Onwards and upwards

I won't bore you with the details but we've had a tough week here and that's the reason I haven't posted for a while. However, they say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger so, feeling very strong now it's onwards and upwards! It hasn't been all bad news. I have finished quilts that just need their labels and those lovely people at Husqvarna have some great software with a template that allows you to design quilt labels very quickly. (It's called Quilt Design Creator and labels is just one of the things it can do). Here are a couple (of the many!) that I stitched out on my embroidery machine over the weekend. I used a scrap of digital print from the recent moth quilt to make its own label - how cool is that?

Laura made a DMTV video on the importance of documenting quilts recently and it made me feel very guilty about my lack of attention to final detail! Now that I have a few different designs saved on my memory stick I am resolving to label all this year's quilts properly rather than rely on a permanent marker pen. We'll see how long that lasts when an exhibition deadline looms large!

The second quilt in the moth series is going to feature this fellow. You might recall I showed you him a little while ago. His face will be scanned and printed out much bigger than the original drawing which is only A4.

I've been hunting through my moth photos and decided this beautifully marked specimen was a contender for the quilt. Pity he's missing a wing tip but we all bear our battle scars don't we?

I'm planning to make more moth drawings so I have a few different elements to choose from when creating the halo of moths around the man's head. This quilt will be called 'Remembering'. The cloud of moths will once again represent the thoughts and memories that we all strive to hold onto as we age. I'm hoping he looks suitably reflective and thoughtful.

For a change of scene we escaped the office for a trip to the Rag Market yesterday. With optimistic thoughts of approaching summer I wanted some fabrics to make new clothes. We drove through a hailstorm to get to Birmingham so didn't arrive in a state of mind to choose pretty floral prints. Anyway, those ideas went out of the window - it was all stripes and spots! There was a butterfly print but even that was grey!

I bought 13 different jersey fabrics so even if my daughters claim a couple each it's still going to keep me busy for the foreseeable!

To finish on another happy note, here's a picture of our first asparagus of the year. We're normally enjoying it from late April but it has been delayed by the dreadful cold, wet weather. Never mind - it's here now and we'll have a surfeit for a few weeks!

Thank you for reading this. I'll be back soon! Best wishes, Linda