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







Friday, May 21, 2010

Hectic

It seems to have been a bit crazy around here the past couple of days. Not stressful, not at all, but always something to do, going from one thing to the next and the day being over way too fast. I'm sure you have times like that too. I nipped out this morning, Asda have shaved money off their petrol, so sick of paying ridiculous, extortionate, daylight robbery, outrageous (you get my drift) prices for fuel I just had to fill up. It was like armageddon at the petrol pumps, never seen it so busy! Anyway, what's that got to do with embroidery......point is I was thinking, while I was queueing, where has the time gone? and then I came home, my newly cleaned home if you remember, and saw all the things I had achieved over the past couple of very hectic days. You need to go out and come in again to notice these things. When you are home all the time you just wonder what all the mess is, come in with fresh eyes and it all becomes clear....it's embroidery!! At the risk of boring you to death with the same old theme, sorry, I have done more pintucking, yes it came out again. This time I used a bit of gingham. Don't you just love gingham, even the word, GINGHAM, lovely!! More inserts for my little books of embroidery, some tiny patchwork ones and some window mounted mini embroidery.
and more books, now listed in the shop! Don't forget the link here to my mini tutorial on what you can do with these books, the possibilities are endless!! I swear I am working harder now than I was at ''work''. Nothing like being at work though, not like work at all infact, a pleasure from morning til night.






Thanks to those of you who suggested suppliers for purse frames. I have ordered some and am anxiously awaiting their arrival, fingers crossed that the quality is comparable to the ones I usually use. I won't be back until monday at the earliest. It's my birthday on sunday, (16 if you were wondering) and plans are afoot, parcels have arrived, exciting!!! Saturday will be a day for e-mails so if I owe you a reply you won't have to wait long I promise and I have big plans for fabric paints too.
Have a lovely weekend!

15 comments:

deanna7trees said...

gingham, plisse, chenille, love all those words. Wishing you a glorious birthday on Sunday. Age is just a number. You're as old as you feel.

lillalotta said...

MMmm gingham *insert hearts*
And all your little books look beautiful. So much attention to detail. Such patience.

Gayle said...

I'm enjoying catching up with your posts today and love the use of gingam. You have so many remarkable ideas...such a pleasure to see all you've done.

Elizabeth said...

Hej Karen,

Have a wonderful '16' birthday and enjoy your basket of gifts. Each time when I read one of your post I get a warm feeling, you sound so happy.

Your books look fantastic.

Have a great weekend and I'll see you soon.

xoxo Elizabeth

Jane said...

Gingham takes me back to junior school, it was our summer uniform. Enjoy your weekend, and have a lovely day on Sunday

Tammie Lee said...

each detail is wonderful~

Anonymous said...

Just enjoyed catching up with your corner of the world - you've been gloriously busy, as usual. Gingham must be 'summer at primary school' for most of us from the UK - happy days indeed. Ours was green and I loved it.
Have a fabulous birthday :-)
Kx

Doreen G said...

I love the crispness of the fabric that you use Karen and gingham just fits in so well with the theme.
Have a wonderful day on Sunday.

petal said...

Hope you have a happy birthday. It's lovely to come to your blog and see all the colour. The little books are fantastic.

jennyflowerblue said...

Have a super smashing blissfully happy birthday! (love the gingham pin tucks-what fun. xxx

Rachel said...

I'm so glad to know that giving up the day job is working well for you - just a word of advice from a battle-scarred freelancer - make sure you get out of the house frequently! Partly so you see what you've achieved, and partly simply for a change of scene..

Ingrid said...

Happy Birthday Karen,have a great day tomorrow:-)
Beautiful embroidery in your books,more fabric painting...cant wait!

Phyllis said...

Your embroideries are so beautiful! I will be back to peruse more in the future.

Kari of Writing Up A Storm said...

Happy Birthday!! And I love your beautiful embroideries! I, too, will come back to look more. xo Kari

meri said...

Hope you've had a great Sunday!
Sixteen is beautiful! :)))))
xx