22. A New Leaf Journal Quilt

It's almost June and I'm being one day ahead of things by uploading my next yellow A4 sized Journal Quilt. It's part of my 52 Journals project where I'm aiming to make one journal quilt for every week this year and
it's also part of the monthly Journal Quilt project run by the Contemporary Group of the British Quilting Guild. For them the JQ has to be A4 sized, portrait orientated and as an added challenge they are having a colour theme too. The first 4 months this year 75% of the journal quilts had to be red and for May, June, July and August they have to have the same percentage but this time of yellow! I love yellow
so this is definitely no punishment!

As I showed when I uploaded the first yellow journal quilt I'm using a detail of 2 leaves from a gravestone in Borthwick graveyard  (see below)as inspiration for all my yellow journal quilts. For this particular one I isolated one of the leaves digitally (as per the picture above) and used it as my pattern for the leaf shape.

I cut it out from thick yellow felt (bought from Oliver Twist) and adorned it with hand embroidery, sequins, and beads. This was then appliqued by hand to a yellow dupion silk background and the background was then free-machine quilted, echoing the leaf shape. A green - gold binding was added and 3 vintage French postage stamps were sewn on. Finally I printed the text: "turning over a new leaf" onto yellow fabric and sewed it on and size 11 seed beads were sewn on along the binding.

Rhododendrons in Dawyck

The very hot weather seems to have gone but it has left in its wake a soft spring feeling and a gorgeous fresh green hanging over the landscape. Even the rain that fell today felt different somehow from that which came down before our heatwave.  It has now taken the shape of that soft spring rain in which I could walk for hours. Before it started we went to Dawyck Botanical Gardens as I was very eager not to miss the full glory of the Azalea and Rhododendron Walk! The rain began to fall gently as we wondered around.

Although some of the rhododendrons are in flower now most of them weren't just there yet. I figure in another week and a bit the high point will be reached but already there were some beautiful flowers to admire.

This was my favourite today and thus became my blip, despite the fact that I had blipped something very similar yesterday, but that one (Fanny) grows in our own garden. You can check it out in the Blip gadget in the sidebar of this blog. The raindrops added to the lusciousness.

Both this soft pink

and this gorgeous purple with orange spots simply asked to be remembered in a photo and I duely obliged!

Linlithgow Graveyard

In an ideal world I would have written this post yesterday when the pictures shown were taken! But after teaching all day I just wanted to sit in the sun, have a glass of wine and some cheese and read Cloth Paper Scissors latest Studios magazine. It's just as well we don't live in the Mediterrean as not much would come out of my hands with an ever present sun. Or maybe I would get so used to it that being indoors would be the treat instead. Yesterday was spend teaching Collage Journal Quilts for the Purely Patchwork shop in Linlithgow. As I arrived super early (why can't I get that out of my system?!) I took the opportunity to pop into St. Michael's church's graveyard.

And was rather surprised to see so many people entering the graveyard. Usually I'm the only one. Then it dawned on me that it was Sunday and they were going to church! I usually avoid Sunday graveyard visiting just for that reason. The fact that I speak (still) with a foreign accent comes in useful on such occasions! I was really sorry I didn't have more time as the graveyard was beautiful with some stunning stones such as the one above which has magnificent carving.

Or this one with it's cheeky winged angels on either side of what must been a representation of the dead person buried there!

St. Michael's Church is right next door to Linlithgow Palace which played an important part in Scotland's history and looks amazing while driving into Linlithgow from the motorway. Sadly it's virtually impossible to stop anywhere to take a good photograph, and this view is from within the graveyard. I have made a firm resolution to return, tour the castle, have a more in-depth look at the graveyard and walk around the loch right next to the castle. And while there this could be combined with a visit to Purely Patchwork, Nify Needles, Normal Cummins fabric shop and a beading/stamping shop (sorry no idea what it's called). What a treat for a textile artist!

Lines and Images

Lines

written in early Spring

I heard a thousand blended notes,

While in the grove I sat reclin'd

In that sweet mood when pleasant thoughts

Bring sad thoughts to the mind.

To her fair works did Nature link

The human soul that through me ran;

And much it grieved my heart to think

What man has made of man.

Through primrose tufts, in that sweet bower,

The periwinkle trailed its wreaths;

And 'tis my faith that every flower

Enjoyes the air it breathes

The birds around me hopped and play'd

Their thoughts I cannot measure: -

But the least motion which they made,

It seemed a thrill of pleasure.

The budding tiwgs spread out their fan,

To catch the breezy air;

And I must think, do all I can,

That there was pleasure there.

If I these thoughts may not prevent,

If such be of my creed the plan,

Have I not reason to lament

What man has made of man?

The Lines are by William Wordsworth and the images are photographs by me, taken today.

A Joyful Life

How could I not enjoy a day filled with sunshine, bird twitter and beautiful flowers, specially when that day also brought the return from the Malvern Quilt Show of my quilt A Joyful Life, adorned with 2 rozettes (Embellilshment prize and 3rd Prize Large Wallhangings) and a Judges Choice certificate (thanks to judge Jacque Vallis). What a treat and the quilt's title is so appropriate for these oh so unexpected tropically hot spring days.

 

Not only has it brought out lots of flowers (although the peony above comes from a bouquet John bought me and my blip for today) but it also provided the most spectacular sunset last night as you can see below.

As this weather is so rare here in the Scottish Borders I tend to drop everything in order to dedicate myself to sun worship. I've always been an avid adorer of that blazing yellow ball in the sky and find it rather surprising to find I haven't landed in a place where it shows its face more frequently! Perhaps its rarity makes it all the more special.

Not that I'm not working! I have managed to gesso and paint all the pages in my 2013 Sketchbook Project, ready to receive the photos I will be adding in the coming months (my theme is Photo Log). It's great to do the painting outside as everything dries superfast. The next Journal Quilt for the 52 Journals is in hand and I have been adding the binding so that I can start embellishing.

More than all that though, I'm simply taking time to absorb the warmth and soak up the beauty of Macbiehill in all its glories so that during less joyful days I can return to them in my mind's eye. Wish I could write these posts while sitting outside too, but that's not to be just yet. However watch this space as that time might be coming (finally!).

21. Circle of Creation Journal Quilt

Thursday yet again and tine for journal quilt no. 21. I've returned to where most of my JQs for the 52 Projects are coming from and that is a photograph of a gravestone. This one comes from Haddington graveyard where I paid a visit last September (see the picture below). But I used poetic licence to fill in the colours. I used a piece of hand-dyed velvet for both the circle and the pedestal although the pedastal bit was carefully chosen to be more green than the circle piece, in which reds and oranges dominate. The background was pieced from 2 green fabrics and free machine quilted while the circle was hand stitched using a silk variegated thread. The pedestal only needed machine stitching so as not to distract from the circle which is the main centre of attention, both literally and figuratively speaking. Of course I could not resist adding beads.

I was going to add the spokes as you can see them on the picture above but they somehow interfered with the flow of the circle so I decided to leave them out. The circle was perfect as it looks now.The final touch was the vintage text which reads: "the perfect cirlce of creation". I am rather taken with this one myself as I loved the colours in the velvet fabric which I made many moons ago and have always kept for "that special project". This journal quilt was definitely it.

One Moment in Time - A Day in Flowers

I wasn't planning to blog today but somehow it happened anyway. I wanted to share this perfect day, filled with sunshine and beautiful flowers, all blooming in our garden.

I sometimes think I post too many macro flower pictures on my blip page and viewers might get fed up with them but always remember the advice given me by fellow blipper Molly that each photograph is unique. Sadly she is no longer with us as she passed away last May but her words will forever resonate with me. Even if you photograph the self same flower the next day, both the flower and you will be different!

We spend the day outside. In fact so keen was I to enjoy the sunshine that I hand pieced an upcoming journal quilt rather than machine stitch it (which would have been oh so much faster) simply for the pleasure of sewing outside. And I know that whenever I look at that particular quilt again in the future I will remember those moments!

How warm it was, how sunny and how beautiful the world looked today!

A day to enjoy and make the most of.

Because this day will not come again!