Some stitching

Detail
Just a little more work on the latest piece. Am stitching this one to death and it is great. Lots more to be done.

The magic of light

More detail

It is so interesting how stitching and the use of sheer fabrics can alter the tone of the piece so subtly.

Can you identify this plant?

What is this plant?

I've had this plant growing in recent gardens for several years now. I have no idea what it is called. It has a herbal scent when you rub it between your fingers and has now flowered with these beautiful lavender coloured spiky flowers. It looks like a succulent but it isn't. It is so tough that it would survive any climate.

Ranunculus

Red beauty

I planted a lot of ranunculus and anemone bulbs earlier in the year. I was late to plant then sometime in July but they have grown beautifully and are now flowering. It is a great reward and it is definitely worth waiting for them.

This Weekend in my Garden

Verbena

The weather here is beautiful at the moment - typical spring and the garden is smiling. This verbena is trying to take over and the flowers are stunning.

More interest

Further detail

Some more detail here with stitching over stencilled designs.

New Work

Detail 1

I've begun a new piece of work. It is very abstract and will be layered and filled with texture. This is a detail picture of a tiny piece of the work and since it was taken I've added more stitching to the piece.

The stitching is my favourite part. I enjoy painting and the tonal and colour choices that go into making the design but it is the stitching that is most exciting. I make no plan for my abstract pieces although I do set some parameters as a basic guideline. There are no plans for the stitching and often I will spend days just looking at the colours and thinking about the possibilities for making the textural marks. And then, of course, I have my best ideas while I am in the shower and they seem to come into my mind like droplets of fast and heavy rain. Unfortunately I seem to forget them as quickly as I think of them.

Back to the stitching. I really love the texture of stitch marks on paint and also on other pieces of fabrics. I love the feeling of the quilt when the stitching begins to add weight and shapes to the design. I like the furrows and raised areas that the stitching leaves and the ways I can alter the background colours by the texture of the stitches over the fabric.

Detail2