Where does the time go to? The late autumn was very busy and I had no time for sewing But I did get my Fifteen by Fifteen piece finished. the subject was motion and  I decided to entitle my piece ‘A little motion in the air’ and use a piece that I had shibori stitched and dyed in pomegranate and iron when I did a course a couple of summers ago. I love seeing the movement of seeds in the air. I hand stitched and machine stitched to create additional texture.

The I finished the last of my 2016 journal quilts, I played with scraps of silk and some stencilling, I wanted an old look to it as in things that have faded and was more or less happy with the result. Some squares were stitched to give more richness, others were left to fade away.

I find producing work difficult when I have too much else going on so it was a great relief when the Christmas break arrived and I could concentrate on creative ideas rather than the preparation of my English classes. The weather was cold and frosty, we had over 50 days of no precipitation which was, I think a record. The crystals were amazing.

Then there were the trees covered in frost, the sun only hits the house for about 3 hours at this time of year due to the mountains but the light is wonderful.

I started to organise my thoughts for textile classes this year and played about with stitch pictures, one of which I did as a surprise for my sister’s Christmas present. I had a go at sewing my mother, the mouth wasn’t too clever but I think I captured her spirit.

I also decided that it was time to finish a piece I had started in the summer and which needed stitching. I challenged myself to only use the machine and was quite happ with the results.

It was made of squares which had been shibori stitched and then dyed, the stitching was then undone and they were dyed a second time, I used four dye baths each time so that no two were the same. The colours were not as bold as I had intended but with the stitching of the veins they came to life. Once the whole was quilted I over painted to make the leaves stand out.

While looking for inspiration I knitted a new bag,  mounted on an ‘inner’ which I love and which is very practical , using sari yarn.

Finally this is a section of a new piece made for the Quilter’s Guild suitcase collection.

I am hoping that I will be rather better at keeping up to date in 2017!