A Little Bit of Stitch

                

I'm still getting to grips with posting on my iPad it just doesn't look right but here goes anyway. I'm not going to say how long these beads took me to sew, its irrelevant. The pleasure of stitching is still there.

I use the iPad to speak now, I type what I want to say and press speak and a voice says my words. The grandsons soon learnt to exploit this programme. They found a really posh voice and made it say 

'Naughty' words. The first time I heard it I nearly lost my breath with laughter.

That's John trying to look serious. 

Random Stuff

I've finished my work for the forthcoming exhibition at John Clare and no I'm not going to finish the big piece, it would be a pity not to give it the full treatment and my energy levels are very low at the moment. So rather than beat myself up about it my thoughts have turned to Christmas presents.  I don't think the recipient of this one looks at my blog but she will know instantly who it is for if she does. This is all about the dogs and the beach we walk on in Ullapool, we should have been there at the end of October but the appointment with the neurologist clashes and is a priority at the moment.

Printing and dyeing have also been going on.

These are three separate directions I'm going in for some ideas for new work and just because I was enjoying the process. The first two are homemade blocks and the third is a tree stencil that I keep coming back to.

Husband's birthday today (we celebrated on Saturday) that meant our eldest daughter is enjoying a stay with us. We have both been printing and dyeing and today we felt like stitching, so out with the 'omiyage' book

and we have produce four little chrysanthemum bags.

These will hold  gifts of jewelry, silk scarves or chocolate and I usually make a dozen or so so that I can create a last minute prezzie as the need arises. I will use my hand printed papers to make tags to go with them. I think Lucy is now addicted to making them as well - nice to start up a tradition!

A Little Diversion

Not stretched or framed yet but I've just finished the second 'strewing herbs' piece. I have so much source material following my drawings and paintings that this went together without much thought in a couple of days. The lettering in the background took longest to stitch. Looking at it now maybe I will try a piece with the lettering painted in.

It made a break from the 'Remains of the Day' that I'm working on, however I must get back to it tomorrow if I have any hope of finishing in time for the 1st of Oct.

The photo again has not picked up the white layers very well so as per usual  I've shown an inverted colour version.

Secret's Out

I did try to keep this piece a secret but soon realised I wouldn't have any stitching to blog about because this is going to occupy the next three or four weeks. I've called it 'Remains of the Day'. It is a fairly ambitious piece given my current health, I hope to finish it in time for the J.C. exhibition in October. The last two weeks have been spent sewing it down with hundreds of (hopefully) invisible stitches. Then I have added stripes of gesso followed by copper gilding on various areas. I have over printed some beetle shapes and I'm using machine stitch to doodle and link the whole thing together. The final layer will be hand stitched and any embellishments I decide to use.

Some areas I will pick out existing patterns to stitch round, other areas will be more randomly stitched.

Linking different elements will be key to this piece. 

The cooler weather is a great help when stitching in my conservatory workroom but it does mean that I've run out of excuses for not working!

Head Down and Working

Sadly I have had to cancel my coming trip to Ullapool, I will be in the middle of hospital appointments and Scotland is a long way to travel back and forth. I was momentarily down, but as I'm still in finishing mode  the John Clare piece has had an invisible repair (where I accidentally cut it) and another layer of herbs. I can't get it to photograph well so I've done a reverse colour to show off the layers. I will put it over a frame under tension so that it looks like a canvas and then decide if it needs a backing.

What discipline it took not to break into colour and also not to stitch it within an inch of it's life. Looks very sparse to me but that is what I set out to do.

My craving for colour has been satisfied by finishing off my little quartet.

I'm now able to work on a large piece I have on the go, lots and lots of stitching to do. I will save this one for The John Clare exhibition. A girl really can't reveal everything at once.

Three of Four

One more to go, not hugely challenging but enjoyable and just the kind of frivolous stuff I need to be doing at the moment.

Medical results in, next stop neurologist. Doesn't sound wonderful but some real 'nasties' have been ruled out so I'm continuing to look on the bright side. My legs don't work but there's nothing wrong with my hands meaning I can paint and sew to my heart's content and failing that I have my Kindle for when I'm tired. I shall finish the last piece of this quartet whilst I'm on a roll.

Classic Design Error

This is a design of two parts, how could I not have spotted that I had split the piece straight down the middle. If you cover the half of the left hand side it looks much better proportionally. I think I will just about get away with as it is part of a four piece work. I must say I really like the right hand side especially where I have stuffed the central blue panel.

Lots of cooking of boy food today, apple pies, fudge cupcakes, pizza bases made and frozen, all food that no longer feature in my diet (aah..... those were the days). I'm sure my very slim husband will mop up any leftovers.

Making Work

The smaller the piece, the more work goes into getting the composition right. I don't normally work this small  8"x 8" but I have enough of this piece of vintage embroidery and samples from my John Clare project to make four of these little box frame pieces. I like the contrast of the contemporary sample and the 1960's tray cloth.

Disaster happened when I cut this piece square to fit the frame, I was working in my usual squalor and didn't notice that I had the J.C. piece on the table - Yep I cut straight through it........ hours of work wasted!. However a bit of thinking time later I realised that the problems I was having resolving  the composition of the J.C. project were solved by cutting further and layering the pieces onto a backdrop of embroidered words. Serendipity! Or then again I might just start again.

U.F.O. Day

I have little energy for grand projects at the moment but a morning spent going through my u.f.o box identified at least six pieces that with a little work could be finished in a couple of hours. I need to have a sense of achievement without much effort and when I look at the work that has gone into some of these pieces, it seems wrong to leave them languishing in that box of 'good ideas at the time'. We all do it don't we? What was once a brilliant idea suddenly becomes something that we just want to walk away from.

This piece is based on some lines I penned about my favourite rock pools in Scotland. I still can't totally resolve it to my satisfaction but again a lot of work went into it and it deserves it's moment. When I have finished several pieces I will damp stretch them all into shape, I like crumpled fabrics, the iron is the kiss of death to creating texture in textiles but these have been bundled up for over a year and just need easing back into shape. 

The wind is howling through the garden at the moment but I caught a headline that said we are in for a prolonged spell of good weather. I'm pleased that summer isn't over already. 

Sampling

Busy sampling methods for laying down the herb shapes onto the background, very easy with a pen and paper, very time consuming with fabric and stitch. here I have used  free motion stitching, applique and embellished some chiffon over the shepherds purse. This would be perfect for poppies as the chiffon leaves a hairy edge mimicking the poppy stems exactly. Talking of poppies.........

My mini wild flower meadow is looking stunning at the moment, it's amazing how the torrential showers are really battering the poppies but within a couple of hours they are all looking quite perky again.

Another storm heading our way.

Such a dramatic mix of weather, the sun was pouring into my sewing room window making beautiful shadows which I considered drawing and stitching over this piece, if only I had more time. 

Usual Prevarication

I can't seem to get myself in a stitching frame of mind at the moment probably because I need to get stuck into some traditional embroidery for the pieces I am working on. I'm convincing myself (not) that the paintings I'm doing are all part of the investigation  process. what I really should be doing are nine pieces like this. 

They are quite small but each one takes a few hours of stitching, if I had a run at it my needlework would quickly improve (out of practise) but I'm finding all sorts of distractions. I certainly can't blame the weather, it is just right temperature wise for me, a little more light would not go amiss but that is just nit picking. 

I've been thinking of all the people who have been working through the heat wave, it must have been so uncomfortable for them. There is such a thing as too much heat and I understand there is more to come.

 We had a little rain during the night which gave me the chance to get the Zinnias and Nicotiana Sylvestris planted. These are the backbone of  the garden for late summer.

 So how can I get in the mind for stitching?

Process

I thought it might be interesting to share my thoughts behind the John Clare pieces that I am working on.

 It started with me drawing and painting the hedgerow plants that surround this village into which he was born.  I had very little idea of where I was going with these drawings until I realised that the plants I was gathering contained lots of strewing herbs which had been used in medieval times to sweeten the air and to walk upon in homes that often had dirt floors. Certain plants would keep vermin away, others had antiseptic properties, some were purely for their perfume. My link to J.Clare would be the poetry that yearned for that ancient past and his pleasure at the simple plants and wildlife of his native village. I can see the medieval past in the grassland around here, the seeds that lie dormant for generations and when conditions are right provide us with a tapestry of historical plants, self heal, scabious,violas, thyme's, lady's mantle, meadow sweet to name but a few. So among my  herbs will be little 'cameos' of Elizabethan crewelwork or 'slips' as they were called, they were often based on plants or animals. I will take a line of relevant verse and make a stencil of it to weave into the scene. At the moment I see it on cotton organza but I'm not sure if the weight of the crewel work will be too heavy for the fabric, but that is what sampling is all about and as you can see I have started.

I have finished my final drawing/painting, the only one I feel precious enough about not to scribble notes all over it as I have the others. It has taken me from marker pens, to working with paint, mainly down to cost. These images are large and I was going through Promarkers  and various other pens at a rate I couldn't sustain. I have a lot to learn about painting but a start has been made.

   

Vintage Vibes

I had thought that today would be spent working in the garden but the North East wind sent me scurrying into the warmth of the workroom. It took me an hour to frame up 'The Garden at Number Six' and then without much thought I took a piece of white cotton from my stash. I cut it to the same size as one of my tables 60" x 30" and dipped it into a watery acrylic mix, faintly greenish blue just to knock the glaring white back a little.

I gathered some vintage papers  and some matte medium.

And randomly stuck some torn papers to the background.

I then stuck some stronger coloured circles of paper again quite randomly. I may want these to show through as a contrast in places.

The rest of the day has been devoted to laying, tearing, cutting pieces from my vintage stash to form a pleasing pattern.

This layering up will take at least another day and then I will start to invisibly stitch it all down. the next stage will be overprinting the whole piece and then in with paints and rubs. I think I will add lots of hand-stitching and maybe some free-motion machine stitch. Somewhere in the process I think I will lay it onto some soft batting. My aim is to keep the whole thing 'raggy' so that I can stitch with it bunched up in my hands. Damp stretching afterwards should square the whole thing up again.

 I want to keep it as pale as possible but I will need to put some soft tones in to give it some sense of depth. It's progress depends on the weather - I am definitely a fair weather gardener. 

The Camera Lies

It's interesting how this has photographed, the camera keeps picking up the white grids, which in reality are much more subtle on the finished piece of work. You will have to take my word for it, it's no where near as lurid as the pics. suggest. I shall finish the framing this evening and then that's it work wise for a couple of weeks. Grandson's birthday Sunday, brother and partner arriving tomorrow for the weekend, packing for Ullapool to do and I have ignored it all, to get this piece finished.

 I shall have to get my act together pronto!

This is the garden table just outside my workroom.

We have just had a huge hail storm, I hope that means that some warm air has just bumped into the cold air-stream we have been stuck under this week. A lovely warm weekend is what we all need right now.

Complexity

This is a piece I have been working on since last Thursday - it came about from a stack of samples from my inspiration board. As I was clearing them away I was struck by the colour palette they had been worked in. Although they were widely varying in technique I wondered if I could create a cohesive 'whole' from them.

36" x 12"

I laid out the design very quickly, I knew I wouldn't have time to faff about with different ideas. I'm relying on over-printing, hand and machine stitch to bring it all together.I laid the design on a piece of wool so that I could use my felting machine to tack everything to the base fabric. Normally I would spend hours using tiny stitches to do this part but I want this piece finished before my trip to the Highlands so short cuts are the order of the day. The fact that these samples have been stitched to start with, means that the layers in this piece are building up very quickly. 

It hasn't told me it's title yet but I'm sure it will before I'm finished with it. 

A Bit Surreal

This piece started out as - field/meadow/grasses/ ox-eye daisies, it's all gone a bit bizarre. It still has all the elements, well, perhaps not the daisies but it was fun to do and I'm not working to a brief so a bit of play was allowed.

I added some layers of sheers to the background and over stitched again so that there are several layers of complexity to feast my eyes on. I tried my daisy idea but it looked too sweet, so out came the foils and alcohol inks and a couple of hours later I was ready to place a mount on top to see what I had made. Now I have taken a photo I can see that in one or two  areas the sheers need burning back a bit more, but I shall declare it more or less done before I ruin it completely. Not a masterpiece, but given the weather outside, an enjoyable day in the workroom.

Almost Finished

Having my friend  round for our regular Monday workroom day, made me focus my efforts (thanks Paula). I have all but finished my 'Chinese' inspired book. The cover is complete and all the pages are sewn in. I won't bore you with the contents as I have already posted some of the pages. They are subtle enough to have some fragmented imagery from my son and daughter-in-laws photo albums transferred onto some of the pages, particularly the shots from The Forbidden City and the Great Wall. I am still experimenting with image transfer techniques as I want an ethereal look rather than a sharp image.

I knew those beads would be useful. They are a perfect match, probably down to the colour palette I'm using at the moment.

This cover, if you follow my blog, was made in Gina Ferrari's class at my local Guild meeting using Aquabond soluble fabric. I have been thinking about this product and have started another small piece of work to experiment with it.

I have inherited lot's of stranded threads, more than I could ever hope to use in a lifetime of stitching so I am constantly thinking of different ways to use them. This piece is inspired by a photo I took late last summer of a nearby field. I have laid many threads onto the Aquabond and then another layer of the product on top. I've laid down a grid with free motion stitching before dissolving the Aquabond away in warm water. The resulting piece I've stitched to pelmet vylene and am currently couching loose grassy shape to it to get some movement into it. I am also making some ox-eye daisies to drift through to give something for the eye to focus on. It's good to be gradually clearing the backlog of work to the finished pile, I must be careful not to create too many more experimental pieces before I go to Ullapool in a few days time, I'm sure to come back brimming with ideas.

Resolving Work

This is one of those pieces that photographs better than it is, a lot of work has gone into it so far but I am toying with the idea of taking all the top layers off and starting again. I knew It was going pear shaped when I took the scissors to it and cut in half. I couldn't face the prospect of stitching all those layers down on such a big piece. One of the grid layers is Evalon and every time I touch it it sticks to my garden worn hands. A feeling akin to chalk on a blackboard. I was also starting to throw too much at it in an attempt to redeem it, however, a little bit of free motion machine stitching crept in and I liked the effect.

So on the half that I had cut off I've started to machine into it, referring to the geological imagery I have sketched in Ullapool over the last few years.

I did these in 2011, they are about my beach and loch side walks.

This piece will have less going on, perhaps some very tiny shells and beads added or I might paint areas when I have finished stitching.

The Factory Line

Seeing my previous post inspired me to leave all my ufo's in separate 'work stations', yesterday was spent going from one to the other, including Isla's quilt. I'm sure many of you work in this way but I have always focused on one piece at a time even if it was part of a series.

Progress was made! This large sample may inspire something bigger, without the harsh grid lines. I have been looking at a lot of 'boro' work lately and it seems to be influencing my backgrounds, I put this piece together on the felter because the challenge was to use three suit fabrics, one other and three different cords. The cords were too vibrant for the fabrics, so I felted them which made them less strident.  After further stitching today I may promote this piece from a sample to a finished piece. It just fits a 12"x 12" block canvas and is a prime candidate for my 'melding' process.

Grids are also a big thing for me at the moment and this piece is made from stuff I had on my inspiration board, Evalon, paper napkins, brown paper,felt and samples from printing with modelling paste. This is definitely a sample but the ideas may feed into something new. I've been out stitching with my 'Trident' friends today so tomorrow may be spent fairly gently, to build up some energy for an all day workshop with Gina Ferrari on Saturday. Happy days!