NOW we are rolling.....

OK, progress, though shaky, IS being made. I have 16 leaves to do and have finished 7 and am just starting on the ninth (which is leaf #8!!!- I skipped #6 for the moment !) I cannot believe how STUPID I am ! I have only been away from this for a month and have made soo many silly errors. Got it working smoothly again now though and , to date, I am fairly pleased. I still am not sure what I want for a background colour. I will wait till I see more of this and then decide.

:-) Speaking of "to date" , I had a "date" with DH today for tea and two Tim Bits at Timmy"s. For those non Canadians among us, Timmy's is really Tim Horton's, a doughnut and coffee shop that does nice drinks, hot and cold ( Iced Cappuccino  in the summer is to DIE for!) , sandwiches, soup and treats! Timmy's is all across Canada and there are a few outlets in the US. Very nice little break. Thanks, DH xxoo! BTW, Tim Bits are the doughnut holes! Good for diabetic dieters on a wee spree!

step 1

step 2

the piece to date

Can you spot the little change of heart? Not major, but I like it better!

Back in the saddle again

After what seems like an eternal hiatus, I have started working again. I am out of shape for it :-( Running up and down the stairs to the dye pots and laundry, leaning over by the hour drawing, cutting, fusing!!! Am I NUTS??? You betcha! It will be fine and it feels good to be back at it .My poor old back is very sore though today. I had to take a pill :-(

I am working on a new piece that has been in my head for ages. Every time we drive to Waterdown to shop, we pass a wire fence festooned with wild grape and Virginia creeper. Watching those vines as the season progresses is a favourite pastime of mine.( I don't get out much!)

Look at the profusion of grapes this past fall! I wait all year for the grapes to ripen with that dull slatey blue-black bloom and for the dark green leaves to go chartreuse- a stunning contrast.

SO beautiful this year- the Virginia Creeper was brilliant! I have already done one piece using another photo from this same series taken on the same day. I was fortunate enough to find VC with ripe berries on the twigs- a brilliant royal blue and shinier than the grapes.That piece is already on my blog under the title Wire Fence I.

The photo I am currently working on is this one-

The colours will be somewhat more intense and the busy background will be just a dark mottled piece of fabric- quilted, of course- allowing the fencepost, the wires and the gorgeous fruit and leaves to shine. I have my leaves all drawn, ready to assemble and one is already complete. I have the fencepost all ready to do but am short of the right colours for it so this will not be an instant piece to do. It is actually quite labour intensive, but that's what I love doing. I am working on some new dyed fabrics including fencepost grey! -GREY-S actually. Look at it. There are a zillion colours in that old post. Did I mention that I really like fences??

I have missed blogging and working but I AM enjoying being a far away Granny to a beautiful little boy. He just had his two week birthday and he is thriving. DD is looking and sounding wonderful too . She is one VERY hard working young woman - still trying to finish her doctoral dissertation on TOP of everything else. I KNOW she will do it because that's my girl! She used to really LOVE Wonder Woman when she was wee. Well, now she IS Wonder Woman!

I do hope everyone out there is well and starting to see signs of spring 2014. Thank you to all of the very kind people who sent congratulations to me on the birth of my darling little Grandson, Oliver. I really appreciate your kindness and thoughtfulness :-)

Here is the chaos that is the start of a new piece of work in OUR house!

And here is some small bit of progress being made!

And now that I actually have something to show, I decided to add to this post and to send it to the needleandthreadnetwork.blogspot.com . it feels like AGES since I posted last time but I HAVE paid attention to all of the other posts while I was "otherwise occupied". Anyway, like a bad penny, here I am again. Enjoy the entries this week.

First snow

It snowed yesterday for the first time this year. It was just those little hard pellets we sometimes get and it did not stay on the ground. It sounds like they have some north of here though.

I am sick today with a horrid cold. We are NOT amused! I have been trying to concentrate on sewing but to little avail.It seems the thing I am most fixed on is my kleenex box: ( Boo!

The back garden is pretty bare now. We can see right through to the escarpment in some spots.Some oak leaves persist and there are a couple of Maples still burning gold but with polka dots of black Tar Spot fungus. Does anyone else feel like this pestilence has only appeared in recent years? I want to talk to some REALLY old people, even older than I , and ask if this is a new phenomenon.

Has anyone else noticed how prolific the wild grape is this year? Does that mean we are in for a wild winter? I guess we will have to wait and see. There are places in the countryside round here where wild grape hangs in huge blue-black curtains. I need to get some pictures.It is also time to start collecting more pictures of the skeletal remains of the summer of 2011. This is all that is left now of my hydrangea, Endless Summer. Too bad.