Clearing the decks

I've had what I think is a genius idea for the next Through Our Hands exhibition! You know how it is though - what seems brilliant in your imagination doesn't always work out as hoped so for now I shall keep my thoughts to myself. While the new ideas are fermenting I decided to clear the decks. There are so many unfinished bits and pieces in my workroom it's putting me off starting anything serious. I'm faced with heaps of stuff every time I walk in the room and that's just not good.

First to get the treatment was this collagraph print I made last year. Laura and Jamie printed it to cotton fabric and I've finished it with both hand and machine quilting. The hand stitch is with Madeira Lana and the machine stitch is Cotona 50 and Madeira Rayon. The spiky details in the foreground were painted with Jacquard Lumiere paint. It looks quite foreboding doesn't it? I wasn't in a bad mood when I made the print - it's just that I have limited colours of etching ink! I can tick this one off the list but sadly they printed me 3 different versions so I might have to hide the other 2 in a closed drawer.

While I had the paint and brushes out I worked a bit more on one of the Fingerprint, 'We print - You Colour' panels.

I'm not sure yet how much of the panel I'll paint but I'm really enjoying the intricate pattern in this particular design.

Then just because a change is as good as a rest I returned to this moth quilt which has been lingering for far too long in the 'just get on and finish me' pile. The moths were discharged from the hand dyed charcoal grey fabric and the moon was painted.

The PowerQuilter makes free motion quilting a total pleasure because I can see such a large area of the quilt as I work. I'm using Madeira's Cotona 50 cotton threads for most of this as I love the fine line they create. Most of the sky will be quilted with the same pattern but I'll keep changing the colour of the thread to create a bit more interest.

So, that's my weekend sorted. By the way, after I moaned about the cold weather last time, today the sun is out, the noisy frogs have arrived in the garden pond and the birds are going about their springtime business. One fly in the ointment is that the heron, who I usually love to see, has completely emptied the pond of fish and is not averse to a frog either. Paradise is never without its problems is it? Nature red in tooth and claw!

Bye for now - Linda x