Idle hands

Oh dear - so much for stitching every day!  My house has turned into a B&B for teenagers and there seems to be little time for myself.

I received a bunch of heather from one of the many visitors.  It was gathered from the moors on a walk to Top Withens.  Little fly stitches worked in columns seemed to be the right kind of stitch for the purple flower spikes.

I have not been entirely idle over the last couple of weeks - I have rented a studio space in a nearby mill.  It is a white box that I'm quickly filling with my stash, but it has provided an opportunity to display my work and surprise, surprise, it actually forms a cohesive body! 

A week in the life of....

Although I don't think I have much time to stitch, this week has produced some interesting results:  

Clockwise from top left there is some tile patterns inspired by the walls of Iberica restaurant in Leeds where I met a couple of friends for lunch.  Harebells from my morning walk and translated into stitch (bottom right).  Tear drop shapes with close dark stitches to mimic the black and white feathers of Guinea Fowl that roam around my cousin's farm (a weekend visit).   Finally the grey clouds that dominated last week's weather in Yorkshire, created by overlapping circles with a single border to unify the shape.

All work

My stitch diary has been pushed out by more pressing matters since I returned home.  The usual back to work blues, a mountain of washing (and ironing) and a glut of fruit in the garden have all taken their toll on my time.

The stitch stories this week are green circles and deep red French knots for the gooseberries and black currants that I have turned into jam. Some lovely loopy green lines to represent the bag of courgettes grown by my friend Nicky.  And a square white box, celebrating my move into a studio space in a nearby mill.