Signs of spring

This has been a rough winter for me. It seems like I’ve been resting and recouperating a lot! Gord and I have bothe been sick with a cough, sinus and bad chest cold for the better part of the last two weeks. I’d begun to wonder when I’d get back to my Bernini again. We’ve been both using sinus rinse and drinking green tea with lemon and honey all weekend and taking it easy. I’ve actually been watching some daytime tv and knitting.

Our knitting group has been making little teddies (this one is bigger because of the yarn) for the fire fighters and the hospital.

And later this week I managed a little ‘regular! Sewing, making a couple zippered bags from the vinyl backed fabric. I need a gift this week so I’ll use one and put a couple things in it.

After lunch today I finally made it back to my chickadee piece, finishing up a couple little details and doing some of the quilting. I actually spent some earlier with my tea printing out some other versions of the chickadees feeding from my hand, trying to get the size right for another small piece. I’ve been commissioned.

I’m almost done the quilting and I’ve chosen a binding. Perhaps I will add a few beads or a wee bit of hand stitching.

I’ve been doing a little whining lately about the snow here; all the pretty on line pictures of more southerly springs make me envious! This afternoon when I parted my lace shears in the studio, I noticed that my little orchid had bloomed. Do you notice the snow! It’s melting though. The driveway and roads are bare and we’ve lost at least a foot.

The orchid in my dining area is also in bloom.

My son who lives 4hrs away in southern NB is out hiking with his partner and their dogs today and sent me pics.

Isn’t it beautiful!

Another hopeful sign of spring here is the return of the birds. We had a pair of mourning doves in the apple tree this week. 

A visit

This week, my daughter, her partner and our 2 year old grandson, Ollie, came for a visit on their March break. They’re both teachers in Charlottetown, PEI. We still have lots of snow here and very high snowbanks. Caley and Danny enjoyed the sled run more than Ollie, I think.

He was happy to make mounds of snow in his dump truck and to play on top of the banks, something that made Nana very nervous even though they kept a close eye on him.

They are so trusting at that age— jumping into momma’s arms.

I did a clean up after they left yesterday and hubby packed for a trip, so I’m on my own until Friday.

Today, I had lunch with friends to celebrate a 70th birthday for one of them. When I came home it was so nice outside I went into the yard again to do a little more tree trimming while I can still reach it. I even got Xmas lights off the pine tree, something Gord usually does in late spring with a ladder. Getting back down off the snowbank was a bit tricky though!

In my down time, I’ve been knitting another afghan using leftovers from my daughter’s Christmas present.

I’m making very slow progress on my fiber art pieces. Definitely I’m slowing down in my processes and I don’t know if it’s a confidence thing or simply an age factor. I finally took the chickadee piece to the machine after backing it with a stabilizer.

I stitched some of the hand lines, and the chickadee wings.

At the same time I added some writing with a white ink pen, a piece of stamped fabric, and a wilted leaf to the seed pods which are stitched to the background. If I decide I like it I’ll stitch it all down, add some shading to the wilted leaf and get to the quilting.

Do you see what I mean? I add something and then must think on it. My ‘groove’ seems to have really slowed!

Finishing some artwork

Although it’s beautiful and sunny - the type of day that makes one want to get out on the snowshoes -bit’s windy and cold so I opted for a swim this morning. Then I met hubby for lunch.

This afternoon, I’ve been in the studio. While I waited for the puff paint trees to dry on the cardboard backs (it could take 24 hrs), I decided to get to work on some artwork that’s been laying around waiting for a finish.

I’m hoping they’re going to work as a monoprinting motif on the chickadee piece that I’m working on. I’ve tried one on a small small piece of fabric.

I would like a few tree branches on the right side. We’ll see how the print plates work once they’re dried.

In the meantime, I cut and fused down all the pieces of the background trees to the rock cliff and added some confetti in the gold colors. When I finished, I overlaid a piece of tulle which I’ll stitch overtop and then trim around the tree shapes. I want to get that part done so I can move back down to the stitching on the rock. 

I haven’t done the black areas yet. It’s getting there though. I really need to push forward to get a couple of these pieces finished.

Finally, I feel as though I’m emerging from the hole I’ve been in for the last 4-5 months. It’s been one health issue after another. I’m getting stronger on the snowshoe trail; that’s a good sign. I’m committed to losing some weight too and I’ve managed 4lbs in the last couple weeks. Between ADD, feeling fidgety and wanting to munch all the time, and medications that cause weight gain, it’s a challenge. I need to do this.

After pinning the rock up on the design wall to contemplate, I backed this seed pod piece with interfacing and did some stitching. I haven’t touched my free motion machine in a while. I did the stems which are silk ribbon and stitched around some of the smallest seed pod.

Since I was very happy with the textures of the foam stamped pods turned, I intend to keep the stitching minimal. 

I’m feeling pretty good about myself!

Time for a green tea and a light snack.