Light and Dark

I finished adding another ring of hexagons to my charm quilt. They are all light values:



That's over 250 hexagons sewn together and it's still tiny!!

And the dark? It's my two latest ICADs:





I love black gesso ;-)

Good Things

People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong.
Why not try and see positive things,
to just touch those things and make them bloom? - Thich Nhat Hanh

Golden Girl

The baby quilt I have been making for my friend is now finished! And the baby is due any day now! I was about three quarters through the machine quilting when I started having trouble with my back so abandoned it for a while. Luckily, my rather wonderful mum stepped in to finish the quilting off for me so it would be done in time. Thanks mum :-)



As it's a baby quilt I figured it would be a good idea to wash it first and it's come out lovely and soft and crinkly. Although, looking at the photo, maybe a little too crinkly lol - maybe a steam iron wouldn't go amiss?! Waif certainly thinks it's good enough for cuddling:



Oh, and mum thinks I should call the quilt Golden Girl (it's golden and it's for a girl!), hence the post title.

I have carried on with the ICAD Challenge, though this week I struggled with any sort of theme, so they're rather a mixed bunch!

I did a doodly patterned one:



A silly collage:



A Greek vase pattern:



An extract from the Metta Sutta:



A quick Modigliani inspired watercolour portrait:



A doodle inspired by an exhibition by "Seven":



And a collage to remember today's visit to Blickling Hall:



The boys have also been joining in with the ICAD Challenge and you can see their cards, as well as all mine, in my Flickr set here. This week will see us half way through the ICAD Challenge, how shall we celebrate our achievement?!

Good Things

All weeks contains some good things...I know because I write them down ;-)

A Truckload of Index Cards

Last week, my index cards reflected what I had been doing. This week, they are more of a reflection on what I have been reading, namely Ajahn Brahm's rather wonderful book "Who Ordered this Truckload of Dung?". Brahm is a Buddhist priest and the book is full of short stories/anecdotes that put across Buddhist principles in an incredibly accessible, warm and funny way. In fact I think that most people could relate to the truths in many of these stories, whatever their religious beliefs. Anyway, here are the cards, with a brief explanation of what they are all about!

Sunday



Based on a story of an English general in a seemingly doomed position, who decided the best course of action was to take no action but to stay put and make a cup of tea. The wisdom of "when there's nothing to do, do nothing". And a very English answer to a problem ;-)

Monday



About choosing to focus on the positives of a given situation.

Tuesday



The big stones are the priorities in your life...get them sorted FIRST!

Wednesday



Inspired by a story about a newly wed couple arguing over whether a sound was a chicken or a duck, about to come to blows over it before the "correct" party realised the relationship was more important than being right, and conceded that the quacking was, indeed, a chicken!

By Thursday, I had run out of stories I could illustrate, so instead copied out a much loved poem by Kabir:



Friday's card was inspired by a story I read about cholesterol not being the bad guy it's made out to be:



And today, I have started reading a new book, Noah Levine's "The Heart of the Revolution":



Yes, I do like to read :-)

Christmas Through the Year - June - Gift Tags

I'm a bit embarrassed by my paltry contribution to CTTY this month, but every little helps, right? And anyway this is counted thread embroidery and it takes ages. Well, it takes me ages anyway ;-)Eagle eyed readers might spot a few miscounted threads...I prefer to think of this as 50 stitches in the right place rather than 1 or 2 in the wrong place!





The trees were from a cushion pattern in an old blackwork book.

For some real inspiration, including Allie's super cute Christmas pudding decoration, head on over here.

Good Things

I've been keeping up with the Good Things:



More words, not as many sketches this week...