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







Thursday, November 11, 2010

white.....

White, don't you just love it. This is the next section for my throw. I actually measured this piece, enough randomness, if I continued making the sections by guesswork they would eventually stop fitting together. So this section is 9 x 7 inches, I need another piece the same size, then I will fit one of the hexagon pieces in and see where we are at that point. On this piece I have used some gorgeous lace from the corner of a hanky and a tiny piece of eyelet trim. I ordered 2 metres of this trim online and it never arrived so I contacted the seller and she kindly let me have a piece around 10 inches long. That was all that was left and as it is vintage alas I can have no more. The package still hasn't arrived, I ordered in July, so I fear I will never have any more of this. It is the trim which is hanging to the left of the buttons on the picture above. Isn't it beautiful? so delicate. You will be pleased to hear that I have stopped crying. I have the facebook gadget I wanted but yes, the gobbledegook remains at the top of the page. That is there for one reason only....fear. It was removing that which led to the near destruction of this blog last time so I await the arrival of courage and bravery before I try again. Or perhaps I should leave it there forever as a reminder to everyone else not to mess around with html codes...

So....plans? Well at the moment I have a man in the house taking away a small section of a wall which was showing signs of damp. Now this section is around 3 foot square, miniscule in comparison to the area of a whole house... why then is there dust everywhere, muck all over, disruption at every turn, My nerves can't stand it, truly I am on the edge so I am hiding in my dining room doing this and counting very slowly to ten whilst taking very deep breaths...
When that particular nightmare is over I need to join this white piece to my throw and add the hexagon section. BUT....christmas presents........I MUST piece together a cushion and start making my gifts, it's creeping up on us you know and I also have to send off the scrappy bits of cloth to my winners, yes, sorry girls I haven't done it yet!!!

21 comments:

Hello there! My name is June said...

This is absolutely lovely!

Lois Evensen said...

Ah, back to white. So beautiful.

Yes, I understand the construction in the house and how it disrupts everything. We've had the master bath and kitchen redone. Now the daughter's bath on the third floor is under construction. At least we are far enough along so she can use it instead of ours. ;) Perhaps it'll be finished soon so we can clean and dust again and it'll stay clean for awhile.

Hugs,
Lois

deanna7trees said...

ohhh so delicate and beautiful. you know just how to put things together. Is that scrim looking background piece something you embroidered? I was thinking of starching some scrim, putting it on a frame, doing some needle lace on it and then washing it to make it soft. will have to make time to try that.

Elizabeth said...

Back to white and what a stunning piece it is. Love the pale pink little ones on your white.

Good luck with the reconstruction, stay in hiding until it is done.

Suztats said...

Love that white! It is a fresh breath of air that fills my lungs. Gorgeous!

sylviesgarden said...

I really cannot wait to see it all put together.
It is amazing how much muck, dust and filth you can get from building works. Hope it all settles soon.
x

Jane said...

Beautiful. Love the buttons too

- Rekkehuset - said...

It is so beautiful!

Heartwideopen said...

All of that beautiful lace, cutwork, and embroidery. You're "back to white" is gorgeous. I also love the buttons on there!

;~) Debi

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous! It's astonishing that you have managed to make such beautiful pieces with the house in chaos!

Michala Gyetvai (Kayla coo) said...

The lace and embroidery combination is exquisite.x

Anonymous said...

That is just SO beautiful.
Haven't even thought about Christmas yet. I must start...

Storycloth said...

oh yes! So beautiful and I understand, as I'm sure we all do, the refuge of cloth. I take refuge here with your work as I am taken back to the wonderful anticipation and joy of feather stitching white batiste baby clothes for my children. Gilly

Victoria said...

This makes me think of a gorgeous heirloom, lovingly and protectively passed on from generation to generation.

Magpie's Mumblings said...

I don't suppose I've ever mentioned how much I like your white work? Exquisite is the word that comes to mind most often when I come to your blog. Just out of curiosity - have you ever thought of doing a book?

CJ STITCHING AND BLOOMS said...

Hello Karen, WOW I love your throw, the lace is truly beautiful. Hugs Judy

Jackie said...

Ooh the gobbledygook. Its fascinating how did it get there?
This is a lovely soft soothing post. White..my favourite of yours.

- Rekkehuset - said...

Hello Karen,
The fabric with the elephants are nor from Svensk Tenn. This is a japanese cotton (Etsy). Svensk Tenn is of a much higher quality and with bigger elephants (lovely fabric).

meandering pearl said...

this filled my heart so beautifully today!!! loveliest of thoughts

sylviesgarden said...

Hello my dear. I hope you are having a great weekend.
Will you please accept the Versatile Blogger Award that I would like to pass on to you?
x

Wendy said...

beautiful work as ever. Is that hundreds of french knots around the edge of the trim?? I can't make mine look like that.
I understand the building works all too well, they've been going on for about 3 years in my house now!