where has the week gone?

I have taken this picture of a Red Admiral this week. There have been quite a few of them in the garden, feeding on the last fruits left on the plum tree. Eventually one of them settled on the fence to sun himself. Isn't he beautiful?

I have also stitched together all the main blocks of the Tail Feathers quilt.

I am now working on the border, which is made out of 24 log cabin mini blocks, with 4 stitcheries, one in each corner.

We are slowly getting ready for the autumn and the winter. The boiler has been serviced this week and we have filled the tank with heating oil, ready for the central heating to be switched on. The coal also arrived and logs are stacked, both ready for our multi fuel stove, which can keep all of downstairs warm and cosy, when there is no need for having to heat the rest of the house. The days are still beautiful and sunny, but the warmth has gone out of them and the night are getting colder, so the change of the quilt was required.

We are still making most of the weather, with regular trips to the forest.

We have not been picking as many edible mushrooms this week, but this morning's find was enough for our breakfast and to fill up a tray for drying. It is still relatively early, we normally pick well into a late October,

so there is hope yet.

I have also made another bird for the Textile group's Christmas project.

The postman was really good to me this week.

 Two new books from Amazon.

                                                                    Fabric and Tilda stitchery from Tikki.

Moda fabric from Puddleducks.

Aurifil quilting thread from The Tabbycat.                  

And an Australian magazine and Tilda fabric from Coast & Country Crafts & Quilts.

I should have enough faric to choose from to start my "Scandinavian Christmas Hearts" BOM!

And to finnish the week, Workbox magazine arrived this morning.

7.15 for Paddington

Let me say right at the beginning, that I am not an official train enthusiast. But I am old enough to remember travelling by steam trains and like many feel nostalgic about the time of steam, not forgetting the old black and white films with scenes from train stations, shrouded in steam and smoke ( and of course I have forgotten the dirt and soot which got in your eyes, but at least you could open the windows and look out ).
So when we were told that last night Bittern was making one his rare journeys through our part of the world, we could not resist to go and see it passing via our small local station on his return trip, from Plymouth to London.
The time was not precise, as the train had to slot into a regular time table, but we were not the only people waiting patiently on the platform, cameras ready. My little camera could not really cope with the speed (yes, speed) of the train passing through, but I got couple of pictures at least. Just look at the length of the train, 12 carriages; we were told by our brother in law, who was lucky enough to be travelling on it, that the train was completely full. Today's trains would have 7 carriages at most. The power of steam!

Christmas project

Well, it must be true, Christmas is coming! It started with the Christmas fabric birds. Today the postman brought a packet from Northern Quilts in Norway, a pattern for a Christmas tablecloth "Scandinavian Christmas Hearts". It is BOM, in 4 parts and this is part 1. With it I also ordered Aurifil thread in Christmas red. It is an Italian thread, new to me, so I am quite curious about it.

I do have another two quilts on the go at the moment, but I am getting on with the "Tail Feathers", I am now stitching the last block.

I must admit that it is a bit difficult to seriously think about Christmas, when outside it looks like summer and the garden is still full of colour.

introduction to fabric art

Because the school year started a day later due to a teachers training, our 5 year old granddaughter was spending a day with us instead.
She had a fun playing in the garden with her dolls, playing shops, eating plums straight from the tree (oh, memories of childhood!) and generally bossing her granddad about (who, of course, loves it).

Like all children, she likes drawing and colouring, and in particular she likes cutting out shapes from a various wrapping paper and making a collage.
To make it more interesting, we decided to use some fabric instead. She was very exited, because she loves rummaging in my room, and was very pleased when I let her choose bits of fabrics and ribbons.

Our project is not quite finished yet, she will come back to it next time, but what is more important, she enjoyed it very much and we had a lot of fun.

walk in the forest

I have read somewhere recently that the most beneficial walk of all is a walk in the forest, not just for our physical well being, but also for the spiritual. I feel this is very much true.
We are fortunate to have a large forest some 10 minutes drive from the house.

It is well managed, but there are many small paths, where you can loose yourself for hours.














The smell, the shadows, the light streaming through the trees, the feel of moss, the stillness of a deer, all those images are so therapeutic.

Some of the pictures here could even be a very good inspiration for an embroidery.

And, as a bonus, another bag full of mushrooms .