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 1, 2012

gathering....





I am in no way devoid of inspiration or ideas. My head is racing with so many new projects, directions I wish to take, fear of change, desire for 'new' ventures. Normally if I am creatively barren I get stuff out...random stuff, old work, some sketchbooks, maybe a book or two, magazines even. This gathering however has been born of excitement...not a lack of creativity. I am so very excited about the new course I am preparing at the moment and in order to continue with that I wanted to look at embroidery, look at embroidery purely for the pleasure of it. So out came the boxes and the files and some things drew me more than others. I have been reading too, reading old research papers and I have been so inspired by old quotes, that in their re discovery have become new and newly inspirational.
One especially will probably become my focus for some time,

''from the newborns swaddling to the corpses shroud......humanity is wrapped in cloth.''
copyright D. Ward 2004

A little profound? well maybe but it feeds me, it drives me...
The fear comes from a desire to change my blog...that seems trivial after the last paragraph but is actually very, very scary....I don't want to lose any of this blog, it has served me well for years and has been so good to me. I can export this one to the new one apparently but as my finger hovers over the ''export'' button my hand doesn't move.....
help.....advice...experience.....any of those would be so very welcome.


I AM GETTING TONS OF MAIL TO DO WITH SOME MAILING LIST...IF YOU GET ONE TOO I DID NOT SEND IT...HOW CAN I STOP IT?????

I have just set up a new facebook page for online learning...please pop over and ''like'' it....but only if you do ''like it''!!

14 comments:

Jane said...

I enjoyed looking at your gatherings.

Elizabeth said...

Sorry, can't help you with this one but I sure am curious about all your new plans.

Mosaic Magpie said...

I am not sure it is related, but...when I looked at the first photo, my first thought was Angels Wings. Go for it, my girl, spread your wings and soar.
Deb
We are often sorry for things we have done....but, we are more sorry for the things we didn't do.

Iceni UK said...

be brave, press the export button Karen, all will be well.

New Year, New Beginnings, Newly Inspired YOU... can't wiat to see what you have NEW for us.

Wrap yourself in the knowledge that your friends will follow your blog.

Suztats said...

It all sounds exciting! I love the gathering photos, the promise of new adventures, and new projects.
Change is always scary, but without change we cannot grow......
Hugs

Yvonne Moxon said...

Karen your pictures are tempting me to get out all those pieces that I need to collate and make into something I can admire and use. Im not sure why you want to move/change your blog but dont be afraid of change it's a part of life....just dont forget to tell me where your going I would hate to miss out :)
I dont always comment...life gets in the way but Im always reading x

monika@mysweetprairie.ca said...

mmm Nice! So what did you do to your cheesecloth? Are those your flowers on it or is that a found piece?

Karen said...

found? found? my flowers, definitely....all mine....

Peggy Holt said...

I love that quote..."humanity is wrapped in cloth". And the "cloth" is not only textiles...it is the cloth of love, the tapestry of friendships, the weavings of relationships.

May you know that you are wrapped in the cloth of admiration from a cyber friend.

I don't see how you could improve on this blog site, it is so easy to read, and informative, but one thing I have seen is keeping the old blog, but putting a link to the new one. Don't know how that works or if it is of interest,.....

deanna7trees said...

there is a way to copy this blog and save it, in case it is lost. i have never done it but if you google it, you can probably find how it's done.

stitchinglife said...

I took a very deep breath before pressing the 'export' button to move from blogger to wordpress, and it was all just fine and I was astonished. However, I have no idea what to do if it all goes horribly wrong. I wasn't particularly attached to my blog when I moved it, so wouldn't have been heartbroken if it didn't work. This probably isn't really very helpful. Good luck!

Helena said...

A pleasure to see all that white.

jill said...

Feel the fear and do it anyway, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose.....................
fingers crossed good luck......................runs away and hides in case it all goes wrong

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Oh my - changing blog? Yikes!! Please let us know when you plan to push the final button and we'll all be ready to duck if there's a black cloud from your direction. I'm scared and I'm not the one even contemplating such a thing!