Catch up

Yes Julie the word I was looking for yesterday was 'Kantha' I remembered it at 3am this morning. I usually wake around that time and remember things I've forgotten during the day or I get my best ideas at this time too. I keep meaning to leave a pad by the bed to collect them but that would mean putting the light on and waking my other half.

This is the Kantha piece I started at Ushaw, not sure it will get finished. Its three layers, the bottom one being a fine cotton, next a blue muslin on which the tree of life was stencilled. The top layer is yellow organza. I chain stitched round the stencil and cut back to the painted layer. The intension was to put small shisha mirrors in each of the tree branches but the mirrors are so small it was difficult to cut them. Plan B was to embroider in each branch and I may yet do that. Kantha running stitch was worked around the outline but I need to take it in another direction, perhaps stitch some shisha's to the background fabric and run round those. Whatever I end up doing the Kantha stitch needs to change directions or its at risk of looking odd.



The postman brought me two lovely Flower Pages from the Mixed-MediaATC-UK group swap. The red one is from Julie Mackinder who and is a riot of fabric colours. You'll find Julie here.
My second flower page from this swap is from Susan Monk and a lot of work has gone into it. My pages were far too thick and now I've got a couple of pages I can see where I went wrong. I love the flowers on Susan's page the beading is wonderful.

Another couple of swap from the mixed-mediaatc-uk group are the stripe atc one and the Blue atch one. These are my striped atc's ready for posting out. The background is painted paper, lace, beads covered in Golden's heavy medium gel. The edges of each atc are slightly different in fact each card is a variant.

These are my Blue swap cards from Maureen, Jeannine and Marie each one a mini masterpiece.

I've been to Leeds today to take my 730e in for servicing at MKC. I keep getting a rotary hook message and every few minutes it tells me my bobbin has run out or to clean the lint. It is a nuisance more than anything else but it has done a few thread miles so deserves a service. I won't get it back until a week on Friday - the day my Mum goes into hospital - so my son is going to pick it up for me and bring it back home. In the meantime I'll dust off my 1630 and do some fmeing.

We took the opportunity to go out for lunch today and I've eaten so much I can't move. All I want to do now is go to sleep so guess it will be an early night. I'll probably need the rest as tomorrow Keith wants to dismantle the shed, relay the paving under it, paint it, re-reroof it and reassemble it. Sy and Julie will be giving a hand which is just as well as he wants it back in use be Monday!!!