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







Thursday, November 6, 2008

Darkness, winter and slow progress.

There aren't many pictures today, sorry. My intention was to leave the next post until the weekend but I was suffering terrible withdrawals and wanted you to know that I am busy making, slowly, but I am making. On top of that it is almost black outside by the time I get home from work, not the best for taking photos. I was trying to remember how I tackled the issue of poor light last winter, then I remembered I was home all day then and could take photos at any time, no such luxury now I'm afraid. Having said all that I am not going to complain, I love winter, it's my favourite time of year. My favourite thing about it is the dark. I absolutely always prefer the dark to light, I cannot bear the main light on in any room and huff and puff until the offender switches it off. (if you are wondering how I manage to embroider in the dark, I have a strategically placed anglepoise lamp nearby)
Anyway, back to the progress, I am getting the petals appliqued to a piece of linen. At the rate of approximately six an evening this will take some time....patience is a virtue they tell me! (the mustard stitch visible here is tacking, not some kind of artistic statement.)
I have been sorting through my embroidery threads looking for a matching red to embellish the applique. At the moment the card in the foreground is in the lead but I'm not 100% convinced and may have to buy some more.

And I have also been packaging orders from the etsy shop, including this jar pincushion. Now that christmas is almost here I am hoping to see more traffic passing through that little part of my empire!!




I hope to be back at the weekend, I miss you!! Truly I do!

8 comments:

Gina said...

I love your petals. I struggle to sew when it gets dark without every available light on, which drives my husband mad! So instead I knit or crochet in the evening to the soft light of lamps!

Michala Gyetvai (Kayla coo) said...

I love the gingham against the open weave fabric.
Great textures.
I just got home in time today after school to take some pictures but the light is so weak.

Jane said...

This is going to be a lovely textural piece. The pincushion is gorgeous. I enjoy the winter, love coming in and closing the curtains and snuggling in for the night

Threadspider said...

I do work with a lamp on in winter but it plays hell with my eyes. Give me a bright summer day anytime. I love the gingham red.Such a comforting fabric.

Jackie said...

So how do you get a decent photo in the dark?
I have just finished soemthing for someone and want to send a photo so I can post it tomorrow.

méri said...

Good work in progess!
Oh! I love light!!! Not the hot weather, but I love the sunshine!
These days I miss the sun (i don't miss you because you are here, we know)

Jacky said...

Hi Karen, yes patience is a virtue (they say !!!). It is very time consuming your work, but sooo beautiful!
I know how you must be feeling about missing the sunlight to take your photos though. Because I work I found it hard through winter to get good photos. In the end I just waited until the weekend to take pics and then posted after the weekend (worked for me, and now the days are longer I am still posting after the weekend, as it is when I get time to sit and "play").
Great post, and I really love that red gingham.

Diane Cransac said...

Ah the never ending demand for a matching thread *grin* I have almost the complete DMC collection and may another varous thread on hand and still spend so much time trying to find the perfect color. But OH! the satisfaction when we find it eh?