Blog 428
Last week, ‘The nearest and dearest’ went away for 4 days to
the family farm on the Pludds in the Forest of Dean. The prospect of delicious
space stretched out in front of me as he drove away from the house and I waved
him a fond goodbye. And at that very moment the phone rang. It was the ‘Down Belows’
(so called because they live in the farm
down below us!) informing me that the hedge trimmer was in the area and if I
wanted some willow from their wood, now was the time to be cutting it. Ever
since I fashioned a willow hare on a course last year, I have wanted to have
another go, to reinforce the techniques and to see what I could make on my own.
This phone call forced my hand and focused
my mind and so I went down straight away to cut some bundles. I didn’t even
know if it was the right sort of willow (is there a right sort?) but, as it was
freshly cut, I thought it would be pliable enough without soaking.
A few hours later, after much wrangling and wrestling, I had
created the body of a goose … to my mind … but it really looks like a sphere
with attitude! My thumbs were sore after all the manipulation and I have yet to
go back to it. Perhaps I have got willow weaving out of my system!!!
And so back down to earth again and to what I know and love.
The Linus quilts have been bound this week. Three of the bindings I sewed on in
the traditional way with a 2” folded strip, machine sewing it to the front and
hand sewing it onto the back. The hand sewing took ages and so I decided to try
another way. Four of the quilts have a black backing and the binding is black also
so I reckoned that it would be possible to machine sew the binding onto the back
and turn it onto the front to machine sew it down. It is really just the
reverse of the traditional method but requires more precise sewing on the
front; happily I found it easier than I had anticipated. I will show these
quilts at Gresford next week and then hand them over to the Linus project. My conscience
is clear now and I can indulge my own creative juices as I return to my
painterly work.
Quilted Linus quilts and binding
H and sewn binding
Binding on the back
Binding onto the front
Approaching a corner
Start and finish
A job that I habitually do at this time of the year is to
reclaim my window sills from the rampant plants (tradescantia zerbena) that
thrive on them. This particular plant developed from a sickly cutting which I
liberated from my mother’s house many years ago so it has sentimental connotations.
It has truly thrived on the wide sills here and engulfs everything in its way.
So this process is about taming the beast by taking cuttings to start again and
also about finding my buried treasures to enjoy once again!
Window sills
Before
After
And here are my treasures on just one of the four window
sills. They are very evocative of places and people and go a long way to
illustrate the person I am……A Dean Crouser painted plate (USA), a dragonfly
pottery vase (from a dear quilting friend who has had a stroke), a carved wooden
turtle from Hawaii (a wedding anniversary trip), a painted pottery monster from
a granddaughter (the future), a Mini Fijian kava bowl (Pacific experience), a
Grecian urn, Murano glass paper weight, an onyx eternity ornament, a Milton
Abbas cottage (home for 9 years), a wooden Japanese Kokeshi doll (a student
from my teaching days), an old fireplace tile and a pottery keepsake from the
village of Osmotherley (my maiden name).
Treasures
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