end of March

and summer has returned to spring. Today is gloomy and cold, but still no rain, which we badly need.
I have made most of the wonderful summer weather we enjoyed until yesterday, stitching in the garden as much as I could. The light is so much better outside then any artificial light inside.

I finished another block of the indigo quilt, with more practice of stitching shishas. I enjoy this relaxed style of embroidery,

which is very different from the more controlled style of my silk project.

Still some more work to be done here.

I also managed to knit few more rows of the lace scarf,

and some more hand quilting of the Summer quilt.

Despite the shortage of water, the garden is slowly waking up and there are more and more signs of life.

Even first plum blossoms.

Enjoy your weekend!

March Saturday

Spring? We have summer!

Today's early morning walk, in a lovely warm sunshine, took us past the smell of freshly cut logs

to Parkhill Camp, an Iron Age settlement, about which I wrote before here.

 

There had been a lot of activity here during the winter, some of the large beech trees have been cut down.

It is all still looking very bare here, but in the few weeks time the floor here will look like this, a carpet of bluebells.

For now we are happy to see some wild primroses.

Back at home, while working in the garden, not a meter from the hedge, I realised there was a pair of little eyes watching me.

A mum blackbird, sitting on the nest, in March! She did not mind while I went to get my camera and took a picture.

In the balmy 18C we took some garden furniture out of the winter storage and spent the afternoon relaxing in the sunshine.

A good time to start the next stage of my Indigo quilt.

More of the same tomorrow? I hope so!

I wish you also a wonderful weekend!

Frosty nights, but definitive signs of SPRING in the garden.

happy Mother's Day!

All this and a wonderful lunch yesterday.

Thank you!

book bag

Last Monday I joined a workshop "Indian Stitching: Embroidered Book Bag" at Hansons Fabrics.
I always enjoy Hansons workshops, they are so well run. All the materials are included in the cost, as are all the refreshments; tea, coffee and biscuits on arrival, a splendid buffet lunch and afternoon tea and cake, all this organised by Sheila. Thank you, Sheila, for looking after us so well!

Our tutor was Tiggy Rawling. Do visit her blog here, to see her fabric dyeing and read about her travels to India.
The object of the workshop was a sample of a cloth book bag. This type of bag is used in Asia to protect precious books.

First of all we traced the embroidery pattern into the fabric, then embroidered the design using chain stitch for the outline and Indian filling stitch ( Romanian stitch) and closed herringbone stitch as a filling stitches, with shishas in the centre of the flowers.

After completing the embroidery, we made up the bag, including the lining.

 

 

my Indian book bag

Another very enjoyable day spent in the company of Tiggy Rawling.