promise

I promised the children pencil rolls almost a year ago. I started with a whizz and a bang.
Three done in a week, plus a quilt to match.
But noone wanted the first one, so that still left me with six to make.
I figure a promise isn’t broken until it’s been decided it would NOT be fulfilled and I always intended to keep my promise (this proves it); it just took me rather longer than anticipated.
Two nights before Christmas I was done. (Not bad seeing as I didn’t start again until four nights before Christmas and I could only work after all the kids were in bed, so it would be a surprise for them).

The baby got vintage thrifted linen curtaining *I* like

T3 found her old dungarees and fluffy jacket refashioned (along with big sis’s favourite gingham pajamas she wore for about five years before conceding they no longer fit – but they certainly had not reached the end of their life, despite being largely threadbare). The photo of her roll this morning also shows me this keeping-track-of-things-system  is working. Yesterday I found a felt tip lid on the bench. Today I know who to blame have a quiet talk with!

M5 loved his diggers for a while there….he can continue to enjoy them even now that they are no longer sweatshirts, dungarees and pjs.

And I can remember ALL the boys wore those navy dungarees.

L7 loved the wild shirts aunty sent them for Christmas one year. Can’t say the shirts were my fave – especially when all the kids wanted to wear them at the same time….they kinda announced to the world “Hi, here we come, there are eight of us in case you hadn’t noticed and we are loud and bright and in your face” Kinda? No, not kinda at all. They just screamed out loud and clear! I prefer them inside a pencil roll.

The outside really suits him (old shorts from Grandpa):

K9 had a pair of shorts that fell off her no-hips for two summers, fit well for one summer (and as much of the winter as I would let her wear them), were a bit tight last summer and this year were full of so many holes it was hardly worth putting them on. They were her favouritest-ever. They were also remarkably tricky to make into a pencil roll, because I had to undo seams and mend holes and patch pieces together. But I am pleased to have given you this very special gift, which you adore. Not only are your favourite shorts there to be saved to time immemorial, but there’s a snippet of the tshirt you wore with them for a couple of years and some material I’m binding your birthday quilt with….and best of all, the pink and blue flowers you fell in love with…..so glad I bought them, not knowing what I could possibly do with them for you.

K10, you got the first quilt last year. Backed with fabric you had waited and waited to come on special. What else could I choose for you?

More favourite clothes for K12. These shorts were so full of interesting pockets and labels that I used them for the inside and out. Perhaps I went overboard handstitching on the thick rubber label so that it would be positioned right on the outside….so glad you noticed!

There was nothing secondhand about J13’s. And it was by far the easiest one to make.
No fiddling.
No patching pieces together.
No cutting off seams.
No trying to work out how to get the most of the fabric.
Just measure, cut and sew.
However, that does not mean it comes with no history, no love, no meaning.
It was made with leftovers from her ChildhoodQuilt.

You think the pencil roll is bright? Wait till you see her quilt!

So there you have it.
Eight pencil rolls.
Eight bundles of love.
Eight gifts.

Recording my efforts, I couldn’t help but consider God’s gifts to us.

Excessive. Undeserved. Individual. Special. Loving. Freely-given.

I imagine God smiles, when He sees us unwrap the gifts He gives us, our hearts overflowing with thanks.

Thanks God for the gift of creativity (86), thrift (87), tools (88), time (89), and especially the gift of being able to give (90).