cloth packages

Yesterday morning I had all this laid out on the table.....or should I say piled haphazardly on the table. I looked, I chose, I mixed and matched, I changed my mind a million times. I then folded neatly and voila....I now have these. (it wasn't easy to choose.....really, to decide on which pieces went where) 

Nine packets of embroidered and printed cloth.....that's ''morceaux de tissu broders et imprimes'' to those of you who aren't up on your French...and I include myself in that.

Today it's puffs, counting and packaging, mounting paperwork and packaging. My list is slowly getting ticked off...prepare yourself for more French.

- See more at: http://karenannruane.typepad.com/karen_ruane/#sthash.znG5orgy.dpuf

cloth and titivations

Yesterday afternoon....creating lace cloth on the sewing machine, measuring, pressing and marking silk and patterned cloth for buttons and Suffolk puffs. The buttons and Suffolk puffs were embroidered last night. I now have ingredients for goody bags.....not many goody bags as yet but it's a start. 

Other cloth pieces here are from my stash, my stash of things I have made, I have stitched or doodled and then had printed. If you have watched any of the videos posted on here about putting my little books together you will know that I embroider pieces of cloth, paint sheets of paper, doodle on paper in order to build a stock of pieces I can use in my artist books....just like in this video which I chose at random. Now that stash is coming in handy for goody bags.....who knew.

- See more at: http://karenannruane.typepad.com/karen_ruane/#sthash.EpG9RlJ4.dpuf

Auditioning cloth

I'm back. Did you miss me? No? Oh, ok then....I had a fabulous couple of days shopping and eating wonderful food in the company of my daughter. The only thing wrong with the trip was it didn't last long enough. Actually, no...there was something else wrong. My favourite ever, most wonderful, highlight of my trip vintage shop has gone!! Closed down. Not relocated, closed down. I have no idea why but I am very curious as to what happened to her stock. To console myself I  accidentally bought some quite expensive silk. Oops.....I really wanted to traipse and wander until I found other vintage places but I had people with me with shopping needs of their own and zero interest in fabric. I think I see a solo trip on the horizon, me and myself and nobody else.....

This morning I was on the sewing machine at 8 am putting together this scrap of lace cloth. You saw the silk piece here last week. The lace cloth has some of my accidental silk in it. What I'm doing is sampling for overlays I can use on the silk piece. The silk in the lace cloth looks darker here than it actually is but in all honesty it's dark as night here too so even in natural light I'm struggling to get a proper sense of whether this will work. I'm not worried, I can wait for the sunshine and if it's not working I will just make some more, different, lighter.

- See more at: http://karenannruane.typepad.com/karen_ruane/#sthash.yUeI0UFo.dpuf

a new doodle on silk

Doodling on silk was the order of the day yesterday. What can I say, I was compelled, couldn't resist the temptation or the urge. This doodling is done with Pigma Micron pens. I did consider doing it with some new Inktense pencils I was gifted but I was scared. There will have to be a little more playing with those before I am confident enough to take them near fabric.

Some of the lines here have bled. I expected that as I have done this before. It's hardly noticeable though by the time the cloth is embellished, titivated, stitched to within an inch of its life.

sofa.....

My sofa this morning after a relaxing evening watching back to back NYPD Blue and embroidering. I have added mirrors to cameos and partly created another swatch of bullion knots. I have nearly worked my way through four series.....I need another, I sense withdrawals when I have watched them all.

plans.....

I'm preparing for next week, getting work together and making lists of course. With all this forward planning I should be able to get straight into working from Monday morning onwards, stopping for nothing except perhaps to build an Ark!! The rain is torrential and relentless.....you can probably guess that consequently I am leaving the house even less. I never go anywhere really apart from  the occasional foray to my shed and I have no intention of doing that whilst we have these monsoon like conditions.

Sorry, I know, I'm rambling.....back to useful information.....my list of things to do....

Titivate my kitchen

Work in my Ledger for class

Join sections of my white cloth

Embroider newly created section for my white cloth

Order silk

Create a piece of cloth using paper, silk and vintage scraps

Do you think that will keep me busy and out of trouble whilst I am home alone?

oh no....she's been painting again..

I have been painting again...another hour or so that's all. I figure if I get an hour in every few days then I will become more confident, the painting will improve. Embroidery has also been happening please don't think I have ''gone off'' embroidery, that would never happen. I have some pictures of white cloth to show you next time... this has not become a painting blog. The video is very short, about four minutes.....

The new classes are filling up brilliantly, thank you. So if you want to join us, especially on the ledger journey you need to go here to register.

I don't normally talk about current events on here but I really have to say that I am SO excited about the Thames Pageant...I really can't wait. I am counting the minutes, it's going to be amazing.

bullions.....

Remember the video from yesterday? Well I told you I had embroidered, embellished and titivated......oh yes, bullion knots a plenty!! This is a great piece of cloth to just pick up an put down as and when....it distracts me from bad stuff like housework and provides an opportunity for contemplation when I need to think, think of a direction, think of inspiration. I would recommend you all get one of these,  perhaps I will call it a thinking scrap......better therapy than medication.

I have been up since dawn working on my newsletter, working on my new class.....more of this as soon as I get everything ready. How does 'an embroiderers ledger' sound.....?

playing with cloth

I had a yearning to play with cloth. I used vintage cloth, printed cloth and surfaces that I created myself for extending embellishment. I pinned them together in full view, sharing the process and then took photographs.

Last night I embellished part of this fragment and I will show you that later.....

prairie points, triple seam

More work on my white cloth for embroidery school....time consuming. Five prairie points and three layers of stitch resulting in a very lovely, (if I am allowed to say that myself?) edge for a section of my cloth. Time consuming doesn't equal bad however, it equals special, unique and worth it....there is a row of running stitch which is performing the important function of holding all these layers together. The triple seam is formed by a row of web stitch, a row of bullion knots and another row of web stitch.

I haven't decided what comes next...there are rouleau loops peeking out here which demand the same attention.

fragile....

A small sample I made for the girls on 'extending embellishment'' ....and yes, they have seen it. I am gathering quite a collection of samples and am now trying to decide how I would like to keep them. Some kind of book perhaps or maybe a large sheet, small samples mounted in a visibly appealing way. I haven't decided yet but I do need to do something more permanent with them because at the moment they are all over the dining table....it's only a matter of time before they encounter gravy!! Swiftly followed by a divorce and a breakdown....

I seem to be getting later and later posting my blog...in terms of time of day. That's probably because my mornings are  mostly spent with a video camera these days and before I know it we are in the afternoon. I don't know that it matters...does it? I'm also thinking that you haven't seen a video for a while too....well not one of mine anyway...and then last Sunday I found  something extra, extraordinary.....don't know if it's video worthy but I do think you would be interested....am I brave enough though? That's the question.....

2

one piece of laundered and pressed white cotton seersucker

one piece of patched, stitched, embroidered, embellished white cloth

just put them together and voila.....a white wrapping cloth.

That's the plan anyway........

to read more and register for extending embellishment go here....

inspiration?

I'm feeling a little strange today. I finished Helen's cloth last night, the one I made along with my class on 'embroider, embellish, create' and it signals the end of that little chapter. Now I'm a little lost, not sure really, floundering maybe. I think that does tend to happen when a major project is finished and you are faced with a huge expanse of time to fill. What to do? What to make? Nothing isn't the answer, not an option. I can in no way imagine myself without anything to embroider....no way. Never mind withdrawals, it would be a nightmare.

So in order to gain a little inspiration the sketchbooks are out...just looking for now and pondering, yes quietly pondering. I do have this to finish and of course I am making buttons for my new class but finishing the white cloth for Helen has left a massive hole that needs to be filled.

I think the rest of my day will be spent in quiet contemplation, gazing at sketchbooks....