Seahorse quilting and embellishing, mandala continues

Since the seahorse piece is not very large, it didn't take me too long to finish up the wavy quilting lines and add a few fiber embellishments.

I'm still planning to add a few final hand touches in the foreground--perhaps some embroidered shells and some beads.

I've got this absolutely wonderful book by Judith baker Montano called Free-Form Embroidery transforming traditional stitches into fiber art.
Her seascapes and landscapes are so textured and luscious, that you could enjoy it just for the beautiful photos. There are lots of how to's and simple stitches to get you inspired.

In between, I've been adding a few more rows to my mandala. They really are addictive. I see more in the future. They're so colorful but I could also imagine some done in monochromatic shades of blue for example.

I'm linking to The Needle and Thread Network.

My son's visit, starting a crocheted star mandala, a bike ride

Well, my eldest son and his wife have been for a visit and gone yesterday. They stayed at my brother in laws cottage for a couple of nights, and despite rather dreary weather we had lots of fun. This week with the full moon the surf has been up on the Baie de Chaleur, such as it is here. Being on a bay, we do not get big surf like the Atlantic Ocean coast where my son lives and surfs in southern Nova Scotia. but they were big enough for lots of excitement with the kayaks.

The hardest part was getting out and then the rush was turning and surfing in to shore.

Even I had to try it once. I was out for about 10 minutes and it was enough to strain my shoulder. It was so exhilarating though. I can't do much right now with my arthritis problems, so it's nice to have a little fun.

Shortly after this I caught a wave in and then got dumped. Lots of fun! Bear in mind it was a grey, cool-ish day and we were the only ones in the water. You gotta play when you can!

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Today, my husband went to the golf course and I went to the market and then on to my mother in laws at the beach. We sat busy with our needlework and lunch in  the sun room facing the water--there were large rolling waves coming in from further out -and the sound was lovely.
I've been inspired by the latest blog craze of colorful crocheted mandalas. Using some cotton yarns from my stash, I started this star mandala.

I kind of wanted to come home to my sewing studio, but I knew I needed to get out for a bit of exercise in case we get the thunder showers predicted for later. The sun is shining for now.  I loaded up my camera and went for a little bike ride around the neighborhood. I cannot walk right now due to hip pain,but I can bicycle in an easy gear on the flat. On the bright side, I notice a lot more things when I'm not out for speed.
I found these berries along a little pathway between streets. I like the star burst formation.

I love the way these red ones droop down.

and the pretty shades of oranges before they ripen.

One industrious landlord of a very ordinary and slightly tatty apartment building has made the front space into a lovely garden.

He added some sculptures and some art prints to the facade.

There will be time to get back to the sewing room. One must seize the moment.