'Waste not, want not.'

Quilted apron pockets.

This is a quilted pocket I made out of leftover Markal paintstik prints years ago.  Quilting gives substance to the pocket so it's not just floppy on the front of the apron.  It's ideal for the sturdy black fabric I've used for the apron & I'm sure it's going to last forever!

So when I was sorting out my workroom and came across all sorts of prints made as test pieces I thought I'd see if I could make use of some of them as quilted apron pockets.
Although the scissor print above (made with a heat-mouldable print block) lacks contrast, it's easily brought to life once it's quilted and painted as below.

I've used gold Lumiere fabric paint

and tried out decorative machine stitches around the outside edges.

I found this leaf stencil on rusted fabric done using Markal paintstik and I've echo stitched by machine and finished off with gold Lumiere fabric paint again.
The thread is a heavy-weight jeans thread I came across at a local marché last autumn.

This is another of my favourite seats when I'm out walking - there are quite a few!  It's great to spend time here with binoculars and camera watching the birds, butterflies, lizards and occasional snakes.  

It's in the little jardin Pierre Carbonne which was created to commemorate the bicentenary of the French Revolution.

Things are looking fresh and green at the moment.

And there's lots of stunning colour around too.

Gorgeous!

Lovely markings!

It's a hairy single track road with not many passing places and lots of hairpin bends which leads to the spectacular traditional mountain village of Lapege near Tarascon but it's well worth putting the car through the test to get there - and the driver! 

The village is perched very high on the mountainside looking towards the peaks on the border with Andorra.

This cabanne on legs of stones and facing south was for drying maize.

Even corrugated sheets look amazing against the spectacular backdrop.

'Eros', trying to keep out of the sun.

The church can only be reached on foot.  It's certainly a cemetiere with a view!

The rooftops and mountains in the background are quite a distance away across the valley.

Beautiful aged wood mixed with stone.

There're some wonderful walks along the mountainside to reach nearby villages.

We climbed up a well-worn cobbled path then carried on to a ridge above the village.

There was so much to look at!

And we were on the same level as a dozen or so magnificent 'vautours fauves'.

Pretty spring blossom.

In the distance - the ruins of Miglos chateau.

Water is plentiful and quite delicious!

It's such a pretty place, these are just a few of around 350 photos I took of the village alone!

Playing with marbling.

I've been having great fun experimenting with a marbling kit I bought at the recent NEC show.  I started off printing onto white paper and then, above, onto white fabric.  The colours were bright and quite garish so I then moved on to using some walnut-dyed fabric as a base to see if I could calm things down a bit!  
The paint is heat fixed to become permanent.

The results on darker fabric were lovely but a little too sombre for my needs.

So I chopped the patches up & mixed them with darkish grey and pink fabrics to give a bit of life to the colour palette and made up crazy blocks for the centre of a wallhanging.

The extra wide border is in preparation for longarm quilting in reds/pinks to show up against the grey background as in the quilt below.  I'll also add some pretty decorative machine stitching like below to visually link the reds and pinks in the piecing to the outer border.

I had enough leftover marbled fabric for an 18" cushion cover to co-ordinate with the hanging.  Once the quilting is complete I may need to tone down the pink areas - we'll see!

Meanwhile outside this pair of mallards are waiting patiently for my neighbour to open his doors & feed them.  They've been coming to his door regularly for lunch since last summer and bearing in mind that they live on the river some distance away that's quite remarkable!

What a great day for doing the washing!

And for a walk to Ussat - and beyond ..............

Recent tree felling has provided an ideal seating area for a rest near the river bank in Ussat les Bains.

I carried on a little further to Ornolac.
The colourful markings on the cliff face beyond the orchard are fascinating.  It's actually some distance away from where I was standing, alongside the main road to Andorra.

I carried on still further & noticed this lovely little house newly up for sale in Barri d'en Bas.

It is in fact not so small when viewed from around the side - 4 bedrooms according the lady next door!

Plenty of beautifully marked lizards were out basking in the sunshine.

The tap on this lavoir is magnificent although difficult to see as it's camouflaged agains the rock wall!

A little seating area has been recently added in the jardin du M. Carbonne (former mayor of Ussat).

Colourful blossom looks gorgeous in the sunshine.

Although I spotted swallowtails, brimstones, orange tips, whites, small blues and browns this Peacock was the only papillion willing to be photographed today.

 

And this was the best I could do to photograph one of our local Egyptian vultures (Vautour Percnoptere).  It is one honestly!

This is the little square in Barri d'en Bas with its quaint houses and pretty trees and benches to sit on to take in the mountain views.