(photos by Felicia Semple) Here are some more images from The Craft Sessions: in particular from my embroidery classes. It was rather special to have a whole day to devote to walking outside, gathering branches and leaves, drawing them, and translating those forms onto linen. I loved seeing how the different students approached the work.…

(photos by Felicia Semple) Poor blog, sorry I have been neglecting you! I've been away, you see. And moving house. It looks like we won't have internet connected for another week. BUT I had to write about the magnificent weekend I had, and I didn't want to leave it another day. On Friday I flew…

I answered some questions about making Christmas stuff for Louana over on her lovely blog- you can find the interview here. I love Christmas time, although it does seem somewhat distant right now. Can't wait for all that baking, present-wrapping, chocolate-eating and friend- visiting ahead. The photo above was taken back in 2008, when we…

It was my birthday last week, and among some other gorgeous things, I was given this wish necklace from Helen. It's a tiny glass bottle containing dandelion seeds from her home garden. Like H, I'm a weed/wildflower fan and the idea of carrying some tiny seeds around my neck appeals greatly. It reminded me of…

This week's pattern is even later than usual. Wasn't here on Friday, or Saturday. Sunday is a good day. It's bright and sunny, and the lawn is covered in tiny daisies, which obviously sparked the idea for today's design. I was also thinking of small-scale Laura Ashley kitchen wallpaper- I think this could nearly qualify.…

There's a sea of lilies in our backyard- aren't they beautiful? It must be arum lily season. There is an elderly lady who sells bunches of them tied with string outside the supermarket. I wonder who buys them? They seem to be growing wild everywhere, but still, she patiently waits for customers. Thank you to Anoushka…

– hand-printed whole cloth quilt for a new baby – trio of linen rabbits – dandelion tea cups.  In absence of anything recently handmade, here are some projects from other Octobers. It's strange to think these were made about three years ago- it doesn't seem long at all since I dug out the ceramic pens…

Here's #27 again- in colour this time. I hope you've had a lovely week! Mine has been a bit quieter than usual. We've had wild storms. Each morning when I step out the door, the road is covered in petals and leaves. It can't be easy being a plant in Wellington. These things are on…

Threads, needles, scissors, linen, old embroidery books. These are some of the things I've been gathering today, in preparation for my classes at The Craft Sessions. For this particular class, I've written a little booklet for each student containing ideas, stitch diagrams and freehand embroidery encouragement.  Now I just need to get them copied and…

I had lunch (and saw this amazing show) with my friend Karuna and her daughter Poppy over the weekend. K gave me a huge stash of her embroidery threads which have inspired me to try all sorts of different stitches. The threads are beautiful hand dyed yarns in jewellery-box colours: rich gold, blues and greens.…