For centuries women have used cloth as a tool of comfort and as an expression of beauty within their homes. Creating cloth for warmth, cloth for shelter, our female predecessors embellished these linens with hand stitch using laborious and time consuming techniques thereby enhancing the functional beauty of objects which enveloped and protected their families. Inspired by these women I hope my creations pay tribute to and recognise the devotion expressed in cloth by our female ancestors .







''the use of traditional often time consuming process alludes to the devotion of a mother''. c K. A. Ruane 2007







Monday, February 16, 2009

Everything stops for embroidery.............

Builders, what builders? Finally they have left, left me with an upside down inside out house. I was going to show you pictures but I decided I didn't want chaos in blogworld, only pleasant things welcome here. To be fair they have done a sterling A1 job, that however didn't stop me wanting to inflict injury on them whilst they were creating mess in places I didn't even know existed. No offence.....but I hope never to clap eyes on them again! I hope they live long, healthy, prosperous lives, just not in the vacinity of my little house. I have boxes to empty, decorators to employ, 'things' to sort out but hey, embroidery, embroidery is the only thing my brain wants to contemplate. ( I will concede to having bought some rather nice hooks to hang my work on, my concession to home improvement thoughts)
After my urge to stitch following my ebay purchases I have been doing a little sampling. I absolutely love these, four little samples that have led to a bigger piece which I hope to show you later in the week.
You can see here that my folding obsession continues. What is it about folded cloth? I even have my eye on a little white cupboard with a pretty glass door in which I can place folded cloth. It will be of no use for anything practical but my folded cloth will look gorgeous. If I give in to temptation and buy it I will definitely show you.



I have worked these pieces on 100% cotton cloth in DMC floss, 2 strands. I have huge amounts of DMC floss, every colour imaginable that I have collected over the years, some given to me and some I bought myself. My phobia of using colour is getting closer to being cured evry day!!







I want to say thankyou to everyone who wished me well when I was under the weather. I really do feel much better now. Holiday's continue for the rest of the week, more embroidery, yay!! Maybe, if I can be persuaded, a little sorting out will also happen..........but don't hold your breath!

15 comments:

iHanna said...

These are just so beautiful - all those yummy flowers and colors! beautiful, creative and fun Karen! I adore this one!

Jane said...

Absolutely exquisite, the close ups are fantastic

Anonymous said...

wow!!! all i can say is BREATHTAKING!!! your intricate details! your lovely color palette! the perfection and quality!!!!! your photo taking is even awesome!!! glad you are feeling better and big hugs to you!!

Diane Cransac said...

What absolutely gorgeous color. I'm loving it!

Maya Sara Matthew said...

its so hot here during the day, just to see your colour palette and the lovely white cotton cloth is so refreshing.

Maya Sara Matthew said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Threadspider said...

I can feel the pleasure you are getting from embroidering these from here!Just gorgeous.

hens teeth said...

Glad you have a breather this week ~ embroidery is very beautiful!

Camilla said...

This guy takes folding to a whole new height:
http://www.derickmelander.com/

Michala Gyetvai (Kayla coo) said...

I too have been collecting threads for many years,so many colours.
It's lovely to see yours used in this collection of work.
Have a great stitchy week!x

Gina said...

Your work is such a joy to see - I love it! Enjoy the rest of your week stitching.

'fancypicnic' said...

An absolute delight...I've been admiring these over at flickr. Incredibly beautiful!

Art4Sol said...

What a happy piece this is....I can see Spring coming!

Kelly Fletcher said...

Bright colours against white cloth - I can almost smell spring...

Jacky said...

Glorious colours and flowers....so fresh!