Have a Creative New Year !

Well, it's that time of the year again, time to look back and forward at the same time. Neat trick if you can do it!
No real resolutions for me other than to get fit and be creative. Latest on the arm is that it will take at least another two month, possibly three so I get to keep the mecanno kit on it for a further 4 weeks.
I do have a lace challenge starting in March which I am determined to do and I suspect that Lace will be a big part of my creative life for a while BUT I will still be doing everything else as usual.
A quick look back at some of my work from this year,


A big thank you to all of you for your encouragement and friendship in 2008.

challenges for 2009

I've been giving some thought to next years fibre challenges and so far I have three which is probably enough for me. In 2008 I took part in the take it further challenge run by Sharon on her blog Pintangle, great fun in spite if not being able to complete the December piece andTAST on Stitchin Fingers which I hope to rejoin in the New Year sometime.
Unfortunately a change in working hours meant that I had to drop out of unlimited textiles group.

This year I will follow Sharons Stitch Explorer with interest but will not partake, I hope to take part in some of the monthly swaps with unlimited textile and I have a brand new challenge to start in March prompted by this post on Jennys blog.

We are both lace makers, my favourite traditional lace is Bucks Point,



I have only tried Bedfordshire lace once.



We both have this book



As both of my samples are around 15 years old, I need the practise. SO we have decided that in March we will start to work through this book together! A joint challenge taking part on both sides of the world!! Isn't the Internet fantastic.

Take it Further Challenge (November)

Interesting result, not quite what I had in mind.

Take it Further Challenge (November)

3D possibilities, maybe add some beads? to fill the spaces

Take it Further Challenge (November)

Sharon said:-
This month the challenge is to use typography as inspiration for a piece. Many designers are inspired by letter forms in other words it is the forms of the letters and words themselves that they find visually stimulating. It is not using text, as in using a quote or a sentence that they find stimulating but the look of the letters as a design element.

scibbles and a piece of computer aided design
design based on 's's

a bit of machine stitch on organza and soluble paperpaper dissolvedorganza melted..............................still thinking about where to go next. Thought about 3d but not rigid enough even with starch, may apply to quilted background...........just need to mull it over for a few days.

Take it further ( September)

Confession, this is the first TIF that I haven't completed. I picked up the subject whilst we were away but haven't been able to find that vital spark of inspiration. I'm not a great list maker, just the one of how things pack on the bike which I use for our holiday each year. I'm going to put it on the back burner for now.

Take it Further Challenge (July)

You may remember the sign post sketch from earlier this month, pointing to embroiderer in one direction and artist in the other with the idea that this was the halfway mark.




I had intended to use this with illustrations of traditional embroidery at one side and free embroidery/textile art at the other. However another idea emerged based on the fact that you need a balance of traditional knowledge and more modern approaches so I found myself mixing them up.
These are samples of traditional needlework from my studies and I transferred them to T-shirt transfer, I also added small samples of mixed fibre backgrounds.

The end result is here


it has proved to be very difficult to photograph!



Not sure whether it really worked but it was an interesting experiment ( please excuse the motorcycle in the background, it's not one of ours!)

Felting Fun

This is scary, July already, where is the year goimg? This month I have TIF, TAST revisited and now Stitch a long
to work on. On the biker side of life, we have had to cancel our trip to the Snowman Rally next weekend due to ongoing electrical problems with the Guzzi but have a short trip to Northumberland planned for later this month. We also have a house guest for one week which means finding a home for the junk/stash in our spare bedroom.

So determined to make a head start and taking advantage of Ian being out,I took the opportunity of turning this

into this

and this

Felted silk and wool fibres with a bit of angelina thrown in, ready to be stitched as I owe a couple of ATCs this month as well.
I seem to had a large stash of little bags of colourful fibres picked up a shows without thinking what I would do with them. Does this mean I have some sort of addiction?

Take it Further Challenge (June)

Here is the finished panel for June TIF, the story is not yet finished as it eventually become part of a bag but at present I don't have any suitable fabric in my stash, it will turn up in due course.

size 12inch square

Slightly better colour match, my thoughts on the subject here. Design ideas developed from old course work, fabric from old stash, buttons from collection ( stories that have been told) combined to make a panel for a new bag ( stories yet to be told)

Take it further challenge (June)

OK, so I found two commercial prints that have sat in my stash box for the last few years, taken design elements from old C&G work and started to stitch. The whitish fabric is soluble paper, great for drawing on and stitching the design onto the fabric.

Later

(the design is actually square)

Take it further challenge (June)

Stories that are

These are samples of design completed about four years ago for Part two c&g creative embroidery.

Stories that are possible

Design for a bag or wallhanging to incorporate elements from my course work

Now off to audition fabrics and threads, also to think about technique.

Take it further challenge (March)

OK, here we go with the March Take it Further Challenge:


Do you ever notice the little things, the small moments, the details in life? This months challenge is to do just that, pay attention to the tiny details. Sometimes the small things become emblematic for something larger. That is it! I am going to keep it brief.

As usual we can play with the concept, the colour suggestions or both.

I think I am going to have a hunt through my photos first as I enjoy taking close ups, well as close as my camera will allow.

Take it further challenge (February)

As my original idea for TIF February seems to have turned into a slow cloth, I still felt the need to complete a piece of work by the end of Feb. So here is ' I am old enough to remember when we used to have proper snow'
Woven from scraps of lace, different waddings, embroidery threads, silk and organza on a baby loom purchased at great expense from the nearest £1 shop!!
Measures just 4inch square but helps me feel that I haven't let myself down on the challenge.

what the words mean

Many thanks to everyone who has commented on my January Take it Further Challenge piece, I really enjoyed the challenge of having to try and design again.

Several people have asked what the writing says at the top of the piece. It is a Tibetan Buddhist mantra used in meditation and is written on a silver bangle that I wear most of the time. More details can be found here The Mantra Om Mani Padme Hum

January TIF Challenge complete

approx 10.5 inch square
hand dyed cotton, t shirt computer print, computer print on cotton,hand embroidered, machine embroidered and quilted and beaded. All items from existing stash.

Design source:admiration: The Dali Lama

Take it further challenge

Typical, just as I thought I'd avoided the cold thats going round, I get a chest infection!! if I speak, I cough, if I move I cough so I'm barricaded into my work room waiting for the antibiotics to kick in so I can get back to work ( hopefully tomorrow)
Anyway, the latest from Take it further challenge, the piece is more or less finished, just needs backing and edging next weekend when I will hopefully feel more like doing it.

Forgot to say that it is around 10 inch squareish

Take it further challenge

Starting to hand stitch at last.

Take it further challenge

Slowly coaxing my machine into working, it's still not happy but we are reaching an agreement, I don't shout at it and it won't sulk too much.

Sulky sewing machine

Why is it that when I need to do some free machine embroidery, my machine throws a dicky fit? sews fine on the border which will be trimmed off but refuses point blank to behave itself on the main part of the TIF work. It is now sulking in the corner of the room and will be there until it behaves itself ( hopefully by Thursday) while I think about ATCs with the subject Art Nouveau for Textiles Unlimited. I may have to threaten to use one of the old machines that are lurking in the next room.

This lovely warm ATC is from Annica in Sweden, isn't it great! I do love receiving work from other people, really makes my day.

Take it further challenge

Well, my camera doesn't like reds but here is the fabric collage sitting on my pin board waiting for stitch and embellishment. Finished size will be around 12 inch square I think.