finding colour and removing it

I've just recently (can't believe it is 2 weeks ago) had a great 2 days at Quilt Encounter. The  committe putting on their first camp, are to be congratulated for a job well done. I did a class on  altering fabric with Jacqui Karl from NZ. This is made with just 2 fabrics, the black and the red/green batik. It was very interesting seeing how the different black fabrics in the class responded to the different bleaching processes, showing up the different types of fabric which get overdyed black. I had to repeat the processes on a second piece of fabric because the initial effect was barely noticeable.

Woops I forgot to crop it.Sorry about the stripes behind it. I might swap it later. What was especially good about the class was finishing the piece while there. The difficulty for QE next year will be remembering where it is for show and tell, rather than having to finish it off.


In the garden I have only a couple of pansies flowering to brighten the winter scene...

but the afternoon sun through the new rose leaves the other day was spectacular.

I am never too sure what I am doing when I prune my roses. I did it last month although many are saying it should have been this month. They have amazing new growth on them though, and I hadn't really noticed the way the new shoots come before - quite tightly folded and very visibly serrated.

Underneath the roses the emerging lachenalia flowers look like something from out of space.

I have just done another postcard, but haven't photographed it yet. That will be next time. I've not done much stitching over the last 10 days, as last week we introduced self checkout (using radio frequency identification, so everything needs tagging) in the library - a very busy, and tiring time. It has all gone well. Our wonderful customers are all worried about us losing our jobs, but it means we have a little more time to help the customers and to cope with the increasing stock movement due to the still growing statewide one card system.

catching up with projects

I have a week off and hope to manage both a fair amount of taking it easy, at the same time as tackling a long list of projects...
It is cold and fairly miserable today, but I have made a good start. I have photographed the latest collection additions and am in the process of updating the catalogs - I'll finish if my typing fingers don't get any colder!
These are the recent postcards from my series In my garden

 The roses (stamped and hand painted)

The apple tree (layered and fussy cut). This could have included cheeky parrots that taste test every apple!

The fledglings (using felt for the nest)
I'm not sure what the next is to be - it is not due for a week, so plenty of time to look it up!
I'm quite pleased with the end results, though they don't always finish up like the original idea. They are representative, rather than true pictures of aspects or features of our garden.

I spotted this new growth on a tree in the car park yesterday as I was going to a meeting. I thought the fresh new shoots on the old trunk were cheering on a dull and rainy morning and

they reminded me that spring wouldn't be too far away.

I am off to Quilt Encounter for 2 days in the middle of the week, so my next job is to check out the workshop requirement list, and find last year's completed work to take to show. Good luck to the new organising committee. The first 'camp' will be well under bty now, and I'm sure we will all have a lot of fun. We will of course learn a lot too.

winter colour

Well it has been cold. wet, blustery, and very much winter these last few days. Had to go out this morning and part way home drove inbto a very heavy downpour complete with hail. I certainly haven't felt like venturing out so have caught up on a few chores (oh I love tax time!) and have managed to put in a few stitches. But looking at the blog I discovered that I didn't actually put up the photos I collected last week. They were about winter too, colour and pattern ...my mind must have got frozen.

 The miniature pomegranite - a bright spot in the front garden. Not sure if they are edible?

 Something new to me - black capsicums. Think they came from a 'mixed punnet' of seedlings


The amazing thing in all the cold is that our garden is still producing a few tomatoes and lots of capsicums and peppers

 

Sunset looking down our street, and the last leaves on the manchurian pear, along with big fat buds - already.

 A few scenes from the beach

 Norfolk Pine fronds standing up on a low branch

 We had lunch at Largs Bay a couple of weeks ago (very nice, at the Largs Pier Hotel) where I took this shot of the jetty. Yes, the jetty is in the picture, not all that visible, but I just liked the photo.

Also spotted these colorful fungi on the verge. They were black and white striped in their aged decomposing state.


And this is a shot of the stairs in the hotel. It is all nicely restored.

And now some stitching - this is 'Rules of the playground' which I entered in the Save our Coasts Coalition exhibition recently. Not a very good photo. I didn't take one before I entered it, not expecting it to be sold.

Next time some more postcards. I have some new jugs and echidnas to photograph and catalog (in my spare time of course) so will have some of those soon too for a change.