Karen Ruane

abc

ABC...my chosen template for designing pattern in this ledger. What's happening here, what has been happening in ledger class is the study of colour and stitch and the use of that colour and stitch within a chosen pattern. I have chosen ABC. What's also happening in class is the examination of presentation methods for use in a ledger, a sketchbook.

The result of all this work is not only a wealth of design ideas to take forward in the future, its the creation of a wonderful ledger, a sketchbook, something to just pick up and leaf through anytime you like.

lace and stitched papers

The girls in ledger class will most likely be happy to see me working on this page as it's been languishing untouched for quite some time. There is still work to do here but already it has given me another idea which I will feed into class over the coming months.

The little book doesn't belong here. The little book, for now, is a moveable prop to fill blank space for photographs....very underhand of me I know. I speak about where the little book will live in this post but for now it has other uses.

extending design

 

You have seen the piece here on the left before. As part of my mounting marathon, the creation of my next artist book, my sample sorting it was the turn of that one. I've embroidered paper scraps here to sit alongside the piece on the left before attaching both pieces to a large sheet of acrylic paper which I have also stitched on.

There's a drawback to all this unfortunately....every time I mount one of these pieces, titvate and stitch the page I get another idea. Don't worry, I'm writing them all down.

white cloth, dotted paper

You probably wouldn't guess from looking at these images that this piece is an integral part of something we have going on in the artist book class, the 12 month blog/class. It's 25 inches long, strips of lace, silk velvet and paper in the process of being embellished. The seams are being worked on at the moment, they are long seams...25 inches like I said. Depending on the stitch I am using they are progressing at varied speeds. The French knots take the longest.

One outer edge has been embroidered with buttonhole lace, mostly I did that early to stabilise the paper on that side. I'm hoping the girls in artist book class can see here that I am beavering away, progressing pieces for class....I'm not slacking.

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silk and paper surfaces

The title is misleading because there's a little bit of lace thrown in here too, sorry. The cloth piece from yesterday has been cut and layered with a little lace ready to be hand embroidered. Separately, lace, silk and paper have been layered and stitched together to create the other scraps you can see here. All of these pieces will be hand embroidered, enhanced and whilst that is happening (hopefully).....I will get ideas, be inspired for more work, more embroidery, more pages for ''artist books''.

 

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lace cloth, another page, a video.

a pocket, gimp and buttons

extending design

This is the last piece I worked on in the re run of ''an embroiderers ledger''. It's not finished, the overlay, the piece with the greyish cloth and partial embroidery. It lives with this spread in my ledger. The colours don't match but that's ok, it was deliberate as I was desperate to use a small scrap of some new Liberty cloth I have bought. Despite the fact it doesn't ''match'' it works...I think it works, it looks like it belongs.

Ninety percent of my time is being spent on my ''happy cloth'', embroidering seams, embroidering buttons and creating pocket after pocket but every so often I can move back to this ledger and add a littler more. That sounds like a good balance to me.

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colour and pattern

The third colour/pattern study. This one is much less involved than the sheet from yesterday. This one was an exercise in what could be achieved quickly. The sheet from yesterday is a slower process. Now I'm thinking about combinations of the three sheets I have begun over the past week or so and wondering how that might look, how  that might work. I am also thinking there's an overload of circles. I need a few angular shapes in my life....

Tomorrow I might show you some embroidery, cloth, embellished cloth, embroidered knots....remember those?

normal?

So the general consensus is that you don't want me to be normal. I understand that, I get it. In fact after a little thought I am sure I can safely say that I have never been normal anyway so that's a result for all of us. I will therefore strive to return to my ''usual self''. Will that do? The embroidery looks ''normal'', cross stitch words now finished with a lace trim added for extra titivation.

My house is moved around a bit, furniture out of place to accommodate a christmas tree etc so I no longer have a surface handy for taking pictures in front of the window. I could of tried balancing my work on top of the fairy but it was never going to work. Instead I placed it on an open ledger page........

I woke today to a mini flood.....yes, a mini flood. 6.45 am and a tap left running all night in the bathroom. Happy days.....a ruined ceiling and a soaking lounge carpet. What did I do? I got dressed, had a coffee, laid towels on the floor and...........went Christmas shopping. The bury your head in the sand (or shop) trick.

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snatching stitch

funny......

white lace and cross stitch hearts

surface......

yes....it's more colour.

More from my ledger for class. Class which unbelievably finishes this week.......it really has passed my by in a whirl. This also explains my use of raspberry pink silk too....is it all becoming clear? We have one more lesson at the end of this week then it's all systems go with my prep for embroider, embellish, create.

I may take a couple of days in between to play with my new cloth and think about another thing that's on my mind. It's a good thing, just needs some thought before I put it out there. Meantime thank you so much for the response to my little chat yesterday...wow...amazing. The only drawback I can see to that video is that I think I have become responsible for a worldwide cloth fondling epidemic! Yikes...just don't do it in the shop or I will be barred from everywhere. If you really can't control yourself bear in mind that I will definitely deny any knowledge of you....never heard of you.........who?

 

lace and ledgers

I am so far behind today....the girls are all queued up in class waiting for me to look at their pictures....I have questions to answer. There were big plans for today but a family crisis in the middle of the night put paid to all that. I had actually posted today's class early before I went to bed yesterday....must have been some kind of sixth sense as otherwise they would all still be waiting, pencils in hand. Never mind though...it's all good now and here I am. At the moment we are looking at lace in class...this is my effort, my contribution. Some embroidery, some drawing ,some painting and a lot of titivation.

Now I really must dash...I have a lot of catching up to do.