Solstice

Crumbs after all this time with no blogging I have blogged three times today!

Nights will start to draw in soon so the urge to curl up with some handwork over machine stitches is

 tempting.

The combination of the two methods came about after watching a Quilt Show programme with Carol Ann Waugh called Stupendous Stitching. It was a good way to practise couching and trying out the decorative stitches on the Bernina 830 too. A lot of fun!

.

Of course playing at the machine with new ideas is fun too.

These both were started as cases for my pc tablet but now I am not sure? Perhaps slippery satin isn't the best idea------though it does show the stitching so well.

There is a last flurry of flowers and at last some butterflies. We have really missed them this year.

 

I can't remember whether these sunflowers are supposed to be small or they are just stunted as they were late being transplanted?

Welcome colour though!

Cooler days mean the woodstove will be giving us a welcoming glow so there are logs to split! 

 

I hope those logs don't squash my little box hedge next to them!

Machine stitches on silk.

Just trying out the decorative stitches on my sewing machine on some silk scraps.
I should have hung this rather than just put it on the table to take its picture!

A mixed month so far

A very belated Happy New Year! Where has January disappeared to?
The days seem to have flown past.

The biggest thing we have had to deal with so far was working out where a temporary drive could be driven through our garden and cause the least disturbance. We haven't been able to get any vehicles to the house since the 2009 floods and the way the powers that be are talking it could be autumn 2011 before our river wall and lane are rebuilt.The gate leads out into the lane along by the river that was our usual route pre-flood.

We are not feeling too happy about the time the insurance company have taken and this drive is a bittersweet pill!

However we can now drive home and will also be able to get rid of the 14 month accumulation of items for recycling thus making space in the garage. Sadly the drive has had to be cut through two mature hedges which will take a long time to restore. Some of the trees have had their roots bruised and cut through too.

I am trying not to think too much about the potential damage to them.

-------------------------------------------------------------


On a brighter note I have been gradually getting back into sewing both playing with decorative stitches on some silk and also learning my new Bernina Cutwork tool and software.

I was very wary of it at first but am getting quite familiar with it now. The applique names were an experiment in using fonts from the computer to make applique shapes and they worked beautifully and very easily.
The cushion was another experiment of using a simple shape that had rows of decorative stitches programmed in as borders. The alternate squares are quilted with a design built into the 830. I hadn't made a couple of borders wide enough but I joined them into a cushion anyways and will just add a little hand embroidery later.
What was really good was that I starched and ironed 10 layers of batik cotton and the Cutwork Tool just went through the pile like a hot knife through butter. Now I have sussed those bits out I can start to be a little more adventurous.:o)