Welcome!

 ...to a new port of call on the Travellin' Pic Stitch Blog Hop, EPP-ing in fantastic locations all over the world, from 1st October to 30th November.

Laura and Katy are off on their travels and while they are away they have asked participants to take a photo in a fantastic place, create a palette using the colours in the photo, and make an English-paper-pieced block.

I'm Catherine, and I'd like to invite you to stop off in Scotland.  Edinburgh is a beautiful city, with beautiful surroundings, so there are plenty of views to draw inspiration from - like this:

Palette using Palette Builder at Playcrafts

or this landmark off my favourite beach just down the coast, which you might recognise from my blog header:

I love these colours and I was all set to go with a plan and some Liberty.  Then I went for a walk by the docks and got distracted.  There was a fantastic light and I think that the port, with its boats and mysterious industrial machinery, is just as beautiful in its own way.

Anyway, I thought that it would be an interesting challenge to use a picture from here, taking this one and turning the wheel into a Rose Star. 

And it was a disaster.  First I had to abandon one of my fabrics. I always check different colour combinations in natural and artificial light but it didn't occur to me that two apparently identical colours might look different. You can't really see it in this picture, but these reds don't match in artificial light.   I also love the yellow in the source photo, but didn't like the effect on the block.  This flustered me and after that I kept sewing bits on upside down. 

In the end, I just wasn't happy with it, so it was Binsville for that one, and I turned to this instead.

(This is the Royal Yacht Britannia, and if you ever want to see the rank system translated into naval accommodation, and to have a nosy at the Queen's bedroom with its surprisingly small bed, it is fascinating and well worth a visit.  I like the contrast between this, and the little harbour patrol tug in the background.)

I decided to do this one by eye - and to leave out the yellow.  I also narrowed down the various blue-greys.

I wanted to do a round block with a nod towards the nautical and industrial, so I've been drawing up trial blocks, but by yesterday I was panicking with bits of paper and fabric all over the floor, and today we're three hours further north and I have to sheepishly own up to not having finished.  I really hope that you at least enjoyed a glimpse of this part of the world - and that you'll come back and see if I've managed.

You can find all the details of the hop here.  Do have a look at what the other participants have been up to, including Fiona @ Celtic Thistle Stitches who was up yesterday, and Amanda @ AmandaMillar who is your host tomorrow.

And even if you're not an official participant you can join in and link your block up on 30 November to have a chance of winning some lovely prizes generously sponsored by Paperpieces.com,  Fabricworm,  Pink Castle Fabrics,  Marmalade Fabrics, the Fat Quarter Shop, WantItNeedItQuilt,  and Aurifil.