Another good day in the studio - what bliss I have had four complete days in there. The fact that it has rained non-stop has meant that my gardening commitments have not been vying for my time.

Today’s challenge;
I now have so many layers of fabric, tissue, papers, organza, plus I have added a strip of felt to the middle as a backing (to give the piece more depth) - it was cumbersome to get it under the machine! I needed to do some of the embroidery in a hoop as it was very precise and it is very tedious to take off the darning foot and wiggle the whole lot into place - but in the scheme of things - it is a very minor annoyance. However it does remind me that when I change my machine to make sure I go for one with the longest arm.

You may wonder why I have a boat in my “Country Churchyard” piece - two reasons - firstly the churchyard I am basing the art on, overlooks the sea - many of the gravestones have images of boats - and some have references to a love of sailing and of course there are lifeboat men remembered here.

Sailing can also represent a metaphorical journey - as in Sailing to Byzantium and what greater journey do we find represented in a churchyard - than that from cradle to grave. Not many studio hours available for me tomorrow - but I have a few days of hand stitching in front of me now.