A little quilting

I don't seem to be able to get into a proper work routine at the moment and so progress on the exhibition pieces has been slow to say the least. It's not that I've been lazing about you understand, just that work's mostly been in front of the computer, for DMTV or for Fingerprint. All good, but I really need to crack on. I have pinned the birdcage top onto the longarm. It looks very tame after Edwina's sushi!

The top section of background needs darkening so I'm doing that with the thread. By quilting very closely it should add the tone that I'm looking for. I'm using a rayon thread for the quilting so the lines are quite fine which will complement the marks in the pen drawing. At the moment I'm just filling in the background but soon it'll get more interesting as I do the hand and the birds below it.

As the sun finally shone today I did sneak out to play with the new lens I've got for my camera. It's great for close-up shots and so I've been kneeling on the lawn looking for insects and willing butterflies to pause long enough, but also practising with easier targets like this apple blossom which is so pretty at the moment.