Tuesday 28 June 2011

Rainbow cobwebs, puckering moons and raspberry smoothies

Raspberries galore in our garden :~))))))


with Kefir for breakfast


Blended with Kefir into a smoothy
It has taken a little perseverance for me to get to like Kefir.....but it's been worth it; and, since our raspberries are now abundant, it is sooooo delicious poured over them and even more sooooo delicious when they're blended together....tart, and smooth and sweet and! and! and! oh!



I've come to a stop with my little Blue Moon cloth since quilting the moons. There is a big tension issue. I had stitched the back piece onto the front all around the edge before I started quilting. After I finished the moons, I took out the stitching around the edges, which improved things, but still leaves some fairly serious puckering as you can see.


I love the effect of the quilting on the back....makes me think of Jupiter's bands. I was fairly careful with each stitch...not doing the usual two to three stitches at one time...so it was slow going.....even for me! Once I'd noticed the puckering, as I quilted the first moon, I tried to take note of how tight I was pulling each stitch. I was surprised to find that I gave a little tug at the end of each one. Things improved when I stopped that 'tug', but not enough. Now I need to find out is there a magic way around this....or is it a drastic measure....take all the quilting out and start again? Slowly learning here....enjoying that.



I was so happy to see these two little friends. I hadn't seen them for a while and I missed them.They sit there like little Buddhas  with their cute feet turned inwards and their throats working  in a language I can't understand. Talking of Buddha ~ behind the little dark frog on the right......
The pond is in the shade of the Elder tree and in front of the arbour and needs cleaning...badly...but when I went to do it late last autumn, when I thought it would be empty of frogs, I had to stop, as there were still two out of the four in there and three newts, which I had not known about :~) It never ceases to amaze and delight me that we put this small pond in, waited for rain to fill it, (that is never a long wait here!), then let nature do the rest....and there is so much life in there.....even though the water is green and the bottom is probably filled with a lot of slimy, decomposing leaves. I will try again this year.....

I had a surprise visitor when I was sitting, stitching, in the sunshine in the doorway of my shed last week


She came to say hello to me briefly and I was allowed to stroke her, before she wandered off, over the fence and gave the magpies, who have a nest in the hawthorn tree over there, something of a scare. They rattattattattatt~ed at her like a machine gun. It is not often we get cat visitors here, because of Tilly~dog, so this was a most welcome and special treat.




15 comments:

  1. Cats know good people when they see them lol
    I really like your blue moons and kind of like the crinkle,maybe space has crinkles too!
    But if it irritates you, might it work if you.......arghhh .... cut into that top layer at all?
    Maybe snip and tear it back in places? Or is the top layer too thick, which is maybe why its puckered more easily?
    Wonder if you could cut triangular 'wedges' out on the edges and lay another, contrast or similar fabric beneath, that backing fabric maybe? Possibly weave in at those places and make deliberate ragged/uneven edges so the tension is released or made an item out of?
    lol last resort taking stitches out!
    Maybe it was Meant to wrinkle!

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  2. Your garden looks lovely and enchanted. I love the circle of stones and raspberries, yum! That stone from the beach is amazing and the Buddha looks like he was made for it. That kitty visitor looks an awful lot like my Pasha cat! I love frogs. I have a spot I'm thinking of putting a small bowl and fountain in, thanks for reminding me that I will probably attract a few frog friends if I do.... summer blessings!

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  3. Lovely.
    I love your quilting.
    Your garden looks delightful and oh, the raspberries! The stone with the niche is so wonderful. I bet it was heavy! So glad you have frogs in your garden. Aren't they wonderful.
    Much love.

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  4. Oh liniecat!....yes! Of course space has 'crinkles' ha ha ha. See, that's what's so great about being part of this lovely group of stitchers. I would have struggled to get this 'right', but I much prefer that it is ok as it is. Thank you for unblocking my block! Thank you too for the other great suggestions, but I'm suddenly happy with it, and now I can continue.

    I love cats. Sadly, our boy is terribly allergic, so I have had to make do with just occasional 'hellos' here and there.

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  5. Hi Valerianna....thank you. I don't think I've told you how much I love your name....beautiful, after a beautiful herb :~) Oh! and your Pasha cat is so regal. I hope you get frogs in your garden...aren't they just so happy~making :~)

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  6. Hi Trish ~ thank you. The raspberries are a joy....so many of them every day...we are blessed :~)I sit with the frogs for long moments, whenever I see them there....they are so peaceful to be with. Cariad mawr. x x

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  7. Lovely lovely! Missing our raspberries this year - but we will grow more again. And your crinkly moons and Jovian stripe are so beautiful. Here's to Buddha frogs. xx

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  8. PS - the story of my name... My given name is Valerie, middle name, Anne.
    When I lived in Greece, a friend of mine used to say he thought I had the same calming effect on people that Valerianna does... so that is what he called me. Then I realized, that IS my name, so I've been using that officially since 1999. And its easy on my mum, cause she really did name me that, easier, that is, than some folks I know who change their names and then their Mums & Dads wonder how they decided to forgo Mary and become Isis! (Ok, long story!)

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  9. i absolutely love the puckering - it makes it so dynamic, more dimensional! i was thinking how much i loved this piece before i read you text so i'm glad you are unblocked! your garden looks so peaceful and magical, full of blessings. xo

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  10. So many wonderful things in this post ~ the raspberries, newts, the lovely spiderweb. :)

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  11. you will mostly always have tension issues if you stitch one area a lot and another area not at all. there are many ways to fix that.
    1-fold the extra cloth and stitch down the folds. arrange the fold to be part of the design maybe.
    2- stitch the unstitched area with a smaller stitch, maybe my invisible stitch.
    3 stitch it all down to another layer with an invisible stitch, going right through the stitched design as well.
    4- don't let it bother you.
    and don't pull your stitches as tight.

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  12. Hi Jaqui ~ Thank you ~ We picked enough raspberries today to make jam....my first attempt :~)

    Oh Valerianna ~ I love the story of your name...you must have been thrilled when you made the connection :~) Thank you for sharing it with me ~

    Hi Drucilla ~ Thank you. I'm still getting used to trying to move away from the childhood conditioning of 'perfection'! Once I got that out of the way with this piece,(thanks to liniecat's words), I loved the puckering too :~)

    Hey Brooke ~ thank you cariad.

    Hi Jude ~ thank you :~)I have decisions to make as to how much stitching I want on the velvet. Glad to say it doesn't bother me any more, and ~ yes ~ I noticed how tight I was pulling those stitches!

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  13. so many beautiful things in this post!! i love that you have such an abundance of wonderful raspberries!! I have been making kefir water for a while and sometimes like it better than others - i think when i leave it too long it gets too strong... AND, i love your moons!! both sides :))
    and, of course - the cat!! what a love she looks to be and sounds like a sweet hello for you. oh, wow and the frogs and spider :))
    thanks for letting me chime in here without being a blogger myself...

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  14. buzz..iLOVE all the photographs of your Place
    there. it is beautiful and to hear of toad, frogs, and newts is always a happiness.
    i'm glad too that you ended up finding the
    uneven tension welcomed....the invisible baste
    that Jude suggested can even some of it out where you might want that to the degree you might want that....
    and the back is a perfect compliment to the
    front...

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  15. Hey hey dear Maggie...I LOVE you coming to visit here :~) Thank you. One of the things I want to look into is the kefir water. I need to find out if they are completely different grains, or simply a matter of washing these off and using water! x x x

    Thank you so much Grace. x x x

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