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, June 3, 2011

small.....

Yes I can! I can make things that don't take forever and then some..This piece is quite small yet I haven't skimped on the embellishment. It has ruched muslin with French knots. It has appliqued silk with vintage embroidery transfers. It has cotton cloth with utility stitches. It has a scrap of  vintage domestic cloth, folded and embroidered with knots and cross stitch...it's lovely!!



It is now residing here and meanwhile I am working on another piece. I am having so much fun. It's amazing what you can achieve by merely ruching a piece of muslin and letting your fingers go mad! The next one won't be the same, oh no! It will have ruched muslin as the starting point but if I say I need to make a tiny pocket? Yes it will be completely different.

19 comments:

Jane said...

love the blue. Glad to hear you're having fun

Gina said...

These are all fabulous! I will have to come back when I'm less busy and study them. So creative!

Doreen G said...

What treasures you have made here Karen love-love-love them.

Montreat Designs said...

Karen, this is great! I have been fooling around with a tiny project the last few nights that is for a groom's best man to keep the ring in before handing it over during the ceremony. Will share that with you soon! Have to pull the dreaded sewing machine out. I am in love with the mix of textures you chose. Great artistry!

deanna7trees said...

the second picture made me think of boats floating on waves of water. lovely.

connie said...

Karen, this is perfect! It has an incredible feel! It sounds like you are on a roll and loving it. Congratulations, Happy Stitching!

letrecivette said...

Your hamd are..magic!
Nice week-end!
monica

Tammie Lee said...

gorgeous!

Heartwideopen said...

Ahhh, this is so lovely and the epitome of the feminine. I love coming to your blog and seeing what you're up to. I fills my day with inspiration.

;-) Debi

Anonymous said...

Letting your hands go sane, I think, rather than mad... it's totally lovely.

Yvonne Moxon said...

It is indeed lovely!, I like the little touches of blue these is something very simple, fresh and lovely about muslin I love what you have created here.

Flaming Nora said...

Two words only this time. Sea scape.

fabriquefantastique said...

as usual, Karen, your enthusiasm shines through.

Suztats said...

oh, my! Love the little, love the blue, love the applique parts too!

Unknown said...

I love it!

Anonymous said...

It does seem that you are having fun - I'm so glad!

Anonymous said...

It IS lovely and the faded willow-pattern blue on white patches set off the textured ruching perfectly!

Elizabeth said...

After four days at the beach with the most gorgeous blue skies I am even more a blue girl than I ever was before.

Looking forward on how you will continue this serie of 'small' pieces.

Kira said...

I love the tiny hints of blue on this piece. Subtle and cute.