Well, finally out of the pile of boxes and away from the mounds of precariously balanced objects that threatened to cause a fatal avalanche at any moment, Phew! So fingers crossed things will be a bit more regular and more time can be squeezed in for stitchery. (Well at least once the Hampton Court Flower show is over and it doesn't take 2 hours to get home each night!)
So very excited, I have finally finished my first quilt top, just needs to be quilted now. I have decided to quilt it by hand for three main reasons:
1. I'm an embroiderer and that's what I do and love
2. Its traditional and homemade and something just for us, so it doesn't matter if its perfect.
3. My sewing machine has died and gone to the land of broken but well loved and faithful bernina's.
Ok, so not much of a decision to be made then, but do love the idea of it being hand finished and as it's just for us (Piet and I that is) any irregular stitching and discrepancies don't matter, as I keep telling myself. I'm so proud to have a quilt almost complete and its so nice having a project on the go which is just for pleasure and has less pressure involved. But, the crucial issue is: I HAVE NO SEWING MACHINE
I can't remember the last time this happened to me, my faithful machine, a 15th birthday present, was abused through my GCSE's, A-Levels, University and a further 5 years hard service before it grew wings and flew away in a cloud of smoke. But now sewing machines are all so complex and have so many various functions I have no idea what to replace poor old Bertha with. And if you walk into a shop they just want to sell you their special offers, and more expensive machines with hundreds of feature's you'll never use so any ideas or helpful hints out there would be greatly appreciated.
Tomorrow is my first day off in I don't want to work out how long and I'm very excited about getting to sit down and draw. I have a class I am teaching in Scotland at the end of August and the time has finally come to sit and design a piece for them. The class is four days long with all experienced stitchers so there can be a good amount of detail. The piece of mine they were intrigued by was my fine whitework.
This took 92 hours to complete and is worked on fine linen batiste, the most beautiful fabric in the world I'm sure. With a double layer of linen behind the figure itself the white is denser and more intense here. Pulled, drawn, net darning and surface whitework embroidery is all used to balance out the various depths. I'm planning a Margaret McDonald Mackintosh inspired piece for my Scottish ladies. I find her work stunningly beautiful, with more detail crammed into every corner than most artists would put into a whole piece. Hopefully my homage to a Scottish master will please them. If anyone is in the area at the end of august there are some wonderful courses being run and I think there are still a few spaces:
Stirling Summer School
Also next week I'm off to visit the wonderful ladies at Dorking Embroiderer's Guild and show them my wares and share a cup of tea and a natter. Its nice to be doing something like this on my home turf and hopefully see a few familiar faces.
Dorking EG Talks & Workshops
Now I think you have suffered enough of my ramblings for one day, enjoy the sunshine and keep stitching...
So very excited, I have finally finished my first quilt top, just needs to be quilted now. I have decided to quilt it by hand for three main reasons:
1. I'm an embroiderer and that's what I do and love
2. Its traditional and homemade and something just for us, so it doesn't matter if its perfect.
3. My sewing machine has died and gone to the land of broken but well loved and faithful bernina's.
Ok, so not much of a decision to be made then, but do love the idea of it being hand finished and as it's just for us (Piet and I that is) any irregular stitching and discrepancies don't matter, as I keep telling myself. I'm so proud to have a quilt almost complete and its so nice having a project on the go which is just for pleasure and has less pressure involved. But, the crucial issue is: I HAVE NO SEWING MACHINE
I can't remember the last time this happened to me, my faithful machine, a 15th birthday present, was abused through my GCSE's, A-Levels, University and a further 5 years hard service before it grew wings and flew away in a cloud of smoke. But now sewing machines are all so complex and have so many various functions I have no idea what to replace poor old Bertha with. And if you walk into a shop they just want to sell you their special offers, and more expensive machines with hundreds of feature's you'll never use so any ideas or helpful hints out there would be greatly appreciated.
Tomorrow is my first day off in I don't want to work out how long and I'm very excited about getting to sit down and draw. I have a class I am teaching in Scotland at the end of August and the time has finally come to sit and design a piece for them. The class is four days long with all experienced stitchers so there can be a good amount of detail. The piece of mine they were intrigued by was my fine whitework.
This took 92 hours to complete and is worked on fine linen batiste, the most beautiful fabric in the world I'm sure. With a double layer of linen behind the figure itself the white is denser and more intense here. Pulled, drawn, net darning and surface whitework embroidery is all used to balance out the various depths. I'm planning a Margaret McDonald Mackintosh inspired piece for my Scottish ladies. I find her work stunningly beautiful, with more detail crammed into every corner than most artists would put into a whole piece. Hopefully my homage to a Scottish master will please them. If anyone is in the area at the end of august there are some wonderful courses being run and I think there are still a few spaces:
Stirling Summer School
Also next week I'm off to visit the wonderful ladies at Dorking Embroiderer's Guild and show them my wares and share a cup of tea and a natter. Its nice to be doing something like this on my home turf and hopefully see a few familiar faces.
Dorking EG Talks & Workshops
Now I think you have suffered enough of my ramblings for one day, enjoy the sunshine and keep stitching...
1 fabulous friends said...:
PS sorry for the lack of photos which are supposed to be attached. My computer ineptititude and blogger naievity have failed me when the button's not working properly. This will be rectified asap, promise!
Post a Comment
Thanks so much for your lovely comments.