St. Swithin's Day

According to the saying St. Swithin's Day is quite important with regard to the weather in the coming days. This is what it says:

St Swithin's Day, if it do rain,

For forty days it will remain

St. Swithin's Day an it be fair

For forty days t'will rain nae muir

No idea who St. Swithin was but I'm going to Google him to see what made him into such a soothsayer re the weather.

So far it has been quite dry and sunny but the day is not done yet, and the official weather forecast for the weekend is for wind and rain. Still it can't be helped, whatever happens and because today was lovely to start with I could not help but grab that camera and picture the Sally Holmes rose (seen both at the top and bottom of this post) as well as the luscious mauve delphinium seen below.
For the rest of the time I have been frantically arting, making an A3 sized quilt for the new Scottish suitcase collection, with the theme: not all tartan and shortbread. I took that to mean not your standard Scottish fair and I have most definitely obliged and then some (you'll see what I mean when I upload the quilt in the near future).

Sometimes art is so easy and painless that I wonder if it can be any good as non of the usual angst accompanies the birth of a new work. I also ask myself why it has to be such a hard and tough struggle at other times? Is it me and can I do something about the process or is it completely out of my hands? Does my sub-conscious mind take over when I loose myself in the process. I had been thinking about this quilt for awhile and then suddenly yesterday it demanded to be made then and there after I had finished the ATCs for Lenna's swap.

Was it playing with my newly acquired acrylics paints and sprays that did the trick? Once I start splashing it about (and yes, it is a VERY messy process for me, that's why the shed is so great to have), I seem to loose my artistic inhibitions and constraints and go with the flow. I know, a cliche saying but very appropriate in this case.

The quilt is now very much on it's way and only finishing touches are required. I think it's okay to reveal it here but just to be on the safe side I will re-read the instructions before I do.