For Debbie...

And finally my piece for myself. I chose my favourite colour of aqua/turquoise, and rummaged through my bags of small scraps to unearth some last fragments of batiks and quilting snippets of much loved fabrics. More memories again, the rummaging is never a quick exercise as I stop to recall previous pieces of work and projects.

I chose these two stitches because one (herringbone)was an early one learnt at primary school using thick cotton thread and Aida. The other (Pistil) was learnt on a glorious workshop led by Beppi Berlin several years ago. You can get into a nice relaxing rhythm with these too. I thought they would complement each other and could be quite dynamic in their interplay.

I used perle threads and some finer cotton threads I had dyed myself, I do love a variegated thread. The little sections of lace and old linen buttons added some focal points. This piece was fun to create.

I hope your stitching makes your soul sing too.
Thank you for reading.
Debbie

For Margaret and a little extra...

 

View from a Cornish Balcony.

Just love working with creams. Many years ago I remember tackling a calico garden workshop and I found it really interesting. Although I haven’t quite stuck to all cream colours but added a few textures. 

Margaret’s chosen stitches were running stitch and back stitch, but I have also included machine stitch on dissolvable plastic, just to add a 3D element and texture. Really enjoyed this one and found it rhythmic and calming to work the stitches.

Sea Foam

Well this is so far from where I started, which was an interesting piece of fabric in its own right. A left over created piece which was a black felt with bondaweb attached. I very carefully put over the top of this a painted piece of painted tyke fabric. This was originally created during a workshop with Lynda Monk - what a creator of interesting things. My idea was to just embellish with machine embroidery but it all looked so very boring. I have added over the top [white shapes]  3D medium. Of course when heating everything started to melt into holes while the medium was ‘puffin’ up - I had not thought it through properly !!!! But after a few cups of tea I came to like some of the holes and made even more. I machine stitched around the 3D medium - played havoc with the needle. However - 

I have an interesting 3D piece depicting layers and I see foam on the top of water with hints of sand beneath. Folk, never despair when being creative, it often leads to interesting happening !! 

Have fun.

Jenni

For Jenni...

 

Daisy Might?

Jenni requested neutral colours and lazy daisy stitch with Cretan stitch. I have put together some old lace, a corner of a chair back from my Mum's chair and some fabric given to me by Anne Kelly at a workshop. I also included some ribbon. A baby wipe and some beads finish the piece.

Thanks for continuing to follow us.

Rosemary

For Sue...

 

My last page and possibly the one that satisfied me most. The design came to me quite readily, maybe influenced by a book of Japanese art I had been looking at last week. Shades of Hokusai's Great Wave off Kanagawa! 

I used a piece of my own indigo hand dyed cotton from a workshop I did a couple of years ago and followed the pattern on the fabric with hand and machine stitching. I really enjoyed working on this page for Sue and it completes my pages for the group. All stitched with love. 

Margaret

For Debbie and Jenni...

 

Debbie chose two excellent stitches, Pistil stitch and Herringbone stitch, which could be manipulated to add interest and movement to a piece of work. 

Many year ago I tied dyed some fabrics, as luck would have it, Debbie's choice of colour gave me a chance to use it, along with cotton fabric and Dupion silk. 

Free-cut pieced background. Multiple couched threads with herringbone stitch. 

detail of pistil and herringbone stitch

There's nothing I like better than manipulating fabric's and layering stitches. I had never visited Cretan stitch, but with a little research I found it could be used to manipulate pin-tucks, another favourite of mine and of course a plethora of Lazy Daisy stitches added to the mix worked a treat. Did I forget to mention another favourite, Jenni's choice of colour, light cream/natural.

Free-cut pieced background. Pin-tucks. Cotton fabric and linen. Perle, vintage string and wool.

Hope you enjoy my post today.

Sue

Exhibition Dates...

 It give us great pleasure to share our exhibition dates with you...

The Written Word

An Exhibition of Textile Art

The Spring Gallery, the Poly, Falmouth

29th March - 2nd April 2022

Blanchminster Room, Bude Castle

7th -26th May 2022

This, the fourth exhibition of Textile Maids work celebrates the written word. As one of the most expressive forms of communication, we use words to tell stories, record history and reveal our thoughts and feelings. Each Textile Maid has explored her own visual interpretation of The Written Word, resulting in an exciting exhibition of contemporary textile art.

Along with our exhibition pieces we have our altered books to share with you. 

We look forward to seeing you .