Karen Ruane

the edge of a wrap

This piece measures 28 x 8 inches and will be a wrap for my little design notebook. So far only this edge has been embroidered. It took quite some time to piece the papers for this and then to baste it all together.

I won't be able to work on this constantly. This will be a 'pick up as and when' piece but that's ok.

I posted week twelve of my free embroidery class yesterday. There are two more weeks left of that and six weeks after the final post I will be removing those videos so you may wish to catch up now. Just go here for those posts.

Tomorrow will be week two of my latest embroidery class, 'an embroiderers cloth'. Access to all 'paid for' online learning is forever.....you have all the time in the world for that one and can read more about it here.

making plans for a wrap

I'm piecing a wrap for this one.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Karen Ruane (@karenruane) on May 28, 2020 at 3:26am PDT

pieces for the next page

I'm gathering pieces for the next page of my little stitched notebook. It may almost be time to call this one finished as I'm not sure the little paperback book can take much more.

Once I have stitched these pieces in I will make a decision.

The girls in class are gathering all manner of pretty ribbons and fabrics for their 'embroiderers cloth'. The Flickr group looks amazing after only two days, their motivation is exceptional...thank you!

It's not too late to join us, you can read all about it here.

an embroiderers cloth

Just a note for those of you who are registered for my new class 'an embroiderers cloth' which began today.

All sign in details and passwords have now been issued along with invitations to our private Flickr group.

If you haven't received these can you please let me know.

recording design

This little notebook is filling up quickly. The weight of it in my hands is beautiful. I love how it splays open, settling on a random page when I leave it to lie.

Am I allowed to sigh as I play with this? We are often reluctant to express the pleasure we get from our own work but I'm going to allow myself to sigh and sigh again.

My new class, 'an embroiderers cloth' begins tomorrow for eight weeks. There will be embroidery, buttons, toggles, edge titivation, needle keeps, pin keeps.....if you would like to read more about it just go here.

I now have a date with a beach and a puppy. Have a lovely Sunday x

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Karen Ruane (@karenruane) on May 24, 2020 at 2:53am PDT

extending my little design notebook with cloth

Mostly the pages in this little notebook have been created with torn papers and scraps of lace and fabric. The main focus of the page you can see here is a little different to those in so far as I have used a fabric background in one area, no paper....

This little notebook is my 'inspiration' and record keeping reference for my 'embroiderers cloth', hence the cloth addition. I thought it would be a good idea to include more cloth to give me a better sense of how my finished, embroidered fabric piece might evolve.

lace cloth

Something you haven't seen for a while today, lace cloth.

I'm stash building.

Since I moved to this house almost 18 months ago I haven't spent any time specifically creating lace cloth for my stash, consequently my stash is depleting.

Yesterday I spent a few hours losing myself in this process and my stash is now growing again.

revisiting my 'happy cloth'.

This morning I made a brief wrapping cloth 'show and tell' video for my new class which will be included in our first post next week. I gathered a few wrapping cloths including this one and although this piece is visible to me every day it's the first time I have really studied it for a while.

There are so many memories wrapped up in this, my happy cloth....some of you may not have seen it before so there are lots of images here for you.

(this was made in 2017)

I do love a toggle

More work has been happening in my little design notebook but the thing that excites me the most today are the new toggles. Sometimes I forget how good it is to just create embellishents like these, to have them in your stash, to have a jar full of hand embroidered buttons, toggles, trims. (that reminds me, I haven't made any trims for a while, must rectify that)

My plans for creating a wrapping cloth in my new class are what gave me the push to think about embellishments like these toggles. These are so useful when making a wrapping cloth for edges, finishing touches.

(if you are registered for the new class perhaps you could be thinking about your own buttons, toggles etc now?)

But let's not forget this little book. I am getting so much pleasure embellishing these pages, trying out placement for embroidery stitches, ribbons, laces before I actually create my cloth.

(again, if you are registered for the new class perhaps you could start a little book? we have just over one week to go and it's amazing what can be achieved in that time. In fact let me know if you do start a little book or start toggle and button making and I can open up our private Flickr group early)

My next post will be Week ten of my free embroidery class. Week ten.....how did that happen?

embroidery and hand stitched toggles

There's a new grandmothers flower garden embroidery here. The hexagons were hand embroidered before being pieced together.

This is the start of a new embroidered cloth book but I have been distracted by the toggles.....

When I am creating a wrapping cloth...(which I will be doing in my new class 'an embroiderers cloth')... I begin to think about all the different ways in which I can add embellishment, titivation. These toggles are quite basic really but I do think they would make for a lovely edge finishing if there were more of them. They do not actually 'match' with my plans for my wrapping cloth but they are very useful to have in my stash.

This morning I have been playing with a new idea for an embellishment, it's fiddly and then some but I guess those of you who know me wouldn't expect anything else.

It still needs work, the idea, so I will be keeping that one to myself for a little while.