Garden Snippets

My efforts to make a more wildlife friendly garden are beginning to pay off this year. I transplanted this self-seeded yarrow into an area of waterlogged ground, just to provide a bit of cover. It thrived over the spring, producing lovely feathery leaves. The flowers took ages to come out, but now they are here in abundance, and a favourite with this gatekeeper butterfly, who's often found sunbathing there.

The corncockles also thrived in the poor soil. They are over a metre tall and smothered in flowers. A bit of research showed that they are on the critically endangered list in the wild, although these came from a pack of wildflower seeds. Apparently, they are also poisonous, so I have been treating them with caution. 

A surprise addition to the garden was this common spotted orchid, growing in the wild patch among the fox-and-cubs.

In the warm weather, the birds have been enjoying the bird bath. The pigeons just sit in it, the blackbirds enjoy a vigorous splash, and the starlings arrive in packs and make a huge commotion. 

Here's a crew enjoying a communal bath...

and the last one out making a dignified exit.

 

More Watercolour

 Here are two watercolours in which I tried out my new swordbrush for some of the finer detail.  I was pleased with the very fine lines I could create with the brush and will certainly be using it more often.  

The sword brush is a flat brush which has been cut to make a very fine point. 

The aqueduct and tunnel at Chirk

A bowl of tangerines

Bratch Toll House 2

 I wasn't quite satisfied with my painting of the Bratch Toll House so I've had a second try which I started with a light, loose wash of quinacridone gold.  This set the scene for a more interesting sky and the rest of the painting followed on from there.  

Watercolour

 This is my watercolour of the toll house at Bratch Locks on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal.

September Bookmark

 The September bookmark is a reminder of the many spiders which were out weaving webs during that month. 

Happy New Year

I have made a New Year resolution to use up scraps, so my New Year's Eve job was to make a cheerful banner, hopefully reflecting a cheerful year to come! It is machine appliqued onto thick felt (which is why it sticks temporarily to the Woodland Quilt in the kitchen.) Every scrap is different, enabling me to get rid of some if the tiny bits that are still too good to throw out.

I've also been playing with scraps of fabric weaving, which give an effect I like very much. There's lots of little patches of this in the Woodland Quilt, but they all had the edges sewn down by hand which was very time consuming. I'm also trying to limit the amount of hand stitching to protect my hands. Therefore, I experimented with different ways of using the machine to secure the weaving. The beanstalk leaves were quick and fun to make - I have visions of a whole beanstalk growing somewhere in the house. 

The unfortunate collapse of the Christmas tree took its toll on a very old handmade angel, who was left with only a head and arms. She's been repaired with a cosy felt dress, decorated with chenille wool and tiny beads. 

This little chap comes from a kit by Corinne Lapierre and is currently in residence on the bookcase, awaiting some more members of his family. 

 

Sketchbook to stitch

I thought I'd have a go at interpreting a sketchbook doodle into a small embroidery. I like drawing with dip pen and ink in the sketchbook, with lots of tiny details, squeezing as much as I can onto a page. Contraptions are fun to draw, especially with random objects added in. This contraption makes fish tea, apparently. 

I drew a simplified version of the contraption onto calico, using the same pen and ink as in the sketchbook. 

Then I painted it in very watered down acrylic paint. There was a bit of bleed in a couple of places, but overall, the colour came out well and the fabric stayed soft. 

I used felt as a backing and tacked the calico firmly on. I used a running stitch around the outlines, in embroidery silk and very fiddly metallic thread. I've used tiny seed stitch on some of the areas, such as the teapot, and satin stitch on the knobs. 

Finally, I quilted round the design and trimmed a raw edge. This was a bit of an experiment, but I was pleased that it captured the feeling of the original sketch. I'll definitely be trying out different ways to use painted fabric in the future.