Saturday, December 26, 2015

I think I'm being followed...

I feel something looming behind me.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

Notebooks!

I finished up a batch of notebooks. I don't think they turned out half bad. They don't take particularly long to make, just a little fiddly.

Most are 2 signatures with a small set of three. I used card stock, covered in a basic abstract painting for the covers. That way they're soft and easy to slip in and out of a pocket. I used some half-way decent drawing paper from Dick Blick for the pages that way it's suitable for a batch of different techniques.

These things are fun to make!

Monday, December 21, 2015

A mellow day

Today I'm focusing on making up notebooks.
And here's my playlist. I'm editing it as it's playing.

It's a lovely day for some lounge covers of music. The one of "Get Lucky" is brilliant.
https://open.spotify.com/user/12184335223/playlist/0RWlEI4N2TnvYHFeQgoVJJ

Friday, December 18, 2015

Inspiration post.

These are just beautiful. There is some serious inspiration here.

http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2015/12/welded-insects-produced-from-salvaged-metal-scraps-by-john-brown/

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Blue vest

I'm having significant posting difficulties. (One would think that software you pay for might work...and yes I'm venting. Until they fix the problem, with attaching a photo crashing the app, avoid Blogaway Pro) (why yes, I'm peeved I had an actual article written about my thought process on this embroidery. I even typed it out twice. This is my 7th time attempting to post this picture)

Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Notebooks

I'm just making up some basic notebooks. Nice little sketchbook to carry around.

Tuesday, December 01, 2015

Almost done!

The end is in sight! I *think* it will be done by Saturday (or on Saturday)

For those who like statistics. ... There are 25 to 27 rows per inch. And there are about 45 stitches per inch.  And, also, I've done a little over 100 hours of stitching.


Monday, November 30, 2015

Progress!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I've been getting a lot of stitching done on the "On the Road" project. Also titled "Walkabout".

Last night I realized there's only about 60 days to get this done and had a bit of a panic attack. This morning I realized I can still get it done, and if I miss the deadline I can jury it with the League.  (It takes a huge weight off my mind)

Now, back to stitching.  Ciao!

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Finished object!

This project is DONE!  It's or nué,  worked with Sulky threads and I'm pretty darned happy with it.

Sunday, November 15, 2015

Inspiration

Branded Butterflies http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/colossal/~3/Trmorev6eFM/




This makes me want to look at butterflies and moths again.


Saturday, November 14, 2015

Next project

Some sketches for the next heart/milagro.  The one with the lion is my current favorite.


Friday, November 13, 2015

Finished project!

I've finished another heart/milagro. I'm particularly happy with how the edge turned out. I'll be starting the next one this afternoon. This only took twelve hours to do, so I'm very happy with the speed on it.
Happy Stitching!

Saturday, November 07, 2015

Wednesday, November 04, 2015

Flower project

Both the new milagro, and the flower project are coming along well. The flower petals are getting backed in detached buttonhole stitch, before I add a buttonhole border. (possibly with lace picots).

I'm filling the milagro with white random stitches. (sometimes called drunken filling) I think it gives a texture and variegated sheen that suits the piece nicely.

Today will be a focus on Or Nuè.

Happy Stitching!


Friday, October 30, 2015

Attaching the wire edge


The flower petals are coming along well. I'm attaching the wire edge now. after that I'll do the embroidery on the back. I use detached buttonhole to cover the back of the stitching so that it looks good. I'll probably run gold thread  in the stitching for a bit of glitz.


Thursday, October 29, 2015

Progress!


Both the milagro and the vest are coming along. Yesterday more pearls happened to the vest. I am absolutely loving these 2mm pearls. they just sit so well on the fabric. I'm also having a lot of fun with the textures of the little heart. I think it's turning out not half bad.

I'm trying to get as much done as I can this week on these projects because next week I add another. I will be doing calligraphy on fabric, and then embroidering over it. This should be entertaining.

Happy Stitching!


Wednesday, October 28, 2015

Blue flower


The flower is coming along nicely. Today I should be able to attach the wires, possibly even cut the petals loose. I'll also be working on the vest. I'm not showing as many pictures of it, as progress is slow.


Tuesday, October 27, 2015

Research


I'm teaching a class next week, and want to be up to date on some of the latest textile techniques. I'll also be doing some writing to explain how I think about design. Some of these excercises may work their way to the blog. (Or, they may not) Today and tomorrow will be a lot of cleaning and tidying of the studio so that I have space to think, and spread out.


Monday, October 26, 2015

Monday

I'm starting a new flower brooch, based on the vest. I'll probably have a few others as well. These should be the largest of the petals. I think the next layer will be lace and then the smaller petals.
on to the stitching!


Friday, October 23, 2015

Upcoming class

Class in November this is inspired by a call for entries called Urban Murmurs. I'm really excited about this. I think it will be good to have a group where we all hold each other accountable to get our pieces finished.

Thursday, October 22, 2015

An experiment


Well, this experiment didn't quite work. Though I did learn from it. Cross stitch does, indeed, look better on even weave fabric. At 45 stitches per inch, mistakes show up, remarkably, clearly. And, I can stack magnification. I can use my reading glasses, with additional magnification clip-ons and use my magnifying visor. I have a focal distance of about 2 inches, but everything is clear.

I think this fabric will work well for future Or Nue projects.

(And amazingly, I realized this wasn't working, with only four hours of fussing and stitching, instead of 40)

Happy Stitching!


Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Almost done!


The milagro is almost done. Just a little more buttonhole stitch outlining and it's finished. Today I'll be cranking on the vest, and starting the next milagro. (Most likely egyptian themed, but that may change) I have a large Pinterest board of color combinations that I'd like to try out, and these little embroidered patches are a great way to do that.


Tuesday, October 20, 2015

On display!

This is a recent piece that is currently hanging in the League of NH headquarters on main street. It's another vest that is covered in numbers from a numbers station that moves around the southwest United States.

There's about 600 hours of stitching in it, mostly split and back stitch with a layer of needle lace on top with pearls and metallic beads.

I'm getting better at these long term pieces,. or at least not bored doing them.
Happy Stitching!


Monday, October 19, 2015

Embroidered milagro

This is almost done, I think I have about 6 hours of stitching left on it and it's done. I'm doing a series of small embroidered applique's for a local art show called "Love, Lust and Desire" and this just seemed to resonate with me for the theme.
I set up a Pinterest board where I've been collecting various images of different milagros. The next will be more Egyptian themed. (I also have plans for a green heart with designs from Italian manuscripts)

I'll be posting updated pictures of the vest tomorrow.


Sunday, October 18, 2015

Sunday

The experiment is working out well. I should have it finished later today. There'll be some french knots and probably some pearls, or other beadwork. So, now it's time for some coffee and then back to the stitching.


Saturday, October 17, 2015

Quickie project

I'm going to work on a series of small embroideries based on milagros. These should be pretty quick to do.


Friday, October 16, 2015

Yesterday was very busy

No post yesterday, we had a gallery opening here at the Kimball-Jenkins school of art. I did a lot of grocery shopping and food prep, and ended up sleeping almost 14 hours. Unfortunately that means there's no significant progress on the stitching, so instead you get a short text post. More pictures tomorrow though.


Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Wednesday


So a very late start to the day today. I've proposed some classes to both the Kimball-Jenkins school of Art and the League of NH Craftsmen and then went home and crashed.

There is a call for fiber art entries in February, if I can find the link, I'll post it here. It looks interesting, it's based on the urban environment, which to me is a lot of fun.

I'm going to try and get some solid stitching done tonight, if my guts will let me (the C. Diff has flared up again, bacteria are such fun). See you tomorrow.
Happy stitching!


Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Laying in some heavy gold

Well, I'm at the point in this project where I'm couching down 8 to 10 strands of gold thread at a time. I'm using this to evoke mermaid's hair, so there will be strands of this throughout the piece. I'm using a thread that is very very close to the background fabric color, that way it will be as if the hair appears and disappears. I think it's a nice effect, and it casts a good shadow.

I apologize for the quality of my photos, I'm using my phone to photograph and write these posts It's easier for me to do this every day if I'm using tools that are readily at hand (like the bluetooth keyboard I use for typing this out, spiffy little thing)

I'm not entirely comfortable being outgoing on the internet yet, but I hope other folks can use the way I work as a jump off point for their own creative endeavors. We all see further by standing on the shoulders of giants, or even each other. It's a way to support the next generation of artists and craftspeople.

So, please, feel free to stand on my shoulders and see what you can make.

Happy stitching!


Monday, October 12, 2015

Monday




I've begun laying out the areas for more gold couching and the third panel of the vest. I first drew everything out with a large piece of sidewalk chalk (useful stuff!) and then quick basting stitches to outline so that way when I'm working I don't care that the chalk has rubbed off.
I've stapled rope to the edges of a stretching frame so that I can pin the work in place as I'm doing quick stitches. It's not taut enough for me to be comfortable doing elaborate embroidery, but it's enough for this kind of thing.
Happy Stitching!


Sunday, October 11, 2015

Some more pearls


Well, I've added more pearls and another piece of beetle wing. And it's starting to look like a thing.
What has helped is that I've found the story for this piece. It's how I work all my art pieces. There needs to be a story, and mystery. I won't bore you all with the details of the story, since I'm the only one that needs to know it, but it has a revised title. "Ripples: or, Mermaids and the sailors that, briefly, loved them." That's enough of a story to carry over in to a couple of differentt pieces, a brooch, possibly a bracelet and hopefully a neckpiece.
Happy Stitching!


Friday, October 09, 2015

Progress


There is progress on the vest! I like how the pearls are working on this. I'm using size 15 beading needles for the little 2mm freshwater pearls. and for the rest of the embroidery, I'm mostly using size 12 quilting needles. It's a lot of fun.


Wednesday, October 07, 2015

Beetle wing added.

This is the first of many beetle wings to go on the vest. I'm cutting them into smaller pieces and sanding the edges to shape. After the sanding, I use a teeny-tiny drill to make some holes to stitch it down.

If I wanted the effect, I could gently steam them, and gently flatten them out a bit.

Tuesday, October 06, 2015

It's been a while

Hello, it's been a while (a long while) since I've updated what's going on with my projects. I'm going to be posting more regularly. I think that writing out what I'm doing may help me to think more clearly about what I'm doing.

So, the current big project is an embroidered vest. The theme for it is "Ripples" and I'm using couched gold threads for the actual ripples, which I think will give a flat, more reflective area on the vest. Around that I'm doing a kind of marbelized effect, with chain, split and outline stitch.

This is the first of three panels (left, right and back) when this layer is done, I may be adding 3 dimensional fish, or leaves and flowers, I'm not sure yet.

For now, Ciao!