Inspired by Edna, embroidered birds by Kiara Johnson

In this second graduate showcase post from those I saw at the Harrogate Knit & Stitch show, I’m sharing the work of Kiara Johnson who was inspired by her great granny Edna and a box of vintage treasures found in the loft. The box contained bird guides and intricate embroidery patterns and Kiara said she wanted to use her great granny’s lens to explore both craft and nature but with her own modern twist using machine embroidery and beading. And the results are stunning.

On the right is a long panel in purples with an embroidered bird on the lower branches, alongside on the left are embroidered flowers and another bird in flight - both framed

Kiara said ‘birds stand out in her collections and symbolise freedom, connection and fleeting beauty’ but can also evoke unease and signal loss, which are ‘elements that echo the love and loss of my granny’s life.’

But her work also draws attention to the reduction of birds in our gardens, and so she wants to observe the uniqueness and beauty of all British birds ‘from the pigeon to the lesser spotted woodpecker’.

One page of a book with embroidery stuck in - on the part page on the left is the vintage pattern for the embroidery
Two pieces hanging - on the left an embroidered bird on a gold textured background; on the right there's flowers which look like lace covering the whole panel
Three panels (one only part visible); from left - an embroidered flower on a plain background, an embroidered bird on a grey/black textured cloth and a yellow panel with branches embroidered

I wish I’d got more photos, and clearer ones at that, but trust me the detail on each of these pieces is absolutely amazing.

Post Comment Love 6 - 8 February

Hello there, welcome to this week’s #PoCoLo - a relaxed, friendly linky which I co-host with Suzanne, where you can link any blog post published in the last week. We know you’ll find some great posts to read, and maybe some new-to-you blogs too, so do pop over and visit some of the posts linked, comment and share some of that love.

Please don’t link up posts which are older as they will be removed, and if you see older posts are linked then please don’t feel that it’s necessary to comment on those. If you were here last week it was great to have you along, if you’re new here we’re pleased you’ve joined us.

While it’s been a pretty grim week here weather-wise, there has been good news - our heating is fixed, yay! It has mostly been working since it alarmed on Christmas Day, with a few cold days in that time, but mostly we’ve just had to contend with the regular and irregular alarms. At one point the alarm was going off every 46 minutes, I know because we timed them.

But good news, it’s back working as it should - and now the house is also filled with cheery Mimosa stems to celebrate. I’ve been meaning to buy some since we saw buckets and buckets of them on our trip to Lyons back in 2019, and now I have!

Have a great week.

A small glass vase/watering can filled with the shorter mimosa stems

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My garden in January

The rose from last month had peaked when I shared it here, but even as it declined in January’s wet, cold and windy weather it did so elegantly, or I think so at least.

The brown and now shrivelled rose complete with dew and raindrops

We did manage a brief spell of loosely labelled gardening activity - we needed to remove the ‘creative Christmas tree’ - which I delegated to MOH, and I wanted to wrap up the new olive’s pot. I should have done it before now I know, but I hadn’t and I was lucky with the weather, and my timing as it turned out.

the new olive in the new pot, now bubble wrapped, in the sun with a blue sky

While MOH circled the creative Christmas tree unwinding the lights, I set about covering the pot with bubble wrap and enough tape to ensure I wouldn’t be chasing the covering around the garden! I was rather pleased with my effort (above), and I was even more pleased when I opened the blinds the next morning and saw the dusting of snow (below).

Looking out onto a dusting of snow and the bubble wrapped olive pot the next morning

We didn’t have much snow, just a dusting, but then again we didn’t have much heating at this point either so it wasn’t great. Thankfully the snow didn’t last long, and the heating was back limping along soon after, though I did feel for the heating engineer who needed to be working outside to make this happen.

A small nest in the bare branches of one of our small trees

But to be honest there hasn’t been much activity in our garden this month, though there are signs of life - the snowdrops are starting to form and even flower, and there’s evidence of bulb growth too. Most of my garden watchings have been through the window, and it was during one of those stints where I was also entertained by the small bird population who have found our pyracantha berries and the decaying crab apples, that I spotted what I thought might be a nest in one of our small trees.

Or maybe it was a leaf that had got stuck.

But it was there the next day too, and I ventured out to check (actually I might have been on my way to the dustbins, but you know multi-tasking and all that), and it was a nest. Not the greatest place to build one maybe, and I’m sure it’s vacant right now.

Who knows if it’ll have returning or new residents once the tree is in leaf again, but I’m happy they built it in the first place!