Karen Ruane

Suffolk puffs, edges.

The little pillow from yesterday has flown the nest, sold....thank you!

Today there's another one. These came together pretty quickly once they were damp stretched.

I don't know if I get more pleasure from creating the main pieces or from creating the edge titivations.

This one has Suffolk puffs wrapping round a corner.

I'm sure my love of these edge adornments comes from my love of the fiddly.

This one is now in the shop.

There won't be any more for the foreseeable future because later today I am going to piece my first cloth for 'Zoom sewing circle'.

I delisted that class on Friday as I had reached my minimum number of members. That has allowed me to begin prep for class.

I can now open registration again to fill the final few places so if you are interested please read more here.

I am going to speak about this class in more detail later this week too.

ties at one edge

It's a pin pillow, or not. It's not compulsory to stick pins in it of course.

One of the embroidered panels you saw here has now been transformed.

It's been stuffed....hand turned ties have been added to an edge along with prairie points placed at a corner.

It's now available to purchase in the shop.

The last few days here have been manic. I have travelled again, this time to see my parents. I have emptied my house of tradesmen and begun the tidying up process.

Why is there always much more disruption than you imagine?

And the dust, don't mention the dust.

Also, it's hot. I melted three times on Friday, positively puddled on the floor.

Now summer is here prepare yourself for the complaining.

I complain when it rains, I complain when it's hot.

Where is the happy medium?

pin pillows

My 'looking back' posts continue. This time it's pin pillows. I have no idea where most of these are now. If you own one perhaps you could say.

I have previously looked back at buttons and puffs, you can see those here and here.

At the foot of the post today is another memory, not embroidery related but a memeory that means something to me.

(I would have been around 9 years old at the time)

When I first posted that image some time ago I said I wondered how that young girl would have felt if she knew what she'd be doing all these years later. I'm still wondering.

Randoms....

A few ''randoms'' today, recent images of work in progress, work completed and everyday creative stuff. The large piece of silk with gingham and embroidery is damp stretching. That is a ''master sheet'' of items from class. There's a drawstring pouch, two pin pillows and six buttons all embroidered waiting to be put together and have final titivation's added. (you can't see the buttons but trust me, they're there) and yes, you did read that correctly, two more pin pillows. There are four finished pin pillows in these images too. The top three are mine, the last one, the blue and white one doesn't live here any more. 

 

 

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studies in stitch - Karen Ruane

lace, pom poms and sequins

More stitching has been added to the pillow top I first showed you here. Not long now and that piece will be transformed into something delightful into which pins can be stuck! The other piece is a small scrap, a small sample of layered lace, silk muslin, a few vintage pom poms and added stitch. There's a single silver, cubed bead on there too, not very visible in these images. (first image, far left of the third pom pom down on the silk muslin surface.) This piece is for my very own artist book.

Speaking of artist books there may be news soon of an adventure regarding ''artist books''......but that's for another day.

Today I will be stitching fine, fragile papers, creating surfaces for my ''stash''. Some of those will be hand embroidered for my book. Fabric scraps will be added to them too, perhaps a few more pom poms, definitely some delicate pieces of lace and beads and sequins will almost certainly find a place somewhere within these plans.

 

lace cloth, a new pin pillow

Lace cloth, a pin pillow, the top of a pin pillow. Every time I make lace cloth I question why I don't do it more often. No two pieces are the same, ever.  In class, if we make lace cloth, out of 30 or 40 people no two pieces are ever the same or would be the same if we all began with exactly the same cloth. It's always a surprise, a revelation exactly how the finished piece will turn out.  I've yet to see a ''poor'', unappealing piece of lace cloth, my own or that made by others. I would be so bold as to say it's impossible to not create a gorgeous piece of cloth this way no matter how much experience you have or don't have, no matter what your choices are when it comes to fabric selection.

Anyway, I digress, I got wrapped up in my love for lace cloth.....now to speak about the pin pillow. It's spoken for. I don't accept commissions for many reasons one of which is lack of time. (another, more relevant reason is I want to make what I want, not what someone else wants. Sorry about that, it's just how it is.)

If someone mentions to me they may like something I say no problem but I can't promise and I can't promise when it will happen if it ever does. I'm no business genius but I'm guessing that wouldn't be a good way to earn money from commissioned work.  But, like I said, that's fine by me. I am the non commission Queen...too many potential problems.

So, the pin pillow. Someone wants one. I said yes but don't hold your breath. Eventually , it's here, in progress. You can breathe now.

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gimp and patchwork, a finished pouch.

lace cloth, another page, a video.

New Class. Sampling for stitch.

gimp and bullion knots on a pillow top

Embroidery is happening on one of the pieces of cloth from yesterday. One of the pieces has been cut in two and a piece of silk Dupion has been tacked into the space created. I then added a curly gimp edge secured with bullion knots. So far there is  a single bumpy bit on the silk Dupion...there will be more.

Yesterday I also spoke about my ''octagon'' situation. I ordered pre cut octagon templates. My excitement was mounting. They have just arrived. Only one problem......they sent me hexagons by mistake. Can you hear me crying? 

(I will be calling them)

three pillow tops and octagon lift off!

You might remember I have been wanting to play with octagons for quite some time. I ordered templates...they were too big, (you're right, I didn't read it properly!) So I allowed the urge to rest, basically I didn't so anything about it because I had other things to do and Santa was coming. However, the urge returned with a vengeance so I printed some onto paper which I then stuck to card, my printer doesn't like card. That was a bit of a disaster.....I am glue averse anyway so that didn't surprise me to be honest. Despite this I managed to get one card template cut out which I then used to draw around...result. There are only seven here, that's as far as I have got. I have ordered more pre cut templates...the correct size I hope.....I will play with this a little more when they arrive. It's those little squares which have got me excited...the possibilities for those open spaces.

The cloth? The snippet cloth surfaces? There are three of those each measuring approximately five inches square....not very big. I have plans for those, pin pillow related plans......

Embroidery School opened it's doors this morning. If you registered you should have received mail from me this morning about Flickr and about live videos. If you haven't received those please let me know. 

If you think you might want to join us you can read more here.

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Daily doodling and a new Flickr group for you.

pockets...with pockets on top.

a pillow for yours truly

A little pillow......for me. It will be used for pins because let's face it, you can never have too many pin pillows. This one measures 7 x 6 inches (not counting the prairie points). It's going to live in the dining room, the front room, the room where I work. There are four other pin pillows in the house. Why didn't you just move one of them you ask? Well, because I wanted to make another one. I felt like treating myself without leaving the house or spending money. I recommend it.

There are circular beads along one edge which are very tempting to play with, to run your fingers along. Let's hope I stitched them on securely! The toggle was added as a finishing touch (despite being created for my happy cloth. I stole it from my happy cloth stash)

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the table....

new doodling on white silk

two pillow tops

Similar images I know but I couldn't pick a favourite....two pillow tops in progress. The biggest one has had more cutwork added. The smaller one which you saw in a hoop earlier this week is finished, it's just waiting for me to decide what to do with it next. I can't decide what to back it with or what to add to the edges. I have too many options.......quite a happy dilemma to have. 

This afternoon is going to be another chaotic artist book afternoon. I say chaotic because you wouldn't believe the mess I create when I am putting pages together. It takes me longer to tidy up afterwards than it does to actually put the pages together. A creative space is a messy space......at least it is here.

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an edge of cutwork

I promised

wrapped and bound in stitch

cutwork, gimp and fancy frocks

gimp....

36 x 25 inches