Karen Ruane

vintage net

Yesterday evening I spent a little time playing with this net. It's vintage, it was gifted to me some time ago and it came in partial garment pieces. I have a beautiful, partial bodice edged with lace from the same garment which I have yet to use, for now I am playing with the plain sections which I'm guessing came from the skirt area of a dress.

As you can imagine, being net it's a very open, light surface without any weight or substance which limits the processes you can apply to the surface which won't detract from its delicacy. Hence my play, my sampling. I see uses for this in artist books of course, for fragile and frothy compositions. It would also of course be perfect if used in a veil like piece.

I'm also thinking it could well be destined to evolve into overlays, into delicate surfaces ripe for gentle hand embroidery, the surfaces we will be creating in my next class. 

You can read more about that here.

Meanwhile, inspired by yesterdays post I am putting another embroidered silk panel together today. I know I seem to spend my life sampling but I think we are all sampling repeatedly and regularly aren't we? Trying new ideas, playing with placement and stitches, thread choices, cloth choices. If we don't test these things how will we ever learn and develop?

   

 

whites for artist book pages

We've started on a new book over on the 12 month artist book blog. It's very basic at the moment but I did say to the girls I needed to build up my stash of stitched pieces for when we get to the ''filling the pages'' stage. Hopefully they can see by these images that I'm on it....

As we have used a lot of colour creating pages in one of our other artist books for class, (this one) I am aiming to keep the one you see here mostly white.

I wish the little silver sequins were more visible. You can see them I know but they look much more delicate ''in the flesh'', the photographs don't illustrate that as well as I would have liked. I'm also very taken with the little Suffolk puffs. I used a very sheer silk for those and there is a beautiful lightness to them.

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stitch for artist books - Karen Ruane

the correct colour

This time I chose the right colours.... the pinkish one, the raspberry like one was created first with the wrong coloured embroidery thread. The top image, the darker colours, they are the right colours if this is to live with the cross stitch piece you can see in the third image.

I say ''if this is to live with the cross stitch piece'' but now I am wondering, thinking...wouldn't it be lovely just to have lots of pieces of this all joined together?

That's an exciting plan, it gets me fired up. Trouble is I have so many other exciting plans for other things. At this rate I will have oodles of works in process.....ooodles

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three hearts....

my jobs for today....

white

I did it, I managed to find the two spare hours needed to satisfy the hankering I had for white lace cloth...I spoke about it yesterday. The two hours were hiding in the cupboard marked ''don't panic you are running on adrenalin''. I'm so pleased I did this, I love it, it makes me happy, it completes my preparations.

I'm closing the shop later today, the registration for my new class will open again a week on Monday. I will be back on here a week on Monday. I need to pack. I need to iron. I miss you already.....got to dash....

 

(patched pockets girls....I am waiting for the men to vacate the house, go to the football before I make your video...an estimate....it will be ready in a  couple of hours....when have I ever let you down?...OK...don't answer that!!)

a strip of cloth, a video

 

Yesterday afternoon I wasn't sure about this.....now I love it. To be fair it didn't look like this yesterday afternoon. It didn't have the tiny hand made embellishments which run along that seam yesterday. The creation of those brought it to life for me and it's a ''yes'' from me today.

There are some tiny dark marks along one seam which I didn't notice until I took the photographs. I'm not worried. I have no idea what they are but that seam is vintage cloth. They will stay, they are a reminder of its previous life.

the beginning....

The start of a new piece, just like I said yesterday. White Broderie Anglaise backed with soft cotton cloth, a lace frill, web stitches along a seam, some swirly gimp and some straight gimp caught down with bullion knots.  Actually, have you noticed? There appears to be an obsession forming with gimp. It's versatile, swirly, straight whatever takes your fancy really. What's not to get obsessed about.

This will most likely take a back seat for a few days now. I have pages to titivate and tabs to stitch for the body bag. I also have a new class almost ready for the big reveal.....tomorrow I hope.

Today though I am waiting for silk, more of this and some of these. They will be a challenge......I have never done that before.......it's exciting!

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new cloth

the white ones....

You may have noticed that I have been somewhat preoccupied with pillows over the last few weeks....I gave them a rest for a while but last night finished a tiny white one. That makes three white pin pillows in total. The new one, the tiny one, is positively festooned with beads, tiny glass beads that glint. Unfortunately that doesn't show up so well in the images but trust me, they're there. It also has gimp and quite a few bullion knots.

I'm not sure what to work on today. I think I need to assess my ''to do'' pile otherwise known as the pile that keeps giving. Oh I just remembered, I need to make buttons for this. That will be my first job then.

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white on white and glass beads....

two in progress

lace cloth and glass beads....

it's not a pillow....

white

I worked on white yesterday. White bullion knots on white Broderie Anglaise which was laid on white silk with some piping cord in that mix too.  When I started to take pictures this morning I thought it may be a bit too much of a shock for you seeing the stark white piece on its own, also a little boring maybe? Hence the addition of a piece of ''old'' white. An unfinished wrapping cloth made mostly from vintage pieces. One thing though, laying the old piece alongside yesterdays piece illustrates how bullion knots and cross stitch have been a theme here for quite some time.

This has also got me thinking about the ''old'' piece. It really wouldn't take much to finish that one. I could add to it, make it bigger or I could square it off, back it, titivate the edges and voila. If I were to do that I would have a small cloth,  35 x 20 inches. (90 x 53 cm) Having said that, a cloth that size would be acceptable, usable. It would definitely keep my feet warm. I see another toe wrap in my future.

 

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piecing

lace from class

White  lace from class....this is what we are working on at the moment. It's so relaxing and very much a pleasure to stitch on this. I feel a huge piece coming on, an enormous piece of titivated white frothiness. I'm re connecting with embroidery this evening after my party filled weekend! and this is what I will be working on.

This morning I waved off my children who are on their way back to London as we speak. I fed them first of course so that's one domestic goddess point in my column. The bed linen is now in the washing machine, another point in the column...I'm at risk of overdoing this domesticity thing so may need a lie down soon.

The party was wonderful, really. Lots of people. I didn't know I had so many relatives. There are pictures here if you want to see and I'm afraid I can't take any credit in the cake department, the accolades there belong to mother. The two men having fun with a guitar belong to me...Andrew and Phillip, two of my brothers.......

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it's white, it's got lace and it's titivated to death.....

working with lace cloth

playing with white lace....

petals....

With fingers crossed that Typepad doesn't go 'poof' without notice I bring you applique, petals, Liberty cloth, white cloth, embroidery...prettiness. This may well have more petals next time you see it...balance. I haven't quite made my mind up yet what else it needs, that's still under consideration.

Although I said thank you last night I must say it again. Thanks for all the birthday messages. I am a year older but no wiser. I am now the happy owner of more gorgeous books than you can shake a stick at, gorgeous cloth of varying types, bathroom smelly things that will enable me to titivate myself, scented candles, earrings, embroidery scissors, pretty buttons, chocolates, yes chocolates, very expensive cream toffee, new paint brushes and on and on. I am very lucky. I ate out not once but twice yesterday and believe it or not I have yet to have a piece of cake!

 

Domesticity calls today.....back to normal. I must have clean floors. I must have a clean bathroom and we won't even begin to talk about the ironing. 

Re your commnets.....don't worry if you think it hasn't posted. I am finding them EVERYHERE...

 

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it's all about the petals

my petal piece