Living in a small country, the size of your palm is a rewarding life - one gets to know their mother-country so well, almost every corner of it, every animal and every tree. It is never boring, although the country could be crossed diagonally for only one day drive.
In my home country, every rock has a history - a history of ten hundreds and more years. Examination could prove that one same rock was hold by thousands of little hands and thrown in the rivers million times. Walking in the steps of ancestors on a very well formed path seems easy, since these are paths, walked on for 1350 years. And yet, it is quite difficult to pass the distance of one's calm walk. The history imprinted in these paths is so dynamic, it feels like a black storm in the Pacific. And no one has ever felt well equipped and on the right boat, so to sail smoothly and happily.
No matter where I was growing, I love my home country - for its proud history and lovely Nature, for the historical sites, that tell rich stories of warriors and heroes and for the four beautiful seasons, for the welcoming people and for the Black Sea, for the memories, that I had built for my 35 years of living there. Growing there was a challenge but dreams were allowed. Dreaming big and wild, dreaming for freedom of the spirit and wild Nature - for the unexplored and virgin lands, the unknown plants and foreign trees, deep forests, almost untouched by the sun rays and wild rivers, with distant shores, divided by the horizon. There was this book of the Polish traveler and publicist Arkady Fiedler "Resin-scented Canada" that unleashed my imagination and dreams, the one that took me to a country, I had only studied as a geographic placement and a home of the Niagara Falls. This book was a journey of my mind. My thoughts already immigrated at that early age of my 20's.
"Resin-scented Canada" was published in Warsaw in 1935, soon after the author savoured his trip to Canada. He portrayed the country as an unspoiled natural paradise and recounted marvellous stories about native people, formidable hunting grounds and breathtaking wildlife. That is how I imagined my new home to be.
This year is a special year for Canada - the 150 years, celebrating that many years of the Confederation, as a united and diverse country. It is ten years anniversary for us, celebrating being part of this family. Canada feels like home, the one from my dreams twenty years ago. Canada still has the places from Fiedler's book and it is my wish to explore as many as I can.
It is a tradition for my family to organize trips across Canada every summer. Since we live close to the East coast, this is our area for starters. For ten years, we have been to all the Maritime provinces and visited the west part of Newfoundland. We go back and forth and there is always so much more to see. So far I have found Canada as I have imagined it in the beautiful land of Newfoundland and the North lands of Quebec. We haven't yet been to the very North of Ontario, but, oh, the size of 'our home and native land' is unexplorable for one human life.
This is my story behind this sewing project I am doing with Daily Like Canada.
There is no fabric that has ever so clearly spoken to me of Nature and life, but the collection I selected from Daily Like.
I chose these pieces plus the accessories for a project that fully represents my family's love for exploring the secrets and beauties of life with Nature. In every item there is a sentiment and use. Some of the ideas are my little girl's ideas.
She has a vast knowledge of wildlife, down to the very little details. She is a wilderness explorer and she studies a lot about Nature and its wonders. Her favourite animal is the fox, but yet, she changes her choice quite often :). She can not disregard any of the animals, no matter if they are cold blooded or teeny tiny insects. The red panda has always amazed her, since it is a very beautiful animal, whose habitat is in Himalayas. She has been educating me for years on the subject, ever so concerned with their decreasing numbers of population, due to habitat loss. How sad is that?!
With that facts, my choices for animals are pretty obvious, but all the fabric of Daily Like Canada is all about Nature and the connection with every day life. It is such a beautiful statement for my understanding of life.
My bundle collection consists of Winter Fox and Lesser Panda oxford cotton, Mandarine and Sage Green oxford cotton, Hill, Peaceful Green, Evergreen and Yellow Dot cotton 20C, plus the amazing linens from Daily Like in Soft Mustard and Natural. One project is never complete without embellishments. And Daily Like Canada offers wide variety of them - like the sewing labels, matching my fabric choice, zippers, wonderful ribbon for accenting products and makes, little mirror that comes handy in the wilderness, cellophane bags for trailer mix and little snacks, unbelievably necessary pen in matching foxy print for taking notes and a happy card.
I love this collection. I named it "Nature is my home" collection. The deep greens represent the wild forests in West Canada where the Rockies proudly spread their arms, mustard linen and the yellow dot have the colour of the sand at Prince Eduard Iceland, the brown Hill and the winter fox are the forests all around, even in our backyards, the sage green is the Canadian prairies mixed grass, and the evergreen is the daily life of everyone, whose life is in contact with the Nature. Although the lesser panda is not an animal that lives in Canada, there are discussions whether it belongs to the racoon and bear family, despite of the differences.
Whether living in a palm-sized country, or in a country that one life-time is not enough to be explored, Nature always feels like home. And as soon as I could see the sun from where I stand and feel the wind's kiss on my skin and smell the plants, I call this place home.
Off I go to my sewing projects...
Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful morning with me, dear friends!
♥ Ivelina
