A Frosty Day

I'm glad that I took my camera with me whilst out walking with my dog this morning.  There had been such a deep frost that everything was touched with this beautiful white furry covering.  In fact I should have been out earlier - it would have been even whiter and more furry.  The frost really enhances the shapes and makes anything it touches more vivid - I love the sharp contrast of the veins standing proud on the leaves.

With all the rain we have had this past couple of weeks a large pond had formed in the field behind our house. Today it had turned into what I can only describe as a skating rink. This photo is just around the edge where it is rather thin with the grass peeping through, but if these icy temperatures persist I've a feeling that I'll have to don my skates and venture out there. (It's quite safe as it's only about 12" deep in the middle.) How exciting!!

William Morris and a bit more Tweed

I've just finished sewing lots of these little cosmetic bags for our Christmas fair at the Museum tomorrow.  I'm really lucky in that I live only 20 miles away from a factory that prints these William Morris fabrics; they have a mill shop that sells remnants and also fabric by the metre that perhaps has a little mis-print or colour problem, however that's fine for small items as I can always avoid the bits I don't want. 

When I was visiting there a couple of days ago with one of my daughters we spotted this wonderful linen union that had a small mis-print just down one side close to the selvedge. We were looking for something for her sitting room curtains and so this was perfect as I just made them a couple of inches less wide - there were still plenty of gathers, plus a bit left over for a couple of cushions. How exciting to own a pair of Morris curtains at the age of 23!
I'm afraid this photo doesn't do the fabric justice as the lighting was poor, but it is a very rich deep red that says 'warm and cosy'.  I can't wait to see the Christmas tree up; the red, gold and green will look fabulous all together.

And here are a few more zipped cases that I made with some narrow pieces of tweed fabric that were left over from my recent shoulder bags session. Again, sorry for the bad lighting, I usually photograph outside but it hasn't stopped raining for what seems like years, anyway hopefully they will sell at the fair tomorrow!

Tweed and Roses

I had a very productive sewing day this weekend.  I shut myself away in my sewing room and played around with lots of pieces of tweed that I had acquired.  Some were big enough in themselves to make into bags and some had to be joined together.  I ended up cutting out and sewing 10 bags.  These were some that I put in my Etsy shop and Folksy shop.
I love the look and feel of woollen tweed, the colours are always pleasing, it's beautiful to cut through and sews together like a dream, so a very happy afternoon was had!

Whilst walking back to the house I noticed this beautiful rose which was blooming just outside my kitchen window, so because it was a wet and windy day I popped it into a vase so that it would be protected inside the kitchen instead.  I'm hoping that the other buds will come out but I'm not so sure as I think it is a little bit confused - trying to bloom in November is not usual!

A Contemplative Walk

 

 

I had some extremely sad news this week so have spent a lot of time not really doing much of anything.  My way of coping is to be outside in the open air, with my dog and just walking for miles.  The riverbank is forever changing from season to season and is particularly refreshing at this time of year.