a sneeky peek

This week I have been throwing myself into a Christmas quilt. Its an embroidered quilt based on the 12 days of Christmas. I have finished the "top". I have given you a sneaky peak at the back as I am hoping it is featured somewhere else first! Whichever way I plan to put the designs up at the beginning of December as a tutorial. I had the idea for this last Christmas and have been thinking about it all year.

I have been patting myself on the head for actually getting it done and it gives me that warm glow to see it finished.

Can't wait to show it to you all.

I know but its usually the small things that give me great pleasure!

Onward and upward....

Thank you for all you kind comments last week. I really appreciated people taking time to leave such kind words. Of course we miss him but life continues.......

.....and on a completely random point, I found this hairy acorn. Never seen one of those before. For some reason it reminds me of tartan trousers. Bizarre.

Ok so not quite the nature observation of here but still quite QI.

However that does not tell you what I have been doing with my week. I belong to a small art group and we have decided to have an altered book round robin. Its the first moth and I chose a book about collecting.. Inside it I made a small collection.

I have done a couple of swaps recently to swap journal pages and papers. Its hard to see but the piece under the writing is a beautifully subtle piece of paper with obscured text and part of a butterfly and came from the Tara.

The best things in life.....

This has been bought into sharp focus this week as our dog has died.

We are all heartbroken.

and another thing.....

Ha ha at last found an edit tool that means you wont have to keep seeing glimpses of what ever else is around when I take a photo.. I am quite useless on the computer, its only taken 2 years of blogging to discover it!

The exhibition is at the local library. The stitching of the words is partly stem stitch and partly couched depending on the letter. This is not just random information, somebody asked me!

A stitchers legacy

I live in a little market town that has a beautiful abbey. I love to visit it and it has such a sense of tranquility about it. It also has some amazing textile pieces. I had another chance to see these at the weekend which is always a treat.I warn you that the photos are not good, light levels etc but they give you some idea . There is some beautiful work and I find it inspiring to see the work of people whose name has been lost and never recorded and here we see them living on in the things they created. Many people leave history unrecorded and did they ever consider that 300-500 years later their work would be treasured and admired. To look at a piece and see each tiny french knot of couched piece of gold and wonder who made it....I am, as ever, in awe of peoples abilities and the artfulness with simple things. The urge to create is so strong and it comes through all lives either through making something or appreciating it. I could warble on for a very long time about it all. How important it is that there is beauty in life.. that people have time to express what they see as important... and that others consider it...

........and my legacy ....... stitching the schools cross country t'shirts!Don't you love it when your creative ability is appreciated? Christmas play costumes next...

and the lived happily ever after.....

Trying to decide whether to put some work into a local exhibition.......trying to decide if this is "right"......

the first block

A new project, just because I haven't got much to do at the moment! I mean apart form all the other things..... and half term.....chri....no I wont say the word yet!