New cushion (well nearly)

Hooray, the sun is finally shining and since I had a little free time this afternoon I finished the quilting on the printed leaf cushion top and its hand dyed fabric back. I guess that sounds odd but my workroom is in the garden and on a day like this I can sit at my sewing machine with the windows and door wide open and listen to the birds going about their business. It's just as good as being outside and I love it!

I thought it would be good to keep the leafy theme going on the cushion back so I stitched a leaf and tendril design that fills the space really quickly. The apricot thread looked too low key on its own so I brought in the hot pink and the same green I'd used on the front. The looping tendril stitch is a great way to get out of a tight spot and travel onto where the next leaf needs to be. This kind of quilting is the equivalent of doodling with a pencil! Continuous lines rule!

It might be the promise of summer that's making me lean to all things floral at the minute or it might be because my Mom gave me this lovely Hydrangea last week.

Whatever the reason it's prompted me to revisit an old sketchbook. I did these pages when we wrote the Painted Quilt but I never made more than a few stitched samples and a small hanging from them.

The colours are gorgeous and the undersides of the petals are just as beautiful as the tops.

I'm sure there's mileage in these pages so I shall ponder my sketchbook, make some new drawings from Mom's Hydrangea and see if inspiration strikes. Fingers crossed!

Bye for now - Linda