Hexagon 15 and Dyed lace pieces

I have finished Hexie 15 which is a garden themed one centered around an image of a lady in a yellow dress holding a rose. The coral pink fabric is vintage from around 1910 so I hope it stands up to the test of time.  Also the same coloured Kiko's flowers are worked in Heminway Sons pure silk embroidery thread dating from 1850s......again I hope that the threads can take it but it was the perfect colour to match the vintage fabric.

 

Then I had a play with some bottles of dyes which are probably about eight years old and although the colours are not quite as bright as they were in the beginning, they worked well for crazy quilting motifs.  I spent a couple of hours sitting under the patio in the sunshine totally lost in playing and enjoying myself.  When I finished with the motifs, I tried dyeing some white satin ribbon roses and while they probably look more natural than solid colours, they didn't turn out quite how I expected them to.  However I will use them on cq blocks where hopefully they will blend in with the surrounding leaves.

I only dyed half of this length of roses, berries and leaves because I want to keep the other half natural to be included in my "Cream on Cream" crazy quilt.  It's a gorgeous edging both ways, ie. plain and dyed.

 These two photos feature some of the same motifs. In the photo on the right the heart motif is shown in the original dyed colour-way and there is also a gorgeous bunch of leaves and berries which are not included in the photo on the left. In the photo on the left, the heart motif has been redyed in the same colours to make it darker and therefore, brighter and there is also a medallion motif on the left which is not in the right hand photo and I've included some of the dyed Roses.  If the sun is shining tomorrow, I will have another playing session.

 

Hexie 14. Scotty Dog and Squirrel

This block is a bit of a button frenzy.  Flower buttons, heart buttons, a very vintage Scotty Dog button and a porcelain Bird House button.  It is a very bright block mainly because I worked with the colours in the tartan, primarily red, blue and yellow. This block took a lot longer to do that the previous ones because I have been traipsing every day by train to visit my husband in hospital and I have also been working on my nephew's twin daughters crocheted boleros.  Anyway, here is my very happy Scotty dog puppy and squirrel block which is in memory of my childhood pet Scotty dog, Mackie. Mackie was our family pet and looked just like this puppy once although we had him until he was sixteen. Whilst Mum fed him and looked after him, he was our Dad's little mate and my sister and I used to argue about whose bed Mackie would sleep on each night. 

Hexie Thirteen - The Pond

Here is Hexie Thirteen - the scene shows a water nymph either looking at his/her reflection in the pond water or maybe talking the to fish??  I haven't decided which yet.  I love the colours in this image, mostly turquoise and apricots with a dash of mauve water-lily and a bright Kingfisher looking for a meal - maybe that Dragonfly which is flying straight for it's beak. (Blame DH's sick humour for that one!)  I think the colours in this block are so cool and delicate.  I can't work out why that top edge is not straight, each of the sides measure exactly the same and yet it doesn't look it - also it fits exactly into the others so I shall put it down to another scanner quirky! Next block is entirely different.....The Scotty Dog and Squirrel cutie.

This block is one of my very favourites because of the colours.......sort of misty like the reflections in a still pond (waxing lyrical here).  I've been all afternoon at the hospital visiting DH who is in for a few days with an abscess in his jaw bone......very painful but hopefully intravenous antibiotics will do the trick and surgery won't be needed.  Fingers crossed!

Ahhh!  Sometimes photos are better than the real thing for spotting mistakes!  I never got back to finishing the Lazy Daisy leaves on the sparkly copper coloured Herringbone stitches under the the four blue glass flowers........Will do that immediately before I forget........... also that purple sequin flower is not purple, it is an irridescent pearly mauve, very pale.  The scanner once again has made it change colour.