Lounge Decoration Completed

 Before we went to Italy we took everything out of the lounge and  it was repainted ('Lavender Quartz')  so it had  over a week to dry  before the new carpet ('Squirrel')   was laid on Tuesday

  The bookcases  were delivered and installed on Wednesday

 This weekend  we've been unpacking boxes of books ( somehow Ian had ended up with 2 out the 3 bookcases ... we  had our books in different rooms before); cutting down and installing blinds; moving  back the sofa , mahogany chest and TV. We're thrilled with how it looks , it feels more like home now  and with taking 40+ cardboard boxes out to the garage  we have the bonus of being able to eat in the dining room again

Watercolours of Sicily

 

 

 Visiting the Sicily: Culture and Conquest  exhibition at the British Museum  last Friday  had me searching for my watercolour sketchbook from the trip to Western Sicily in 2002.  I hadn't met Ian then so he hadn't seen them . They're a bit variable in quality but they summoned up a  host of memories  ( some like twisting my ankle in Palermo botanic garden and  severe conjunctivitis best forgotten! )

 

 

 

 

 

I'd forgotten these ones from the Belvedere at Monte Reale - I was already beginning to look at details  as well as the more obvious subjects.

Ikat

 If it's seemed a bit quiet  here , it's because  we've been having the lounge and bathroom redecorated - they look very smart now. On Friday I did a combined trip  up to town to see the Ikat exhibition at the  Brunei gallery, SOAS and then meeting Ian at the BM for the Sicily:culture and conquest exhibition followed by another excellent meal at Savoir Faire.  You weren't allowed to take photos in the Ikat exhibition ( although there was one annoying lady taking some  'furtively' on her phone - she could at least  have turned the sound off!)  So I'm sharing here some of my collection  bought from John Gillow.   The larger pieces have been  reassembled from garments - the one above  we had in the 'parlour' in our last house, I never tired of looking at it.

  This sleeve with the  embroidery  and tassel  on the cuff  I bought with the intention of incorporating into my own work.

 This subtle Thai/ Cambodian silk sarong is beautifully  soft

 So here's the revamped lounge: 'lavender quartz' paintwork with Scion 'Navajo' curtains. I've just noticed the similarity to the ikat patterns and colours ( perhaps no coincidence as they were  chosen to go with Turkish kelims)

CQ On the Edge: Eroding Margins

Thrilled to find out this morning that my entry ' Eroding Margins'  for CQ 'On  The Edge'  challenge  has been accepted!!
Having been in the 'Salon de Refuses' the last couple of times I've entered ( 'CQ@ 10'   and  'Dislocation') and  after a year of not making anything much, fearing I'd lost my way, it's given me a real boost. It fits in with both my continuing  series of indigo and seascapes  and those using salvaged antique red quilts, being constructed from sections of old quilts I dyed in the garden. 
A decent bottle of red with our lamb chops at lunchtime is called for I think...   

From my statement:

The edges of the coast are eroding, falling into the sea, being washed up in other places.  Disintegrating sea defence structures are patched up, replaced and reinforced, the coastline continually evolving, a delicate balance between intervening and letting nature take its course.   

Sections of two rescued antique coverlets over-dyed with indigo, tacked together and lines of broken quilting repaired, the edges of holes caught down and darned. Through the process of stitching I attempt to reach an equilibrium of mending with leaving the fragility and beauty of worn textiles to speak for themselves.