Besides Stitching....3

Besides stitching I just relaxed.  I am having trouble walking again but after nearly 2 weeks of restricted movement I was able to get around a bit.  I took my camera around the site and saw all the familiar scenes.

Looking out over the escarpment into the morning mist.

The trees against the bright blue of the sky.

A pee wee singing a song.

And other birds up high in the trees.

There was quite a wind blowing and this beautiful nest was dislodged.  Poor bird will have to start again.

And although there is a drought and everything is dry and dusty still there was beauty in what was left of the gardens.  Some of these photos I would like to use as inspiration for my thread painting,  (that is progressing very slowly.)

Here are a few shots that are contenders.

And some details within shots that show promise.

I could smell this Star Jasmine long before I saw it.

And the bees were very busy.

Now that I have the images I want I can put them into a drawing program and trace them off, or, just trace them using tissue paper.  But how am I going to work out what all the colour are?  Guess what?  I found an App which will do it for me, then I can match the international colour numbers to DMC threads.  The App is called "Color View Finder".

Isn't that cool.  You can buy the app from the app store.

Besides Stitching .....2

Besides Stitching I also spent time with my dear friend Angela and the ladies of the Zinnia's Quilting Group.  These ladies are super stitchers.  Quilts to die for, many of which they design themselves.  (I should have taken more photos but didn't want to seem rude and pushy.)

I thought I might sew this house block into a place-mat.

And, I loved this Outer Space Quilt.

And the quilting was very inventive.

Lots of doylies to use as quilt labels.

Not to mentions the wonderful food provided.

Angela has just returned from overseas and she gave me this superb supper cloth she bought in an Op shop in Ireland.  What a find?  I think that it is hand woven linen and it certainly is not worked in Irish embroidery, rather Italian, Sicily I suspect.  It features;

drawn thread work borders,(look at that stitching, right down to the spiders web in the corners.)

Retino a Tessitura  (I don't know the English for this.)

And some white work, for good measure.

Whoever stitched this wanted to get all kinds of techniques into the piece.  (It cost 6Euros)

An interesting napkin from a market in France.  Interesting because the edge is all worked in chain stitch not crocheted.

The program for the upcoming "Wool Week in Shetland".  (If only I could fly away!)

And the pattern for a Shetland lace scarf.  I'm sure I have some 2ply stashed away that I could make this in.

WIPW

Now that I have given this as a gift to my friend Angela I can show the finished piece.  I had it framed but found it hard to photograph because of the glare on the glass.  So this is the piece before it was framed.  I really liked working on this one.

Besides stitching.. 1

Besides stitching there was shopping.  Of course there was shopping.  I was rather careful with my purchases.    Fabric for future classes,

fabric for the girls,

Embroidery fabric for the stash. 

See, not out of control at all.

But, when we visited the Danish Flower Shop, I almost lost control.  What I wanted from here was charms to add to the children's Xmas decorations and they had heaps.

  But, they also have these gourds.

But they had done other things with some of them and made planters with lots of succulents.

I don't think they are strong enough to hang but they sit prettily on a table.  I limited myself to just two pots and a few succulents.  Then, when I got home I visited a neighbour , Kurt Buckley, who grows succulents and does great Bonzai type plants.  Just love this miniature Geraldton Wax tree.

This is a full sized one in someones garden.

The plants I bought need to grow into the pots but I now have them sitting on my balcony.

I didn't go away looking for these things.  They were just an added bonus.

 

Back Home and Refreshed

I had a lovely time away but I am so glad to be home in my own space.  All the washing and ironing is finished and stored.  I have a tidy room to work in, although I still have to clean out all my fabric.  I am going to to do a bit of culling this time.  Last time I emptied draws only to find they mysteriously filled up again !

So I will put up a bit each day of what I saw and did.

Embroidery - Marlene Lambert from the Toowoomba Guild, showed us some yummy stitching. 

These are all patterns from these Japanese books, (which I bought from Amazon Japan before they were available in English.)

She also made a lovely little bag which I am going to make a pattern for.

This day we went out to lunch and hit the patchwork shops.  More to come.