Foxy!

Last September for our 44th wedding anniversary, DH and I bought a print from Hester Cox, a local artist who works mainly in Collagraph . It was from an edition of 50 and was produced while she was working at a print studio in Sweden.

Then when we went to Marazion in October, I saw this lovely fellow in a gallery and went to look at it every day, eventually buying it before we came home.

Then ....I mentioned that I had accidentally bought something at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park on my way home from Market Harborough - well here it is.

I think I have to stop now - my house is full and my purse is empty !
Next post will definitely be a home spun effort !


 

Market Harborough

Last weekend I was on a 'jolly' with some friends at a hotel in Market Harborough. The course was run by Crazy Mary who is a part time primary teacher in the midlands and a part time sewing and craft teacher. We worked from a kit which was easy on the packing - all we needed was in it except sewing machine and thread ! It wasn't really my sort of thing but I enjoyed the social time ! The piece was a quilted applique mat and I did learn lots from it ( viz - I am a rubbish quarter inch seam sewer !) and I will use the technique again to make something of my own.

The best though was a lady called Meryl who was wearing her name badge - I think we should all have one like this ! - well obviously not exactly like this as this is Meryl not me or you, but you know what I mean !

On the way back from the weekend, on the Monday, the weather was so fabulous, Sarah (my lovely chauffeurse ) and I stopped for lunch at the Yorkshire Sculpture park. The sun was so warm we were able to sit outside on the balcony (without coats) and eat - what a treat. We then had a lovely walk through the grounds and sat in the Deer Shelter Sky space to watch the blue blue sky. Lovely! It was a bit muddy underfoot and we weren't really dressed for a hike but the weather was too good to waste. I did manage to leave my camera in the car, so no pics but I did accidentally make a purchase in the shop which I will blog another time !

More garden stuff

More progress on our new structure -

We (the royal we !) have finished the trellising along the 'back' wall and at the sides have put less dense trellis - one for each of the three climbing roses I intend to plant in the spaces. I did think of leaving the spaces empty so I could plant a cordon apple tree in each space but decided I'd rather have scent ! I will need to dig out and replace some of the soil as roses don't like going where other roses have been. I will just exchange the soil with some from my raised beds - I'm sure they won't mind !

Garden Repairs

During the high winds of January, my garden suffered a few mishaps. Next door's Eucalyptus tree blew over onto my shed and my fragile pergola and wooden enclosure plant supports were damaged beyond repair. Fortunately the cavalry arrived and my DH's brother Bill arrived to help him reconstruct. I decided that this was an opportunity to change some things and instead of replacing the pergola , decided to keep the more open view . I may change my mind later ! these two pics show a work in progress. The structure will have another arch over the path that goes past my hut and the structure to support plants will continue behind the hut.

I have tried to find a picture showing the view up my garden before the pergola as down but couldn't find one. It was built over the path in the foreground of the left hand picture with a gap in one side so that you could step up into the space in the right hand pic. It looks very different now as you can see up to the sitooterie at the top - at the moment still full of builders leftovers from our annex and debris to go to the tip !

Time slips by !

Just noticed how long it is since I blogged - and I was going to be so good this year.
 I have been active - two journal pages completed and sent away. I could have blogged one of them but forgot to take a photograph before I posted it off. I also had some jolly snowdrop photographs of Colesbourne but someone else posted hers - you know who you are ! Instead I am posting a piece I made for my son to hang in his new abode - it isn't quite finished but as you can't lift a photograph up digitally, you'd never know I hadn't attached it to the background yet. It is embellished and machine stitched with some hand stitching.

The colour isn't very good - it's hard to see the stitching in the distant fields. I did try lightening it in Picasa but in order to get light at the back, the foreground became faded and it is quite vibrant. The answer may be to bite the bullet and get a better camera or perhaps even to get to grips with the one I've got - I know the old saw about a poor workman blaming his tools !

Happy Birthday to me !

Just thought you'd like to see my birthday Quilt from my DH - obviously it wasn't bought entirely independently but am delighted with it all the same. It is a 2009 Annabel Rainbow piece called Chinese Lattice #2 (Womens' Work) - although you can't see the lettering in the picture, it is machined with the words 'womens work, domesticity and structure' . It may look a little lumpy, but that is because it is hung over existing pictures - I'm having to have a move around to find a good space for it . I don't want to hang it in my living room as we have a multifuel stove which produces some smell and dust when refuelling and cleaning out, then I couldn't put it on the other wall in the garden room as it would be in direct sunlight ( well, for a couple of months a year) so have hung it over existing pics to try out this space. I like it there and think it will stay.
ps the two bits hanging from the bottom are nothing to do with it - it is my hula hoop (fairly unused !) which is parked behind the sofa.

Sewing at Spofforth

For the first time in several months I managed to get to the Spofforth patchwork class. We made fabric by painting dressmakers vilene and bondaweb with Brusho colours then fusing them and adding angelina and printer's foil. The resulting fabric was used to made secret garden squares . Annie had made a lovely bookcover and a lined zipped bag, but I'm afraid my patience and enthusiasm ran out after 4 squares so I used it, with samples of the 'fabric' at different stages in my 'other' travelling journal - it always feels good to make use of samples.

I used silver lame type fabric ( an old scarf ) for the underlay and added starry sequins and small beads - the inspiration for the  fabric was hoar frost in the garden but I don't think I was very successful  in evoking the feel - perhaps it should have been silver and green. Ah well - another time perhaps.