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Thursday 15 October 2015

Singing the joys of autumn




Where to see autumn colours around the UK

It's autumn here in the UK and that is my favourite season of the year! I love the colours - all those warm golds and oranges. I love the scents - that very distinctive, but oh so difficult to put into words, scent of shortening days, of falling leaves, of ripening fruit and almost imperceptible decay. I love the chill in the early morning air, and pulling the curtains and snuggling under a blanket in front of the fire in the evening.

John Keats' "season of mists and mellow fruitfulness".

I've begun a patchwork bag in colours to celebrate the season.
This pattern is called a Friendship Star. The star on the other side of the bag has the fabrics reversed so the star there is patterned on a plain background.

I've also just returned from a week with my lace tutor in Wales, where I spent a blissful week stitching circles...
and a few squares ...
Just samples which I'll display in a book together with their instructions as a record for future projects. Now I'm trawling through all my needlelace books to find more designs to add to my collection.

While I was in Wales I found this piece of antique Casalguidi embroidery in an antique shop. Well I couldn't resist could I?
It's a little bag with embroidery across the front, knotted tassels on the two bottom corners, and a drawstring around the top. I shall probably use it as a project bag for my embroidery as I do like to have my works in progress inside a pretty fabric bag. I've done a little of this type of embroidery myself in the past (I may well have shared these photographs before).