It's Finished

In the end it turned out more Echinacea than Helenium and the satin stitch gave way to straight stitch, but it was always going to be 'interpretation' rather than 'representation' and I rather like it!
The background colouring is done with fabric paints, the flowers are sketched in with a fine-nibbed fabric pen and the stranded threads are from a selection of autumn colours that I found in my stash.
You can tell I'm pleased with it because I've mounted it tidily in my samples book. Pieces I'm not happy with tend to end up stuck in a drawer somewhere.

Work on Wednesday

Course materials for my next OU module arrived today, earlier than I was expecting!  Gardening and stitching have been abandoned while I work through the list of what's been sent and what I have yet to buy.  EA300, Children's Literature, is my first Level 3 module.  As well as the course-books there are a dozen set books, most of which I've read, either in my youth or to my son when he was young.  The few that I didn't know I bought early on to give me time to read them before the module began and I have managed to do that, so I feel fairly well prepared.
Of course, when I enrolled on this module I didn't know that I was going to be given a place on the Visual Arts Diploma, but I've checked the OU assignment dates and I'm hopeful that the two courses will dove-tail fairly well, without too many clashes.  But maybe that's just my natural optimism!

Sunbonnet Sue

A little bit of applique fun!

As some of you already know, on Monday I was given a place on a Foundation Diploma, which if all goes well, could be the gateway to a Visual Arts Degree in Textiles.  The Diploma could take as much as two years and the degree a further year on top of that so it's something I've had to consider very carefully.
The Diploma is essentially a part time course, so should fit fairly easily around my Open University studies, although there are bound to be clashes along the way when assignments are due.
There will be those who say I should sit back and enjoy my retirement - grow old gracefully, but the chance has come my way and I think I'd be wrong to waste it, although at the end of a long day at college I may feel differently!