Butterflies, mini quilts, books and - oh yes - Creation Day

 

It's early evening on Thurday, and I'm in desperate need of ideas for my brother's birthday present.  You know what blokes are like.  Ask them what they want, you get a shrug and 'I dunno'.  I haven't a clue what to get him as he's enough gadgets and devices to last him a lifetime.  At this rate he's getting socks & gardening gloves as at least I know he'll use those.  

Anyway, on to other matters.  After that 'tidy up or we'll kick you off' letter from the allotment people I've been pulling up weeds and cutting back anything unsightly or overgrown.  The plot's not perfect yet but it's definitely in better shape. I'm leaving the large swathes of marjoram though as the purple flowers are attracting bees and butterflies.  Not as many as usual, but our insects are having a tough time right now.  Loss of habitat, climate change.  They need a helping hand.  The borage is flowering too, and that's always a favourite with bees.  Interesting fact about borage - after a bee visits a flower and takes the nectar from it, the flower refills with nectar within two minutes.  So it's fantastically pollinator-friendly and like a running buffet for bees.  

When it comes to crafty pursuits, I was painting fabric again the other day.  The colours on this photo look all washed-out, but they're much more vivid in real life.  The patterns came from home made stamps, using adhesive backed craft foam.  I particularly like the dotty stamp which was made by using a hole punch, sticking tiny foam circles on to a cardboard base.  Very fiddly to make, but worth the ten minutes or so it took.  

This long strip of once white cotton fabric was painted with a creamy yellow acrylic, then stamped and stenciled.  

I've now made three of these teeny-tiny mini quilts - to go on the front of blank greetings cards - and have a fourth in the pipeline.  There's something very pleasing about working on such a small scale.  

Apart from gardening and sewing, I've been rummaging in charity shops as per usual.  A pair of denim jeans for a quid.  They're a strange three quarter length, very wide legged design, but who cares as they're destined to be chopped up for the fabric.  I picked up this zip up Joules case too.  I don't know if it's meant to be a make up case or for jewellery, but at £2.00 it was too pretty to pass by.  I've also bought yet more books ... I know, I know, I have mountains of 'em already, but they look like four good ones.  

I've read some of Laura Purcell's books before, and she's reliable for a Gothicky, creepy, not-horror-but-unsettling-and-strange type story.  Having finished reading Janice Hallett's 'The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels', I've already started on 'A War of Flowers' and it's not too bad.  The romantic storyline is a wee bit cheesy, but the settings of pre war Paris and Berlin are drawing me in.  

The final thing I thought I'd mention is this.  It's going to be a wall hanging.  You see, my church is having a Creation Day in September.  Which might sound weird, but it's actually quite a simple and rather nice idea.  Getting people together to celebrate all the things that're wonderful about our world.  Parishioners are asked to make something.  Could be painted, knitted, drawn, photographed, maybe made from recycled materials.  Something that speaks of how precious our planet is, how beautiful, and how we need to look after it and cherish it.  So I'm trying to make a wall hanging where the base represents the sea, then the middle's the earth - our green & pleasant land - then above that will be blue sky, clouds and sunshine.  As you can see, I haven't got very far yet, and I'm not entirely convinced I can produce something I'm happy to have exhibited for all to see.  I want to embroider plants and insects, shells, fishes, all on top of a fairly abstract background.  I'm going to soldier on with this, and it may or may not all come together.  If it doesn't, I may need a Plan B.  Maybe some colourful bunting or a flock of felt birds?  Wish me luck!