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I have been playing with this a little bit, creating more cloth with snippets, off cuts, scraps. It reminds me of the froth on a bubble bath....yes really. I suppose you need to see it in ''real life'' to get a proper sense of that......you will just have to trust me.
Remember yesterday I was convinced I was boring you all? Well I finally figured out that I was boring myself. I needed something else to look at. A few days ago someone mentioned pin tucked fabric to me. That got me thinking....I'm quite partial to a bit of pin tucked fabric myself. So after the bathroom was cleaned and before the salmon was cooked I got my sewing machine out and pin tucked a piece of silk to play with. Ta da!! Here it is....I played with it a little last night and guess what? I don't like the embellishments much but I adore the cloth...it has possibilities, it handles beautifully....so despite not being overjoyed at the adornments all in all it was a worthwhile pastime.
It's out of the hoop today, it's damp stretched. I have almost finished the embroidery on this pin pillow. Didn't take long did it? I surprised myself......I have added a couple of new things to it this morning, on camera, for the girls in simply stitch. This time tomorrow they should be embellished and then it's all systems go to backing and finishing.
I nearly never came today, nearly had a day off, playing hooky, hiding. I sometimes wonder if you get sick of me, the same old same old. I don't feel like I ever have anything interesting to say. When I think about it my life is 90% embroidery. Take that out and the domestic stuff and I don't do much that you would find exciting. I'm not dissatisfied with that. I love my life and feel lucky that I get to sit and play during the day but really........it must get boring for you.
This morning I went out to the shed. My drier is out there so as it's raining I had no option. Later, in around an hour I am going to clean the bathroom....bit of an obsession that one. Much later I will cook salmon......see, I told you it wasn't exciting, unless you like salmon of course.
This one is evolving very quickly. It's a pin pillow, only one for now. I have been adding lace and stitch to the surface of the cloth base I created last week. There are French knots, bullion knots, cross stiches, buttonhole lace, web stitches...it's a mixed menu!! I think this will be finished very soon...result.
I'm now going to move on to a little shameless promotion. Simply Stitch 2 begins in a few weeks. If you are wondering, considering, questioning then this post should help. You may have missed it. You may have been away on holiday.You may have had a better offer!!! But just incase you really, really want to know all the information is here. We are filling up nicely, mostly familiar faces which is brilliant. That means they have been once before and liked it so much they want to come back......it would be nice to have a few new faces in the mix too. I can honestly say that the group is amazingly friendly and supportive, it's a pleasure and a privilege for me every time.
Yes, more petals. They are different, new, I added them yesterday. I would guess that I am more than halfway to finishing this piece....not long now. Well I say not long, probably quite long as they are time consuming. I'm not complaining though, I love time consuming and I love repetitive.
I have added a tiny glimpse of something else today too. I don't want you all falling asleep and having nightmares about applique petals. So, the other piece you can see is a sneek peek at a new pin pillow as that's what we are on in simply stitch...pin pillows. Who would have guessed? Only one for now, the other three will have to wait a while......
I've still got petals on my mind. Petals of the applique kind and drawn petals, sketched petals. I added more petals to my silk piece last night. Meanwhile I am struggling a little with a small piece of artwork. I say struggling, I think I am getting there but it's been H A R D. I think I was trying too hard, too fixated on the outcome. Later today I am hopeful of making some headway and it has definitely helped looking back at old stuff. So the books are out again and my table is covered in old ledgers and papers. Regardless of my creative block......it's good to look back at this old work.
The flower on the left is finished, the one on the right is in progress. The flower on the left was worked to inform the flower on the right, to get a sense of proportion, scale, placement. The flower on the left is part of a sample, a sample that will be part of the sampler cloth......I do hope you're keeping up. I just run away with myself at times. There is colour in the flower on the left. The flower on the right will be white on white. It takes time, applique with petals is a slow process...at least it is in my house. I reckon I will need to applique approximately five of these flowers in all....that's a lot of petals. That's a lot of templates to cut, to be covered in cloth and then applied to silk. I best get a move on then.....
Most of yesterday was spent creating this cloth, a surface for embroidery which will become more pin pillows....these will be the last ones for a very long time and they are spoken for already, sorry. I do love creating the surface though and this cloth will look completely different once the hand embroidery has been applied. This was damp stretched overnight and whilst I was waiting for the baby to come out of hospital, staring at a door on the TV frightened to move, I applied a couple of tiny applique petals to a piece of silk.
Not much to show for a whole day? I did wonder but the cloth takes quite some time to create and I did make a meal in between and do a little bit of domestic related stuff so I wasn't being too lazy.
Today has been mad, I've been here there and everywhere and made videos and taken pictures. I'm exhausted already and it's not even half over yet. Where did you go I hear you cry.....well let's just say I now have the prettiest feet in Lancashire and that troublesome little toe of mine is back in good order.....for now.
I'm slacking. Well maybe I'm not slacking but all I have to show you is a messy table. At least this way you get to see that I am doing stuff through the day, sewing, creating. My life isn't an endless round of daytime television and gin.
The house got painted yesterday. To answer a question from Sara I can tell you that you can see those pictures on my Instagram. I didn't do any painting, my role was purely supervisory. I'm good at that, that is definitely where my skills lie.
How am I going to join these pieces of embroidered silk together? How will I treat the seams, the edges of my sampler cloth? Quick answer......haven't a clue. It has been on my mind though so this morning I was playing with them, moving them around, looking, considering. Did it work? In a way...I decided it wouldn't be laid out this way and that I need more pieces. To be honest I already knew that I needed more pieces. They will most likely have to wait until simply stitch 2 is underway. It definitely won't be finished before then anyway.
I am a little early today. That's because this afternoon I am SUPERVISING my husband whilst he paints the front of our house....pure brilliant white. Who could have guessed that?