Spring rain and Stitching

Lately we have been getting more rain, and it is wonderful to see my little garden of pots beginning to thrive.   I thought I had lost my miniature fuschia plant, but it has come to life and is really pretty.  Fuschias are one of my favourite plants.

The bush is covered in flowers, and the bottom picture is a closer view of the gorgeous purple centre.

My November Lillies are nearly finished, but have brightened up the courtyard.

I recently planted some sage, and it is just beginning to take off.  I love my herbs and use them lots in cooking.

My tomato plant is loaded with flowers, and the fruit has begun to form.  I am pleased to find that I will have "egg tomatoes" 

My small begonia flowers for a long time, I like the delicate little flowers.  It seems to be a hardy plant.  You can see the last of my fennel in the background which is now going to seed.

The coriander has also decided to go to seed.  I dont seem to have much success with coriander I never seem to get an abundance of plants to survive.  Although I love the pretty little flowers.

On the sewing front, I have put together another section  for my band sampler and have worked ahead with the Butterfly chain, of which there are two versions. In the first picture I have tried to work the stitch in different ways.   For the second version I have used the edging from some drawn thread work which you can see at the bottom.  I cut a section and dyed it and couched it on with the chain stitches. I think it reminds me of butterfly chain. The traditional butterfly stitch is below the couched threads.

I used a mixture of perle 8 and Stef Francis dyed threads. 

 Below is another section I have put together to add to my sampler which is awaiting adornment with stitching

Thanks for visiting