The bearded iris is flowering and makes a lovely display.
But beware, they also can leave a mark on your clothes, furnishings or the wall.
The blooms don't last very long once cut. I wonder what they would be like used in dyeing?
I'm very late with this as I have been 'asleep". I need to get a Vit B 12 injection, somehow I overlooked it and now I can't stay awake.
I have a deadline to get things finished for the stall for Cystic Fibrosis so have pulled out those half finished pot holders that I started some time ago. I am determined to get them finished this time.
I used 'Isalbrite' for insulation but this is like adding a layer of aluminium and make the piece very thick and the needle in the machine doesn't like it. But I will get there, eventually.
So, I have finished my 5 soft quilted baskets, although the things to put in them are still to be done. Each basket is a different quilting design.
The finishing of each basket took a bit of extra time. I do not like how many instructions tell you to just machine stitch the opening in the bottom lining closed.
It is messy and not a good finish. I always ladder stitch this opening to close it.
To do this I use my normal sewing thread and an embroidery needle.
The other thing I like to do is catching the corners of the lining to the main fabric. It really annoys me if that lining doesn't stay in place. To do this I use a perle 8 thread and a thicker needle.
I start by making a quilter's knot in the end of the thread, some times I add an extra twist of thread on the needle so it will hold.
I then trim this back.
I line up my corners, that is the lining and the main fabric,
and pull the thread through to the corner on the other side until it is firmly in place.
Just below the fold I then make 2 back stitches. You have to look for this stitching as it sort of disappears.
to finish the thread I run my needle between the layers of fabric and cut it close to where I brought my needle out.
I know it would have been a lot easier just to machine close that opening but taking time to finish a project is really worth the investment of time to give you a more professional finish.
The queen has always been there since I was a small child. I remember, as a 3 y.o. my mother crying at the passing of her father (the King) and I must admit that I too shed a tear when I heard of her death. A woman to be admired by all generations. R.I.P.
The Bush Stone Kerlew is an endangered native bird but on our island they are everywhere. They are known for their call which is rather like a sad screaming. First nations people say it is the screaming of a parent for a lost child or maybe a child that has died or is going to die.
At the moment there are lots of chicks being hatched and one pair is in our yard. The other day I heard this most unusual bird call. It was soft and sweet and it was a Kerlew talking to her chick, rather like a mother singing a lullaby, just beautiful. Nothing like the loud scream that is usually associated with the bird. I hope these chicks survive.
So, we have to start making things for the stall. I have a whole lot of those mini frames so I will embroider some of these.
But in my search for inspiration I came upon the work of Silversmith Karin Ferner.
I especially like the collars that she creates. This one from care labels on clothing.
Or this one of Swedish braids.
I know her work is all about the Silver-smithing but there is just so much embroidery inspiration here as well.
Swedish Blackwork.
Cross stitch on drawn thread work.
Mounted cross stitch.
And I adore this collar.
I might have to take up silver-smithing!
My 10 year old grand daughter Jasmine has been in my ear.
"Grandma do you think that you might take a stall at the Xmas markets and then I might be able to sell some of things I have been making."
This one loves making. Be it art, sewing or cooking and she is at the top of her class at school as well. A little force of nature. (She also has a pet snake!!!) So, I rang my daughter to see if she would join us with her leather work and we will take a stall at the Coochiemudlo Island Christmas Markets.
Oh, there is so much planning to do...
So some things are progressing.
The little pillows (pin cushions).
All ready in their baskets.
I still have another 4 dolls to finish but they are looking pretty good as well.
And those bags are progressing. I have finished the quilting and am now making the handles and inserting the linings.
I'm quite pleased with progress this week.
Because I feel so 'flat' sitting around I have been surfing instagram to see what I can find, and, I have found a jem!
These are mini embroideries by Japanese artist @mimi.o_o.r:
I think I will have to try this kind of thing.
And I see she has embroidered her dog.
Look out Bear.
I would have to be one of the most uncoordinated people, physically, on the planet. With the exception of my grand daughter Monique, who is even more uncoordinated then me!
Last week my husband sent our grand daughter off on the bike to deliver some magazines. (He subscribes to the New Scientist and other magazines that he then passes on to others to read on the island.) Off she went and the next thing we get a telephone call to say she had had a fall and is very distressed. Let it be said that Grandma and Grandpa were very distressed as well. She and her sister had been staying with us and we were due to catch the barge home in the next 20 minutes when the call came through. We left the island with her complaining bitterly that her arm was hurting.
By the time we reached my son's new home, which isn't finished yet, I was in a bit of a state. I was worried that she had really broken her arm. I got out of the car, tripped on the curb, came down flat on my face, broke my nose and cut my face and now have a couple of black eyes as well. To top it off it turned out that Monique had broken her wrist.
So I am sitting around being still and quiet and reading books. Luckily I had been to the library the day before and borrowed a few.
Not my Father's Son by Alan Cummings is the first one I read.
I read it at one sitting, it was so enjoyable. One of the interesting things about it was that the author's 'voice' in the written word was so 'the same' as the voice that we hear when he is seen on TV. A sad story of an abusive childhood, the loss of his grandfathers story and than finding his way in the world and re-discovering his grandfather and his taking back his own power again. Through it all his sense of humour shines, even in the dark times. I now have determined that I have to read his next book "Baggage".
Not only is he a good actor but a very good author as well. Makes me think that he would have been a great story teller if he hadn't choosen to be an actor, but then an actor is a story teller.