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 .

For Jane and a little extra...

 

Round like a circle-like a wheel within a wheel……………

Joining stitch and woven circles and colour cream/gold. Well nearly there Jane, some gold thread but also a bronze glitz to complement the tan colour which I know you just love. Please forgive me wandering away from the brief but I felt happier with stronger contrasts. The joining stitch – well I was just amazed at the number of combination of stitches that could be used to achieve an interesting piecing of fabrics certainly worth exploring another day for sure. The cream fabric with a music print I had used to make a quilt for my son Luke which in turn had featured circles of different colours so it seemed fitting to find a few pieces for this to also feature circles. Just loved the rhythm of sewing the circles but confess you do need a very long thread if wanting to avoid joining a thread in the middle. Bronze coloured beads and shisha mirrors for extra contrast. 

Who doesn’t like a shisha mirror or two!!!!

Daisy, Daisy !

I have had a passion for ‘daisies’ since my childhood, so they are my go-to flower. Following my choice of colour for this project page I embarked on a range 

of neutrals, beiges, and always a little glitz. The larger daisies are from a music/maths fabric (as in Jane's piece), from a quilt I had made for my son five years ago so these petals were the very first layer. My chosen two stitches, were lazy daisy - what a surprise and cretan. I was trying to create a field of daisies, so decided to stitch a few of those first over the background, around the main larger fabric daisies. The cretan stitch I used in a very random dramatic way for the next layer, then more hand stitched lazy daisies over the top. It all seemed a little flat, despite using a variety of threads for the flowers, so added smaller machine embroidered flowers in gold thread. Although the finished piece not as in my mind, but I thoroughly enjoyed  the fun journey, once I got started. I have to own up to being always the last person in the group to finish projects and have given myself a title of Professor of Procrastination !!!!

Jenni - PP

For Margaret and a little extra...

 

My Lady's Chamber
I felt that I wanted to make a very feminine piece for Margaret as I believe as a farmer's wife and mother of two sons all things go out the window! 

The background is calico and neutral colours were requested. I have used pieces of old lace and beads and completed the piece in running and back stitch. I really enjoyed making this piece for Margaret.

My own piece is black and grey with raised chain band and chain stitch. I found the ammonite fabric in my stash. Just the right colours. I bonded torn pieces of this to black poly cotton.  I used the coils to guide the stitching. I like the single raised chain band and will use this again. Beads and a button finished it off. 

Thank you for continuing to follow us.

Rosemary.