Tara Tuesdays - Part 40

Pastures New

I am about to start a new chapter in my life where I will be working in my local village Primary School which I am very much looking forward to. I will of course miss all of my lovely friends that I made during my time sewing, but I think of them all every day when I look at this beautiful leaving gift they made for me. If I'm honest, I was a bit overwhelmed when I opened it as each square has it's own special meaning to me... let me explain further.

One side has a square covered in Paramo badges, a denim heart and an appliqued horse, and a square with a beautiful sewing machine on it. The badges are a replica of ones that I have sewn onto garments whilst repairing during my Seamstress career and will be a constant reminder to me of this! The denim heart and appliqued horse was made by Clairey. As you may already know, I ADORE horses and Clairey and I regularly ride together on Ashdown Forest. I was with Claire when she bought the fabric she has used for the horse; it was for a dress she is making and I asked her if I could have a scrap to keep that I would use to remind me of her. I also made a horse square for her on a cushion my work lovelies and I made for her for her 40th birthday, so she was reciprocating my horse love with her part of the cushion.

The sewing machine square was made by Sue. Sue made me my beautiful sewing machine pin cushion which I have blogged about previously and you will notice that there are some familiar fabrics on this square that I think she purchased from one Emma's Fabric Studio... I particularly LOVE the cotton reel fabric on this square.

On the other side of the cushion there are lots more squares. If I start from the top left this time.

Lou made me the first square, she started to call me BUTTERNUT when we were looking for some fabric in this colour to use for a repair. We adopted a Cornish accent (hers was MUCH better than mine!) and from then on in every morning when she arrived at work I was greeted with a "Morning Butternut" I think you might have had to be there to appreciate this..!

Next to the Butternut square is a crocheted square with my name on made by Julie. Julie is a dab hand at crochet and no doubt would have whipped this up in about 5 minutes! I love the pretty effect the crochet has on this square.

We then have another square with my name on with each letter and it's meaning phonetically. This was hand sewn by Debbie and is referring to our previous Civil Service career!

Sage and Onion and Denim Walls need a more detailed explanation however. You will have all seen or know of Peter Kay's sketches with his misheard lyrics? Well, let me tell you, I could certainly give him a run for his money with this! Sage and Onion is my interpretation of the Toni Braxton song "Say That You Love Me", which if you listen closely is definitely what she sings... Sage and Onion I mean, and Denim Walls is what I have ALWAYS sung to the Pet Shop Boys song West End Girls where they sing "In a West End Town and Dead End World"... you will need to listen to both songs to see if you can hear my version or the correct ones! Singing my version out loud in the sewing workshop after only being in the job for a few months made all the girls Laugh Out Loud and then became a regular joke when more of my misheard lyrics came to light... on a daily basis!

The pretty apple square was made by Alison and she made me this as I ate an apple a day to keep the Doctor away most lunchtimes!

Beccy made me the stripy square with the appliqued heart and if you look closely the Seasalt label. I am a lover of Seasalt AND stripes and Beccy loves the colour purple! She has beautifully blanket stitched this on and you need to see it up close to see how neat her sewing is!

The letter T square is another Paramo reminder, I have spent many a time removing and replacing old poppers!

Catkin made me the next square with my name on in pretty pastel colours, a cute kitty cat and some knitting! As a HUGE lover of cats and knitting this square is particularly apt!

The next square was made by Hayley and is a really clever use of Cub badges that are relevant to me. I had to look them up to get the exact meanings and this is what I found. There are Collector, Hobbies, Home Help and Local Knowledge Activities badges all of which are very appropriate. Local Knowledge relates to my Re-enactment, hobbies could be horse riding, sewing, knitting or crochet, home help is because I am OBSESSED with cleaning and Collector... I am not sure about that one actually! The 1 in the middle symbolises how long Hayley and I have been friends for and worked together.

And last but not least is a wee pair of jeans with an orange crotch patch. When I started working with my sewing buddies I brought a pair of hubby's old Levi's in for some crotch repairs. 17 months on, I did start to fix them but yes, you've guessed it, I never finished them! I also didn't think I had enough fabric so was advised to "just use orange", as it wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb much would it!

Every other day I rotate my cushion so that I see both sides all of the time and have put it in my library where it sits in pride of place on my sofa bed. I go into that room every day and always have a huge smile on my face when I see it. I will fondly remember my time working with my sewing lovelies and am thrilled to have received this beautiful and thoughtful handmade gift that I will treasure forever. Thank you ladies, you really don't know how much this means to me.... xxxxxxxxxx