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







Monday, October 17, 2011

colour....






I have been doing a little work on toe wrap two. I had forgotten how much I adore the fine cotton lawn, the floral cloth in these pictures. It is quite hard to enhance with stitch though as it is such a 'busy' pattern so it tends to get a lot of attention with white.
The white piece in here, that was me kind of doodling with my needle. I had hoped it would improve my thought process and I think it worked. Now I feel as if I want to give it away, otherwise it will be staring at me saying get me finished, expand me, make me into something amazing. That would be far too distracting. It's good news for you though as you can expect to see this later in the week transformed into some kind of give away...now if I added a blue edge it would make a fine floor rag...hmmmmm.
Do you remember my sketchbook pages from last week? Well I have been asked to make a video about those. I am pondering again. Would that be OK with you? You know how much I love the sound of my own voice, maybe I need to wean myself off it? We shall see, addiction is addiction.......
Finally, my button girls are so amazing that I have to share with you,,,so much talent. Pop over here to our flickr group and have a look at what they've done....I fear I may soon be redundant....who needs me to teach them embroidery? Not these girls that's for sure.

16 comments:

Tatkis said...

Beautiful!!

Hugs,
Tatyana

Flaming Nora said...

I really like the heart shaped thingies. Are you going to show up how to do them? Or should I just try and work it out. Not that I'm being very productive!
Both pieces look fantastic.

Jane said...

I do love that white piece, did from the minute I saw it in an earlier post/video somewhere

Doreen G said...

You become reduntant Karen--I don't think so.
We all need you to encourage us so that one day we may be heading in the same direction as you.

deanna7trees said...

a new video is always a treat.

Anonymous said...

Love your "doodling"!

Suztats said...

I love the lawn and the bright color it brings....makes your delicious whites stand out even more!

Joanna said...

A talented group indeed, lovely work

Mosaic Magpie said...

The button group has done some amazing work! Yes, please do a video of your sketch book. Please include your thought process and the inspiration.
Deb

Elizabeth said...

NEW VIDEO?

!
!! YES !!
!

Emmy said...

so so so very beautiful

Calypso Flowers said...

I'm intrigued by the name of the object: "toe wrap". It doesn't quite seem to match the beauty and intricacy of the work. Have I missed something ?

Sheeprustler said...

Crap, I;m giving up now. Was going to post a couple of pics on Thursday but now I feel inadequate.

Linda Carole Bloom said...

I love all the buttons!

Karen said...

Calypso...toe wrap came about because I was making a lap throw for myself and I said it would be used to keep my feet warm...hence 'toe wrap'.

Magpie's Mumblings said...

A FLOOR RAG??? I think not!! Good heavens girl - you need to stand back and take a good long look at your work and realize that it belongs in an art gallery. Now I'm off to check out the latest button creations...