Karen Ruane

a glimpse inside embroidery school

Almost two weeks into class, two weeks to go until a two week break, eight more weeks when I come back from holiday. This is approximately a quarter of what I have produced in ''sampling for stitch''. There are 120 images in our Flickr group already...wow. I take my hat off to those girls, they know how to create, to inspire, to take a theme and run with it.

This is what I do in the background alongside the other stuff I show on here. Yesterday was all about little books and a little cloth titivation. Later today I will be playing with more gingham and lace before finishing (I hope), another pocket top to show here this week. 

Book progress is happening....one whole book still to cram with samples and another with just a couple of pages left to adorn. I can see the finish post. not that I am in a hurry, no.....it's very relaxing to stick and stitch little scraps onto pages. The evidence of yesterdays creativity is below....

three bullion knots

Three minute video, three minutes to embroider three bullion knots. Does that mean each bullion knot takes one minute? I doubt it, I waffle too. I put together a scrap of pin tucked fabric yesterday, two brightly coloured patterned fabrics, minimally layered and pin tucked .

This now has embroidery on the surface and will be cut up as tiny samples to add to pages in my little books. I know, I know they have been in progress since time began but I am getting there...I promise. I hope you don't mind that I am having a little fun along the way, playing, making a mess on the table, scraps of paper on the floor, thread stuck to my clothes. (that probably sounds familiar to a lot of you)

In terms of ''works in progress'', this one is now getting attention......I should be able to show you soon...

an almost finished pocket

This afternoon I will be lining this pocket. I will then titivate the edges before ticking it off my ''to do'' list. I hope you can see the difference in this one from when you last saw it here....now to tackle another two pieces I have in progress.......

Then there are artists books, three completed, two still to finish. That is my Saturday plan......

threads, samples and that pin pillow

A snapshot of the past few days. Sampling has been happening, thread has been bought and pockets have been lined. The bling pin pillow is ever present at the moment, it seems to pop up in most of my images. It's well used.....and much loved. There is a whole post dedicated to that piece here, from way back...when it was created.

The most exciting thing for me in this post is the book cover....written on by me, many moons ago. Those were the days, my own little piece of history. When I think back to the little girl who wrote that I am certain she never would have guessed what she would be doing at this stage in her life. If she had she would have been very happy indeed.

a paper swatch and a scrap of cloth

I'm not here. I'm at mothers house, most likely eating cake and stroking a cat. Another page for an artist book....a tiny piece of patterned paper and a scrap of cloth.

Normal service will be resumed tomorrow.

a running stitch sample and a page

Do you remember this? The wonky line of running stitch and the sugary sample? It gets finished today. The jury is out on whether it's love or mere tolerance....

Books are a theme at the moment, have been for quite some time. I am two interrupted hours away from finishing five artists books. That won't happen until the weekend at the earliest. I have patience...thankfully. 

Yesterdays piece has more titivation . I will be sharing that again later this week. After I finish that one I have two more partially worked pieces nipping at my heels begging for attention...my immediate future is mapped out it seems.

Lilac spots and flowers....

Another surface, titivation ongoing, still quite a bit to do. Big applique flower heads that remind me a little of lollipops.... The pink thread here, the bullion loops, is a lot paler than this in real life, it's soft, feminine, gentle. This one also has a little label. ''a pocket'', it will be folded and edged by hand before it's ready.

I now have three little books finished. This afternoon I hope to make massive progress with numbers four and five. I'm also planning on showing you this again tomorrow, almost finished and ready to be mounted.

The new class, ''sampling for stitch'' is one week old today. Already we have 65 images in our private Flickr group...yes, 65!!!! That's amazing, honestly. It's not too late if you want to be part of this amazing group, just go here to read more. This one will run right up until Christmas and you have access forever so you can take another 12 Christmases if you like.

almost

Photographed on my ironing board yesterday whilst I was attaching a lining, this piece is almost finished. It still needs final titivations in terms of folding and hand stitched edges but it's nearly there. There is a little label attached too which is printed with the words ''a pocket''...

The lining is the lilac circle cloth, the open spots, spotty cloth with a difference.

If you look at the second image you may think it seems a little disjointed in terms of composition, placement of motif but trust me.....I have a plan...it's intentional. This piece will look completely different once the folding has happened. Watch this space.

Tomorrow you will see the lilac spots again....this one has had a little more attention.

a line of running stitch

The first page in my new ledger received a little attention today. It started life here and is going to get a little of this cloth added to the first page once I have finished stitching on it. I'm considering putting all the pages together now, before they are worked, maybe 12 blank pages in total. That way I can just slip things into this as and when I am inspired as opposed to each page being meticulously thought through. It might be better to have  a more relaxed format for this little book.

If you enjoy these little videos don't forget there is a category list on the right of this page, just click ''video'' and it will take you to all manner of recorded stuff.....

samples, prints, stitching and sticking

Yesterday afternoon consisted of lots of mess on the table, lots of sticking and cutting too. The upshot is I made great strides with my latest batch of little books. There are new thread wrapped cards, new fabric swatch cards, more prints, little offcuts of stitch, some hanging tags with buttons and puffs sewn on......it's a great way to pass three hours, yes three hours. Honestly, time just goes so quickly and it's not  a chore, it's the best kind of playtime.

I reckon these will be finished early next week. I just need to get cracking with my stitched pieces now......one is finished, one is almost finished and two require quite a bit of attention. It'll be a sewing weekend.....