getting ready for spring

Ever the optimist - here are my new raised veggie beds all ready for the new season. We've had to go ahead and get them done despite the weather as P's hip replacement will have him out of comission for a couple of months. They are all covered over as next doors cats will think we have made them new giant litter trays !

While we are 'enjoying' the weather, I have had a go at ice dyeing. I've tried this before with very wishy washy results but this time I 'cured' the fabric in plastic bags for 24 hours after the snow had melted and got much brighter results though not as interesting patterning as I had hoped . The fabric may well come in for a book cover as I have a journal in need !

 

stone me !

In the interest of blogging more than once this month , this is a stone carving I completed in November after a four evening course at our local art studios - Artison, in Masham. You would not believe the time and energy it takes to remove a half inch depth of stone from a 12 inch square ! The stone is Ancaster limestone from Lincolnshire which is , allegedly, one of the easier stones to work. The whole process is very satisfying and totally absorbing - the time flies by to the extent that you forget coffee time until prompted.

Week 1. Starting

 Week 4. Finished
The stone is now sitting on my garden steps looking very new - won't be long before it weathers in.

Wish You Were Here?

"Wish You Were Here"

happy new year

Am starting the new year with new resolve, hence this post although I have little or nothing to show. This is an ipad cover I made for my daughter's christmas stocking. As it happens, she already has a much more user friendly and efficient cover so it is being made into a (very small ) cushion so she can still enjoy it.

The dog was taken from an old Stitch magazine embroidered on calico and the bag was using up leftovers from other projects. 

Frances Pickering papers

Had a go at making papers for a book following Hazel's instructions for colouring the pages that she learned with Frances Pickering.

 I had a good time painting the pages and then had to wait until the next day to unwrap the parcelled -up papers. I was really pleased with the results - even the wrapping paper was lovely and I will cut a page from it for my book.

All I have to do now is make a cover and sew the binding !

Kantha Bag

I've been kantha stitching a piece of indigo-dyed fabric for a while now - no particular aim in mind, just a piece of comfort blanket stitching really, as a change from my usual stitch of comfort, french knots. When I finished , that is, covered the whole fabric I determined to do something with it rather than as usual put it in a drawer. I have made a bag - as far as I can see, it has no useful purpose but I have hung it in my hut and it pleases me.

 I should have turned the last picture clockwise as it is a closeup of the bottom of the bag, but having added it , I don't know how to take it away - pathetic or what !

Also this last week, enjoying the spell of reasonable weather, I went walking in Fountains Abbey and enjoyed an afternoon of Autumnal sunshine and colour - even sat on a bench in the sun and watched a goldcrest flitting and whirring his wings from twig to twig on a yew bush, seemingly oblivious to humans, just getting on with his stuff ! The reflections in the lake were stunning and I also liked the rows of stones serving as an edge to a bridge over the river.

I also took this shot of the roots of a yew tree, exposed by the endless rain of this summer. Amazing how they cling on despite it all.

Funny Wren

Have been trying to draw the birds on the feeder this week - mainly goldfinches, then started doodling and working up to stitching a wren so this is my first attempt at a rough drawing.  Hope you like him?  He is not finished yet.