Finished at Last!

My Stumpwork spring picture is now finished mounted and framed--------Whew!!!!!!!!
My shoulders and neck have really suffered with this piece, bending over a lit magnifying glass for hours does not do them much good, but one suffers for ones art ( big grin!). I am really pleased with it and I hope the judges at the Federation Show next month are as happy!


I now have to refine my calligraphy skills for one of the other classes. I have been practising and really am enjoying picking up the pen again. I suppose it is a bit like riding a bicycle as the feel for the pen and lettering should not totally leave the deep recesses of the brain--------at least I hope not!

I will now have time to start working on a piece from the Spiral Quilts book I got for Christmas. I have promised myself just to work with fabrics from my stash-------Hm-m-m-m!

Had a wander round the garden this afternoon now that the snow and frost have gone for the time being and lots of green shoots are appearing and it was mild enough today for me to want to get out the trowel and gardening gloves and get going with it but I will hold off for a wee while in case the cold comes back as I have read it might do at the beginning of March-----we shall see!

Calendar Quiltlets and A Perfect Winter Day

These are my January and February qultlets for our BQL 2009 Calendar Challenge. January colours were from a walk beside the loch on a very frosty January day with the frozen loch, blue sky, and the reeds in their winter colours. The design ( which was done in raw edged applique and is the given design) reminded me of trapped air under the ice.

February's given design is a "stitch and flip"method on a calico foundation cut in a triangles. My colour choice is the sight of the snowdrops coming through the woodland floor------so greens and white and a mottled brown. I have heavily FMQed it with a silver thread to remind me of frost------which we have had such a lot of this winter!

Today was one of these perfect winter days with the snow still lying in pockets in the fields, gardens and around the loch, wall-to-wall sunshine and blue sky and crisp clear air. At the loch, which is well frozen, the water fowl were close in to the edge in a patch of clear water and you could see the wonderful black and white markings on the Golden Eyed ducks as well as the Tufted ducks------did I have a camera? Unfortunately not, but I did think a quilt could be brewing in my mind with Golden Eyes as a theme!!

I am almost finished my "S is for Spring" stumpwork embroidery for the SWRI Regional Day, and my mind is now turning to the design for the invitation to a "Carnival". It is such a long time since I did any Calligraphy that I am practising a little every day-----I am actually hoping I can do the script with a computer font but I am waiting to see if that is "permitted"----more of that in due course.