World Cup Football

We set off for home just after the England match had
started. This was the newly widened M1 motorway just
after England had scored!
We arrived home (nearly) about 30 minutes later and saw
3 people on foot and only a couple of cars.

Amazing!!!

All new and the first....

Went for a walk this morning with a friend to a local
park. It was a morning for new life and the first of the
year. We saw a male swan attempting to see off
any thing that went near his new babies. This is mom
and two of her babies. There were another two but it
was impossible to get them all together.
Next a female mallard swam by with her three babies.
She probably had more but this is all she has left.A few yards further on we spotted this coot on her nest.
We sat on some convenient rocks and watched and
waited. She seemed restless and eventually out
popped a couple of chicks - the red blobs are their
beaks. One made it into the water and back. She was
probably sitting on lots more eggs so these two were
very young.

These next three were taken in my garden. The chives are

just starting to flower.........

The double purple poppies will probably flower in a

couple of weeks...............

And this is the first 'Love in a Mist' flower this year........

And finally, this is one on my old tin tubs plantedup

with salad leaves. I've already had a weeks worth of

salad already..........

What's new?

I saw this the other day - a field of dandelions, half the
clocks had blown away. So many dandelions this year!
I want butterfly spotting yesterday without leaving my chair
in the garden. I saw this orange and white butterfly shortly after
I'd seen a small blue one. I went to get my camera but it had
gone by the time I got back, that's when I spotted this one.
I then saw this one, looking rather battered. It actually looks
as if something has taken a chunk out of its wing.
Don't know why the photo is small....
This is a new doll, much more delicate looking than I've
done before. The face is Angelina fibres pressed onto a
face mould and heat fixed. I find 'shiny' doesn't photograph
very well.
The body is made from fleece - I find it easy to work with
and forgiving! It's used as a base then wrapped with other
textiles - strips of fabric, lace, ribbon, threads, then
stitched to hold everything in place. Other embellishments
are added before limbs and wings. I always have to
remind people these are not toys.

I've been working on a series of small pieces based on

a lino print of a tulip. This was a green print onto green

hand dyed cotton sateen. Strips of different green polyester

organza were layered over the top with a pink piece for the

flower head. I wanted to try some rayon thread which can break

easily, and did, but then can stitch for ages without breaking,

and did. I have yet to finish off the ends but here's a look.

I used my favourite (only because I do it without thinking) free

motion quilting pattern. I usually use an ordinary polyester sewing

thread but I'd just read this.

In June a sewing group my mum goes to is having a tea party

for Marie Curie and they are madly making tea cosies to

raffle, I think. Anyway it set me thinking, I've never made a

tea cosy so I thought I'd have a go. This is it so far, my first attempt.

With this I really just wanted to test out some practical ideas

before gatting decorative. The wadding is polyester fleece (again)

and the usual quilting pattern. The fabric is a tea towel I've had for

ages, I bought it because I liked the fabric. It wil be more

decorative and it will be washed to see what happens to it -

fabric, wadding, decoration.

I've also agreed to do this http://www.prayerflagquilts.blogspot.com/

which was initiated by Helen Conway. Done some thinking and

research but nothing on paper or fabric yet.

Spring and new printing

Just one of the pieces I created yesterday. Hand dyed
pdf cotton, screen printed with the lettering and over
printed with a leaf block in several colours.
For all the printing I used acrylic paint mixed with a fabric
medium. I'd already got the screen, a thermofax screen
I'd had done a few years ago. The leaf block came as
a freebie from a magazine years ago. Remember
'Inspirations' - it used to be a good magazine before
home makeovers became fashionable, then it folded.
They always had give aways of blocks, they'd be called
stamps now, or stencils or something you could push in
a drawer and use years later!
One of the reasons for doing this was to use what I'd
got - acrylic paints and fabric medium and to see what
results I'd get. The next step is to get some quilting done.
This plant has started flowering. Can't remember it's name

but it these beautiful flowers. They're hidden beneath the

heart shaped glossy leaves and are only abour 5cm high.

I've love rhubarb and have always wanted a plant in the

garden. I treated myself last year but it failed miserably.

Last autumn we dug it up and planted it in the compost bin

that we'd also moved. We have rhubarb growing in the

garden at last. I believe that you're not supposed to eat from

it in the first year - good job I'm patient!

From utility room to print space

Up early, cleared the ironing and made ready to have
a print session today. The large white board is the
print table - just board covered with wadding - and the
drop cloth draped over it. On the work surface is
everything I think I'm going to need.
The ironing board goes up...................

The print table goes on top of the ironing board. It's abit wider

and quite stable if I'm careful! The airer, on the right, will go

outside later.

There isn't alot of room by the sink and it pays to be
organised but I always end up in a bit of a pickle....

Finishing

I finished my 'Word for 2010' at last. I was procrastinating
about finding the black car spray paint that I wanted to use
for the grafitti. I decided to use a very dark green as it was
handy, it looks black aswell. The test piece worked well,
just needed to remember to mask off the edges on the
main piece.
Just made one error(as ususal) on the wall. I'm cross because
I'd even remembered to keep the little bits that dropped out
when I cut the stencil. I even stitched on the hanging sleeve
which was already made. It's now hanging on the book shelves
being looked at!

I also finished some hand stitching for a couple of journal

quilts. It's a series of pieces based on buttons and buttonholes.

All I had to do was finish stitching the buttons - it's done now.

Just got the edges to deal with now.

I found this chap in the garden on Saturday afternoon.

I disturbed him and we eyeballed each other for quite

some time before he hopped off into Love in a Mist

seedlings that had survuved the winter.

Lino printing, Goodies

I re-discovered lino printing the other week. There are
some new lino products that are much easier to cut than
the traditional lino. This image was taken from a photo of
the tulips in my garden. Isn't modern technology wonderful!
I used acrylic paint and 'Ormaline' because I'd got it.
The resulting ink was a little looser than traditional lino inks
and didn't work as successfully on some of the prints.
After ironing I started quilting some of the pieces to see
what they'd look like. This one needs some ends finishing
off.
I layered this one with organza. A couple of greens torn
into strips and overlapped over the print then quilted.
Quite like this one!
Some of the goodies from Quilts in the Garden...........

This photo tickles me - my old cd player and a textile piece

of my old house.