Book workshop

So, gosh another post, so soon, what is the world coming to?!

Yesterday I taught another book workshop to a group of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers.

Here they are, working hard

 A marbled paper cover

 A cloth cover

 A collaged cover in progress

And here are a few of the books finished (or almost finished).
They all made lovely books, and seemed to enjoy their day, which is really satisfying for me.

 The following day they had a gathering to spin & chat

 and I took along some books (most of my books in fact!), and talked to them about how I got into book making, showed them all the different styles of books I've made over the years, and also the books I've filled over the years. I'm planning one day to do some posts about some of my 'filled' books

... don't hold your breath. I post when I feel like it and I'm a grasshopper by nature, so posts may be days or months apart, as you may have noticed if you visit regularly?!....

Flag day

A few weeks ago I wandered into a hall in the local village that was advertising flag making workshops. Now, I've been planning to make some kind of flag things for my workshops at buddhafield festival, so I went in to see what they were up to. They were all beavering away making flags out of old tents! to display around the village during various festivals. So, I thought I'd have a go as it might give me some ideas about making some for myself. So I went off and came up with an idea for a design based on flowers (hey-I'm a gardener!), but also using the shapes of the railings with baskets that line the high street. Here's my design taking shape.

 The basket/railing shape stitched in place

 and then cut out. It's a clever technique as it's basically applique, but it means that the design can be seen from both sides, and I love that they are made from old tents, what a great idea!

 Here are a couple of other people working on theirs

 This one is to go outside the church

And here is my flag flying

 The post office

 The deli and butchers

 the mini 'industrial' estate on the edge of town

 ...and a general view of the high street, there are tons more flags than you can see here. What a fab display it is and I feel really proud to have been part of it.

A visit to our new boat

A few weeks ago we went down to see our new boat. We don't get to see her very often at the moment as she's over near Portsmouth. She's out of the water and is having some maintenance work done on her.

 One of my jobs was to un-bolt the anchor winch, which was easier than I thought it would be. The winch is now at a neighbours being taken apart and possibly repaired, if it's worth it. Otherwise we'll buy a new one.

 Chaos down below again, spice jars holding little collections of screws as we take panels off to work out where water is getting in in a couple of places .... oh the joy of living on a boat eh?

 We were lucky with the weather, it was cold but dry all day and we were treated to a lovely sunset.

Vince did suggest that perhaps we could just leave the boat there on the shore and go down and stay on it from time to time. Gosh, what a great idea I thought. Unfortunately I think he was joking, and I still have a boat trip from Portsmouth to Plymouth in April to look forward to. Please let it be lovely and sunny and warm. Tell me it can be lovely and sunny and warm in April!