desperate times call for desperate measures.....

Right, I am now officially in full scale panic mode. Sauntering along I was, must have been because I seem to have been stitching forever and believe me I have no evidence of it. So today I emptied more stuff out of the shop, so much stuff that soon there will be no shop at all. I must say I feel a little bit better now, 6 brooches added to the pile and a few cushions. You wait though, there are pincushions still in there that will probably be kidnapped next! Well, it's my shop and I can empty it if I want......no need to worry it will probably all have to be put back in there when I return. Then there is this, my blog. The time I spend doing this, what could I make? I did consider leaving this for a while, too busy, but I can't can I. If it wasn't for this blog Sparkle wouldn't be happening, this feeds just about everything I do, this is how people know who I am. So here I am rambling on again with my tiddly little bit of production for this week. Let me introduce you to another fragment. Answer a question for me, am I overdoing this fragment thing?? I only have four finished ones, yes honestly, only four yet I seem to have been doing them forever. I have another, (quite different) one damp stretching too but five fragments don't make for a two day and one evening fair do they. Do I sound like I'm moaning? I hope not because I'm not honest. I am just venting my frustration and seeking reassurance. So here it is, fragment number?????....

Making these puffs really made me happy they are so soft and squashy. I bet everyone wants to feel them, makes them dirty and renders them unsellable!! I shall have to practice my best cross and angry face! I am not putting anything behind cellophane at Sparkle. No bags or anything on the display. I know this is probably a risky thing to do but the work looks too commercial wrapped in plastic, I will have to risk it, I will have to be careful not to overdo the frosty cold stare though because it's certain to put people off and then I will wonder why nobody bought anything! (too scared of the horrible woman behind the table)

It's back to work in the morning wishing my life away and for wednesday to come quickly. I never get much done on work days, (creative wise that is) so it's a good job I have an unseen fragment to post later in the week. There are lists to make, tickets, stickers, canvas, fishing line, business cards...if you can think of anything else please share!

I am going to leave you with a link, call it gratuitous self promotion if you like but check out these amazing words about me, yes me, can't quite believe it myself either. x

Monday evening......thanks so much for the comments and e-mails about the touching problems etc. I'm sorry to say I probably won't have time to get back to you this week but I really appreciate them all and will eventually thank you personally I promise. I love the ''touching samples'' suggestion but fear I won't have time to make any. I am taking everything on board though, thanks so much I knew you wouldn't let me down. See you soon x

this week........

First things first, where has it gone??? Tell me it isn't thursday, tell me I have once again slipped on to that other astral plane. No....Oh well thursday it is then. I meant to post last night but in all honesty I was exhausted and couldn't string two words together and another thing, where has all the daylight gone? These pictures aren't the best, sorry. The first pic is an old one, sorry again but it's relevant to my first task of the week which was to post this wrapping cloth to it's new owner, very exciting! Her excitement is feeding my excitement if you know what I mean and this is winging it's way across the Atlantic as we speak. Obviously there was the day job too, three days spent there with evenings doing much more pleasurable things such as finishing another fragment. I have added the piece from my last post to a piece of patchwork and it's formed a sort of little pocket, I like it a lot.

next to it here is something else, half finished but they looked good together and I couldn't resist.

then there are these three little buttons, not for Sparkle, these are a gift and I can't tell you who for.......sorry again!! The white ones however are for Sparkle and I am hoping against hope that all these little things I am managing to get together are going to morph into enough work for a two day show.

As you Brits will know today is bonfire night and I feel as if I am under siege. For you non British readers Bonfire Night is a tradition which commemorates the attempt (hundreds of years ago on november 5th) by Guy Fawkes to blow up our parliament building. He didn't succeed and we celebrate that by lighting fires with his effigy on the top and by letting off fireworks creating huge bangs and blasts which are shaking my very house. I feel as if I am posting from a very active battleground, I may even duck at some point. I never did like fireworks and I am even scared of sparklers so wish me luck! Have a good week, what's left of it. x

cushions, edges and (more) fragments

The cushions are finished. All day thursday sewing, stuffing, adding trims and hand stitching edges. I made little trims for the back folds too because I wanted them to have another little touch, to make them stand out. You know I feel as if I am stumbling blindfolded into Sparkle. I have no idea how many things to take? which things I should take? small things or large things? what will sell? If I take big things like wrapping cloths they may not sell and will I have enough buttons and stuff if people want to only buy little things? My head really is swimming. Help?? If you feel you can it would be much appreciated. Then there's the fact that it's on for two days. What if I run out of stuff? Wishful thinking definitely but still something to think about. Now I've shared my headache (sorry) I will let you look at the pictures of cushions.

this is the back of the white cushion......(above)


the back of the flower cushion





and the back of the pink and green cushion.


Another fragment is also underway. I am really happy with this, it's like a precious piece of lace in real life and since I took this picture I have added to and finished it. I will show you that next time I promise and something else I am working on at the minute.






Lots of pictures today but not much else to say. I feel as if I am ''on a roll'' and need to keep going so I will wish you all a fantastic weekend and see you soon. x

Immersed...

embroidery....constant....all day...all evening until the early hours....stop to eat, maybe......stop to sleep, sometimes.....having fun, most definitely, this is how I should be living all the time, day in day out, no breaking for ''work'', dream on Karen......but I can, dream that is, we all need a dream. I have had so much fun so far this week and look how much I have done. This is another cushion for Sparkle,

and here are the three cushion fronts I have made all together, do you like? I had intended to complete these today but I lost my will a little as I had the whole floor taken up with my damp stretching board on which I had my Sparkle cloth, almost finished I might add, stretched and lovely. Being dumb however I neglected to take photographs of the stretching cloth, I was far too concerned with not standing, tripping or falling over it. Anyway completing the cushions went by the wayside as attempting to ready a sewing machine on a large table for the construction of cushions doesn't quite fit with a house like an obstacle course. (admitedly one of my making but hey we have to damp stretch!)

and then there is this, ( I am giving myself a huge pat on the back here, excuse me for a minute.....I am just so happy with the progress I have made) The patchwork and lace fragment is now finished with the addition of some pleated silk and a little utility stitching.

Now, hold on tight because there's more!! Despite the fact that I didn't complete my cushions....I made edges for them, trims. Now I love edges as you know and I adore making them, maybe I am a frustrated haberdasher from a former life, who knows. I just know that I find this part of making anything the most exciting and was nearly jumping around with delight when these came together. You can still see some tacking stitches, they have to stay for now, sorry!

Then I remembered I had promised to show you once how I fold my prairie points so here we are. You fold the bottom edge over and press into place as shown here. (there are two in this pic)

Then you fold that pressed edge into the middle from both sides as shown here. This is a very traumatic process for me. I am loathe to have an iron anywhwere near my work EVER. Unfortunately it's necessary for this, the soft, fluffy, CLEAN, white towel is essential here. Pressing the stitching face down into it helps to prevent the embroidery flattening. I would never ever recommend ironing embroidery but IF YOU MUST, then please do it this way, it will at least stand a fighting chance.

Now I'm off to work on my next fragment and who knows, I may even go to bed tonight.......then again..................

Photographing whitework....a challenge

I really can't believe it is 10.30 pm on saturday!! Where has the week gone? I changed my days at work...... for one week only.... instead of monday, tuesday and wednesday I worked wednesday, thursday and friday. Consequently I spent all day wednesday thinking it was monday and haven't really figured out what day it is since!! Yesterday, (friday I think) school broke up for half term so it's a full week off. I have huge plans, huge I promise you. They started today by planning to take photos of my latest work and then some clearing, tidying and sorting out of my new 'space' now the interlopers have gone. Well it was chucking it down this morning, dark and dreary so off I went to sort out the sorting out. Excellent progress there, pics soon I hope. Then the sun came out so I dashed to get my camera and do you know I think there was too much sun. It has been so hard to get a half decent picture of this white piece. It really is much nicer than it looks here. These are hopefully going to be cushions for Sparkle.

This cutwork piece reminds me of something and I don't know what, a pendant, a locket, I can't quite get what it is. Any ideas? It's really annoying me actually. Anyway I have produced these two cushion fronts and finished my latest fragment. Unfortunately by the time I finished that it was dark, night time, so I couldn't take any pictures. It will have to wait for next time.

This week really has been wierd, kind of like living in some kind of parallel universe, can't quite put my finger on it but I honestly feel like I have lost some time somewhere, slept through a day or missed a week. Does anyone else get like that? I'm sure they do I can't be the only strange one around here. So I am going to write a list for tomorrow, tick it off as I do it and then I will have evidence that I've been here and achieved something. I'm also going to do some blog visiting, some answering of e-mails and some responding to all your great comments, it takes me so long to get round to it that I'm suprised you bother coming here at all. I am eternally grateful.x

Look.......I've been busy!

Just to prove that I don't sit on my backside watching daytime t.v. and eating cream cakes lots of pictures for you! I was going to save the second lot of these images for another post but then I could imagine you saying, ''5 measly pincushions that were half made anyway, not much work there'' But, as you can see the evidence is here...I have made the most of my time off work. The pincushions are stitched, stuffed and embellished. There will have to be more, many more and I am on it as we speak, let's hope there is a massive shortage of pincushions in London.

Then there is this, another fragment. Remember the lace hexagons I joined together well this is how they look now. I made more tiny embroidered patches and have added them to the lace. This isn't finished yet, (look closely and you can see the tacking around the edge). I have something else in mind to add but it's coming along.

I really want to say thanks for all the brilliant comments on my last piece. I am so flattered but have to admit that when I made that piece coral, sealife and similar were nowhere on my radar. I had visions of garment fragments, aged, lost in time, from a wedding gown or baptism robe perhaps, yikes, looks like I failed miserably there then. Still, that's the beauty of creativity, being in the eye of the beholder etc. interpret as you see etc.

I am now working hard trying to make progress with my Sparkle cloth. My trouble is I keep thinking of stuff to add to it, extra embellishment. The swaddling band? Well I honestly don't know if I will get that finished. It's probably do-able but at the expense of other things. So I am undecided which way to go with that. Don't get me wrong, I would love to have it ready, it speaks so much about ''me'' but I really do need to get on with bread and butter stuff so we shall see.

The house.........they've gone and I am just waiting for paint to dry, huge sigh of relief! I may have pics for you soon, have a great week. x

Fragment

Almost a week since my last post! I really hadn't intended to be away this long but I think it's been a good thing. Things are a lot calmer somehow, not quite finished with the upheaval but light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks to all of you who have been asking how I'm feeling. Just a cold thankfully nothing more sinister. Actually I think someone must have slipped something in my coffee as wardrobes were meant to be completed today, the end of intruders in my house, yet when they told me they had to come back on monday I was calm. No psychotic murderous outburst just a calmy said ''no problem it's fine''. I'm also back to relaxing with Elvis and a little Barry White thrown in. This being rational, calm, cool under pressure is quite scary really, can't imagine where this person has come from. Then it dawned on me, it must be because I have been in that embrioidery corner again and actually made some progress. Embroidery.......the key to world peace. So here is a piece for Sparkle, what do you think? I have decided to call these pieces ''fragments'', it seems apt.



These pieces will be sold as they are, no frames, no canvas, merely embroidered fragments to do with what you want, (floor cleaning, pot washing, bathroom wiping, you decide) at the end of the day if nobody wants them I am more than happy to keep them and eat stale bread, they do say impoverished artists are more creative. Then there are these, buttons, made in a similar style and obviously inspired by the above.



O.K. so I have only got 4 buttons, 1 fragment, a nearly finished wrapping cloth, 5 unfinished pincushions and a swaddling band that will be lucky if it's finished before the next millenium but I really do feel more positive, like I am getting somewhere. I am really excited about the house taking shape and I desperately want to give you a few glimpses and I promise I will when it's over and done with. No work now until next wednesday.................did you hear me scream in excitement??????? Have a fantastic weekend. x

Home again

Virgin Pendolino trains....what do you think? Very comfortable, very quick, almost perfect but have you been on one? If you have did you get travel sick? Maybe it wasn't the amazing tilting train I don't know but quesy isn't the word. Today I feel as if I am coming down with something, cold or flu or similar so maybe it was that. Almost as soon as I got home though I finished my large piece of text so I could damp stretch it. I always come home from the knitting and stitching show newly invigorated and desperate to embroider as it's so inspirational. The new graduates are fantstic and then you see someone who you assume is well established that you have never seen before. Their work is to die for, you buy something from them and then eagerly go on their blog to look at the zillions of comments they must surely get and no, they don't get many comments either. I am reassured by that, no comments doesn't equal no success, yay! I am only saying this because I have visited a few blogs recently where they get squillions of comments and it made me feel inferior, sorry but it did. Anyway I'm over it now, seriously, I am just grateful you visit at all especially as all I do is complain. Reading this back it seems to have turned into a bit of a ramble, no change there then! Back to business, I finished my text, went out for tea with my lovely hubby who said he had missed me, (probably had missed the moaning) came home, damp stretched my text and voila, here it is.

So the text is all cut up now, ready to be tacked to the little card hexagons, (lots and lots of them). For a little light relief, easy to pick up and put down I have also made some buttons. I can't decide wether these look like little jelly fish or tiny filo pastry cases...

I really need to do some serious making, finished things, prairie points, putting pincushions together, little bags, cushions, embroidered fragments and on and on. Being back to work in the morning has slowed that down a bit and also the fact that I don't feel 100% but fear not, wednesday evening is the start of six whole days off and I am determined to make good progress.

and look what I bought!!! There is approximately 500? metres of pure silk thread here, glorious, beautiful, white, off white, different thicknesses I can't wait to get started.

My daughter is well, It was lovely to see her. She has recently got the knitting bug so I had a great time buying knitting related things for her. She has never been interested in crafty things before despite being raised by me so I figure feed her interest while she is keen! And I came home to discover that my rolling down the hill in a huge ball son has had his left leg waxed for charity! He says on a scale of 1-10 the pain was 37! Maybe he was a stuntman in a former life, what do you think? Have a good week!x

Slow progress

Only one picture today. I really don't know where my time has gone these past few days, weeks even. Now I am beginning to panic about Sparkle. In all honesty I have 5 inches of a 120 inch swaddling band, an almost finished wrapping cloth that still requires zillions of prairie points for the edge and five half finished pincushions, boy am I in trouble! Tomorrow morning I am going to London to see my little girl for three days, then it will be back to work, then I have a nice man coming to solve my wardrobe problem but that will take two days of yet more workmen...I am constantly counting to ten! Because of all this I have made an executive decision, yes me making a decision, that's got to be a first. Anything I make between now and november will not be for sale until Sparkle or after the event. Because of that I have decided to have a little sale in the shop, 10% off everything for people who buy via the blog. Leave a message in the note to seller section saying you want to take advantage of the 10% discount, place your order then DON'T PAY. I will invoice you seperately. Bear in mind that I won't be home until sunday so your invoice may take a few days.
As for work in progress, make that work in very slow progress. I have been embroidering text onto a very big piece of silk in order to cut it up for the swaddling band. It's nearly finished but then I will have to damp stretch, cut up, tack to hexagons etc etc you get my drift. On a positive note I am doing a favour for work, swapping some duties around which means after next wednesday I will be off for 6 days, in for three days and off again for another 9 days. Surely I will make progress then, please! I will see you next week, have a lovely weekend. x

getting there.........

Workmen gone....tick.
Clean house......tick.
Tidy house........erm, no! My wardrobe collapsed so tidy is something I strive to achieve as soon as it can be replaced.
These things are sent to try us so to speak. I am determined to remain calm and firmly in my tranquil, calm spot, my little corner where I can sew. I am happy to be here today, very happy. I had thought that I wouldn't be able to post until wednesday at least but here I am. Must be better organised than I give myself credit for. There is a lot of embroidering text going on for the swaddling band but in order to avoid text overload I thought I'd show you something else that's taking shape. This is a small piece of patchwork using lace. Again these hexagons are tiny, they are hopefully going to become another piece in this vein. (which I am pleased to say sold the day I posted about it) Not the same, I don't make things the same but a similar idea if you know what I mean. I have gotten as far as joining them together. It's a case of a bit of this and a bit of that at the moment until I have my huge piece of text finished so I'm picking up and putting down all kinds if things.These tiny beads are for the edge of my pincushions. Not quite sure how they will be attached yet, or where on the cushion but it's good to have them made ready to be used if an idea grabs me. Compared to these they are very plain but I figure sometimes less is more.

That's about it from me. Not much else going on around here. I am enormously relieved to have my house back, kind of anyway. I promise I will show you some pics of all the changes when I have the wardrobe situation sorted out. At least we are clean, disorganised is much easier to deal with when it's clean.

In the midst of madness

Yes.......I am hanging on to my sanity with my fingertips and my nails are going to break soon, I really can't stand it. Yes I know it will be worth it in the end and I know it will mean a special work area for me, a new home for all my precious cloth but I swear.........I need help! Anyway in the middle of chaos there is a small area of calm and sanity where I embroider. It's a good job I can blank out everything that is going on around me and please don't ask how I can keep white silk fabric and pure silk thread clean in this filthy pit that is my home because the simple answer is I haven't got a clue! These photgraphs were taken on white mountboard balanced on top of two very unsteady, (full of all kinds of house stuff,) cardboard boxes. That gives you some Idea of how it is around here. These are going to be pin cushions for Sparkle. I have no idea when I will be able to get my sewing machine out and put them together but they are embroidered, the hardest part, so it's a start. I am so hoping that Sparkle will work out for me. Because it's in London I am kind of obsessed that the location makes it extra special yet it could be a disaster. It may not attract the right kind of buyer. My things may ''seem'' too precious for people to buy. I only say that because so many people have said to me before, ''oh I would love one of those but it's too nice for my house'' which I can tell you is mightily frustrating. Believe me if it can stay clean around here at the moment your house will be a piece of cake! For these pieces I have pushed the boat out and bought some pure silk thread, quite expensive but worth it I think. It is absolutely glorious to work with so I have been on the phone today and ordered more.

It's impossible at the moment to work on my wrapping cloth because I can't get near the table to measure and mark etc so I am making more hexagons for the swaddling band, they are easy to pick up and put down and hopefully when I get them all joined I will have a healthier measurement and be nearer my 120 inches.

You will be pleased to hear that my son survived his rolling down the hill experience and loved every minute of it. Oh the courage of youth!

Lately I have been getting a lot of comments from ''no reply'' people. If that's you then I'm sorry I can't thank you for visiting, maybe you could enable a reply facility or something?? and for the past two days I think every single person in Turkey has been here! I have traced it back to this and just want to say...Hi to everyone in Turkey!

Right, I really don't know when I will be back but I hope to be rambling incoherently again before I go to London next week. Be happy x

Sunday afternoon post again and no I am not going out for another meal, no such luck. I have just got to take my chances while I can. Chaos has descended chez moi, workmen on the way, furniture in all the wrong places, piles of ''stuff'' everywhere. My visitors came and went, had a lovely day, well I think they had a lovely day. Buffet at lunch time, massive roast dinner in the evening, chicken and pork with all the trimmings. Honestly it was like christmas without the presents. They had been gone no more than five minutes, full to bursting and guess what???? I found 12 yorkshire puddings in the oven! So I rang them and asked them to come back and eat them, they declined. Some hostess I am, you've either got this domestic goddess thing or you haven't.
Good news though, my threads arrived yesterday and the commission is now finished. In the meantime I have been working on the swaddling band for Sparkle. Now I am stuck without that thread and all I have managed so far is to join a few measley hexagons. This needs to be 120 inches long, ha, I wish!

I have started another piece of work and the wrapping cloth is coming along really well but in all honesty I can't tell you when I will be back. It is really in such a state here that I have nowhere to damp stretch or take photos. Embroidery will definitely continue because I would go totally insane without it.

Now something for you to think about, especially the mothers among you, my son has just left the house in order to be strapped into a huge ball and rolled down a huge hill! Wish me luck with my sanity!

world thread shortage?

Maybe not a world thread shortage then, a Karen thread shortage though. These are my commisssioned pieces, almost there maybe another 30 minutes give or take but no, maybe another metre of thread! Sadly I ran out at the crucial moment, a sign of my non functioning disorganised brain. Threads are now on order and fingers crossed should be here in the morning. I wanted to have this put to bed so to speak. Not because it's a chore, it's just that I have realised how much I want to do for Sparkle. The swaddling band......... another problem. I don't know if I should be telling you this but I have ran out of that thread too. Now if that doesn't prove my incompetence and drive away any custom I might have had I don't know what will. That thread is also on order, delivery date not yet known so I would be grateful for a mass crossing of fingers, thankyou.

The thread shortage has had a positive side to it though, I am making progress with the sparkle cloth and should have the main part finished soon. Now I have such a busy non embroidery couple of weeks coming up I am going to be meeting myself coming back. Tommorrow we have visitors from afar, well Birmingham, but it's still far! Next week we have workmen in for 3 days and the week after I am off to London to see my little girl. I am really hoping embroidery doesn't suffer but add up the minutes and it doesn't work. Add to that the day job and living in a cave becomes more enticing by the minute. I know.......I can post about buffet's for guests, rubble, dust and train journeys.....it's a plan! Have a great weekend, you know I can't stay away! See you sunday!

Too lovely for canvas?

Tuesday post, don't pass out!! No work today, school closed, firmly shut to prepare for an open evening. I'm all for these open evenings please can we have one every week? Pretty please? What a productive monday night, (until the small hours)/ tuesday day I have had. Progress has been made with my commission and images sent to the customer to check all is well and thankfully she is happy with the way it's coming on. I will definitely show you when it's finished, hopefully before the weekend.
Look what else I have made...... my canvas piece, except it's not going on a canvas. Honestly it is far too lovely and I don't want to blow my own trumpet but I just don't think it belongs on a canvas and I can't bring myself to do it. So it will stay like this, not going in the shop but for sale none the less. It has sparked such inspiration for 'sparkle'. Now I have in mind lots of these, all different, displayed on a huge white background yet easy to remove if anyone wants to buy one, kind of like specimens in a museum. Now all I have to do is come up with a way of people getting them home (if they buy one) in one piece, something I can attach them to quickly yet will keep them flat. I normally stitch samples to card with little ties at the back. I don't think that would be practical though at a show, what do you think, any ideas? Lots and lots of pictures now for you to look at.

Now, if you look closely at the following pictures, proof I was up half the night! More text for my swaddling band. I am still so excited about this and I can't wait to get to the edge...I have plans.

Well I hope I haven't given you image overload, can you tell how much I love this piece? Have a great week, see you soon!x

Text

My new piece for Sparkle is slowly taking shape. I have started to embroider a quote from my research onto silk. This tends to get done in small stages. Embroidering the text can take a long time plus there is the added problem of damp stretching. I do have a very large stretching board but it's quite cumbersome and takes up the whole floor in my dining room. When I am making a wrapping cloth or any other large piece of work I have to use it but as I intend to cut this text up for patchwork it's much easier to do small amounts that can be stretched on a smaller board.

Below you can see that I am making progress with my second canvas. The french knot piece here is going to be stitched to the tiny hexagons and it should all come together, (should!!). This piece has only just finished stretching so I haven't got round to taking it further but I really, really want to get it finished then I can complete my commission, finish the Sparkle cloth and move on with the text piece. If you can't already tell....I am so excited about this one. Remember my swaddling band? and remember how I wanted to take it further? Well we are at that point where hopefully I will achieve that. This one will be the same size as a traditional swaddling band which was 3 inches wide and 120 inches long, a lot of text, a lot of hexagons but amazingly exciting possibilities for edges. I wish I was there now, completing it, finishing it off.

The first piece is alredy cut up into patchwork pieces, not as small as the last ones these are just slightly bigger than one inch wide.

Talking of edges, how much inspiration can a girl get? I was so happy yesterday when these popped through my letter box, absolutely beautiful vintage cloths that I had bought here. Just look at the edges. I will definitely not be cutting these up they are way too special and as if you can't guess they will be carefully wrapped and put away, taken out to look at from time to time, oh o.k. then, taken out to look at A LOT! I am so in love.....

Now I'm off to put the kettle on and embroider more text, have a fantastic sunday!