Daydreaming – Weatherd Scottish Abbey

Dryburgh Abbey In Scotland with Derwent Watercolour Pencils | Whims And Fancies

 

Purchase Weatherd Scottish Abbey

 

Yarn and colour pencils have taken over my world lately.   In between designing and sewing paper piecing patterns, I am finding myself gravitating toward knitting needles and colour pencils.  Not only are they great for keeping the hands busy, they also share a common thread for me – travel.  As I knit a warm piece of clothing, I imagine myself wearing it in a far-away land, exploring.  Later on, I revisit a favourite travelled place through painting, specially an old stone abbey or other ruins.

 

 

Dryburgh Abbey Scotland Derwent Watercolour Pencils | Whims And Fancies

 

 

A few months ago I was travelling to England and I wanted to take a painting project with me to fill in the long 10 hours of travel time on the plane.  Of the places we visited in Scotland, Dryburgh Abbey is one of my favourites.  I found an old photo and it instantly became the subject of my painting. 

The picture you see above is how much I finished on the plane.  Sadly, after I came back, I moved on to other projects and it was left unfinished.

 

While going through my sketchbooks searching for more unfinished drawings, I found one of my old pen sketches from another place we visited in Scotland.

 

Jedburgh Abbey Scotland Drawing | Whims And Fancies

 

A doorway detail in Jedburgh Abbey

 

 

Knitting Yarn | Whims And Fancies

 

 

A while back, my husband got me a set of yarn from the local yarn store.  I was browsing on Ravelry for a hat pattern and noticed one that has a striking resemblance to the design in the Jedburgh Abbey doorway.  I fell in love with the pattern and the red yarn was perfect for it.

 

 

Paragon Toque Knitting Hat Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

 

It is called Paragon Toque.  Instead of cables, this design is done simply with knit and purl.  I made the large size hat since I like my hats to be a bit on the loose side.   I had made a simple hat for my husband before, but this is the first hat I made for myself.  I think I will be wearing this one a LOT.  I love it!!

 

 
 

Derwent Watercolour Pencils Shade Card | Whims And Fancies

 

 

I recently started making slow progress on the painting again using my Derwent watercolour pencils.  The colours are less intense than Inktense pencils and are easier to lift off if needed.  They also blend beautifully.  I always like to make a colour swatch of any paint set I acquire.  Even looking at these colours makes me happy!

 

 

 

Purchase Weatherd Scottish Abbey

 

We visited Dryburgh during our stay in Edinbugh.  As I was painting, I was reliving the moments of standing in front of the quiet Dryburgh Abbey Chapter House all on my own, soaking in the atmosphere of an old, wet stone ruin.

 

This Scotland-inspired art print would be nice for anyone who loves historic Scotland and Britain as well as people who love old European architecture prints.

I now have prints of this painting available in my shop.  I would love for you take a look.  As most of my artwork is travel-inspired, I am sure it would make a wonderful travel lover gift too.

These old medieval architectures invoke thoughts of not just travelling, but also of stories from medieval times.  This print would be lovely for a book lover – anyone who loves to travel through pages.

 

I am enjoying this daydreaming escape through knitting and painting.  Here’s to more daydreaming for all of us!

-Soma

 

 

 

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Bits And Pieces

Derwent Watercolour Pencils | Whims And Fancies

 

 

With the approach of October, one of my favourite months, I find myself in the flightiest of moods.   Sitting with anything for long is a chore and the thought of finishing anything seems an impossible task.  My otherwise tidy desk is now a mirror image of my brain.  This is true except for one thing- books!  A book is the only thing that can still pin me down for hours on end.

 

 

Freedom and Read Quilt Pattern | Whims And Fancies

 

Purchase Freadom Pattern

 

This week is Banned Books Week, an event sponsored by the American Library Association.  I am lucky enough to celebrate my freedom to read and think independently every day.  This FREADOM quilt I made last year is possibly my most favourite piece!  You can read about the story behind this mini here.

 

 

Dryburgh Abbey With Derwent Watercolour Pencils | Whims And Fancies

 

 

Other than travelling in the pages of my books, I also travel by means of painting places I have visited before.  I love Derwent pencils.  I already have a set of their Inktense pencils and recently I was gifted a set of the Derwent Watercolour pencils.   I am trying them out on this sketch of Dryburgh Abbey.

 

 

Hexagon Quilt | Whims And Fancies

 

 

I pulled out my Hexagon quilt again.  After having made a little over 2000 hexagons, sadly, I have lost interest in this project.  I will probably sew a few more rows and then come up with a design sans hexagons to finish this quilt.  Any ideas, anyone?

 

 

Fall And Halloween Quilt Patterns | Whims And Fancies

 

 

October of course means Autumn and Halloween.  I have been selling quite a few Fall/Halloween quilt patterns from my shops.  That means very soon I will be able to make a sizeable donation to my favourite charity.

Here is a collage of all the Autumn / Halloween blocks I made until today.  I have two orange kitties in real life, and they are both here of course!

 

 

  1. Halloween Witch Hat
  2. Cat Eyes
  3. Fall Maple Leaf

 

I always get asked about pattern links right after I publish a post, so I am including the links here should you like to purchase any.

 

 

Halloween Quilt Patterns | Whims And Fancies

 

Charlie’s Adventure

 

There won’t be any new fall or Halloween projects this year, but I have pulled out the Charlie’s Adventure quilt and its backing fabric.  I made this one for the Black Cat Crossing blog hop alongside writing a short story that goes with this quilt.  You can read the story here.  It’s high time I quilt this one.

 

Whims And Fancies

 

 

Janine from Rainbow Hare wrote a wonderful post called Leap In Colour.  I myself have been thinking about taking a leap for a while now, and her post gave me that much-needed push.  Many thanks to all of my online friends as well for their constant encouraging comments.  I started taking the first steps toward the next phase of Whims And Fancies.  Following on Janine’s footsteps, I am also letting my byline be my inspiration.

 

On the note of taking a leap, I just created a Twitter account – https://twitter.com/inktorrents

If you are on Twitter, I would love for you to follow me there!

 

 

Handmade Halloween

Joining Handmade Halloween at Needle And Foot

 

Thank you for listening,
-Soma

 

I am also linking up on Photo Friday, Life Thru The Lens, Through My Lens, Seasons, Our World Tuesday and Friday Photo Journal along with with other linky parties on my Events And Links page.

 

 

 

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