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, February 27, 2008

Etsy Again!!.........and EARTHQUAKE survival!!

I was home alone last night. Laying in bed reading about 1 a.m. Now I am always a bit edgy when I am home alone at night, call me a wuss, whatever. So it didn't go down too well when there was an awfully loud noise and the bed began to shake and drop! I sat bolt upright in bed, grabbed my mobile phone and wondered how many people were trying to smash their way into the house. As I sat listening, waiting for the burglar to make his way up my creaky stairs, nothing, total silence. I considered the possibility that I was finally going insane and had imagined the whole thing, eventually falling asleep to wake up and discover I had survived an earthquake! Read about it here.
Lately, on earthquake free days, I have been REALLY busy. I am currently damp stretching the first part of my latest cloth. Whilst that is doing its work I have added a couple of things to the shop. A brooch with a cutwork section showing part of a vintage transfer,




another brooch with vintage lace which I have added embroidery to,

and a cute pincushion, again cutwork, this time revealing vintage fabric with vintage fabric backing.



The next time I post I will be 100. Can you imagine that, 100 posts. I cannot believe it has come round so quickly. For the occassion I am going to have some kind of giveaway. I haven't decided what I am going to giveaway yet, but check back to find out. I really must mark the occasion because I am so happy I started this blogging journey. I have met some fantastic people and had a great time. Thankyou all so much. xx


6 comments:

Ulla said...

Good to hear you are OK. Earthquakes apparently are not very usual in your part of the world, so it must have been really scary. - I love the new pieces!

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad you survived the earthquake! They are so scary - we live on a fault - and had a huge earthquake - well, huge to me, about 7 years ago. It was a 6.0 quake and my chandelier and pot rack were swinging like crazy! Luckily we didn't have any damage but the old buildings in town did. Last week there was a 6.2 quake close to where my mom lives - it really shook her up! Love your new work - as always, it inspires me...but after a quake like you had my hands would be shaking too hard to even thread a needle! Nan

Alyssa Thomas said...

wow, all of these are beautiful. I'm so glad I found your blog (via flickr).

natural attrill said...

Hi Karen,
I just found your blog thru penguin & fish.
I am an illustrator,(www.omniadesigns.com) but I blog with my son Toby about the things he makes, mostly jewellery, but also knits and sews. We live in Todmorden, wonder if its anywhere near you?
I found the earthquake scarey, never felt a building move like that before.
You have some lovely work, especially like the little button brooches.
Penny.

Anonymous said...

You should read more books in bed . That´ll relax you a bit.

Andrew from Swindon

Deb said...

hello karen. thanks for the lovely comment. i will put your blog as a link up on mine if thats ok. i have some experimental machine stitching if you want to have a look in my older posts-robot stitching and some cross stitching. i would strongly say just pick up a pencil and draw what you see. dont worry about it looking realistic at all-just draw how you want to draw. i dont draw particularly well but i just draw how i like. go for it! dx.