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







Tuesday, May 15, 2012

seams....




We're working on seams in class...edges. I have been taking pictures of wrapping cloths next to toe wraps...colour next to white. What a contrast. The white is current, from now, yesterday, last week. The colour and pattern feel like a life time ago although it is only months. Measuring time in embroidery, a practice from which I am sure the world would benefit. and? if I counted, I wonder how many rouleau loops and prairie points I would have made over the past six months?

12 comments:

Tatkis said...

Adorable! You certainly have fun :)

Hugs,
Tatyana

Iceni UK said...

A gorgeous mixture, they look so tactile that I want to touch them. :)

silk said...

Thanks, Karen, for these beautiful images. Your seams are an inspiration for someone like me who is still working on my wrapping cloth from one of your other classes. It's a reminder that beautiful seams are so important.

Jane said...

not to mention the knots! Isn't lovely to see them all together

deanna7trees said...

so beautiful placed alongside each other.

Suztats said...

I love the third pic with all the wonderful white at the top, then bits of colour, and back to more white. Those red and white striped circles caught my eye. scrumptious!

dandelion said...

Oh that middle picture just makes me want piles of cloths with lovely seams just like that to pile around the house in beautiful piles!

Kate x

The Crafty Mugwump said...

Not just the seams karen - all those delicious folds that make me want to peep under each one. Beautiful work that must be a joy to arrange!

Annet said...

Beautiful! Did I spot a piece of selvage in the first photo?

Yvonne Moxon said...

Beautiful! can I have them all just to sit and look at and ponder over . . .

Janice / Dancing with Sunflowers said...

I don't know what the collective noun is for embroidery. Certainly not 'a gaggle'! But this is delicious. And I am 100% with you on the measurement of time by embroidery - as a step towards world peace. :D

Rachel said...

So many beautifully embellished edges!
Maybe the collective noun for a lot of Karen's embroidery is "a ruffle"?