International Bird of Prey Centre, Newent

 I had an amazing bird experience day at Newent on Thursday. A Kestrel on my glove,

 Bespectacled owl,

 falcon,

and brown- tailed kite. Wow what a day - I was truly awe struck most of the time.

Falling feathers.

Getting work ready for the Quilt Show in Bristol. Adjusting fastenings etc. This hanging- Falling Feathers was shown across a bed at Newark Park- it will be interesting to see it vertical and on a wall at the exhibition. Interesting to photograph the back.

Starling.

 Sketches of bird heads from the feeder and from photographs. I used my How to Draw Birds books to give me confidence to get going. I find if I copy from a book first ( top right from Tim Wootons book) then go to my own photos and then draw from life- well it seems to work for me. Sort of building up confidence in steps.We saw starlings close up at St Ives on holiday. I managed to get a good photo when one posed on the railings by the cafe where we were having lunch. We do get them occasionally in the garden- such busy birds. The machine embroidery worked well for the flecked texture of the plumage. Putting stars in the starling.

SunMoonStars story quilt.

 Once upon a starry night, mother cat took her kittens to gaze at the moon.................

Trying out Jude's thread beads for stars- love them. The cats will all have tails hanging down -they may become ginger or tabby will see how it goes. This is so different from my usual work - like an escape!

Another feather, Autumn colour and mist.

 A little peacock feather to go beside the goldfinch one.

 Autumn colour at Westonbirt Arboretum.

Misty morning - sunrise. The mist sinks into the valley and the trees are in silhouetted in lines, far more beautiful than this photo. Frost on the cars.

The Guild at 51 - work for sale by Louise Watson.

These are my pieces that are showing in the gallery - The Guild at 51, Clarence Street, Cheltenham.  They are all around £200 each and are framed in bespoke box frames. There are also a few unframed folio works, handmade cards and photocards. Please phone Jo in the gallery on 01242 245215 - she can arrange postage.

 I just went for it with the sun beams! All last week I wondered whether to go on with this or start again with something more me but yesterday I just enjoyed the stitching.

 Very different from my usual work but it is a stitch along experience- very generously shared by Jude Hill - and so now I am embracing a story telling narrative. Really good to take a step outside myself and perhaps back in time to my infant teacher past. After final play at about three was always story time. Settling on the mat with my class, it was always my favourite time of the day. Everyone relaxed, I learned to read upside down so I could hold the picture book up for the children to see the pictures. Those brightly coloured pictures would spell bind all of us.

So this is once upon a time and now I want to invent some creatures to live under the sun moon and stars.

Goldfinch feather and stars.

 What a gift finding this goldfinch feather!

Making holes for the stars. Following Judes idea ( over at Spirit cloth) I made holes in the sky for the night to shine through. Something I would never have thought of. I cut the holes with scissors and then frayed out with a suede brush. It has made the piece much less formal. Brilliant clear sky last night- many stars!

Moon stitching.

Stitching rings around the moon. I decided to change colours - in reverse- around the moon. Slow stitching - calming and time to think. Time for stitch.

Stitching along with Jude at spiritcloth.

So here are my first 3 circles. I just tore strips of cloth, cut out fabric circles and bonded them onto the strip. The fabric was very thin silk so it needed Bondaweb. ( think of it as a  double sided sticky tape for fabric- you iron it on ) This moon is from fabric my sister dyes using natural dyes. I thought it perfect for the Moon or a planet. I am doing this all without much planning or overthinking just going with it and enjoying the stitching. It is all learning - another time I would choose softer fabrics but lets see what happens with this first one.

Day of circles and triangles.

The results of our workshop yesterday. Some circles, some triangles and a bit of Bokara couching inspired by a recent holiday. I demonstrated lots of stitches, proving it's much easier to learn by being shown how.  Good clear diagrams are important too. If you want to have a go there is another chance in Bristol in November- click on the picture on the sidebar for a link.

Day of circles

My long strip of circles - SunMoonStars- off to Cheltenham for a day of circles and shared stitches.

Going in circles!

This week I am back to stitching in circles ready for my workshop on Friday. It seems as you sow or sew, so shall ye reap - I mean I seem to be going in circles myself! I originally called this workshop Going Dotty - oh dear! The idea was that we normally see stitches in straight lines so I thought it would be interesting to stitch into a circle instead- I do like spot patterns. Circles are used in Nature too- look at my last blog of an allium head. It also fits in with Jude Hill over at Spirit Cloth blog with her theme of sun, moon and  stars.

 All 5 finished now and ready for framing. I try and allow a few days before I look at it again and add or take away any stitches. I call this resting a piece- it is really me resting my gaze on it. I pin it up on my board or put it away completely to come back to it afresh.Taking photos of the piece also helps with this final looking.

On Saturday we went to Salisbury to see the Threads exhibition. The venue, Salisbury Arts Centre is a converted Church. Some wonderful work on show. It is on from now to Nov 12th Closed Sun and Mondays. Not a huge space but 46 different artists. They hadn't finished setting up on Sat morning and not everything had labels but I am sure that will get done today.