Karen Ruane

ledger,a page....

I had to do it, I was itching to play a little with ledger stuff inspired by the cross stitch and the hexagons. This can be taken much further than this in fact if you have done any of my classes, Alchemy in particular, you will know exactly what should come next, you will, I hope you do. Answers please???? There isn't a prize, I'm just checking whether you all learnt anything!

Trust me to have to go away when I'm on a roll......there are at least six design sheets here. By the time I come back from London it will be full on into 'Swathed in Stitch' and this will get sidelined. Unless of course I start with this. What do you think? 

The cloth piece that you saw yesterday now has the hexagons attached. I will show you that when I get back on Saturday. Meantime, before I go, I'm going to doodle some more.

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in love

in love

I don't know where to start. Maybe I best start by asking if you know what day it is. I get so confused with days during these holidays. Someone told me it was Sunday so I will trust them. Thing is, I haven't stopped. (I'm sure you haven't either) Boxing day we went away all day, a football coach to a game that is best forgotten, we got beat :( Yesterday we went away all day to a family thingy. I am home today and tomorrow and then I go to London on Tuesday. 

Can someone please stop the world, I want to get off.

Don't get me wrong, I haven't seen my daughter at all over Christmas, we haven't even swapped presents so I am going to be more than over the moon, happy, delighted and smiling to be spending time with her, it's just that my passion for cross stitch has been reawakened and I want to do more and more and more and more. I have this evening and tomorrow, my fingers will be stitching so quickly they will be a blur!!

The hexagons now need to be embroidered onto this alphabet piece, more thought needs to be given to what happens after that. What will this be? How am I going to extend it? There is also a yearning to create some kind of cross stitch, hexagon themed ledger work........there is so much ticking going on in my brain.

Because I go to London on Tuesday the shop will be closed from tomorrow night. Meantime you can still sign up for ''swathed in stitch'' here and it will be available again at the weekend. We start a week tomorrow. That is quite scary....

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I've decided...

moving the idea along

Number 10

Hi Everyone. This is just a quick check in to say that I hope you all had a brilliant day yesterday. I'm off out today and tomorrow, not much stitching is happening, too much Turkey eating is going on and we haven't even started on the chocolate yet!! The trifle and cheesecake are untouched so if you pop round then just help yourself. (the chocolates are under the Christmas tree if you want one, you can even have the ones with the nuts in, my favourites)

By the way....my front step isn't dirty......it's wet...rain.....

moving the idea along

I'm here. The trifle isn't made yet, nor is the cheesecake. The sage and onion stuffing was made before nine o'clock this morning and then there was a 24 mile round trip to collect my missing first born son. It's OK, he will recover from the cocktails some time before February. 

I wanted to show you how the new thought is moving along. The stitching is quite difficult to see clearly as the grid is very distracting but I'm happy with how this is evolving. I can clam no credit for the pretty pattern, that is from this book. 

I don't yet know what this piece of work will be, how it may alter as I work on it. The hexagons are tacked for placement reminder and once the cross stitch is complete will be permanently embroidered onto here. Whether that will form part of a bigger piece or remain as a sample is anyone's guess. I can say for certain however that there is some artwork in this, I see ledger work, I want to pick up a pencil.

The trifle and cheesecake however can be ignored no longer. I'm not sure how long I will be away from here for Christmas but rest assured it won't be long. I will pop up when you least expect it I'm sure.

Have a fabulous day tomorrow. If you don't do Christmas you can still have a fabulous day, treat yourself, get your feet up, do some online shopping, make a cake, stitch something wonderful, put yourself first.

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another pocket

onwards

onwards

I'm late. I have been sat in traffic for an age.....the good news is I don't need to leave the house again for days, yes days.

I am newly inspired, newly excited. Those two things, cross stitch and hexagons. Who knew they could cause such a passion? I printed some favourite images of past work, I stared, I glanced every now and then, I made hexagons. There are plans for cross stitch. The last two images today are the images I printed, I love them.

It's nearly time for the big 'ho, ho ho'. I'll be here, ensconced at home. The shop will stay open so you can register for 'swathed in stitch' and don't forget, after December 31 you can't buy any work on your own classes if you live in the EU. (EU tax rules are changing. As if they haven't got anything better to do. Who asked them anyway?)

I will be back tomorrow. I will appear as if by magic whilst being in the midst of making cheesecake, raspberry trifle and sage and onion stuffing.

 

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I've decided...

the hankie cloth has pockets....

while I wait.....

I've decided...

I lost my way, trust me. In an effort to shake things up I shook too hard.....I created something yesterday that horrified me this morning. Consequently I have nothing new to show you for fear of shame and embarrassment. As a result of that I went back to my old blog and found images which appeal to me, which say a little about who I am creatively, some more than others. 

It was a valuable exercise as it turned out. It reminded me that I know what I like, know what I am good at and all I need to shake is how I use that. I'm going to start with hexagons and cross stitch. Wish me luck.

spotty cloth and scraps

Spotty cloth, the edge of a vintage blouse, (buttons still attached!! result!!), a scrap of chequered silk and some very fragile lace. Put them together and what do you get? I have no idea except it's fun to stitch on the surface and decide what I should put where.

Perhaps this will become a pocket, the second pocket for London? If that's the case I suppose you could say I'm getting limbered up for lace and men's hankies and that this is the trial run. Time to go on  a men's hankie hunt then....

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Hello!!

paper, zips, loops and lace

another pocket

another pocket

Pockets, you can never have too many pockets. The one from yesterday is finished now and it's here along with the last three I made. Three of these are for the hankie cloth, the other one is coming to London with me. The spotty cloth in the new pocket is actually a vintage hankie. I have been asked about that quite a few times now. Going back to pockets......I think they will feature for some time to come. I will almost certainly be making them in Swathed in Stitch, in fact it's a definite because yesterday I bought this, this, this, this and this. I'm now thinking I need more vintage hankies too....men's hankies and lace, now there's a plan.

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the body bag and a pocket top

while I wait.....

This is what I'm fiddling and faffing with whilst I wait for the great big shake up to start taking effect and for the (jet) lag to subside. It's a finished pocket top and half a pillow. The pocket just needs lined now , the edges will then be titivated. This will be the first thing made to take to London in April. (the way i'm feeling energy wise it could well be the only thing made to take to London)

I don't remember the last time I felt this droopy. Don't get me wrong, I'm not unmotivated. I am actually very excited because I have half a plan. Half a plan is better than no plan at all. My ironing board is up, the iron is out, cloth is waiting to be pressed. That's a good sign...right?

 

By the way, if you liked my Swedish book from yesterdays post then Charmaine has provided a little translation in the comments of that post. Thank you Charmaine!!

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button placement...

five buttons

a pillow and a glimpse of my new book

A finished pillow, titivated and completed before I went away, safely stored and free from harm. It's already spoken for but will stay home with mother (me) until after the Christmas postal rush. I would hate for it to go astray.

My new book, from Sweden. I don't understand a word of it but I love it just the same. This will make a fantastic ledger. Watch this space.

Thank you so much for the welcome home. Who knew you would miss me so much? I am very grateful. I am also feeling a lot better today.

Embroidery wise I started a new pillow when I got back. It was easy, not challenging in terms of piecing etc but I'm beginning to wonder if I need to shake things up a bit, shake myself up a bit, come up with a new master plan. That's as far as I've got. I had the thought. The thought is still there but it's not growing yet, expanding or developing. My brain is still fuddled from the (jet) lag, the alleged lag anyway. I'm hoping it doesn't last too long, I need a new direction or at least a new piece in mind for the start of Swathed in Stitch otherwise everyone will be asleep on the first day.

So.....jump start my creativity, that's what I need to do or at least jump start a new idea, something fresh. This afternoon I will ponder and cogitate, browse a ledger or two....