Embroider, embellish, create online learning is re listed today for a March start. There is a short video today where I chat a little about the wrapping cloth and the techniques which will be covered in this class. Unlike Alchemy you do not need any embroidery experience as everything is demonstrated from basic hand stitching to patchwork to the creation of rouleau loops and prairie points. You can read more and register here.
Do you remember the cross stitch from earlier in the week that I didn't like? Well I may have fixed that...found something that pleases me aesthetically. About time I can hear you think...I know, I can be difficult to please in terms of my own work............ it's a curse. Tomorrow you should see that...if I survive the supermarket and the snow storm that is forecast....
This is what I have set the girls in school to work on this week......a brief glimpse for you into the world of Alchemy. Papers, stitch, print and collage, unique surfaces for my ledger.
I can't stay long today, I have some stuff to do. Tomorrow you will have a video....kind of a journey through a wrapping cloth.
I am referring to the cross stitch sample....the other two I love. They are on the table as I am mounting them to keep them safe. I know what's wrong with the cross stitch....it's the colour. I worked from a bought pattern using the colours given with the pattern. Next time I will amend....That's the whole point of sampling isn't it...try it, decide if it works. If it works you then extend it,develop it. If it doesn't work....well I do generally keep but occasionally I throw away. This one is a keeper... not for purposes of developing, as a reminder of those colours I don't like.
This is how my damp stretching board looked when I went to bed last night....I stood on a chair to take this picture for you....from a great height!
and this is how they look today, removed from the board all pristine and gorgeous. In the last picture you can see how the stretching has untwisted the wraps....phew. You may be surprised to hear that it will be at least a week until I get my muslin thingy finished. That's because I have decided I want to buy some new cotton for the lining. I do have some but I want new. If that doesn't make sense I'm sorry, it's just me being fussy but now it's in my head I have to do it.
The other things on the board are my bumpy sample which I don't like....do you remember that? and the final piece of the puzzle which is my latest wrapping cloth. That can now be joined, backed, titivated and sent off to the person it is going to be a belated Christmas gift for...my baby brother.
I have been thinking about the ''colour in my wrapping cloth'' conversation too. Thanks for all your input on that and I have decided...not definitely but it's a thought, that I may create my own colour to use in it. By that I mean I may embroider some cloth in traditional, colourful design to then cut up and use in my next cloth. Does that sound like a good plan? I think so....
Last night I made a little progress with this. I tacked the two pieces together, secured the cloth with running stitch and then began to embellish the seam with loops of wrapped thread. They look a little tight and twisted in this picture but bear in mind that this hasn't been damp stretched since I started work on joining the sections. Once that has happened the twists should pull out. There was a time when I wouldn't put anything on here that hadn't been damp stretched...it looks tatty to me like this...damp stretching is like a wonder drug, honest.
When I was piecing this last night it struck me how easily this could be a wrapping cloth...a couple of pockets, a backing, titivated edges and that would be all it would need. That got me thinking about my next wrapping cloth....should I put a little colour in it? I would be interested to know what you think.
Everything went awry when I embroidered that sample in the hoop. The video explains this more but basically it is 2.15 pm and I am late. Sorry if I kept you waiting or maybe you're not bothered what time I show up and it's just me fixated on my habits and the clock. Anyway, all is not lost. I made a decision that I don't like it so I needed to be focusing on something I love....my muslin thingy. You can hear me speak about my plans for this in the video.......
The snow is here but as yet I haven't required the shovel. It's looking as if the worst of it will pass us by...phew. Having said that I haven't been able to play at all yet. If I say electrician...light switches...a 10 minute job that took 2 hours I am sure you will get my drift. Consequently my ironing remains creased,not done. The three videos I had planned to make haven't had a whiff of a chance to even be thought about and my laundry? Well the least said about that the better. But it's onwards and upwards.
There are more loops, spotty loops added to the sample from earlier in the week caught down with French knots and then there is the final titivation on my muslin thingy. This is almost, almost finished. I am getting very excited about this now and I have made an executive decision....more of a cop out really, a cowards solution. I am not having a zip. My zip confidence has disappeared, gone in a puff of smoke. I am scared I will spoil it, I am no zipper inserter, not of the best kind anyway so it will not have a fastening....I will still love it though and hope that you don't think it's substandard. You will have to make your own mind up when I present it to you in video form.....when it's finished.
There is an article about me today over here. Can I say hello to all my new readers who are coming here from that link. You are so welcome here and we hope you come back soon! It was a surprise, I didn't know about it before it happened.How do I know about it now? My hits have gone through the roof, it's amazing and I am so, so happy they picked little old me to showcase. I have thanked them....I truly am grateful. It has made me think about something that troubles me from time to time though. The amount of hits I have received so far today from this site are treble my normal daily amount. The obvious reason for that is that this blog gets 20? 30? times more hits per day than me. How? I have wondered about that a lot. I do have a good following, a lot more than others I know but I really, really would like to know how some blogs achieve such a huge audience. Do they click something in their settings that I am missing? Do they pay someone to promote them even though there are no obvious signs of that on their site? It's a mystery...and a frustration.
Then again, I do have a wonderful muslin thingy for consolation.
It's thursday but it feels like friday. We have an appalling weather forecast for overnight and tomorrow morning...snow and lots of it...red warnings....do not travel. This morning I did my Friday supermarket shop, siege mentality has taken over. I get home and according to the latest map...(it changes so much)....we may miss it. Good news....consequently my day is a little messed up. I don't mind because now I don't have to go out tomorrow...party time!! Alone with my stuff, playing all day. Thank you mr weather man. On the flip side I haven't checked in on school yet. I do hope they are behaving themselves.
This is my table from yesterday, at school. A little glimpse for you of a tiny part of the world of Alchemy. This is old work, my old work....hopefully inspiring new work from new learners.
Last night there were more loops and more work on my muslin thingy. Things are changing in regard to that. I will speak more on that tomorrow and also show you some loops.......hopefully.
and back to siege mentality....today I bought a shovel....see, ready for anything!
( I must point out that the blue design is not mine...it is from clip art)
Practicing with loops continues.....these samples will be invaluable when I make my next wrapping cloth. I can imagine the seams now, trust me....there will be loops! I have the sample from earlier in the week with the trim added, I have this one and there are plans for more. I am actually excited about the possibilities of recording these, storing them. In a ledger? mounted on a sheet? together? separately? I really don't know yet.
If you didn't pop round yesterday then you missed a video. You can still watch it if you want to...and also......If you watched the video from January 8th then the person who will recieve the fabric I am giving away is Peggy....postal details please Peggy.
Finally....In the last picture you can see a muslin face cloth. That was part of a gift I received at Christmas with cream, face wash etc. Will I be using it for my face? What do you think? Not a chance......it's going in my muslin thingy.....when it gets finished.
The first half of my muslin thingy, remember that piece? I haven't had it on here for a while....it was almost finished, there was just one area that I felt was too stark, blank, stuck out like a sore thumb. Well I have remedied that now with a simple strip of cloth attached with running stitch along the edges. I then...to continue my new found love of loops and in an abstract way I feel these can be seen as loops.....bound it to the surface with bands of wrapped threads. I talk a little more about this in the video, (which to spare you is only 2 minutes long and I have to say it was good to chat with you. I always like that).
The next stage is to finish the other half, (almost there) and join them together, add a lining, add the zip and hey presto. In theory at least. I will keep you posted.
In other news....as you know if you were here yesterday my travel agent came through for me. The two week holiday we had originally booked before the wedding of the year was announced is now cancelled. Minimum loss financially (phew). Today the i's will be crossed and the t's dotted and our altered holiday to attend the aforementioned wedding of the year will be booked, done, signed off. Relief all round. There are also plans afoot to fit in a short break to Sweden in June so I can't complain except to say that I was looking forward to some rather nice cake in Chicago in September that will now have to be deep frozen in order to keep it fresh for when I do eventually manage to get there.
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