Creatures and Cogs

I've been busy with a variety of techniques this week. It's good to be able to swap between projects, but unfortunately this means the kitchen table is always covered with disconnected piles of thread, wool and material.

The dragon mobile did get finished, however. It was hard to get a photo of the whole thing, especially as it kept spinning round, but here is a rather thoughtful dragon, and a star in the background. The dragons are needle-felted over polystyrene balls to give them a nice fat belly. The stars were sewn from fleece and glittery felt, with just a tiny bit of stuffing to pad them out. 

Here's another crochet animal, of undetermined species because a lack of wool meant  I had to make some adjustments to the pattern. These are very quick to whip up, and I'm thinking of adapting the pattern to make some sort of fantastic beast. This should use up some of the glittery wool I've been hoarding!

Finally, the orange quilt is all pieced together now, and I've started on the applique. The gear wheels were painstakingly cut from wool felt, and now I'm hand-sewing them into place with tiny stitches. Going round all the little cogs is requiring bucket loads of patience!

The Goole embroidery

Here is the finished Goole embroidery which I have really enjoyed sewing.  

Bright patches

It's been a busy week with needle and hook. The orange quilt has progressed from piles of triangle to mostly squares, sewn in a pinwheels pattern. The next step is to join the squares together, and then I will have to consider what applique to do on top.

I fancied doing a crochet project for a change, but only have odds and ends of wool. There is enough, however, to whip up some critters. This rabbit  pattern is taken from Kerry Lord's book called 'Edward's Menagerie' ( a fitting title) which Deb treated me to for my birthday a few years ago. He's very soft and squishy, and may acquire some friends in the near future!

Finally, some signs of spring in the garden, growing in the walled beds outside the patio doors - very cheering. 

The Beast!

Sam's Christmas jigsaw has been tackled and tamed! 1500 pieces of mostly black, peppered with tiny dots and writing too small to be read in dark blue and purple print - give me a nice white snow scene anytime.

Here's the daily progress, ending with a massive effort on Thursday morning, just to I could have my table back.

A Little Quilt

Probably the smallest quilt (and the most carefully sewn) that I have made. It's been sent off to Jo's in good time for the arrival!

But of course, there must always be a quilt in progress, so Sam's orange quilt (his choice), is occupying space on the settee while it is being pieced.

The coffee table is reserved for this beast of a jigsaw, soon to be started. I will keep you posted on progress ...

Durham

As we won't be seeing each other for a while I thought I'd put some of my photos from our recent trip to Durham on here.  

They were mainly taken in the cathedral which was magnificent.

The Millenium Window representing the local community.

A modern stained glass window.

Sarah & I spent a lot of time looking at this fascinating window which is made up of pieces of broken medieval stained glass.  

A modern embroidered piece representing the life of St Cuthbert.  The blue is the sea and the other colours, including those on the back wall panels, are the land.  The motifs sewn on are animals he would have seen and some of his belongings, like a quill and ink.  

A close up of the sea and beach motifs.

A close up of the land motifs.

A view of the castle and the hills beyond, from the top of the cathedral tower.

We also had an interesting tour of the castle.  

In the castle courtyard.

The square drainpipes decorated with the Prince Bishop's shield and other motifs caught my eye.  This was the earliest one I saw.  

We had a really good trip but next time we go anywhere in February we won't be leaving  our hats, gloves and scarves at home!

A walk in the woods

I took my new camera on a walk in the woods and spotted two deer on a stubble field.  I quickly got the girls on their leads before they had time to think about running onto the field.  Then I crouched down into a gap in the hedge with the dogs in tow on their leads!  Luckily the deer stayed put and I was able to take some photos on full zoom.  

Unfortunately there was a pesky stalk stuck up between me and this deer.

Later we came across a blue tit which sat still long enough for a photo.