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







Wednesday, February 16, 2011

it reminds me of the seaside....sticks of rock and all that...

I don't know if I'm happy that this reminds me of the seaside. That is so far removed from the motivation behind my work that I wouldn't want to give the wrong impression...you may be expecting Punch and Judy next time you stop by!! The key to me liking this and I mean really liking it (because I do) is seeing it next to the other pieces of toe wrap two. It's kind of an addition and subtraction of red striped cloth!! One piece has stripes added by the use of applique, the other has stripes cut away in the form of cutwork with white lace behind.

I think it's nearly time to start ''properly'' joining these pieces together. I am still mulling over the rouleau loop issue. I definitely want them on this but will have to find larger pieces of cloth so that I can cut bias strips.  I may have enough of the ''bird'' fabric at a push and I think I can get more of the fine cotton lawn online so fingers crossed there will be a mass of rouleau loops, rouleau loops as far as the eye can see!!
Now I don't know if you saw it but there was quite a debate going on over at facebook last night about this blog. It started with me moaning (no change there then) about inconsistency of stats and trying so hard and feeling like I was getting nowhere. There were some good points made and a few tips given, thankyou to everyone who helped with things like settings etc. One thing that was raised though was the fact that one reader felt my blog took an age to load. Some say it doesn't for them but I would hate for it to be be a hassle for anyone coming here. So a question...how is it for you? Is it very slow? I'm not quite sure what I can do about it though. I have removed the lower toolbar, I have a suspicion that it may have contributed somehow but we shall have to wait and see. Otherwise I really don't think I have a lot of ''clutter'' on here..I think it's quite tidy and concise...do you??
(well apart from the rubbish at the top and I'm onto it)

19 comments:

Ingrid said...

i have no trouble at all
the red and white look great together

sebbie said...

It doesn't take very long for me. I do notice that the more picture heavy blogs are the longer they take to load but even so yours is pretty quick.

I love the red and white combination.

deanna7trees said...

reminds me of port holes on a ship--beautiful. as far as the loading of your blog-no problem for me. i think it depends on your internet provider and what type of service you get. there's dial-up which is the slowest and there are various speeds of broadband. not sure there is much you can do about that.

sylviesgarden said...

Hello Lovie, the Blackpool rock stripes look great, especially next to the other piece.
You blog isn't slow to load for me. I usually read your posts in Google reader then click to leave a comment. Now, though, my reader is only showing the 1st few lines.
I'm useless with stats and things.
x

Patchwork Linda said...

Very quick for me to join you,your white always looks so crisp and clean,beautiful.

Jane said...

I've never had any problem with it loading either.
All these pieces tie in together really well, not tacky seaside at all, but definitely feel good summer seaside!

Elizabeth said...

No trouble what so ever to stop by at your place.

The red and white stripes are very beachy, in my opinion but than I love the beach.

Karen Larko said...

No problem here. Love looking at your work.

Suztats said...

No loading problems for me, either.
Love the red stripes and how you've done the complements on each material. I see the beach....but no rocks and sticks, mostly wee kids playing in the sand, bikinied beach babes, and one hunkin' tanned lifeguard.......

Brenda T said...

I love red ! I love your work! :) Everyday since I found your blog and website I have followed your progress. I live across the pond in Canada and have not seen such beautiful work anywhere here. No loading problems your blog for me. I purchased one of your Embroidery books and I must say that was the fastest delivery ever!! Thank you. Are the embroidery books you are working on sample journals?

Karen said...

Brenda, thanks so much for this amazing comment. I am so pleased you like your book and that it got there quickly!! The books I am working on now are mini sketchbooks, sketchbooks for the buyer to fill. They will be similar to this one,
http://www.etsy.com/transaction/32473594

Helena said...

Hollidays!!! That's what it reminds me.
Kisses.

Joanna said...

Not too bad for me either but then again Latvia does have a better internet than much in the UK so I am led to believe. I must admit to breaking all the rules of blogs, too long, only once a week but I am consistent and "met", some lovely folks through it, so I don't care too much

Love the stripes, reminds me of old-fashioned deck chairs in the sun. Your last one reminded me of Spring and this one of Summer, so is the next one going to take on an autumnal tone?

Terri in BC said...

I love your site and your embroidery - it makes me want to attempt it!

I have no problems loading your blog, but yours is the only one that has 4 rows of code at the very beginning of the page (I suspect it's something my internet is not reading). I do appreciate you taking the bar off the bottom, I can see more at once now. Otherwise, I wouldn't change a thing! (Personally, I'm finding in this age of instant gratification, there isn't a lot of patience or tolerance for more than a second or two of delay).

Thanks again for your beautiful blog! terri in BC, Canada

Carrie said...

I've never had a problem loading your blog. I like the red stripes - it reminds me of the seaside, but I'm not entirely sure why - I can't remember the last time I went to a beach and saw red stripes there! It looks very fresh and spring-like.

Lois Evensen said...

While on land with a normal connection I have no problem at all loading your blog. It's great and I like it the way it is....

While at sea (which is so much of my life) I am unable to load anyone's blog via satellite or it times out so I just wait until I am in a US port and have my Verizon connection to come visiting. :)

Magpie's Mumblings said...

It loads fine for me too Karen. Your mention of the seaside and stripes made me think of the really old-fashioned bathing suits. Fun image in my mind!

Sheeprustler said...

Gorgeous! It reminds me of a Dr Who episode where Romana was wearing Edwardian clothes and the Dr was singing I Do Like To Be Beside the Seaside. That might not be effect you were after...

Anonymous said...

It loads pretty well for me, although anything with as many pictures as your pages might be a little slow for people on a shared connection.