Backyard, beyond, and back again

Hello everyone!  I've been busy preparing things to sell at an open studios event that happened a little more than a week ago.  Now I have to replenish my stock of feltings!  Being occupied thusly has kept me from being here with you, so this is a catching up of sorts.  One of my favorite backyard birds is the California towhee...they do a little dance to stir up bugs and other fine edibles.  They are related to the speckled towhee which only visit the neighborhood occasionally...here is one from the big park nearby:

I'm sorry it's a little out of focus, but look at his charming beard that looks like upside down flames.

In the beginning of the month, I went on a trip to Mt. Lassen, which was hiding behind a cloak of fog and rain, so I'll have to return in better weather, but I found a place with a good cup of coffee; out behind was this old Ford with charming flames...

I wandered in the woods a bit and came upon these lovely horses, waiting for riders:

Now, back to the hummingbird...here is the one who built a nest in the apple tree, then fled because of a nasty encounter with a crow.  She abandoned her nest but came back one day to say hello and pick up some stuffing from the old nest to take to her new abode, but she didn't disclose the location:

And here is how that story played out in my imagination.  It's called "Hummingbird considering the risks of living in a neighborhood with crows."  I'm happy to say this piece has gone to live with a good friend.

That's all for now...

Catching up slowly

This is a close-up of progress on a portion of one cloth I've shown before and have been working on...the birds are indigo dyed cloth from Glennis...the cloth is woven from bits of fabric collected over the years

I started it in Jude Hill's cloth to cloth workshop; now I'm taking her Spirit Cloth workshop and today is the day to start something new for that.  It is all exactly what I need to learn and is keeping me Busy.  This cloth I decided to call "Texas", because 2 weekends ago I went to a family wedding in Texas!! My cousin is an amazing horsewoman and let me ride this beautiful horse:

 

She is leading us, thank goodness, and this doesn't show how fervently I am holding on to the saddle horn. 

Lastly, here is a photo of some wildness in the big park nearby. I love how, in spite of their differences, these plants are all getting along so nicely together.

Workshop cloths Report #2

I've been stitching away in Jude's cloth to cloth workshop and here's where my 2 cloths are now.  In the top one, I cut the circle from the background, rotated it, then replaced it inlay fashion. In the bottom piece, the blue birds shapes were cut into the pine needle cloth, exposing the blue fabric underneath.  It's fun to work this way; dynamic and ever challenging in the design sense.  I'm a little behind in the lessons because there is so much to explore and it's very satisfying to do so.