Books, foxgloves and a very messy dining table

This was the state of my dining table yesterday morning.  I'd dug out the gell plate and acrylics, and I'll show you the results later on in this post.  First of all, a quick round-up of recent charity shop buys.  

A good book for 50p, jeans for a quid and a Next dress - with pockets! - for £2.00.  I mean, why shop anywhere else?  The dress is ideal to wear as a tunic over leggings.  

I also splashed out just under £4.00 for this massive men's shirt.  It's cotton, and the colour's more vivid than the photo above shows.  

Mens shirts, and in particular oversized ones, are great for harvesting the fabric.  A rectangle or square can be cut from the front, perfect for a cushion back complete with button and buttonhole fastenings.  Meaning no need for a zip to be inserted when you make a cushion cover.  I'm saving cuffs and collars from the shirts I chop up, and they'll be used for a patchwork project at some point.  

I also bought these two books.  Yes, I know, I've got plenty already waiting to be read, but I cannot resist the temptation of a handsome hardback.  The Bonnie Garmus book is like new, not a mark on it, and I've heard good reviews about it.  I've stuck these books on my To-Be-Read pile, they'll have to wait their turn as I'm currently halfway through 'Triflers need not apply' by Camilla Bruce.  Enjoying it very much.  The story of Bella Sorensen, a fictional account of an 1800s serial killer called Belle Gunness.  A Norwegian lass who emigrated to America, she had a tendency to bump men off and arrange the odd arson attack or two ... quite the gal, eh?  

Apart from rummaging around the rails of charity shops I've been down the allotment.  The self seeded foxgloves are coming into flower.  There are pale pink speckled ones.  

There are darker pink foxgloves too. 

These white foxgloves are especially pretty, I think.  The speckles on the petals are to help guide pollinators to the nectar inside, and I love seeing chubby bumblebees land on them and disappear inside.  

With regard to crafty stuff, I sewed these scrappy blocks together this morning.  I'd already sewn the individual blocks into blocks of four, and I decided today that I needed to make more progress with this quilt.  So I've got this far at least.  

Yesterday I'd been playing around with painting fabric, stamping & stenciling it too.  I used a combination of calico, plain white cotton and a shiny cream coloured material that might've once been a dress or skirt lining.  The painted fabric with the brownish-yellow background weren't so pleasing, but the pearly pink looked good, and I loved the watery effect I got with greens and blues.  

A while ago I'd used painted material to piece together and make into a fabric roll, which I was pretty chuffed with.  

I'm debating whether to make another roll with this new lot of painted material.  But before that decision's made, I cut my latest efforts into rectangles and sewed 'em together to make usuable fabric. 

The camera on my phone seems to wash out certain colours, and the watery turquoise and pearly pink don't show up too well in these pictures.  

I might splash the paint around some more and see what other patterns and colours I can conjure up.  Which means the dining table will be out of use again.  Never mind, I'm quite happy eating my meals off a tray!