I’m much more of a Fall Cleaning gal than a Spring one. These past few weeks I’ve been purging, organizing, donating and generally sprucing up the house in small measures. It’s my version of starting the new school year.
What’s become abundantly clear is that I have far too much stuff in the crafting department. As much as I want to dabble in every hobby out there, my time on earth is limited and I’ve got to cherry pick my crafts. I love embroidery. I even have a Pinterest board with my faves. And when I’m ancient, I hope to have a wooden hoop practically welded to my left arthritic hand as I stitch beautiful textile art. Totally useless trivia: I’m a lefty when it comes to writing with a pen or drawing/painting, but I hand sew and play all sports with my right hand. Quasi-ambi, that’s what I am.
Anyway. Because I’m keen on all types of embroidery, I’ve accumulated a lot of books for inspiration but have I cracked any of them open? No. Well, yes, I cracked this one open to take a photo (and grabbed an apple to hold the page down and was pleased that it looked intentional), but my vast collection of embroidery books have been egregiously neglected on my bookshelf.
So, perhaps one of you would like this lovely book, aptly titled Little Stitches: 100+ Sweet Embroidery Designs and 12 Projects? It really is so very sweet, with charming templates and some iron-on-transfers included. Since I’ve barely looked at this one, it’s in pristine condition.
I have quite a few additional things I’m hoping to give away in the coming weeks. For now, to enter this particular giveaway, I have a sort of morbid question: “If you knew you only had one day to live, what would you do?” It’s a question I’ve been asking myself a lot these days. One of the reasons I’ve been cleaning like a maniac was because I wanted to make a good impression on some new friends that were coming over for the first time, and this question popped unbidden into my head.
I immediately stopped scrubbing the floor in K’s closet. Sure, there are things that should be done (like laundry and the general upkeep of hygiene), and it’s always a good idea to not scare house guests with T-Rex sized dustballs, but in the grand scheme of things, an antiseptically clean house is low on the priority list. I like asking myself the question because it’s a pretty good way to get those priorities back on track.
Maybe for some folks, the question would evoke an epic bender filled with mind-altering substances or I don’t know, something wild and inappropriate that I can’t even come up with because I’ve never really wanted to be wild or inappropriate. Or perhaps the question would inspire wanderlust — a trip to Provence or the moon?
For me, my last day would start with a perfectly made cup of soy latte with the butteriest croissant, while I fill my journal with free floating thoughts. I would go swimming with M and K in our favorite local pool, and we would snuggle up on the couch and watch a movie together afterwards with popcorn and the works. I would invite my family and closest friends over for a simple dinner, then in the evening after the guests are gone, and the sink is piled high with dirty dishes, I would kiss my loves, read K a long story, and then I’ll curl up with my own book until the wee hours of the night. Maybe a Scandinavian noir mystery. Or a rip-roaring YA novel. My reading binge will be interrupted by chats with M, punctuated, as they always are, with guffaws. Or a variation of that. Nothing fancy.
How about you?
I’ll keep the giveaway open until next Thursday, September 18th, and will announce the winner the next day. International entries are more than okay! Good luck!
Hi Sanae,
I’m not much interested in embroidery but i want to answer your question anyway. I always feel alive when i’m outside so on my last day i want to go out. In the nature, in the city, to a park. feel the sun, the cold wind, hear some trees whispering. see my kids run around, look at little bugs, smell some fresh mowed grass or rotten leafs. And then: I’ll go and eat the best food i can get my hands on: a hot thai noodle soup, a perfect pasta, some creme brulee. And wine: a glass of german kerner or some italian calcaia. so my last day will end with some guilty pleasures. that a lovely thought…
But…may this day be far, far away for you and me
Marit
i think for my last day i would definitely want to be with all my family. probably in my parents garden, eating lovely food and absorbing the last rays of sunshine whilst watching our children and laughing till the tears roll down your cheeks from all the silly talk.
I would love this book! I just taught my three and five year old how to embroider this weekend. The three year old took to it quite well. She sat so quietly and stitched her designs.
For my last day, I would spend it playing with my children. Doing whatever they wanted to do. I would have a great cook prepare all of our meals and have someone else do the cleaning. After the kids were in bed, I would cuddle on the couch with my husband and watch Romeo and Juliette (the Leo and Claire version) and we would talk and smile and …… 🙂
Hi there 🙂 I’ve been away from blogs for a bit, can’t wait for some time to catch up here in one fell swoop (binge). I took this book out from the library, it is so sweet! I had grand embroidery plans… that didn’t happen.
Your hypothetical last day sounds pretty identical to mine but there may be knitting involved too.
“If you knew you only had one day to live, what would you do?”
I would have my whole family over. We would laugh and talk and just enjoy being together. We’d drink coffee and craft beer and grill hamburgers and ribs. Not terribly exciting, but it sounds perfect to me.
I’d invite everyone I love and go to the seaside for a massive picknick and a bonfire, then just go to sleep in my own freshly made bed.
I’ll skip the giveaway as I think if I have the book, I’m more unlikely to use it. (My book shelf and fabric stash speak for themselves)
But I do want to answer your question. If I had a day to live, I’ll write or call my family one by one – and tell them how much they meant to me, what I loved about them, what I learnt from them.
Definitely spending time with family and close friends. Nothing to dramatic.
Oh Geeze.. that’s a hard question to ponder.. I think I’d definitely want to be with my family, preferably on a cool beach eating yummy food and feeling the sun on my face without feeling the burn.
That book is adorable. I just did a bunch of embroidery for a baby quilt I’m helping put together for a friend. It would be great to be better at it! 😉
That’s an hard question, Sanae!
It think I would spend the day at the beach with my kids ans my friends.
We would play, surf, windsurf and chat. And them return home salty and happily tiered!
Cleaning would be something I am sure I would not do!
P.S. I have this book on my wish list for months! Thank for the giveaway!
I would watch my children play with a cold beer in my hand and chat with my husband feeling totally gratefull about life. I would have a quiet and slow intime day with them full of hugs and warm emotions.
I have seen this book around, and would love to have it because I do like embellish N’s clothes with a little something. So as for answering your morbid ( 🙂 of which I have also been thinking on and off. I think I would like to have a quiet day, maybe take a walk and cook something nice; spend some time with people I love over coffee and cake. And then that’s it, call it a day.
Thank you for the giveaway.
My last day would be spent with those I love. I’d write letters to the ones I couldn’t see and make sure everyone knew how much I love them.
Thanks for the reminder and the lovely giveaway.
Can I wait to answer that question? I have to think about it. For now, I wanted to tell you that I love that you actually use so many of the words I studied for my GRE exam several years ago but have now forgotten the precise meaning of. On looking up “egregious” on my mac’s dictionary it gave this definition:
1 outstandingly bad; shocking : egregious abuses of copyright.
2 archaic – remarkably good.
Don’t you love that it used to mean the opposite? Language never ceases to fascinate!
Of course, Gita! And that IS interesting about egregious – I just love words and all their permutations :-)!
For my last day, I would love to be by a tropical beach, no one around but the family I love best. We would swim, lounge, read, nap and eat copious amounts of tropical fruit. Then as night approached, a bonfire would be lit, a guitar brought out and we would bond by singing songs off-key and watching the stars appear in the sky – ending the day with the satisfaction of know how very lucky we are:-)
My daughters have just discovered the joys of cross-stitching, and this looks like a very fun book to work on projects with them. Happy fall cleaning!
I read your post yesterday, but I couldn’t answer it. I don’t know, perhaps I take for granted that I’m alive and have my little family together, that i never thought about something like this before. Now, after talking with my pillow -just figurative talking :P- Although some times I moan about wanting to be alone I think will be deffo with my little family and will bring my mom and my brother too -they are 6 hours time difference, then they would make it in time- Would like to go to the beach…and just be together, talking, being silly. Will cook lovely food too.
I know one thing for certain: I sure wouldn’t be scrubbing kids’ closet floors on my last day! Not even sure I’ve done that in my every-day cleaning – most impressive Sanae! I find it funny how impending guests has the ability to do that – kick us into hyper clean mode. We hosted my college roomies and their families here last month, and let’s just say I wasn’t the most easy-going person in our house in the days leading up to their visit.
Oh, and i knew there was a reason I feel such a kinship with you – I”m a “quasi-ambi” (your term!) too! Exact same: left handed for writing, but right for hand sewing, eating and sports. Best of both sides of the brain?:)
At home, reading to my son, playing with him, going out to steak dinner with my best friend. Knitting may be involved. Or sewing.
An ordinary day with my two girls and husband, picnicking on the grass at our local park and wandering home. Naps for all, except me, as I would watch them sleep, while writing them all a note telling them about how great my day had been, with them, today and everyday. Definitely sewing and cooking after that – chocolate brownies. And I would eat a lot of the batter.
I have this crazy plan to embroider a coat I want to make for my daughter this fall and am in the inspiration phase so I loved this 🙂 If I only had one day, what I did would depend. If I had a teleporter I would go to our cottage with all of the people I love. If not, I’d stick around here (with all of the same people). We’d go skating and I’d eat all of my favorite foods that have gluten in them because I wouldn’t have to deal with the stomach ache the next day!
If it was my last day, I would want to spend it with my family. We wouldn’t have to do anything special, just spend the day together.
I would spend my last day with my family.Gather them all in one place and have a grand feast. Nothing can beat the feeling when surrounded by people who love you!
Hmmm. Hard question. I would definitely want to spend the with family and friends on a georgeous beach somewhere (north coast of Kauii Na Pali) eating comfort foods and sipping good wine. Thanks for the giveaway. Lovely book.
I would snuggle up with my sweet husband and watch movies all day. Spending time with him is the best.
Definitely at home, getting up late with my husband, breakfast in bed, playing with my little one, listening to his laughing…it would be a lovely day. 😀
I would go to the beach with my whole family.
For the last day, I’d want to do normal everyday activities together with my loved ones: mom, my chubby man and my dog. I’d be giving them hundreds of kisses and I wish (as I always do) I’d be with them again in any other life.
being thankful
hugging my family and friends
smiling
My last day with family for sure!! Thanks for the chance to win a great prize:)
I would get on a plane and go hug my children and grandchildren. I would find a home for my dog. On the plane I would write notes to people with whom I have lost contact and tell them how grateful I am that they were in my life. I would drink a glass of wonderful wine and eat chocolate as the sun sets.
I would love to have this book. Hand stitching is very soothing for me.
What an interesting question. I think I would write goodbye and I love you to all of the people I love, and then spend the day with my husband and 3 children, phones off, computers off, just being together. I would tell my children about Jesus again, and remind them that I will be waiting for them. I think everything else would fade in importance.
that question popped into my head too.. i think everybody does.
What I’m gonna do, is do all the crazy stuffs i havent done my whole life because i was so busy taking care of other people.. I will do the thing i feared the most to do like slide a slope, bungy jumping, do insanity rides , etc. I will not be afraid to tell everyone how i feel and voice out my opinion weather they like it or not. regarding that i will write my life story in a journal .. and at the end of the story i will thank God from the bottom of my heart for all the things he gave to me, for every success, failures, for every challenge in my life.. and because its gonna be my last day.. i will embrace and claim that i’m gonna be with him tomorrow..
I’d either be out in my garden encouraging things to grow and getting dirt under my nails or pouring over a beautiful inspiring book just like this embroidery one you are offering- I love admiring and dreaming about other people’s creativity.
Currently the weather is really bad so I’d love to curl up in my blanket while doing my master thesis, having a nice hot cocoa that my boyfriend made me. when I’m in a break I watch Sailor Moon or do some crafting. I made clay/cold porcelain stuffs, plushies and embroidery. the latter is the latest, I just started and I want to be as good as my grandma so crossing fingers 🙂
New to your blog and wow, what a question! I would spend my day watching my kids dance and then cuddle with them on our tiny couch into the wee hours!
Just goofing around with my family, maybe a day on the beach?
Hike to my favorite waterfall. Call my sisters. Sew special little keepsakes for my kids. Eat nothing but chocolate and bacon. Snuggle.
Amazing giveaway,thank you for the chance to win this lovely book.As for your question don’t think is morbid,we always ask ourself that,most people I am sure.I think it would be like any other day,just spend time with my loving family,walk,go to the coffee shop for cup of coffee,maybe crochet a little if I have the time,be in nature…Cuddling,kisses,love,best for the last day here.Have a lovely new week.
I’d spend it at home with all my family and friends having fun!!!
oh, nothing fancy, just spending the day soaking up my honey and dear little ones and making sure they knew how much i loved them all.
If I had one last chance, one last day to live my life, I would preferably be finishing the letters I would want to give to all the people who given importance to me. I will utilize my remaining breath & energy to write my concerns, my love & my pervent affections to them. I may seem cold & not vocal but really, it is through writing that I am able to open up and every bottled-up emotions will be poured over there. 🙂 And that’s how i would spend my last day.
For my last day, I will be a kid again. I will build a tree house, make myself the queen of the tree house, and spend the day all in it. Simple yet dreamy, that’s certainly what I would do.
I think it would be nice to spend it with my family and leave a nice memory for those left behind. However, in reality, I see that I would scramble to make sure my husband knows how all the banking is done, what the passwords to websites are, where the kids’ birth certificates are, clean the house because the kids won’t for my funeral, etc. So it would be a very hectic day in which I would ultimately end up getting drunk. 😉
I’d want to make sure all my family was around me, and then do something fun 🙂
If I knew I only had one day to live, I would spend it with my family doing water sports such as wakeboarding and extreme sports such as skydiving
I’d spend it with my daughter and husband… just hanging out.
in peace with my Creator and Savior and with family since family time is most valuable time.
We have talked about going to Iceland, but it will be a while before I can afford such a trip. So I would go and spend the last day looking at a landscape I have never seen before. Maybe meet new people. See the volcanoes, visit hotsprings, enjoy different food, and see the northern lights.
I would eat entire pizzas until I exploded 🙂
Spend it with family. All the family.
For my last day I would surround myself with my family and I would make everyone a fantastic, gourmet dinner. I would not do the dishes!