Stiching and sketching

I went to a fabulous talk and workshop with Linda Miller - textile artist from Winchester (UK) who creates quirky, naive little pieces of machine embroidery. Many of them are humorous and are often small animals (she is a master of little pets with characterful faces).
Her workshop was in the art of machine embroidery, which I love. We all invented our motif and set to work in a fun and relaxed atmosphere.

Linda's sense of humour was the perfect antidote to some of the trials and tribulations caused by recalcitrant sewing machines and tangling threads and we all produced a little piece by the end of the day and gained a lot of inspiration to continue.

OTHERWISE I manage with just the opportunity to grab a few stitches in between family, cooking, shopping, work and household and garden, but it's amazing how much you can fit in in those tiny chinks of time and  how much can get completed. Sometimes I only mange five stitches at  time!

The garden is preparing to be reborn next year and there are some wonderful seedheads. What potential! Some of them look positively prehistoric.
The leaves are becoming exquisitely mottled and are beginning to fall to provide a winter bed for the seeds to nestle until Spring.










 The colours inspire.









The sketchbook continues and is laying a bed for next years seeds of ideas for creativity.