Farewell June...

.... you didn't linger long, did you? Gone in a flurry of showers and fleeting blossom, washing on the line that got wetter instead of drier, a ceilidh, a party, a fine Woolfest and much painting of walls.

What have I got to show for it? Well, last weekend some friends and I decorated the village hall with real and paper flowers and bunting. That evening we enjoyed a lovely party there to celebrate the retirement and major birthday of a very fine friend and neighbour. It really is a privilege to live here among such good and fun-loving people! The next day I was not fit for all that much but I did make a few similar paper flowers with old sewing patterns.And this? I gathered in a sweet little old style Clothkits skirt at a local jumble sale a year or two back. Said fine friend had made it for her daughter and loved the design. I decided to make her a coffee cosy from it and this was me starting out, quilting it with running stitch.


I have finally acquired enough shades of merino fibre to be able to offer small quantities for sale. So if you are felting or embroidering or otherwise messing about in a creative way with colour, do pop in and select as little as you like - my scale weighs in 2gm intervals!

My latest lovely buttons are printed mother-of-pearl ones which you can see bottom left in this pic (which will enlarge if you click on it, as will they all).


And the lovely fibre in the top heart picture? Well I had a grand time at Woolfest, good company on the drive there and back and catch-ups with friends as well as a little light purchasing. This is dyed alpaca, from Whitby!

Summer Blues

Been decrepit since Monday but slowly getting better. So much going on this week and I have already missed half of it.
Woolfest beckons, though, so I have to be mended by Friday for my annual textile treat. And I have two passengers this year who have never been before so I can't let them down.

Here are my new doghouse and henhouse lavender bags, and shock horror, I have started restocking my Folksy shop

Birds and Dogs

Do not be misled by this image. It may appear to depict two well-disciplined domestic dogs wandering quietly down a forest track. In reality they are exercising their well-honed skills of sniffing out smelly dank ditches, previously gnawed and discarded deer legs and other irresistable trophies under the guise of minding-their-own-business.

Happiness is a large stick and some muddy puddles.


On a cleaner note, here are my latest paper creations. I'll be off with my wares to Jedburgh on Sunday for a little craft fair at the Edinburgh Woollen Mill -a Fathers' Day Special!

Flower Power

A kind friend presented me with treasure trove a little while ago. I don't know the history and I am not sure she does, but she was gifted a wonderful set of embroidery threads, all stored neatly in carefully stitched fabric rolls. I have not counted the skeins but there are scores of them. This was a serious embroidery habit. When L decided she was unlikely to undertake more embroidery herself, she passed them on to me. I feel privileged to own them now and love to look at the individual colour selections and imagine what stitchery took place over so many years.

From the sublime to the simple - a few flowers in a paper vase. One of a bunch of flower cards I made recently. Ande here's a mocked-up vase of felt flower and heart brooches. The vase has been depleted since I snapped this as several sold at the Food and Craft Fair at St Boswells last Saturday. There was a grand range of makers displaying their wares, from hats to homebakes, bags to artisan bread. I don't think any stallholder was immune to the glorious aromas emanating from that corner of the hall, and most went away with a loaf or two (yup, two in my case). Julia had done a fantastic job of organising the event and is maybe planning a pre-Christmas one too.

B&W

I lead a colourful life, surrounded by fibre and fabric, paper and pencils, but sometimes you just can't beat black and white.
Here's a little agricultural sampler from Northumberland County Show which we enjoyed on Bank Holiday Monday.