One of the things that I like about sketchbooks is that sometimes you get happy accidents like this. This is a page from my workbook on the Body Shop, although it doesn’t have much to do with the finished piece. While I was working on the quilt and in this book I bought a brush which I think is called a sword or a blade brush at a craft fair and was just trying it out with some koh-i-nor solid dye. I was really surprised when the oriental-looking landscape appeared out of nowhere. If I had been trying for this effect it would have eluded me, but it was fun to see it emerge.
In the top right hand corner there is also a swatch of a beautiful embroidered silk fabric which I used in this quilt to symbolise Nottingham, my home town, because of the oak leaves and the major oak and Robin Hood.
