02/15/2014
I made more....
Yes, I made more cloth, cloth that I can cut up, cloth that will no doubt find its way into these ledgers at some point. I may make more......I am tempted. It is relaxing to make. Your mind can wander.
The first piece I made is here, bits cut off. The new piece has yet to be separated from its background.........later.
I'm struggling for something to say today............can you tell?
(SS3...video tomorrow xxx)
02/14/2014
Lace....
I am still working on the embroidered lace piece, making good progress and loving having this on my lap, planning additions, thinking about how to move it forward. I added some of this cloth yesterday and it seems as if it was created for this very purpose as it fits so well. One of the images is annotated to indicate the area of the white addition and it is also very clear in the top image just below my name.
The seam where I added the textured silk a few days ago has now been embellished with bullion knots and there are clusters of French knots in that area too. I have quite some way to go with this until it's finished, more knots, more inserts. I may even create more of the white cloth just in case....or just because I want to.
02/13/2014
finishing off
Things are nearing completion over in SS3. Well I say that but there is still quite a lot of titivating to do on this. It will take a few more videos for class before I can finally say it's finished but the end is in sight....not that I'm in any particular hurry but technically we finish tomorrow. It's not going to happen, we will run into next week. I don't mind, I just hope they're not getting sick of me!
I hope you can get a sense from these images of the amount of surface embroidery on this piece. There are layers and layers of silk, lace, lace cloth which I made myself. There are bullion knots, French knots, running stitches. There is pleating and tying and folding. More tying, more stitching, backing, lining all need to be added. Hooks and eyes will most likely make an appearance. There is a paper piece to consider which will live with this too....phew....I'm exhausted......in a good way.
What next? Who knows. Simply Stitch 4 will begin with simple exercises and I will take it from there....
There is a reminder for you here.....
***you do not need to have participated in any of my previous online learning programmes in order to take part in simply stitch four. There are no prerequisites for simply stitch four.***
=============================================
Simply stitch 4 has no deadlines, no set tasks. Groups which are
formed through my online learning programmes are communities, friendly,
interactive, supportive communities. It is my hope that each individual
course takes place within a relaxed, informal and ''comfortable'' online
environment.
You are welcome to dip and and out of our experience as and when it is convenient for YOU. Access is permanent....forever.
==============================================
Access to a private
blog with regular, minimum twice weekly blog posts which will be
created specifically for this group included. These posts will NOT
appear on my public blog, they will be exclusive to this group. Video
posting fortnightly minimum.
==============================================
Commencing Monday February 24 for SIX MONTHS Simply stitch 4, a gathering of cloth and embroiderers is my latest online learning programme born from a desire to get ''back to basics'', hand stitch at it's purest. This online creative experience will take the form of a very relaxed and gentle gathering of cloth and embroiderers, those who have an affinity with handling cloth, working with cloth. We will gather together and embroider, I will discuss my plans, my inspiration, the preparation and creation of embroidered cloth. I will demonstrate technique and process throughout. I can guarantee that there will be embroidery, embellishment, manipulation of cloth. I will share thoughts along with the more tangible sources which drive me. I will doodle, you will be encouraged to do the same.
It is my hope that you bring your own work along with you, to share and discuss with the group. We will guide and support each other, sharing tips and process, a gathering of girls for ''online'' afternoon tea.
You are welcome to continue and /or begin your own projects within the forum of this class. You are also welcome to observe and plan work around the pieces I create. If you do not wish to embroider then that is fine too. You can just follow along with us as I record my personal, creative process. You will be given access to me, my day, my embroidery with demonstration, discussion and instruction throughout.
*** There are no deadlines. There are no set tasks. This is an informal and relaxed process which is purely concerned with enjoyment and companionship.***
Video will be hosted on our private pasword protected blog and there will be a dedicated flickr group where you can upload images and interact with your peers by means of private discussion.
To register go here
02/12/2014
extending
I am tidying edges on the lace piece, neatening. On one edge I have added some textured silk cloth which I bought in New York. At first glance it perhaps doesn't fit. A little solid maybe? I'm not worried.....not because I am being cavalier or flippant but because it will be titivated, titivated in a way that will allow it to live here. I will show you I promise. I am in the process of finishing some things over in SS3 that aren't really doable of evening so this will be my evening project for a few days. I am hoping it progresses in an obvious way otherwise I will spend every day asking you to trust me that it's different.
I'll tell you something that was different for a short time today. My kitchen decor. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to almost throw a cup of coffee across the worktop resulting in a rather pretty, coffee coloured 'splatter' pattern across two walls and numerous cupboard fronts. It would have cost me a fortune to commission an interior designer to produce such a unique pattern. The bonus was the wet, coffee smelling soaked socks........happy days....
02/11/2014
again....
Yes, ledgers again. I do apologise but honestly, trust me, if I didn't put this on here you would be bored rigid. Yes, more so than you are looking at ledger pages I suspect. The only other thing I have to show is white, titivated white but samey white. You have seen it before, it doesn't look any different even though it is different. I fear I may not convince you that it has been worked on more. Same applies to this lace. Buttonhole edging has been added, it has, honest. Sometimes I have to look twice at something too, check that i did add to it. After a while it all morphs into a frothy, white space.
Several things are nearing completion over in SS3, they are coming together and hopefully will result in a fabulous new piece within the next week or so. This lace piece will get finished too. Then it's all things body bag and brain storming for SS4......I feel another list coming on.
02/10/2014
Monday.....
My
''to do'' list this Monday is humongous, yes that big. The most
important, pressing items are Simply Stitch related...number three
finishes this week, number four fast approaching. Then there are the
distractions of little ledgers, wrapping cross stitched silk around
piping cord and placing it on a titivated page. I can't disregard the
distractions, firstly because I have no self control but also because of
my default defence ....they inform. The future depends on the
distractions, the ideas that come from them. I'm not saying that one day
you will turn up here and see a piping cord and cross stitched silk
installation piece, no, I'm saying that one day you might arrive and
find a passable piped edge the idea of which may have passed me by
without this particular distraction taking place.
The next distraction will be painted with watercolours. I can see it already, it nags, it niggles, it can't be ignored.
02/09/2014
playing with white lace....
I've been playing with lace over in Simply Stitch 3. I have joined lace, embroidered lace....almost titivated lace to death and I'm not finished yet. So far there are bullion knots, French knots, buttonhole lace, a fair amount of layering, some cloth peeking through various open areas.....it's never ending.
Stand by for the next installment. Who knows what will have been added by then.
02/08/2014
snippets for a page....
These snippets, these offcuts are for a page or pages in a ledger. One page is finished except I can't decide whether I should doodle on it or not. Pencil? Paint? I think it probably does need something.....the thinking cap is on.
So far today I have cleaned a window, cleaned the bathroom, ironed one or two items of clothing, (of the male variety), made a video and taken these pictures. I now have an urge, a yearning to embroider. I hardly picked up any cloth yesterday....I miss it.
02/07/2014
three....
Three pieces, all different, one cloth, one thick paper, one thin paper. Three different processes of surface embellishment, rolled and flat. These will form a new piece. They will live together......they will. I'm determined.
02/05/2014
just ledgers....
Just a couple of little ledgers in progress today. These are being added to when I get five minutes to play. Sometimes a doodle, sometimes an image that may inspire, occasionally a little painting or even better some colouring in! I do try not to go out of the lines....
The cloth pieces, yesterdays white and the Liberty applique piece will find there way into one of these at some point. There's no point hankering to put a sample swatch into a ledger if you don't have any so that's why I made them...be prepared.
02/04/2014
cloth and doodles....
Old doodles, in a ledger, a background, one I made myself. I flick pages a lot, generally in a mindless, not thinking kind of way. I did that this morning and came across this. A light went on, a switch was flicked, a background was born. Reborn would probably be more accurate actually as I did this ages ago. Nevertheless...a background it is.
The white cloth here is a mishmash of various snippets, put together whilst the machine was out, a few scraps here and there, a couple of stitches, a damp stretch and voila. I don't really have time for such frivolity...Simply Stitch 3 finishes soon, (help!!) and I, as usual, am far from ready for that. I have tons, and tons of knots to stitch.....
02/03/2014
paper and cloth....
Old cloth, new paper. A long neglected wrapping cloth in progress, a new art piece also in progress. For now my focus is the paper based piece. The wrapping cloth? Soon....I hope. Later today I will work more on the paper piece and other sections which I hope will live happily alongside it. There is more paper in that mix, along with cloth. We shall see.....
Watching this video almost makes me want to put the computer away and go work in a factory....
02/02/2014
consistency, cohesion......or ''samey''....
Consistency, cohesion or samey? I asked myself that question a lot this morning. The embroidered piece here is ongoing, started in the last couple of weeks. The page from doodle doo was put together ages ago, can't remember precisely but a long time ago. I was looking for a backdrop to photograph the embroidery against and as I was flicking through the pages of samples in doodle doo I realised that any of them would fit with this cloth. Is that a bad thing? Does that mean my work is ''samey''? If it is ''samey'' is that a negative?
I could go on, I could say that if I completely changed my process, my materials, my inspirational sources than everything would change in a very noticeable way. But......do I want to, do I need to? My answer is no. I am happy with my process, my materials. So, my opinion? My work is my work. It shows. It is obvious it's my work. I like that. I am satisfied that I am growing creatively within my sphere of ''samey''. The definition of ''samey'' can be read as a negative. I am ignoring that. In my head it's a positive.
-
1.lacking in variety; monotonous.
02/01/2014
Liberty applique
Pretty pretty post today! Liberty fabric scraps appliqued onto some vintage cloth which was bought in London just before Christmas. It's a doodle really, a play, a little easy evening stitching. This will probably get cut up and put in a little ledger, another page.
You can also see glimpses here of a new tab which is taking shape for the body bag and this is calling me too......is it any wonder I am undecided as to what to do with the rest of my day?
01/31/2014
shades of white....
A piece of cloth which is evolving over in Simply Stitch Three. There is hand stitch, French knots and bullion knots which aren't clearly visible here, at least not as visible they are 'in the flesh'. I just laid it on an old, practically ancient ledger page. This page could almost be older than me even though I created it....yes, it's that old. I'm so pleased I kept it though.....
There is silk net on here too, being added as an afterthought if I am honest. I have pieces of it left from FME and I am loathe to discard it, instead I am in the process of draping it on here and securing it with French knot clusters.
This morning we had snow, the white stuff. That was a surprise....told you I was chittered! Now it's turned to rain, and lots of it.....therefore I intend to hide away, hermit fashion with my paints this afternoon just as soon as I have flicked my duster around for 30 seconds.
01/30/2014
gingham, a page
Another late night, ten minute exercise. I'm enjoying this. Needle and thread get put down when my eyes are tired and I spend ten minutes playing like this instead. It's win, win. The colours aren't meant to match the cloth. They are there to give an impression of the cloth, to look as if the two might live together happily at some point, perhaps as if they each evolved from the same starting point.
I want to apologise for yesterday. For saying I was chittered. It was rightly pointed out to me that compared to some parts of the world we are positively tropical. In my defence....I'm a wuss, can't deny it, hold my hands up. As my nanna would say...''tell the truth and shame the devil''.
01/29/2014
samples, a collection
Samples, silk, a colection all mounted in my ledger. Actually that's not strictly true, one of these is still in progress but belongs here because it was informed by the others....I am using cloth that I bought in New York for these samples and the piece that will hopefully result from them. The cloth is silk, in many forms, lace, patterned, pure beautifulness (is that even a word? It fits, that's good enough for me). I am terrified that I will run out and I am also aware that there will come a point when I don't have any left. I'm not crying....yet. There's not much chance of me popping over there to replenish for quite some time sadly.
Looking at these laid out like this makes me realise I'm not far from the final decisions regarding this, how the finished piece will be formed, the process I need to complete to get there. It helped putting them here so thank you!
Now I must go out, leave the house. Medication to deliver to a son in pain and Sewdish Kroner to collect for a birthday. It's freezing out there. I'm chittered at the very thought.
01/28/2014
hello body bag!!
Long time no see....wow. I had forgotten how completely and totally in love I am with this piece. It has been neglected for far too long. I have remorse....it knows. We have come to an understanding. The body bag, started in Simply Stitch One, continuing through Simply Stitch Two, Three and Four, most likely still a work in progress until Simply Stitch Ninety Nine.
Last night more was tacked together, later today another tab will be pieced. Seams will then require titivating and more muslin will have to be pleated. Love I tell you, love.
01/27/2014
cross stitch and a page
Blue and white, cross stitch, a page in a little ledger. Late at night when it's too early for bed but too late to embroider detailed pieces I have taken to picking up small things, doodling in ledgers, stitching simple things. These are last nights late night, pre bed time efforts.
I have had a love of blue and white for years. The link above takes you to my old blog. There's a lot more blue and white on there if you look at the bottom of the page, the labels, click blue and white, the evidence is there.
This morning I went out to buy paper and also bought a bottle of white ink and a bottle of blue ink. We shall see where that takes me.
01/26/2014
stitchery and doodles
Surfaces, doodles, embroidery, paper, silk. I've been playing with so many different things over the past couple of days...all good. I stitched on silk, on lace cloth, on paper. I doodled in a ledger, pen, pencil, a little stitch and some cut up watercolour painting.
I also watched this.......a lot.
No comments:
Post a Comment