Progress

The February bookmark is coming along well but, as I realise it's going to take some time to stitch in the snowdrops, here is the progress so far. 

I have also plotted my virtual walk on a map and added the silly place names in dark red.  It looks a respectable distance but there is a long way to go before I leave Cornwall!

January Bookmark and Grid Drawing

 Here is the bookmark for January, the first in what will, hopefully, be a collection of 12. 

I have used colours which I thought represented January and the pattern of material blocks is drawn from the spiky patterns we see on the ice when the marina is frozen over.  I liked the idea of a trail of beads going up the centre and then added the small beads as embellishment to the seams.  The other seams were then embellished with a shiny white ribbon or embroidery stitches.  

I am now thinking about February's bookmark and might use snowdrops for inspiration. I took this picture of snowdrops in bud by the canalside.  I had to get down on my knees to take the shot which must have raised the eyebrows of walkers on the other bank!

Whilst watching the Sky Portrait Artist of the Year series I noticed some of the artists were using a grid system on their phones to assist in drawing their outlines and thought I would give it a go.  This photo of a crypt I took on our travels (without trawling through all my cruise photos I can't tell you where it is!)  has always attracted me with its pillars and arches and sense of recession.  

I downloaded the 'Drawing Grid Maker' app onto my tablet and selected the number of squares, the colour of the grid and also I opted to label the intersections.  

The next step was to draw a grid on my watercolour paper and using the grids as a guide I drew in my outline.  I don't think I would have tackled this subject without the grid system which gives a good point of reference but I still found it quite complex to draw.  

To complete the picture I inked in my outline with a fine liner pen and then enjoyed playing around with a limited watercolour palette to try and capture the calm atmosphere of the crypt. 

I'll certainly use the grid system again, especially for complex subjects.  As well as helping with accuracy it also speeds up drawing the outline.  Does it detract the artists input into the picture?  Possibly but I think that also depends on what you do after finishing the outline.  

Cyclamens

 While I was at Chester Mum's pot of cyclamens caught my eye, the distinctive leaves made a decorative display.

After much doodling with my new pot of blue ink I came up with a design based on the cyclamens.  I used ultramarine and paynes grey watercolour to complete the piece and was pleased with the result.

Nasturtiums

 The colourful nasturtium piece was finished today!

Now I am looking forward to starting the January bookmark and have already enjoyed sorting through my materials.

Outside we had freezing fog and on our walk I noticed decorative icy frosting on some plants. 

By the time we finished our walk Brinny had frosty eyebrows and Bess had frosty ears!

The Woodland Quilt

 

The Woodland Quilt 

I started making the animal and tree patches back in the spring, without a really clear idea about what to do with them. They were all on random sized patches of blue and green, some pieced into rough squares on the machine. As none of them would fit together, I laid them all out and filled the gaps with little woven patches, which are quick and fun to do. The whole thing was then laid onto two pieces of old, worn sheeting and quilted together - again without much of a plan, so the quilting lines go all over the place! Because the edges were so uneven, normal quilt binding wouldn't fit, so I made strips of joined fabric and sewed them over the raw edges. The haphazard result turned out to be in perfect keeping with the rest of the quilt!

There are a few bits left to do - if you look closely you can see a squirrel without his bushy tail and some frogs without boggly eyes. I might also add some embellishments of embroidery or buttons - we'll see.  

One of the woven patches between the blocks.

Someone who might like to live in the woodland quilt is this little Bog Baby. He is made from needlefelt to enliven our English work in the summer term. The little chap spent a few weeks in the classroom and outside in the school garden, being endlessly hunted for by the class. He's safely home with me again now, in need of a clean and a few repairs. 

The story of the Bog Baby comes from this book by Jeanne Willis and Gwen Millward. The illustrations are lovely and it's a nice heart-warming story. 

Baby Blocks

Some of the huge stash of material has been usefully employed to make baby blocks for Jasper. I used squares of iron-on interfacing to stiffen the fabric, and also to give a template to fold the seams over. There was a bit of experimentation on the sewing of the edges - it turned out that sewing from the outside of the cube gave a cleaner edge and a sturdier block. I filled them with enough stuffing to give them shape but not distort the sides too much. Some of the blocks include bells and beads to rattle, sewn into their own mini-cubes inside the blocks to prevent any leakage. 

Staying on the mission to use up scraps, this is a little tray for dice rolling during games. The patches are about an inch wide, and were sewn with embroidery thread in simple running stitch through all the layers to give the sides some stiffness. 

In bird news, I have a pair of young doves hanging around the patio, waiting for their mum to come and feed them. They teetered on the edge precariously during the strong winds, but seem none the worse for it. They are a lovely soft grey, and still quite fluffy. 

 

A Little Name Book

I couldn't wait to get sewing some baby things for Jasper! This is a little cloth book with the letters of his name and a picture for each one. I used some fancy fabrics, including velvet, fleece, fine corduroy and gold mesh, to be eye catching and have an interesting feel. Most of the sewing is on the machine to make sure the applique is firmly attached. To be extra careful, the gold material was sewn down with a tiny back stitch over each intersection of the mesh. I added some buttons and a pom pom for the animals' features, and used embroidery for the other details The pages were sewn in back-to-back pairs, with careful planning to make sure the letters ended up with the right picture. There's a little portrait of Jasper for the back page. Hopefully he will have lots of fun looking at it.