The love we don't always see ....

 Most of us are surrounded by love we feel but not always see. I have shared various Valentine sentiments several times 

This past week I sewed two little needle book hearts which I will gift to friends, a little reminder of how much I value their friendships. 

Our sideboard once again has roses on it - Old Country Roses by Royal Albert 

Some previous valentine posts - 

a little thing called love ...

True love is not just one day 

I heart Valentine 

What is love? 

Love is what you do 

This morning I saw this post by a cousin and it really struck a chord with me 

We do not fully appreciate the often unseen love that sustains us when we need it? 

Life is hard at times, it can toss us on the waves we did not see coming & we need a safe haven to rest in; the kitchen table we can cry at, the hot tea that revives us, the listening ear which helps us to make sense of the world. These friendships are not celebrated enough.

I treasure the love of my late Dad's sisters on my whatsapp group whose messages wait for me when I wake up - they are 2 hours ahead of my time & they surround me with their love & care. I awake most mornings to messages from friends & family scattered across the continents with wishes for the day, little things they want to share. These are some of the unseen people & their love ... 

I decided on the spur of the moment to try to visualise the love of the many unseen people who are there for me - I love symbolism & so I used a fairly coarse backing fabric & cut outlines of people from a very earthy colour which I arranged first on the square. The coarser fabric represents the earthy side of people, the raw, real side of us that we show to those we trust explicity .... 

The hearts which cover this are in various shades of red, blue & cream, some of the patterns cut in half, some blue hearts, some small, some large, some pure - all powerful symbolism for the ones we encounter. 

I wanted these outlines to be without features - the faceless ones who are there for us. I machine stitched them to the fabric then covered the whole image with a very fine clear lace / gauze I had to indicate the almost invisible nature of our support system, the hearts there but unseen ... 

The thicker lace pattern at the base represents how this love grounds us as it reaches upwards towards this hidden group & their hearts. 

I will probably do a hand stitched border but I am happy with this creative visual which represents the shadowy love we enjoy. 

I am especially grateful for the deep love of my husband -  this love is rare where people have space to grow ... 

Have a lovely Valentine's day & remember to appreciate the ones in your life, 

Dee 💕