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, March 21, 2012

paper and stitch




More samples...small pieces, delicate pieces, fragile pieces. They all need a home therefore I need a book and I can't decide. Do I buy one? Do I make one? I am indecisive about so many things at the moment. It has been pretty hectic here for the last couple of days...hence my absence yesterday. Now it is quieter and it feels strange. Maybe I can only function amid chaos...I need to embroider but can't get the book out of my head and I don't have time to make one yet...maybe mount them all on sheets to put in a book later? That just came to me whilst I was typing, yep just now. It definitely helps to talk it over.....thanks!
Some time later today or maybe tomorrow I am going to start my final piece, a piece of work that will reflect my sampling and be a cloth in its own right.......I am excited!

12 comments:

Janice / Dancing with Sunflowers said...

You're very welcome, Karen. I'm so pleased to have been of help! Mounting on sheets to put in a book later it is then! :)
These little fragments are all beautiful, by the way, and worthy of exquisite presentation!
xx

Flaming Nora said...

Karen are you going to run this class again?
I'm feeling increasingly miffed that I'm not taking part. Which is silly because I couldn't. But who needs logic anyway.

deanna7trees said...

i keep playing with all my samples but haven't put any together yet. most of mine will go in a book as well...for future inspiration.

Suztats said...

I love those frothy fragments with the touch of colour! Wonderful!

Jane said...

A books sounds good, and I'm looking forward to the final piece

barbara l. hale said...

Beautiful swatches. Looking forward to your next piece.

Peggy Holt said...

Ohhhhh. I can see why you are excited. Your work certainly excites me!

Paper and stitch....what a magnificent combination.

Carol Q said...

wonderfully delicate Karen. looks like they could float away on the breeze.

Rachel said...

Lovely delicate fragments, Karen!

Lynda said...

More truly inspiring pieces of art. It will definitely be a book to treasure.

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Looking at the first picture made me think of lying flat on my back looking for pictures in the clouds. This time I 'saw' a lovely elephant!

Tina said...

Karen, as always, your work is beautiful and it really needs a beautiful book. I love the idea of mounting them on paper and creating something later, but for me later will not come, so I vote for finding a book to purchase. But that is just me!

Love the work!