Harriet’s top finished

 Goodness the planning of colours for the borders took a lot of thought , trialling until I decided to just do it. The orange is the sunshine , the dark blue is the water at the beach and the deep pink has a lot of hearts on it for all the people who love her. Little bit of green in top left for the future growth. I really enjoyed this and hopefully the next stage to make the backing from the left over pieces used on the front. Basting, quilting with big stitches in perle cotton and binding will be the next challenge. I hope I can keep on track and get it done sooner rather than later.

More hands

 I have been playing, exploring and experimenting with concrete. After the plaster of Paris hand I tried the same in concrete. For my OCA textile art course . Falling apart would seem a failure, mainly because of my lack of real understanding of concrete and how it works and to mix it. But I think I can work on this falling apart hand and join with a softer textile to bandage , patch hold together. I like the texture of the concrete . I now realise there are several types of concrete including paler colours and without so many stones/ pebbles in it.

Random Flowers

 After attending a workshop with Helen King I started this vase of flowers. Vase fabric I painted a few weeks ago. And there is some ecodyed scrim, cut out flowers from a piece of fabric, hessian , string and threads couched . Now to settle in and stitch,  stitch  , stitch. This will add lots of texture to the flowers and stems. As I stitch I am pondering the edges and the backing and how to hang. 

So good to get into some stitching by hand . I wasn’t sure about the hessian but I really am liking the way it is loose weave and organic , if I can be excused for using that often overused word. 

Top almost there

 Today I planned to get this top together but after retreading the bobbin my machine would not play happily. Not sure if I’m threading up the bobbin in the case properly but I put away my old husqvana and got out the old trusty Elba Lotus. Again working beautifully until I had to retread the bobbin. Now it’s not moving along at all . Will think on this to try and work out what’s wrong 😑. Want to get on with the hand quilting. Last row not together . Had a little help from a friendly neighbourhood kitty cat.