A PRODUCTIVE DAY

 

I woke up early yesterday with my head full of sewing ideas.  I've been watching the Great British sewing bee on BBC2 and am really inspired to get busy with my sewing machine to make new clothes and modify old ones.  At last the BBC have realised we don't all want to move house, do diy or sell our family heirlooms and this is a great way when times are hard to save money.  Even Justine is busy converting charity shop finds instead of buying new!  I managed to get the fabric for this top laid out and ready to cut before we went out for our swimming session.

 

 

We always try to arrive at the pool as it opens so we can get a few lengths in before it gets busy and yesterday I was the first at the poolside looking at the smooth surface glittering in the sun shining through the big windows.  We share the pool with the local schools and there's always a class going on with lots of shouting and splashing which gives a lively atmosphere.  The children all wear matching hats and the sight of them all bobbing up and down in the deep end caught my eye.

 

 

After a coffee and a visit to the fabric shop for thread and a couple of exciting pieces of stuff for my book covers we were back home with time for me to cut out the purple fabric.  After lunch during my rest and facebook checkin I found a reference to an artist who started her life's work at the age of 72.  She made paper collage pictures of flowers on a black background and looking out in the garden I saw I had exactly the same effect with my Magnolia tree against the dark ivy bank behind.  I waited till later in the afternoon to record it in my sketchbook because first I had work to do in the garden.

 

 

We have a magnificent buddlea in the garden which never fails to delight us with the profusion of it's flowers and the crowds of butterflies which gather to collect nectar.  It is made up of several plants close together and needs severe pruning every year.  I had started it last week but been driven indoors by the rain so yesterday was the first chance I had to finish the job.  It now looks like a lot of bare sticks but I have faith in Mother Nature and in a couple of months it will look like this again!  After delivering the rubbish to the dump I was back in to do my sketch of the Magnolia and then get a bit of sewing done. I finally stopped at 7pm for a well earned glass of rosé!