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







Saturday, April 30, 2011

two down.....twenty eight to go...

Yes that's right...two down. I made the first one last year before my crisis of confidence appeared and my inadeqaucy monster reared its ugly head. I give you the second finished piece of my new collection...third one underway as of last night. Completely different, white on white going on, piecing and edges going on...coming along a treat...for the big reveal next time. Back to this one...ruched section, flat section. On the flat section a little applique and small touches of hand stitch. Quite nice me thinks but Oh to be Sarah Burton....
I returned from London very late thursday night. Didn't stay for the wedding I hear you ask?? Well no, better view on the T.V. and boy did I utilise my T.V. I was glued all day, loved every minute of it. It was amazing and so beautiful......as for London...I had an amazing time. I took lots of pictures honestly I did. I took them on my phone, my new Blackberry and now I can't find the disc so that I can download them to my computer. I will turn the place upside down this week because I really want to show you. There were flags and bunting and everything and does anyone know the whereabouts of Ben Affleck this past week? I am pretty sure he was on the Thames Clipper ship with me and my little girl...
It seems to be taking me a while to get back in the swing of things since my trip. I feel like I want to clean....I feel like I MUST do some sorting out, can't find anything (disc included) I have bought some gorgeous cloth and things recently that I want to be able to just put my hands on when I need them rather than hunting high and low hence the need to sort out and get organised. Today I must print more books as I have had a little run on them this past week, there are blogs to catch up on, e-mails to answer and then there is the ironing.....you get my drift. Fourty hour days needed here...

13 comments:

Amy Friend said...

Blue and white and lots of details. What's not to love?

deanna7trees said...

lovely piece, your blue and white. Kate had some beautiful lace appliqued on her gown. it was difficult to see on the tv. it looked like just white cloth but i now know it was layered with lace above and below. there was an article i sent to my lace guild. imagine the pressure on Sarah Burton.
sounds like you had good fun in London.

Joanna said...

Has your computer got bluetooth, if so you can use that to "talk" to your phone and download the pictures that way. That's how I get my photos off my phone.

Jane said...

If you're in the mood, I can send you my ironing to do, and there's only half the house to clean, I did the rest this morning.

Juat been reading some of the details on the making of the dress, those women must have had some patience, but it was well worth it

Elizabeth said...

Good to have you back again with all this bubbling energy. With Ben Affleck on the Thames Clipper, be careful you might end up in the tabloids!!!! (haha) Love your pieces but that is nothing new and the need of fourty hour days that is something I am looking for. So if you happen to find that miracle please share it.

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

Jan said...

I was glued to my TV all day wasnt it wonderful ?,I didnt sew either though I should I have lots to do ,as for ironing well ..yano.....love Jan xx

Helena said...

It's lovely!
Happy sunday.

Linda Carole Bloom said...

I watched it, of course. I sang "God Save the Queen." (My ancestors are from England, Ireland and Scotland, so I felt I could.) The music! The horses!! The HATS!!

Wouldn't it be wonderful if they would publish a book in the Making of the Dress. I would love to see closeups of the handwork and history with photos of the women who worked on it. Even the shoes!

Love your new things - perfect, as usual. I hope you are able to get organized. I had an organizing attack two weeks ago - and moved my entire stash from my upstairs closet to downstairs where my sewing machine is. Found a LOT of stuff I forgot I had. Welcome back home - glad you had a good time. Love, Linda

Anonymous said...

Welcome back! Looks like the new collection is coming on a treat.

Carol Q said...

you sound full of beans Karen! another gorgeous piece of fabric in creation. I too would have loved a close up of Kate Middleton's dress so I could study how it was put together. A wonderfully organised ceremony it was too.

Anonymous said...

Delightful work - clearly the good time in London has been both fun and inspiring!

Tammie Lee said...

you really do sound busy
and as though you have had some good fun
this piece is absolutely divine!

Lois Evensen said...

It's so nice to see you here. The current work is gorgeous, as always. The wedding? We didn't make it either, but did manage to see it while floating around at sea. :) It was so lovely - so Disney. Oh, and Disney was the first sponsor as soon as commercial breaks began after a long period that was commercial free on Fox News. Lovely.

Hugs,
Lois