Forced into Action

These rhubarb forcers were in the walled garden at Tatton Park when we visited in June.  They might feature in one of the Yorkshire Travelling Journals if I can think of something exciting to do with them.  At least they would fit in with my very loose 'Allotment' theme.

Had a trip to Cheltenham today to see the exhibition of prints at The Yard Art Space which was very good.  What I want to know is why everyone around has had some rain but we haven't?  I am fed up with watering the plants in the garden with a watering can each evening!!

It's a Bugs Life

We get lots of different Shield Bugs in our garden and this one was no exception.  Just fascinated by the striped antennae and sides.  Do not know which species it is. It was on my washing when I brought it in and may have come off the large oak tree in the garden.

Mystery solved - it is Dolycoris baccarum a Sloe Shield Bug, also known as Stink Bugs!

Art in Action

Last week I had two days away at Art in Action with a friend.  We had a fabulous time and the damp weather on Friday afternoon did nothing to mar the experience.  On Friday we shared a table at lunchtime with a charming couple who had been going to the event for many years.  We were lucky enough to be asked to help them drink their jug of Pimms, a prize from a Draw, which added to the overall ambience of the affair.

This photograph of dandelion leaves was taken in the Painting tent and I have since played around with it in Photoshop.  Everytime I tried to photograph the leaves, which were trapped beneath the wall of the marquee, someone's feet walked into view.  I did eventually manage to get a photograph.

On Thursday we sat in the amphitheatre to eat our packed lunch and listened to the Indian music which was just great. At least this year we did not get rained on as in the previous year. Such a shame that this was the last A-in-A after all those years.

A Blue Weekend

Had a friend to stay for a couple of nights and we made the most of sharing a vat of Indigo dye.  We stitched and dyed and had lots of fun and I managed to try some resist techniques I had not got round to before.  Hope to eventually make a wall hanging from all the bits I have accumulated.

This piece of muslin was wrapped around a piece of plastic pipe after being folded in half lengthways.  If you look closely you may see that an evil looking snakes head has appeared in the centre of it.  Very creepy.

I very patiently sat and stitched lots of zigzag lines to make an A4 size piece of fabric which I am quite pleased with.

Just a bit of the usual tied points and quite pleased with what I achieved.  I have not got the patience to do lots of them and get them all the same size.  DH thought they looked like limpets?  Niece thought my friend and I were trying to be Smurfs with our blue hands!!  I suggested we were getting ready to do blue body painting aka the art installation in Hull at the weekend.

Paste Papers

A shortage of decorative pieces of paper in my stash for bookbinding gave me the impetus I needed to make some CMC paste and sit down and create some paste papers.  These will be used either for end papers or for decorative covers.

This piece had an initial wash of Quiacridone Red acrylic painted on the surface of the paper.  When that had dried a mixture of CMC paste and Indanthrene Blue were brushed across the surface and then textured using various tools.

A base coat of Raw Sienna was given a paste layer to which Golden Payne's Grey had been added.  Quite a large piece of paper that was left over from cutting up pages for bookbinding purposes.  The paste was still wet when I took the photograph hence the glistening highlights.

I loved this A4 piece.  It had Transparent Yellow Oxide acrylic combined with the remains of a red (probably Quinacridone Red, but not certain) as a base layer and then Burnt Sienna was mixed with the paste before I applied several methods of adding texture to the surface.

It would not be me without a bit of blue.  This was straight onto a piece of white paper, no base colour.

Dodging the Showers

Had a very lucky day today.  DH and I went to the National Trust property Newark Park, near Wotton-under-Edge, to catch the Brunel Broderers exhibition there and managed to miss all the rain showers, some very heavy apparently which were round and about.We found the Tudor Hunting Lodge to be very interesting, it having survived many additions and transformations, virtual ruin and a time as a nursing home.  It has a very tranquil feeling to the house and grounds. There are also lovely walks through woodland along the old carriage drive. The lodge was originally built in 1550 and since then has had several additions over the decades that followed. A very pleasant day out.

 Beautiful stained glass on the landing which formed part of the original Hunting Lodge.

Lakeside Summer House and below the detail of one of the windows from inside looking out into the garden.

I was fascinated by the designs carved into these two gateposts which I guess must have formed part of the boundary of the parkland at one time. A wonderful source of inspiration for some quilting.

Not blogged for Pages and Pages

and this is why ....

I have been making a concerted effort to finish several books ready for a number of events that the Cut Fold Bind group are involved in over the Summer.  Nothing like a deadline to focus the mind!!

These are small only 3.5" square

Quite a bit larger and utilising the Shibori fabric I made earlier in the year

These two coptic bound books are also small, around 4" square.

I still have a couple to finish off so need to make a final big push so that I can do other things without feeling guilty.