Something Different.

Something I 'm not normally drawn to do is paint instead of stitch.  In this piece I've covered the canvas with scrunched up scrim, added some teased out fibres of Mulberry bark and applied gesso, thickly in some places, thinly in others.  I had expected to stitch into it, but found myself using acrylic paints instead.  It is an aberration, but I rather like it.  At present I have it on the wall above my work-bench.  Some days I rotate it, which gives it a different feel.  I quite like that it hasn't yet decided which way up it wants to be!
In other news, my TMA has come back, with the highest mark I've yet had on this module.  This is good, obviously, but it's also bad as I had more or less decided not to bother with the rest of the assignments.  So much to write in so little time means other parts of life are neglected.  I don't need to complete the course, I don't need the qualification, I only started it for fun.

My New Home!

Three days of sun have given me a chance to catch up with my spring seed sowing.  Previously this would have ment camping out in a corner of the greenhouse, but last autumn I aquired a purpose built potting shed!  My little palace is fully equiped with a bench under the sloping window and shelves on the back wall.  Three transparent bins, under the bench, hold compost and a large potting tray keeps everything tidy.  I've even brought in an old wooden chair for coffee breaks!
The greenhouse is now bursting with freshly sown trays of flowering annuals and early veggies.  All my autumn sown seedlings have been moved out into cold frames until they are ready to be planted in beds and borders.
Last year our tiny village found itself included in a new National Park and I've been invited, by a local stitching group, to produce a few small pieces for an exhibition to mark our new found status.  The idea is to interpret aspects of the Park in stitch, in as abstract a manner as we wish.
In other news my latest A215 Creative Writing Assignment for the Open University has been sent off and I await the result.  This one called for 1,500 words of Life Writing and I was quite pleased with it, but I can never be sure how my tutor will respond.

Experimental Hand Embroidery

James Hunting's stunning embroidery.

Three days have rarely flown by so quickly as they did this week, on a hand embroidery course tutored by the immensely talented James Hunting.  Regular visitors to this blog will know my own work is small and detailed, but James takes delicate to a whole new level.  His stunningly beautiful flowers are worked in single strands of embroidery threads, either stranded cottons or silks.
His teaching covered all the basics of linear stitches, blanket stitches and couching, through a few modified stitches to french knots and raised stitching.  We worked mostly on linen and organdie.  James proved to be a very patient mentor. 
The embroidery I have chosen to show is unusual in that it is beaded and doesn't feature the piecing together of different linens which usually forms part of his larger work.

Teeny Tiny Pincushion

Recycling, or upcycling, as I believe it is now known, has a perennial appeal for sewers and crafters.  An accumulation of empty cotton reels was staring at me this morning, begging to be used, so I've turned a few of them into pincushions.
I've wrapped felt around them to hold needles and attached tiny sussex puffs, stuffed with cotton wool, to hold the pins.  The finished article, pins and all, is less than three inches tall, so they are very portable.  Good for sewing on the move.
    Like all bloggers I enjoy sharing my ideas and am happy for readers to adapt them for their own needs, but please don't pinch them for your Etsy and Folksy shops!

I'm Published Again!

Those kind folks at Ink Pantry Publishing have chosen more of my writing to be featured on their web-site this week. 
Three small pieces taken fom work I did for my OU courses, A215 and A174.  They fit together quite well as they have a through-line, or common theme.
In this case a beach.   I grew up near a beach and always enjoyed it best on wild and windy days.
Take a quick look if you have a minute or two to spare.
If you missed my first story, published on their site last month, you'll find it here. 

Doll Time

Today being Palm Sunday, I thought I'd show you my palm dolls - so called because they fit neatly into the palm of your hand.  They are very small!
Both are made from calico.  For the sitting one I stamped the calico with a script stamp before cutting out the pieces.  For the standing one I lightly spray painted the calico after sewing up the pieces but before stuffing.
The sitting doll has a skirt and scarf made from scraps of fabric left over after cutting out the stamped calico.
The standing doll has a hat and bag which I knitted on 2mm needles.  They are worked in bramble stitch.  Her bag holds a few tiny balls of wool and cocktail stick knitting needles.

Is it Spring at Last?

We're past the Ides, the equinox is just around the corner and finally there are signs of Spring.  Magnolia buds turning from grey to green, one or two flowers opening on the forsythia and bright green leaf buds on the quince.  We've had groups of snowdrops, including my lovely Wendy's Gold, a whole mass of crocuses opening to greet any fleeting rays of sun, hellebores, early daffs and mini irises.  But it hasn't felt like Spring till now.
Walking through the garden this morning I spied a few violets adding their colour to cyclamen and aconites, and the great delight of fat, pointy buds on my clumps of those glorious Rip Van Winkle daffs.  Topolino and Tete-a-Tete are already out and, of course, they are lovely and most welcome, but they can't compete in the joyousness stakes with the unique, multi-petalled, golden heads of Rip Van Winkle.