New start

After a hectic summer of workshops, time to catch up with

paperwork and a general tidy up, ready to start again. Now

it's my time to play, catch up with Journal Quilts, dye velvet

for scarves, and get down for The Rawling Family

exhibition in January 2010.

I posted this piece of shibori a couple of weeks ago, and it

immediately said Autumn Leaves, so here it is again,

this time as a Journal Quilt. That's a start!

Detail

Now back to the drawing board and dyepots

At last - indigo

Up early to prepare for the end of term workshop.

As the September mist clothed the garden I made

up Procion dyes ready to go. By the time students

arrived the sun was out and it was deliciously

warm. Obviously an Indigo Day.

The washing line

A bit of batik

Not quite blue

Sunlight through blue

And those Procion Dyes? Untouched - however that saves

me a job today. I am off to a birthday party as guest

'entertainer'. As a birthday treat it's a Tie dye party.

with a birthday cake at the end. A nice sort of day.

Trip to the shops

On Sunday we found ourselves, en route to visit Will

and Juliet, making a slight diversion to Southall,

which has a large Indian community. Bad timing,

we forgot it was Eid, - traffic jams were the order

of the day. Then we noticed signs for a carnival

parade that afternoon, We hit the supermarket

to stock up on spices, Indian breads, paneer.

plus assorted 'off list' items. A side order of

Samosas - the smell of spice making us feel

hungry, and a selection of Indian sweets.

Vegetables of all shapes and colours.

We don't have these in our local shops!

No time to wander round the fabric and sari shops, or wait for

the carnival procession,we had to battle our way back to the M25,

with the distinct feeling that we might be late for lunch. Meanwhile,

the cinema was showing the latest Bollywood offering.

At the end of the day

The penultimate workshop in the conservatory. All shisha

and silk shining in the sun. Indian stitch techniques -

mirror work, banjara and kantha and lots of colour.

Next week it is shibori, Procion dyes and maybe at last

another indigo vat since the weather is pretty good.

Come October with the prospect of lashing rain,

soggy fallen leaves and dark evenings it will not

be a good place for workshops.

A few quilts I made earlier

I love this one. Made out of early pieces of dyed fabric

when I was using my son's room while he was away

at University. With impending return for vacation I

pieced the top from the fabrics stored in a box, before

handing the room back. Now the room is mine, all

mine. It is closely hand stitched, and over time has

been washed, giving it a antique look.

Made from raw edged block prints. The hand stitch saw tooth

edged took longer that piecing the top. This is fading

in a very pleasant way!

A winter slow cloth - fabric dyed the previous summer.

Pieced and hand quilted, with bound shisha. In a

moment of madness I decided to stitch triangles

along the seam lines.

Samples of various Indian stitch techniques.

All tidied up now - time for a glass of red.

Testing, testing

...... a new camera. My old Cannon is a bit temperamental, I think

the heat and dust in India got to it, or perhaps, like me it's

needs another trip. I have itchy feet. At this time of year

I usually fly off, like the swallows, to warmer lands.

A lovely September day, with a fresh breeze. The garden

has changed it's summer colours to autumnal. This morning

the conservatory had a good clean up, windows washed,

what a difference that makes. Spiders returned outside.

Signs of autumn. The little fig tree has several yellow leaves,

plus seven figs. No chance of them ripening this year.

Autumn leaves shibori

Here and there

A close up of a Sea Eagles wing and breast.

We found this magnificent bird dozing in

the sun (in his big enclosure) at The

Bison Farm - bison were in evidence on the

hills in the distance. Both unuusal sights

in Dorset. The gift shop is full of (Red)

Indian artifacts - bows and arrows, full

headdresses, bags of medicinal herbs,

plus Aboriginal artwork (?)

The real reason for the visit was to catch

up with Bev on the first day of The Nomads

Tent exhibition. Treasures from the East.

Very tempted with the rugs, too expensive,

but succumbed to three Indian mirrors

with painted frames.

Cushions from Central Asia

Objects from the India, Turkey, Vietnam to

mention but a few countries

End of summer garden, a riotous growth of flowers.

Tea and cake at Compton Abbas, watching Tiger Moth

planes flying over head. Now to find the hammer

and nails.

9.9.9.

Today is my birthday, interesting numbers, and a strange

sort of day.

Two years ago Keith and I were joined by our sons - Will on the left,

pilot with British Airways, and Nic on the right, artist (see Paper

. Cinema link). It's a bit dark, taken at sunset from the Maharaja

of Udiapur's jetty, waiting for the boat to take up to the Lake

Palace Hotel for a birthday dinner. Wonderful.

This year Will managed to fit in a visit between flights to Philladelphia

and New York (tonight). Nic is fresh back from a month in Portugal

with The Paper Cinema, and then a month at the Edinburgh Festival.

Last night we had a barbecue - jumpers needed, at least it didn't rain.

We have individual barbecue buckets (veg and non-veg) which

proved very good when moved in between seats to take the chill

of the air. Reminded me of a February evening in Istanbul and

charcoal burners were placed by our seats to keep us warm.

Today was a quiet day. To gloomy and windy for a walk along

the Purbeck coast, but later when the sun came out we took a

stroll along Poole Quay, and then back home for a glass of

wine on the balcony under a rainbow.