Feathered friends

I have been walking lots lately and my back is much better. Thank you so much everyone for your concern and suggestions. It seems that I am not alone when it comes to getting so engrossed in what I am doing that I forget time and place.

I used to walk a lot and I have been making an effort to go for a nice long walk each day. A 'short lap around the block' where we live is a nice 3km round trip.
It has been very hot lately though and since I am not at all a morning person, walking is only good in the early evening when the gully breeze cool everything down just a little. I don't think we have had any decent rain for about 3 month and everything is looking parched and dry. I think it is beautiful in a strange way, like it is waiting for the change that the autumn rains will bring - if they ever get here that is.
I gave up on my veggie garden a few weeks back but I did manage to find one little lonely flowering fuchsia in the garden this afternoon. One little lonely splash of colour in all the dry.

 

Happily back at my embroidery stand, the Blue Birds are taking shape. I am happy to be back at my frame working on the beautiful Blue bird design. It is great to get the opportunity to interpret somebody else's design for a change. You might be puzzled as to what the mellor is doing there. (a mellor is that flat tapered silver tool next to the scissor). I always have it at hand when I am working with silk and use it as a laying tool   - it fits so nicely inside your hand when you work. I really need someone next to me to photograph what I mean so that I can show you, don't I?

I had begun the shading of wing feathers the other day. I know how easily silk attracts dust and dirt so of course when I am not stitching, the frame is covered and stacked away. To keep it as clean as possible and protect the completed stitching when I am working, I have cut a hole in a small piece of non-fusible interfacing. It works really well and I like that I can still get a sense of the completed stitching underneath.

The shading on the wings is in one of my favourite colours - teal, and I am loving blending the shades to make those delicate leafy feather shapes. I must be honest though, that long and short stitch is not my strong point and getting smooth shading the small narrow shapes was a bit of a challenge at times. The wing on the right hand bird is finished and over all, I am pretty happy with how it is coming along. 

As much as I am itching to move on to the next section, I'd better finish the few last feathers on the left hand bird before I do...

sadly I have been getting more and more spam in the comments box which is rather irritating, so I have decided to activate the word verification on comments. I know they can be a bit of a pain, but please don't let that stop you, I love hearing from you. so I am really sorry if it is going to cause you trouble. If you have problems with it let me know via email needlenotesATbigpondDOTcom and I will find out how we can fix it.

Have lovely weekend,
Anna x