also a great fan of jigsaw puzzles. These qualities were the reason why instead of a little dress, we chose a pattern for a wraparound skirt and a blouse. That kind of a skirt uses a huge amount of fabric. I had bought fabric for a simple dress only. My mother made what we planned, even when it took some planning, some extra seams and puzzle skills:

This is the facing of the blouse's hem. Notice all the little stamp-sized bits it is made of.

This is the other side, with a smart double sideseam solution and some more patchwork facing. The one sleeve also had two seams to make the correct width, and the under collar was made of 6 pieces of fabric. No rest bits this time for quilting! It was a lovely outfit, and I used to wear it a lot. I have kept it all these years so I can someday use the fabric for a quilt.

Today is Epiphany, the day when traditionally the Christmas tree will be undressed and taken out. My amaryllis is still in bloom, the tangerines are out and the Christmas tablecloth has already been washed to be stored for next Christmas. After the tree is gone I will still leave some of the decorations in place. The tree is in good shape still, I have been giving it water almost every day, but I'm glad to have the dining table in its own place again so my ironing will be easier. Holidays are great, but normal life is easier, if you ask for my opinion. I'm glad to be back to normal everyday life again. (It means I can spread my sewing things in the living room, where they don't belong but where they live, with me.)