Book reviews, grandson and more!

Grandson took the opportunity whilst both dogs were at the grooming shop, to pinch a lay down on the pet bed! I whipped the covers over when I saw where he'd taken to hiding, so hes on the underside bit!
Actually the bedding was nice and clean so the dogs could come back to clean linen! Phew.......just as well!
I strayed onto Amazon and spent abit of pension on afew books. So thats IF I do go to Harrogate to the Knitting & Stitching Show, I wont be tempted there ........ and have to carry them round all day with me lol

SO! I bought India Flints fabby Eco Dyeing book and its well worth reading, its very informative, and gives lots of good advice about dyeing using natural goodies that are all around us.
Now having been dyeing pieces of fabrics, swatches of this and that, this past month or so, I am totally amazed that I havent managed to poison myself! I had no idea some things would be SO potent and release cyanide for example!
Indias advice is to get to know the latin names and genus of plant life so you avoid picking things that will do you harm, or that are perhaps endangered...........something which hadnt occured to me  ...cough..cough and heres me thinking Im being ecologically kind not using procions and chemical dyes for this little foray into dyeing bits. dohhh
Ive caught the dyeing bug I suppose since dye methods with Shelagh Folgate on her latest Challenge.....so its her fault! BUT I refuse to buy in chemicals, so Im doing it the old world way for now lol

Now my second purchase and definately a special treat book at 32 Euros (faint!)...........is Voyages in Textiles by Anne-Marie Bertrand.
But its sumptious and chock full of my kind of hand stitching.
Its obtainable via Quilt mania and came over from France, but its got so much of interest in it, its inspirational and I adore it.

Then I got.............well I was on a roll by then .... Celtic, Viking & Anglo Saxon Embroidery, Search Press by Jan messant. My excuse to myself was that I am making up tactile format, Topic Boxes for our visually impaired children to use in history lessons... Naturally it would be an invaluable source book for me to refer, which it is, and Jan has used some found objects to recreate things in places, so I have picked up some ideas I can use. But truthfully, its another sumptious, inspirational book and cheap compared to my French purchase lol

Now I got a second hand copy of Stitched Textile Collage by Lucille Toumi (apols Lucille ..) in ex condition and its a lovely book with lots of useful explanations how she has done things. The pics are smashing and it would be a useful book to have if your looking for both inspiration and how to do, start and get stuck into things.

I also got Layered, Tattered & Stitched by Ruth Mae, ( North Light Books)which is nicely laid out and again has lots in it, nothing particuarly new to me, but Im not at all sorry I got it.
The only thing I dont much like is that its printed using cream and beige textured look pages, so pages are not bright and that easy to see if you have a visual impairment at all.
I do wear glasses but am not impared, but I work in that field so Im aware that crisp white pages enable folks to see and read far easier, giving a  clarity and sharpness to text and pictures.

I also got Karin Slaughter's latest thriller 'Broken' and got stuck into it the day it arrived. ( I think Im falling for Will Trent, he's been very damaged by life but hes just a cracking protagonist!)

So what have I been working on?
Well it should have been Shelaghs roses but..... so I could sit with something on my lap, its been this 'Elderberry Sampler' thingy.... all pieces dyed using elderberries, now theres a surprise!

Now I havent decided which way up this reckons to go yet - or if it needs anything else on it.

Oh and this is a model to accompany a braille version of  Mushra and the Magic Rickshaw, for a blind child to use when the rest of the class have the text and illustrations in class.

It does have  3 wheels but they dont go round and is made up using cardboard boxes and masking tape, then gesso and paint. The flowers have been painted with thick paint so the shape of the flower can be felt by him. It has a steering wheel on a 3" nail in the cab bit too.

Im taking part in a - "Brown Bag Quilt" Fabric Exchange & Quilt Challenge


(A politically correct "Ugly Quilt" contest) unquote!

details are over on
http://stashmanicure.blogspot.com/2010/08/brown-bag-quilt-contest.html

 I have just posted off my 8 fat quarters. Well its a little more then that  infact, with half metre of this and that, with fat quarters making up the amount.
Its gone to California and I await my own batch of fabrics which I then have till march to turn into a quilt of some kind.
I agonised over what to send Kim, what colours, which to put together and whether my partner would prefer patterns or plains! SO stressful, just hope I havent sent her a huge headache! This is what Ive sent with some gold foil as an extra gift.