books and eggs

It has been a busy week, again, so we are sitting down and watching an old episode of Frasier.I have seen this before so I can write while I listen.


In the past couple of weeks I have found three really interesting new books.  The first is Make Your Own Books & Boxes by Peter Baumgartner published by Search Press in 1996.  It was originally published in German in 1994.   This edition was translated by Clare Turner.  I have never managed to find such a useful book on the subject.  This is one that I will use often. 

 The second book is by Meg Evans,
Hand-Stitched Boxes.  This edition was published by David & Charles
in 1998.
This has so many wonderful projects and easy to follow instructions.  I can see one of my stitched gardens on the top of one of these boxes.

I bought the third book just because the cover looked so interesting.  I am not really interested in making lace, well I wasn't until I started reading this.  Anyway here are the details.  Contemporary Lace Making by Constance Nieuwhoff. Published by Van Nostrand Reinhold in 1975 and translated from the Dutch by Danielle Adkinson.

And now for something completely different.  Last week I broke an egg to find it has two yolks.  This is a rare occasion these days although I remember as a child our own chickens often produced double yokers, as we called them.  Anyway this evening as I was preparing a quick meal I was thrilled to see two more and couldn't resist taking a photo. I know it is a bit off the track but it shows how easily I am impressed.

Busy days and a short month

I have been doing some babysitting for my neighbours lately: they have 5 month old twins as well as a 5 year old.  I pop in next door while mummy does the school run in the morning and afternoon.
This has given me the opportunity to work on some hand stitching and also to catch up on reading some books: there is always something to learn about stitching and related activities.  I hope to be able to tell you about one or two books I have recently bought:  I should have a little time to write a more detailed post during the weekend.

shopping on line

This week I received these goodies in the mail.

I bought them on etsy from  
  Etsy Shop for TEXTILEBLOCKS

I have not had time to try these out 
as yet but I am sure they will be very useful. 

They are lovely to look at and to touch.

There are so many opportunities to spend on Etsy.  So many talented people.  

 

photo before & after

Thanks for the comments on the picture at the head of my blog.  The picture below is the original and the one beside is another version.


I did the first one for a card I was making.  It is always interesting to see how altering a fairly simple shot can result in something quite spectacular.

stitched gardens

 I have quite a love of knot gardens:  I have created several and I thought I would show them to you today.

This first one is stitched on hand dyed fabric using silk threads and lots of french knots and turkey stitch.

I particularly like the colours in this one.

This one was my first attempt and I was helped with stitch selection & colours by Bev Tully.  It took many hours of concentration.
Again I used silk threads.  It is lovely and soft to touch and is on the top of a round black box. 

I stitched out this heart pattern on my embroidery machine and then filled in the gaps (hearts etc) with different threads and stitches.  It was a kind of a 
sampler, and looks prettier in "real life". 

I have mounted this one on top of another box which I have covered with an interesting paper.

I use this one in the sewing room for bits & pieces. 

Another of my designs:  I found it difficult to deal with the idea of it being divided into 3 sections.  I do like symmetry. 

This tiny one was lots of fun to do: it is a little pin cushion set in a shallow wooden bowl.

Another Big Step

For some time I have been conscious of how lucky I am to be able to indulge in my love of textiles.  Of course as you all know it is easy to spend too much and to accumulate a lot of "stuff".  Well, I have decided to try to sell some of my gorgeous  dyed  lace and fabric on Etsy.  When I figure out how I will put a link here.

 I am not sure if this works.  Oh dear I am hopeless when I have too much on my plate.  Like today.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/dianunn

 This morning we woke up to sunny skies which was a relief after a day of heavy downpours yesterday.  




Even the lorikeets seemed a bit more lively when they came down for breakfast.

 It was just a few minutes and the rain was back - as you can see it was tumbling over the guttering and onto the veranda.


The garden looks very lush of course and our tank is flowing over.

I have spent a lot of the weekend sorting through the lace and doilies I have been dyeing lately.

This pink one is particularly pretty.

The pale green of this one reminds me of autumn mornings: not sure why.

We are still waiting for a proper summer but I guess we can be thankful that the weather has not caused us harm or loss.

I am so far with reading and commenting on blogs.  Hopefully I will have a chance to read a little tomorrow.