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







Feedback from Online Learning

With many thanks to ''my girls''. Having such amazing people working alongside me has been a pleasure and a privilege.

Karen,
Thank you for all that you have done to make this an experience I shall never forget.
In a way I wish my cloth reflected your style of embrodiery. I am a big fan of all that you do in embroidery.
I will try to make the next piece along the lines of your beautiful work......can't promise though, my needle has a mind of it's own and takes the thread into a different direction. :)
From now on each time I look at my cloth, I will remember you all and the happiness of being part of a great class of 2011. 


So thank you Karen for all your work and love of sewing which we can all feel - and I can tell from all the comments that we now have this love too, even if we didn't before. 



This is definitely an experience I won't forget, it has got more personal as time has gone on 
Thank you Karen, and to all the others in the group for your support, suggestions and encouragement.



 I wanted to say a big thank you to Karen for her instructions. This is the first 'on line' anything I have done but it wont be the last. I have enjoyed it very much and have found the work done by all of the other participants to be most inspiring. 


This was my first online class as well and it was a wonderful experience. In some ways I think this method of learning was better than an in person class as we all had the best seat for viewing Karen's demonstrations and can learn at our own pace. 


Well, add me to the list of online class "virgins". It sure was a positive experience. I am so inspired by the instruction from Karen and the creativity of all of my fellow students. Thank you, Karen, and everyone for a great experience. 
I get up every morning and look forward to seeing if anyone has posted something new and checking out Karen's blog. What a great way to start the day


I basically joined your online class because I had followed your blog for a while and was wowed by your work. I simply wanted to understand why and how you made the beautiful work that you do. But now I'm hooked on embroidery for myself and how I might incorporate it into my own work. Thank you for giving me a taste of what you love to create.