Right, on to crafty matters. I was in Leeds yesterday for the last Stitch Art session of 2025. It was themed around a new exhibition, 'Plant Dreaming'. It's a beautiful display of paintings, photographs and textiles, plus some fabulous ceramics that I really coveted. 
I think these ceramics are by Aliyah Hussain. 
Hopefully you can see enough, despite my poor photography. 
I also loved these massive wall hangings that were pretty much floor to ceiling. 
They make me want to get out my paints and have a go! 
The wall hangings are by Emma Talbot. 
There were a couple of reasons why I was at the art gallery, the main one being our monthly Stitch Art group. This time, instead of working on individual projects, we were stitching a communal one. There were two long tables, each covered by a piece of green cloths. One in pure linen, the other in fine Merino wool. We were invited to stitch a simple image of a flower or plant that had a particular meaning or memory for us. The idea is that other groups and community members will also add their stitching, and so in time they'll be embroidered tablecloths that can be displayed at the gallery or art library. Given that it was only a two hour session we couldn't do a great deal in that time, but I had a go at some blackberries. 
I used metallic thread to try and show the thorny stem and dark purple embroidery thread to make masses of chunky French knots for the berries. My image came from memories of going blackberrying as a child. My mum would make jam, and we lived in a small town, so it was close to the countryside. We'd take bags and tubs, and gather up great amounts of berries from hedgerows that seemed so much more abundant than they are nowadays. I still gather up berries in season, both from my allotment and from hedgerows, though I don't make jam. Too high in sugar. This year's hedgerow berries were small and not worth picking in the main. I think it was because of the lack of spring and summer rain, as we had months of almost completely dry weather, fast emptying reservoirs and hosepipe bans.
Stitch Art's over with for 2025, and as there's no meeting in January it'll be February before we get together again. 
My other reason for going to the art gallery was to take a look at the latest panel of the Leeds Tapestry. It's only recently been completed, and several of us from the Stitch Art group had our modest little pieces of stitchery included in the panel. I was very surprised to find mine was too. It's such a simple little map, made with the most basic of stitches. 
I'd used a vintage handkerchief, so the flowers aren't an example of my needlework. I sewed lines to indicate landmarks like the River Aire and the railway lines, plus well known street names like the Headway and Boar Lane. I'm pleased my piece was used in the panel, though still flummoxed that it was.
I'll finish with two unconnected photos. The first I took yesterday morning. A cold but very bright day, and the autumn leaves looked beautiful with their copper colours. The second picture I couldn't resist taking. The first time my cat Badger's been braved enough to reach the upper level of his tower. At 175cm it's taller than me, so he got to look down on me, and was very happy to be rewarded for his bravery with a handful of Dreamies. Honestly, he's such a pampered pet. 
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