Karen Ruane

ruffles

You would be forgiven for thinking you have come to the wrong blog when you see the images today. I must say....I am more than pleased with myself and my day couldn't possibly get any better. Who knew I could do this? Who knew I could hem a semi circle of dupion silk? Not me. It might be simple for some of you but for me...it's a first.

I've been playing with necklines and ruffles in prep for my new class. Don't panic, don't faint, it's not a dressmaking class, it's a book making class and I'm not giving anything away showing you this work because mostly the class will be about creating a little stitched book. The sampling I am doing is to help me decide what I want to place inside my little book when it's finished and you won't be surprised to hear.........I want to make these all over again.

soft pages, soft cover....

Hi all. I hope you all had a brilliant holiday time and that the big guy was good to you. He was very good to me but as I'm always on my best behaviour that's no surprise. My guests have gone, I have my house back, my studio has been spring cleaned for the weekend (I have plans) and I no longer need to peel sprouts, it's a win win.

You may remember this post and the indecision re the cover for this little cloth book. I made a decision to go with the very soft, floaty lace cloth for the cover and it's all stitched together now. I posted a few of these images on Facebook before Christmas but didn't write the blog post...must have been peeling sprouts! Anyway, here it is and I can assure you it's well fondled.

Artist books are going to feature a lot here in 2020. Soft cloth books, sculptural paper books, investigative sample ledgers....I see 2020 clearly, I have plans. The year will begin with my new class which you can read about here and alongside that, privately, I will be sampling book forms in both paper and cloth. Snippets of those private sampling pieces will be shared here from time to time so please promise you will come back to see how I am progressing.

Ledgers, a record of stitch.

This is the work I spoke about in my last blog post, the new design exploration I have begun in 'ledgers, a record of stitch'. I started this in our last private class blog post and hopefully the progress I have made since then will show the girls I'm not slacking, I'm focused, I'm on it.  It isn't quite finished yet as you can see but I love how it's developing.

(those of you in class who haven't seen these videos yet...this is your Christmas homework!! only joking....no homework.....nice teacher....)

We only have two more posts left and this class will be finished. Miss you already....

I don't think I will have time to post again before the big day. I wish happiness, peace and health to each and every one of you.

hand embroidery and ribbons

During my recent self imposed exile I continued to stitch. I worked on pieces for both embroidery school and ledger class in addition to sampling for my new 2020 class 'a little book of sewing'. Below are a selection of images from that time along with a glimpse for you of my early Christmas gift to myself from VV Rouleaux in London....ribbons and trims. (last image)

I don't know about you but at the moment my days aren't my own with preperation for the holiday season. Stitching time has been scarce but I am managing to work a little on a new piece for ledger class which is progressing well and I hope to share that with you next time I am here.

books, pages, ledgers,

Last time I was here I spoke about my happy place...and to remind you here is the quote,

''this is definitely where I am happiest....in 'that place' embellishing little sketchbooks, tiny notebooks and ledgers with stitch, beads, knots and buttons, creating my own heavily embellished pages from self made cloth, creating fluffy, soft, white and lace like fabrics...yes, definitely my happy place.''

Today's images are an illustration of that. Looking at the last image which is how my table looked just before I turned the lights out and climbed the stairs last night I finally felt as if I had turned a corner.

The first class of 2020 is listed here. It won't surprise you to hear that it's book related.

happy place

This is definitely where I am happiest....in 'that place' embellishing little sketchbooks, tiny notebooks and ledgers with stitch, beads, knots and buttons, creating my own heavily embellished pages from self made cloth, creating fluffy, soft, white and lace like fabrics...yes, definitely my happy place.

I am going away for a few days on Monday, here. If you sign up for my new class whilst I am away I won't be able to send you the supply list until Thursday 12th. I do hope that's ok.

a cover?

I've been thinking about the cover for my next little stitched book, the pages I showed you last time....

I wish you could touch this piece, it's light as a feather, frothy, soft....

 

embroidered pages

This pile of embroidered cloth will soon be transformed into a little cloth book. There is an embroidered cover planned which I'm hoping to line with lace cloth.

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Meanwhile, this piece popped up in my Facebeook memories today...happy memories indeed...my 'happy cloth'.

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A post shared by Karen Ruane (@karenruane) on Dec 2, 2019 at 5:38am PST