Pennant hanging in the blue.

 It was a lovely morning yesterday so I washed my pennant from Mo and hung it on the washing line.

The blue sky behind gave me an idea. I have ironed and backed it with blue fabric and intend to make a feature of the holes. The sunshine brightened the fabric. I think it will be called Mending the Sky. I have an idea of birds in flight and darning stitches.

Puffins in progress.

Guillemots and razorbills added to the puffin page.

Wren - sketch and stitch.

A card commission for a wren. A little bird but a loud one, hard to spot but easy to hear! I don't usually do commissions but this one was quick and enjoyable.

In the summer garden.

 A little look around our garden in very welcome sunshine. All, well most gardens in the Cotswolds are on slopes, ours slopes upwards. The miniature garden

 on the steps.

A new pot for this one it has transplanted beautifully, the old pot was frost damaged last winter.

 The new patio

 and pond in progress.

Yesterday it was the big butterfly count- red admiral on hemp agrimony at the top of the garden. All these things, the colours, textures and sights are inspirational for my stitching work.

That is outside! In the studio, more work on the Skomer page.

Back to the puffins.

A few more spots completed on this applique piece that I haven't named yet. Also getting on with the embroidered puffin page, I am going to put in some razorbills and guillemots. It won't be a direct copy of the sketchbook page, just adjusting the composition at the moment.

Beetles - sketches and stitched.

These are from 2010 but a friend asked for some pictures to show to a budding entomologist who is nearly 3. We were remembering AA. Milnes poem Alexander Beetle.I made lots of boxes some paper some stitched with wee beasties inside.

The real thing! A bloody nosed beetle.

Spots and summer garden.

I have finished the reverse applique spots and am adding to the design of summer greens. It is very different from my recent illustrative work and is strangely compelling. More about stitch textures but I still have a summer garden in mind in an abstract form.

Also painted the background for the summer garden. It feels imperative to get this started while the summer is still with us. Lots of rain has made the garden into a jungle with bright spots of colour.