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.