Buried treasure

Not much time for stitching, as I am digging out a garden that has had no attention for over 20 years. Rubble pile so far

from these areas

has led to the discovery of rust dyeing treasure

The rest of the family think I am mad as I exclaim over rusty bits of barbed wire, broken horseshoes, rusty nails, steel wall reinforcing - rust dyeing plans are afoot!

Tulip flamboyance

I have been watching this tulip since the beginning of April as it becomes more and more extravagantly wonderful.  This may be the last photo as predicted rain and frost may finish it off this week. What dress inspiration this is.

Tulipmania

Weeds are flourishing in my garden, so I am obsessing over the shapes and colours of the tulips that I planted in pots in November. I can really understand how these flowers bankrupted so many people in the Netherlands in 1637.



These joyous colours keep me motivated as I dig out dandelions, alkanet ( longest root so far = 60cm, but I am not saving any of them for dyeing ) ground elder, buddleia, bramble, ground ivy and creeping buttercup.

April journal - turning to fresh water

Blue-green algae

Algal “blooms” form in both salt water and fresh water, but I wanted to focus on a microscopic form that grows in fresh water, hence blue-green algae.  While algae are needed and are beneficial in many aquatic ecosystems, excessive nitrogen and phosphorous, caused by farm or industrial run-off can cause overgrowth and “blooms”. These can be toxic, particularly to animals.

Hand-dyed fabric, experimenting with bobbin work, gathered ribbon, and chain stitch embroidery by machine ( great fun).

Tumultuous tulip

Kaleidoscope quilting continues

Glorious sunshine this weekend gave an opportunity to photograph the quilting on the Kaleidoscope quilt.  There is a lot of thread going in to this one.

Back, ‘'moths"

Back, corner feathers

Back, centre star

Front

Front, detail

The diagonal lines in the striped border are from an unpicked quilting design that I decided I didn’t like when it was next to the more dense quilting of the central medallion. Just as well it was sunny as i could do it outdoors and leave some threads for the birds’ nests.