“Nothing Between Me and the Sea”
Just a few days into my stay in the treehouse, the old worn sofa was to be replaced.
The sofa had been draped in a throw to cover its age, so when the throw was removed I saw the fabric – Yikes! I could not let that wonderful vintage fabric be thrown in the skip!
I asked if I could have the fabric – and as an aside said – “but this sofa is so comfortable is it really going to be thrown away!”
A bit cheeky of me – sometimes the recycler/environmentalist/hoarder in me just will not be silenced!
Elizabeth said I could have the fabric and I was as happy as a pig in straw for the next few days, tearing, cutting, washing, drying and sorting the sofa cover.
The design was intriguing – a strange mix of sea and land flora and fauna: butterflies, birds, coral, shells and all sorts of strange plants. I started to play ….
….. making small fabric collages, stitching each piece on a background with a simple running stitch. At home I would have used my machine, but there was something very soothing about sitting curled up on the new sofa looking out at the sunrise or sunset and slowly stitching.
The weather was beautiful and most days were sunny. I was often on the beaches between sunrise and sunset, collecting shells and beach cleaning. The photo below was taken on Christmas Day
After bracing walks on the beaches or coast paths, what better than to go back to the cosiness of the treehouse for some gentle stitching.
The idea of a wall hanging was simmering away and I wanted to incorporate one of my own quotes
“whatever the question, creativity is the answer”
After the sofa-moving, Elizabeth and I had a lovely chat and I heard the story of how she and her husband had found this place to live, over 25 years ago. The story had an air of magic about it. It became clear to me that this hanging was for Elizabeth and needed to be finished for Christmas Day.
Some twigs cut from the ash tree were perfect to hang the piece from,
with tassels of torn strips of fabric and shells from the beach sewn to the bottom edge.
Whilst Elizabeth was looking for a house all those years ago, she had a dream about a house with nothing between her and the sea and ……… well the rest is her story to tell, but there is nothing but fields between the treehouse and the sea and the phrase stuck in my mind, and it needed to be on that hanging.
Rather than start a new hanging I covered my words with another piece of fabric, so that Elizabeth could have both
On Christmas Day circumstances conspired to mean that Elizabeth and I came together for a cuppa in front of her fire, I gave her the hanging, we had such a lovely long and gentle chat sharing life stories, and a friendship was born. The stay in the treehouse took on an even more rich and magical quality.
And hurray! my comment about the sofa meant that Elizabeth realised that all it needed was a new cover and that it really was comfortable – now it sits happily in her house for all to enjoy.
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I love it – thankyou Sandra
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That must be you Elizabeth. ❤
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Sounds like a great connection was made. Creativity bringing people together again! What a beautiful gift you made for her Sandra, even more special because it’s stitched by hand.
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Yes indeed, such a lovely connection. By the end of the month we both said we felt like I lived there and we were neighbours. I used to do so much textile work by hand it was nostalgic to return to that pace.
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Technology is brilliant but sadly the world just isn’t at that pace anymore is it? I admire how you made it happen and look forward to doing the same sometime.
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You are right things have speeded up, each generation probably says the same – makes me wonder where it will be when my grandchildren are my age – makes my head spin!
Yes hold that thought ……. one day. 😉
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🙂
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Wonderful story! Love the creativity quotation.
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Oh cool! So glad you like it Laurie. 😉
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Brilliant story, brilliant bit of recycling, brilliant wall hanging. In fact BRILLIANT. Hope there was enough leftover fabric for you too. Now I feel quilty for sending a broken sofa off without stripping off the fabric. Wait, I did strip off the arm rests.
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😀 thank you Cathy – you are the third person to regret the loss of an old sofa or the covers of – sofas become part of the family sometimes don’t they. I have absolutely stacks of the fabric as I was able to have the cushion covers as well – it will be appearing in textile books, beach clean art and fabric greetings cards – you might get fed up with seeing it! Ha! So glad you saved the arm rests! 😉
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Such a beautiful post, Sandra ~ thank you! xx
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So glad you like it Del. ❤
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Life has so much to offer when you grasp unexpected opportunities like this. Well done Sandra – both your and Elizabeth’s lives will have been enriched by this experience
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I love your way of looking at things Cathy – you are so right – definitely enriching ❤
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Lovely both the hanging and story!
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So glad to know that MM, it was such a lovely project to do.
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How wonderful this story is and a gorgeous wall hanging, too! It’s good to hear that both the fabric and the sofa are to be reused. I really love the hanging and hope it now has pride of place in Elizabeth’s home.
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It certainly does Sheila, she hung it in her living room straight away. I think she does really like it.
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What a wonderful story and I love that wall hanging. You are so thoughtful Daffy as well as creative 🙂
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Awh! Thank you Eddie. I love following the leads I’m given when I am creating things. ❤
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What a beautiful story!
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So glad you enjoyed it Cathy.
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What a unique and beautiful piece that is now infused with memories. That’s the beauty of handmade art/gifts.
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Awh! Thanks JP, that is certainly the beauty of them for me.
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lovely!
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Thank you. 🙂
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What a great post! Your visit is interesting on every level, and it certainly brought out a lot of creativity!
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Thank you so much Kerry, I’m really pleased you are enjoying my tales from the treehouse. What a luxury it was to have that time and space to let my creative meanderings go where they wanted to go.
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Your art is beautiful. I would never have thought to make such a piece. Lovely!
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Thank you Tina, so glad you like it. I was so inspired by the material, the place and Elizabeth’s story.
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You’re welcome. Keep up the artistry. It is wonderful.
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Thank you – your encouragement is much appreciated! 🙂
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Lovely story!
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Thank you RainbowJ. Glad you enjoyed it.
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I love stories like this. Thank goodness you were there to save the vintage fabric and turn it into such lovely pieces ~ and one for Elizabeth too! I know she will treasure it with all her heart. A lovely memento too, of your visit.
~~~Deb xo
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Oh thank you so much for your comment Deb, I’m beaming! 😀
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