inspired by.......

My text/patchwork/embroidered/white silk piece remains ongoing, more text has been embroidered and damp stretched and is waiting to be cut up and ''auditioned'' as so aptly and amusingly put by Mary Anne. Yes I like that phrase used in this context, thankyou! I wanted to share this with you today though. I am always searching for new ideas, going over old research, old sketchbooks, always feeling that there's more, something else, something different. Paper is not instinctively my ''cloth'' of choice yet I have used it a lot in the past. Mostly as a way of adding ''something else'' to my design work at UNI. For one particular module I used paper exclusively, creating wall art by pricking, embossing and stitching onto heavyweight water colour paper. Many hours and a lot of sore fingers later I achieved one of my highest marks ever. So why don't I use it more often? Because my instinct is always to reach for cloth and a needle and thread. However.....I have had a few enquiries about my little books of embroidery and why there aren't any available. Although I love them they can be a pain, literally. The thought of standing and cutting all those mounts that cover fraying edges fills me with dread, memories of aching to end all aching. No problem cutting pages, none at all, just the tiny window mounts and they take such a long time you wouldn't believe it. So the quest? To find a ground for stitch that doesn't fray negating the need for window mounts, yes, you have it, paper. The blue and white embellished paper you see here is from an ongoing sketchbook, (Rachel, these are some of my torn transfers) this piece was created about a year ago. The embroidered cloth? That's a wonderful starched vintage piece that doesn't fray (yipee) and has such a beautiful surface that it almost feels like paper.The next piece, again from my ongoing sketchbook, has finer paper that has been machine stitched creating a lace like structure. This has then been added to patchwork hexagons, (now there's a suprise!!) So where am I going with all this? I am going on a mission to make books, different books, hopefully books that have been taken in a completely new direction. The plan is that they will be just as lovely as the other ones, equally as intriguing and hopefully just as inspiring.

Don't worry though, I intend to finish my ongoing panel of embroidery on silk before I set off on my new treck but first my brain is in such a jumble that I have lists to make. Lists that I will probably lose but isn't that what they're for!!

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