Stitching Between the Rust

Been stitching for miles and miles!

Sometimes in straight lines and sometimes on the curve.

Found it easier to use the hoop when doing the straight rows;

but was surprised that I didn't need the hoop on the curves.

Sometimes I stitched in circles.

Sometimes I just sat and examined the rusty imprints.

I find these imperfect triangles to be an important part of the design.

It is on the design wall now and it seems pretty obvious

that the weak part of this piece is the bottom of the gate.

So I decided more rusting from the top of the gate is required.

Then I can add some more interest to the bottom of of my piece.

We went outside to find the gate to get on with the job...

but discovered it frozen solid to the ground under a pile of snow!

So I'll have to put this project aside and wait for warmer weather.

Not to worry...there's always at least 20 more pieces waiting in the wings.

Snowy Woodland Trails

Snowy cap...

Snow clogged bridge....

Woodland Moguls...

Rusty pups leading the way...




Lying in wait...hoping to ambush her sister.


What a glorious sunshiney day for a walk....
trouble is it was way colder than it looks!

Pebbly Circles

It was so very cold on the beach...
too cold to fiddle with cameras.
So I brought home the pebbles that caught my eye.

Some pebbles grow into circles....

some wrap themselves in circles..

and others decorate themselves with circle designs.

Perhaps they are all shouting "pick me"!

Track Crossings

A busy crossroads on the dyke....human, pheasant, dear and rodent of some kind.

A deer crossed paths with a smaller critter.  
There were tracks everywhere, some old and some new. 

The rusty pups stepped over a pheasant's trail.

The pups followed deer tracks and we followed the pups.
Walking along the cold and windy dyke I imagined us a clan of the deer people
following the deer wherever they may roam.
What amuses me is that what I have photographed here is obviously one deer print going to the right and another to the left!

Rusty Gate Stitching

Stitching the rusty gate occupies my daylight hours through these blustery cold days.
It is about 5ft wide and 3ft deep and will take many more days!
I stitch until I'm hardly aware of what I'm doing.
Every now and then I measure and lay masking tape down yo make sure I haven't drifted too far from the horizontal.
When friends drop by for a cup of tea I chat away with them but the stitching carries on!
Hope they don't mind.

The stitches work their way around the rusted shapes.
I hadn't planned to do any stitching on those shapes but I might be changing my mind about that.
We shall see.

My first deviation from the straight and narrow is a circle or perhaps a moon shining through.
I think I am now on the last section of straight.
Then decisions will have to be made on how to handle the more curved negative spaces.

The rusty pups contribution to my rusty piece is snow clogged paws or frozen muzzles on my precious cloth when they come in from snow play.

Stitching Snow

Yesterday the sun's warmth
Started the first thaw of the winter...

But it is snowing and blowing again this morning.

It will be icy underneath this new layer of white.

Well Travelled Cloth

This treasure trove of Indigo travelled from Glennis.
What a treat.
Every type of cloth and even a skein of thread.
Blue was the colour of my school uniform.
School was not a happy place for me.
Ever since (and it's been many a year)
I have avoided all things blue.
Finally...
blue is fast becoming a favourite.

Liking this the most.

Travelling soon to Kaite down under
for her Emerald flood relief quilts.

Flowers for a Special Day

Flowers for you all on this Valentine's day.
"Friendship is a single soul dwelling in two bodies."
Aristotle

Brett went dog sleding

Brett sent pics of his dog sleding weekend.
He also sent a video of the dogs before they got started...
You should have heard the barking and yapping!
They were bursting with excitement...
Unfortunately I haven't worked out how to upload the video yet...perhaps one day.

If there's one thing Canadians know how to do,
it's to make the best of long, cold winters.

They went up north to Algonquin Park.

looks to me like we have had more snow than them.

Madame Pheasant

We know we are in the depth of winter when the pheasants come to the bird feeder.
They are the most nervous of birds around here.
The slightest shadow across our window will send her running back across the snow into the woods.

The colours and markings of a pheasant are a favourite of mine.

She didn't have a male with her, hope she finds one soon.

She has come two days in a row so far.

Perhaps, if we keep the rusty pups inside at noon when she seems to visit, we will have the pleasure of her company more often.

My Peruvian Weaving

Ten years ago my dear friend Chris took the trip of a lifetime to Peru and Machu Pichu.

I couldn't go.

Chris brought me back a piece of weaving.

It's about 18" square.

It was given to her by a coca leaf reader.

He carried coca leaves in a sacred bag and dropped them on this cloth.

Then he would read them just like tea leaves I suppose.

It would have been made by Quechua women in a village high in the Andes.

It was woven in strips about 9" which were then sewn together with the orange zigzag type stitches above and the pink and blue stitches in the pic before.

Now it lives on a small antique table in my home.
I love it.

A Sunny Linear Day

Row upon row of simple stitching grows on my rusty gate cloth.

Row upon row of white puffy clouds floats above a blue Fundy horizon.

As the tide comes in the rusty pups follow the scent of what or who was here before us.

With cold noses and tingling fingertips we also search for beachy finds.
For me today it is striped pebbles that catch my eye.