It's been a while. I have been catching up on things and haven't had much time in the studio or to blog.

If you have been experiencing problems accessing Blogs recently it was a problem with IE7 and blogs that use site meter. The problem has been fixed so everything is all fine now. People could access blogs with Firefox etc but it was IE7 that had the conflict with sitemeter.

After our trip to the Lake District having been using the new small camera Norman bought me for our trip to the US - a Coolpix - I decided to buy myself a new Digital SLR and so I have been finding my way around it. I have to say I had been missing my old Nikon SLR but with the advent of digital I had to move on. I was reluctant to go the Digital SLR route but I have given in and am glad I did. I bought the Nikon D60 and it's fabulous. It's quite light which was something I was looking for.

The above picture is an astilbe which is a lovely plant and returns every year.

My lilles are fabulous this year. They were moved when we built my log cabin (wet studio) and they are thriving in their new location. The bright orange really lights up the garden.

I thought I would let you see how the rusty old wheels that I have been using for my rust dyeing end up after Norman has set to work machining them. You just wouldn't recognise them. I used to hate using them and getting them all rusty but Norman says they machine better once they have been lying rusting. I don't feel guilty using them any more - in fact since he told me that I have been using them more and some others I wouldn't have ventured near for fear of spoiling them. The intricacy of the work Norman does has to be seen to be believed - incredible.

I decided to make a new bag for when I return to teaching next month. Although I like to take a trolley for heavy things I need a new bag for carrying rulers etc. The bag has a number of little pockets inside, different sizes for different things.

I am doing the last module - judging at the Festival of Quilts in Birmingham - I am looking forward to catching up with friends there.

I spent a little while looking through the photographs of our trip to the US and particularly Chicago. Seeing the reflections in the windows I decided to make this little quilt from my hand dyed fabrics. I still have to layer it and quilt it - it's called Reflections. I feel a series coming
on.