Karen Ruane

Beads, buttons and bullion knots.

Three hours on a Tuesday night......a header, white cloth, vintage lace, two seams, beaded bullion knots and buttons secured with pink and lemon bullion's. I can't tell you how much I love to handle these swatches. I lay them out, all together and wonder what I could do in terms of mixing and matching, taking one idea from one and adding it to another then wonder about taking one idea from each of them and creating a new piece which really is what this exercise is all about, building a design resource, a library of ideas on cloth.  There are more swatches here so you can get an idea of what I am talking about. (this post will likely be the first one you see when you follow that link so scroll down to see all my swatches in various stages of completion)

Aside from these swatches and the ones in the above link others are taking shape. Pink gingham, silk and lace swatches to be precise, all in the name of my next class. You can see some of those here.

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gimp....

I promised

gimp and sequins

Something new....well partially new. A header has been attached to one of my new samples. It's attached with trailing gimp, bullion knots and some tiny little flower/sequin things. The next thing is to embroider the actual header, the expanse of silk above the gimp and sequins...... I'm thinking either flowers, cross stitch of some kind or applique. Maybe I can combine all three. I'll ponder all that later.

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after the sewing machine

this week in artist book class - Karen Ruane

gathering embroidered cloth

So, yesterday, after the indecision, what did I do. I put the kettle on and gathered some cloth, just to look at, to fondle, to become excited by. I then made the first videos for the new class which involved a lot of  stitch, stitch, chat....stitch, using amongst other things my little box of delights from French General.

After that I played with pages a little for my ''artist book'', making plans for the coming week in class, having a mini stock take of my page fillers, again realising I have nowhere near enough stitched bits and planning the creation of the remaining pieces.

Then.......I began some embroidery for you, embroidery I can share on here. I will show you that tomorrow.

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this week in artist book class

Stitched paper, embroidered scraps of cloth, hanging tags, sequins, pages, papers....so many surfaces and textures, lots of layering, ripping, rearranging. The past week in class, in Artist Book class. Some days I really don't know what to do with myself, what to work on next. I have so much temptation here. I want to stitch paper, I want to fill pages, I want to add bead and bells and sequins so they hang from the lower edge of pages.

All that and cloth too, cloth temptation, embroidery for ''studies in stitch'', a bag to plan, buttons to plan, surface design to plan.  Gingham yes or no?  Lace yes or no? Decisions decisions.....take this afternoon as an example. My chores are done and I don't have to cook today. (that's a huge plus all on its own) Do I cut some silk and  sample for Studies in Stitch? Do I put more pages together?  Neither of these things is ''pressing''. My Artist Book group is far from neglected and a lot of planning has already happened for the next stitch class...it's just a case of me deciding which I want to do more. 

Having said all that, whatever I decide I can't show you so I also want....emphasis on want ...I also want to embroider something else which has me excited and which I can share with you. What to do? What to do when indecision and too much choice reigns? I'm off to put the kettle on.

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strips of silk

This surface was put together around a fortnight ago. I think you have seen it before when it was minimally embellished. Last night I worked on it some more although there's still a long way to go. I pieced this with strips of silk, silk muslin, silk scrim, crinkled silk and metallic silk tissue. As I was working on it last night I thought how good it would be to plan a project around it, to have a bigger plan. It's such a pleasure to embroider this kind of surface, there are lots of areas ripe for stitch and other embellishments. I then got to thinking about this,

Made mostly with lace and lace cloth this piece is my ''veil'' piece which hangs in the room where I spend most of my days. It occurred to me that the piece I worked on last night could evolve beautifully into something similar if I continue to create the surfaces, add embroidery then join them together. 

There is a post here from 2012 explaining the veil piece in more detail. There is a short video too.....

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looking back

A new ledger

the second header

The second header, I showed you the first one yesterday. This one has vintage lace, vintage pom poms, cross stitch and added blingy bits. Am I allowed to say how much I love these swatches? I am completely smitten and can't wait to add a header to the next one. 

The next step, after all the headers are completed, sewn and titivated is to join these together, then I suppose I will have to start again,  a new embroidered swatch book.  Having said that I may be consumed with bags and pockets and buttons from my new class before the next swatch book can be created so it may never happen. (It will, it definitely will)

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an embroidered header

In theory I have added a header to one of my swatches. (the flower heads on gimp stalks with a sequin and bullion knot seam attaching it to the main piece) The header should allow me to join all the embroidered swatches creating a cloth book, a book of embroidered samples. I am beginning to wonder though if what I have done here was purely self indulgent as opposed to functional. The swatch got bigger, longer, the header is attached but did it need to be this opulent? I guess it doesn't matter aside from the fact I now love this piece so much I'm not sure I want to hide it in a cloth book. My other swatches are still to have headers created and attached. I'm thinking I need to create them all in a similar, opulent vein in order that this one doesn't seem out of place. This afternoon I will begin the next one, the next header...it's such a hard life lol, planning encrusted surfaces, embroidery and all things pretty. I  don't suppose there's anything wrong with a little self indulgence is there. 

My new class begins in less than two weeks. I am going to be making bags and pillows, buttons and pockets and on and on.....I can't wait. There will be more silk, more sequins, a little gingham, patterned cloth and lots of stitch. If you want to join me you can read more here.

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an artist book taking shape

 

My ''artist book'' from class.....it's coming together but there is a long, long way to go. I'm guessing here, because I can't remember off the top of my head but I think I need another twenty pieces, twenty samples, twenty little stitched scraps before this will be full. How many do you have I hear you ask? Erm....five...lol. I know, I know, crack on. 

I'm being distracted by a header though....a header for my swatches. 

There's a little glimpse for you here of my birthday.  Thank you so much for all the happy wishes...I am blessed.

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Today

It's someones birthday today so she is most likely off somewhere eating cake. 

 

The past week or so in picture.....see you tomorrow.

 Oops! I opened this one early....

I wrote this post and pre timed it for today before the awful events of last night.

I don't have any words.

and then there were three

The day before yesterday I showed you the first of these experiments in surface design, my first attempt at kick starting my brain to gather ideas for patterning for use in my next class.

Yesterday I showed you the second piece, the second sample, today the third. I think this one needs flowers.....flowers similar to the ones on the first piece, perhaps upside down flowers depending on where I can fit them in. Watch this space.....

Pieces I create in my new class won't look exactly like these, the patterning will be adapted again. These are purely references for my own use, memory prompts, idea hors d'oeuvres. I have to leave these for a short while now though...I have headers to make for my ongoing swatch book. (a reminder of that is here)

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