Karen Ruane

shades of white....

 

A piece of cloth which is evolving over in Simply Stitch Three. There is hand stitch, French knots and bullion knots which aren't clearly visible here, at least not as visible they are  'in the flesh'.  I just laid it on an old, practically ancient ledger page. This page could almost be older than me even though I created it....yes, it's that old. I'm so pleased I kept it though.....

There is silk net on here too, being added as an afterthought if I am honest. I have pieces of it left from FME and I am loathe to discard it, instead I am in the process of draping it on here and securing it with French knot clusters.

This morning we had snow, the white stuff. That was a surprise....told  you I was chittered! Now it's turned to rain, and lots of it.....therefore I intend to hide away, hermit fashion with my paints this afternoon just as soon as I have flicked my duster around for 30 seconds.

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just a bump and a French Knot seam

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gingham, a page

 

 

Another late night, ten minute exercise. I'm enjoying this. Needle and thread get put down when my eyes are tired and I spend ten minutes playing like this instead. It's win, win. The colours aren't meant to match the cloth. They are there to give an impression of the cloth, to look as if the two might live together happily at some point,  perhaps as if they each evolved from the same starting point.

I want to apologise for yesterday. For saying I was chittered. It was rightly pointed out to me that compared to some parts of the world we are positively tropical. In my defence....I'm a wuss, can't deny it, hold my hands up. As my nanna would say...''tell the truth and shame the devil''.

 

wuss

A person who is physically weak and ineffectual. 

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this and that......

samples, a collection

Samples, silk, a colection all mounted in my ledger. Actually that's not strictly true, one of these is still in progress but belongs here because it was informed by the others....I am using cloth that I bought in New York for these samples and the piece that will hopefully result from them. The cloth is silk, in many forms, lace, patterned, pure beautifulness (is that even a word? It fits, that's good enough for me). I am terrified that I will run out and I am also aware that there will come a point when I don't have any left. I'm not crying....yet. There's not much chance of me popping over there to replenish for quite some time sadly. 

Looking at these laid out like this makes me realise I'm not far from the final decisions regarding this, how the finished piece will be formed, the process I need to complete to get there. It helped putting them here so thank you!

Now I must go out, leave the house. Medication to deliver to a son in pain and Sewdish Kroner to collect for a birthday. It's freezing out there. I'm chittered at the very thought.

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hello body bag!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Long time no see....wow. I had forgotten how completely and totally in love I am with this piece. It has been neglected for far too long. I have remorse....it knows. We have come to an understanding. The body bag, started in Simply Stitch One, continuing through Simply Stitch Two,  Three and Four, most likely still a work in progress until Simply Stitch Ninety Nine.

Last night more was tacked together, later today another tab will be pieced. Seams will then require titivating and more muslin will have to be pleated. Love I tell you, love.

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lace cloth, silk, body bag.....

handkerchief....

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tiny

cross stitch and a page

Blue and white, cross stitch, a page in a little ledger. Late at night when it's too early for bed but too late to embroider detailed pieces I have taken to picking up small things, doodling in ledgers, stitching simple things. These are last nights late night, pre bed time efforts.

I have had a love of blue and white for years. The link above takes you to my old blog. There's a lot more blue and white on there if you look at the bottom of the page, the labels, click blue and white, the evidence is there.

This morning I went out to buy paper and also bought a bottle of white ink and a bottle of blue ink. We shall see where that takes me.

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the table....

stitchery and doodles

 

Surfaces, doodles, embroidery, paper, silk. I've been playing with so many different things over the past couple of days...all good. I stitched on silk, on lace cloth, on paper. I doodled in a ledger, pen, pencil, a little stitch and some cut up watercolour painting.

I also watched this.......a lot.

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Gingham

 

 

I made it.....later than I wanted but I'm here. Saturday is football day in this house. Husband, son, male friends of the above. Normally they say hi and take themselves off to the pub outside the football ground. Today they wanted to discuss teams and tactics in  my living room despite my best efforts to get rid of them. I endeavoured to turn the subject round to gingham but it didn't work. They wanted to stay, under my feet, talking about formation, 4-4-2 is the preferred line up today I gather. They've gone now.....and the door is firmly locked so they can't get back in.

Before this male invasion I had a lovely morning pressing gingham. I need this gathered around me so that I can ponder and consider. I have a hankering to work with gingham at the moment, I have for a while and it won't pass. It is taking a back seat though, it has to, simply stitch things to attend to that I hanker after equally as much. If it's laid out however, neatly pressed, it will catch my eye every now and then and perhaps feed an idea, a direction.

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this and that......

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behind the scenes

 

Sampling, then a little more sampling and just in case I get bored, nothing to do....a little more sampling. The white sample is for a new  piece which is imminent. The gingham and silk piece is for something else I have in mind, a plan that is nowhere near thought through properly yet but which is taking shape in my head. I can't tell you any more about that one. If I told you I would have to kill you.

Then there are books. I have plans for books and before you deluge me with mail....you know who you are......not me writing a book. I'm talking more about me titivating a book, or books. Can you tell I get through a lot of post it notes writing down the zillion ideas I get? 

Yesterday was cake day and very nice cake too. There are images on my instagram. I went to the beach, boy was it cold....it certainly blew the cobwebs off though.

more for the body bag ledger

 

 

 

I'm still consumed with ledger work. These pieces are for the body bag section of my ledger, the past couple of days have been concerned with the same ledger but a different piece of work that doesn't yet have a name.. The actual cloth part of the body bag, the embroidered piece is a little neglected. I do have remorse. I do intend to play with it a little more very soon. I miss it. The printed fabric in today's pieces is Liberty......be still my beating heart. Just a few snippets from the scraps I gathered whilst I was in London before Christmas and now I wish I had got more. Isn't that always the case.

The paper piece, the lower piece in the second image was created first. You have seen that before. The cloth piece was embroidered in response to the paper piece. It was seamless, one led to the other. Cohesive, evidence......appropriate words I think how about you?

I'm early today. That's because I am now off  ''up North'' for cake.....see you tomorrow.

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developing....

strips

 

 

 

Is the second image a little ''random''? Does it look as if it doesn't belong with the others? I took that picture at the same time as these because that was happening on my ironing board at the same time....(justification). I considered leaving it out but then I would most likely have forgotten about it and you would never have got to see it...(explanation). I'm going to stop there because I am beginning to feel like an English language teacher.

These pieces are all about strips. Strips of silk, lace, paper...strips and more strips. The only other thing to say is that the cloth piece will be titivated, by hand.

and wow??? Who knew my little book would be so popular? Certainly not me. I didn't make the book, (the titivations are all mine) I bought it here. Kaija is a fabulous book binder, we met once, in London. We had lunch, we shopped, we browsed, we chatted.....it was the least I could do considering she came all the way from Finland for a cup of tea and a piece of cake.

I ordered five more of these books from her last week. I have plans....

 

 

simply stitch 4