Carrying on....

Despite all this horrible weather is throwing at us we are not doing too badly. Many poor souls are having to cope with floods, wind damage and who knows what so a few sleepless nights listening to the rain and hail crashing into our velux window in the bedroom is really neither here nor there. We have been a bit concerned that our lovely big conservatory may not withstand the high winds we've been having. but although it creaks, groans and rattles a lot, and there is the occasional puddle on the floor, so far it seems to have survived.

But we have a new garden to start building and we can't get out so my DH is busy with his oak planks and I'm busy at the sewing machine.

So far the woodwork has produced this

which has replaced this.

Something of an improvement!

Next up is the bookcase for the alcove on the right of the stove and when that's up we can at last start unpacking the books!

The sewing frenzy has produced quite a lot too.

A new cushion for my dear MIL who has got very fed up with the old patchwork cushions she made donkeys years ago and asked for something a bit brighter.

Two little sample quilts which I've made  to practice the technique of inserting very narrow strips. I'm planning to make a large quilt, or rather a series of quilts on the theme of "layers" based on a photo of slate I took many years ago.

My entry for the Embroiderers  Guild member's challenge which is on the theme of "tree rhythms"

I had great fun making this. I made a stamp for the black trees and used this to print on some fabric I had already dyed. I also used a cork and a pencil to print the circles. The stitching is mostly free machine embroidery, cable and whip stitch, with a few hand stitches and some couched threads to finish off. My DH used his woodworking skills once again to make a frame for it as the rules specify that it must be mounted and ready to hang.

The next quilt is for the Region 4 Quilter's Guild Challenge on the theme of "Green". Once again I delved into my stash of handyed fabrics and got out all the greens I could find. I was really surprised at just how many there were given that green isn't a colour I use very much. As I was on a roll with inserting narrow strips, I rather went to town with some really bright orange and pink fabric to make a contrast. It wasn't my intention to make a quilt where there weren't any straight lines at all, but that seemed to be what happened when I started joining the separate blocks together.

Forward planning is not my strong suit and so it took quite a while to get the different elements arranged in a way that I was pleased with, and also to get the size right and to get it roughly rectangular.

I decided to quilt it using perpendicular parallel lines of stitching and now that it's squared up and ready for binding, I'm rather pleased with it.

Next up is some simple patchwork to make some new cushions for us before I start on the art once again! Watch this space!