Sunshiny stitching

I won a prize!

2010-09-23T13:13:00.000-07:00

here I am getting my winner's prize from the Mayor.

I entered the 'miniworks' judged exhibition in Hereford - the entries had to be no bigger than a twenty pound note.
The winning piece is at the bottom.

This one is another I entered called 'An evening alone' - hand and machine cords with the cup in soluble lace and the books from silk cocoons and handmade paper. It's slightly squiffy because of a bit of over indulgence from the cup.

It's called 'Let your compost breathe' Soluble lace sides, knitted layers, bobbin lace leaves and tatted lace flowers with machine cords, vilene leaves - lots of rubbish really!

garden art

2010-07-11T08:10:00.000-07:00

Forgot to take a photo in the garden at Urchfont - so found a good place in my garden instead - I will finish it - I promise. Finished my dandelion book and when I've learned how to do page turning on the blog I'll put it up.

Had a brilliant time at Urchfont - Ruth worked so hard for us and was so generous with her goodies. The mono printing was great - feel I learned a lot. Was lovely meeting new people and catching up with everyone from last year.

Going kayaking and cycling and walking and playing with the grandchildren and my poor neglected husband for a little while before getting into module 1 seriously - though I can't promise not to think about it!

Hope you all had a good journey home and are now getting over the withdrawal symptoms.

Assessment piece

2010-06-29T07:12:00.000-07:00

Finally finished the piece. I have a few more fish in hand in case they slump a bit more in the net. When hung it is 5ft from the bar to the edge of the net. In the middle it is 6 inches deep and the top of the net is 21 inches wide. The fish on the top layer are caught to the net so they stay in position. I used a shiny transparent thread to sew the net together and some of the fish to the net so I could leave the ends long to sparkle.

Close up of the bottom of the net.

Close up of the top of the net.

The digital picture quilted and machine stitched to show the ravaged sea bottom, areas still lively, the trawlers pushing forward and the wire currrency symbols showing what they are solely interested in.

Stretched out on the floor as I don't have a big enough bit of wall space to hang it up!

Design time 15 hours.

Construction time 63 hours approx

Cost £22 approx.

It fulfills the requirements for a wall hanging so I think it is fit for purpose. I am very pleased with it. The original design idea was to have the net hanging from the trawler picture on a concealed rod, but this did not prove to be practical. I think the idea of the net attached to the trawlers still works with the alternative hanging rod. The hanging cords were handmade from a variegated wool sock yarn and were rather stretchy which is why they now have the 'arty' knots in them. If I was making it again I would make these from a stiff cord instead. The word ribbons made on solufleece and scrim were very stiff as I only partially dissolved the fabric; unfortunately they became much less stiff with handling so it was difficult to keep them in positions so they could be easily read. If I was doing these again, I would experiment with various stiffeners.

Composite

2010-06-27T04:03:00.000-07:00

This is the composite booklet compiled to show the process of research,

choosing the final design and sampling for the various areas of the finished piece.

Top to bottom:

1. The booklet opened up

2. The front page showing the digital image and a fabric translation

3. Inside front showing research, initial designs, cords, fabric samples and the making of the net

4. Middle pages showing fish pictures, fabric samples, and fabric translations of deep sea creatures and plants.

5. Inside back showing samples of decorated papers as background to the digital image process and the making of the basic support structure.

6. Back cover showing the larger working design, the cord used for the net and the wire currency samples.

Records and authentication

2010-06-27T03:52:00.001-07:00

Chapter 12 Research Three Artists.

2010-06-26T22:36:00.000-07:00

unfish

2010-06-23T09:29:00.001-07:00

Extras for the net - the devastated sea bottom has to give up everything to the net - so here are seaweeds, corals, starfish , sea anemones and sea urchins.

Chapter 11 assessment piece

2010-06-23T01:59:00.001-07:00

This is the final piece mocked up to show positioning - still finishing to do on the pole, the word ribbons and the digital piece, a few more corals and a starfish to finish. Saving the hand sewing for Wimbledon so I don't feel guilty!!

asesssment piece progress

2010-06-16T13:25:00.000-07:00

The bubble fish

Tried to stitch the bubble wrap with the machine but the needle dragged and stuck so I stitched these by hand. I used 505 on one side and laid my fillings, then put the second bubble wrap fish shape on the top and stitched around with a sparkly thread.

Fish with various fabric manipulations.

Top - orange-red silk gathered and stayed with greeny blue raw silk panels and a bluey-green edging in twisted silk waste.

Middle - peachy orange silk corded with deep orange perle, topped with couched raw silk waste.

Bottom - pin-tucked green silk with a variegated thick and thin yarn edging.

I've deliberately given them all long tails as when they are all stuffed into the net I want a bit of chaos to emerge to give the feeling of panic in the entrapment.

This is the support for the net so that it will lie fairly flat against the wall when hung. It's made from pelmet vilene and fish, coral and seaweed shapes are bonded to it. They are deliberately vague as it is just a background which will be covered by the stuffed fish when the net is attached.

This is the back of the vilene support. I used my random-dyed drop cloth cut and sewn into wave formations and attached to the front to give a smooth edge all round.

net trial

2010-06-12T14:26:00.000-07:00

Quarter size trial of the net. The lace is made freely with the bubble wrap background as a rough guide to distances. I like the irregularity caused by having to add bobbins ad hoc to allow for the irregular widening of the net. This will further distort when the fish, corals and seaweed are stuffed in. The cords will gather at the top ends of the net to form the hawsers.

Fish with edge

2010-06-11T04:33:00.001-07:00

Following Sian's injunction to consider my edges - here are some edgy fish!

Assessment piece - sampling for the net

2010-06-11T04:14:00.001-07:00

While deciding how to make the net for the fish I've sampled a few cords and I think I'll use a Torchon lace background stitch to make the net - I'll use oversize bobbins and mark out the shape on the lawn with sharp twigs for pins as I haven't a large enough lace pillow to make it in one.
From the top -
1. A bulky wool yarn finger corded by hand - too heavy for the net - but may be great for the connecting hawsers to the ship panel.
2. the bulky yarn finger-corded with a thin black and silver metallic yarn - like the unevenness of it but a little too stretchy for purpose.
3. as above but corded with a dark blue nylon filament yarn - again too stretchy.
4.The bulky yarn twisted with the black metallic and the dark blue filament and machine corded with a black/multicolour in the bobbin- like this the best - not too thick or thin - not too stretchy - has glints from the metallic threads like the sea water clinging.
5. Finger corded wool sock yarn - very attractive but not quite dark enough and a little too stretchy.
6, 7 and 8. Lovely blue/orange silk waste yarn - machine-corded with black/silver metallic or dark blue or both - love the hairy look but it blended in with the fish too much so the net pattern was lost.
9 and 10 Thinner black and dark blue yarns machine corded - too thin.

Research study for Diploma

2010-06-10T23:18:00.000-07:00

Thinking about the Diploma on holiday - getting very snap-happy with the camera - have chosen Boundaries as my theme and the mind map shows the tributaries that are springing up so far.

more Chapter 10

2010-05-30T01:15:00.001-07:00

A computer generated paper for the fish shape. Translating the horizontal lines, the shadowy feel and variable light and texture.

Top translation: going for the shadowy light with trapping 'bits' under a strongly coloured sheer - needed a few more darker additions really, but still a nice fish.

Middle: used a cheap nylon curtaining with sheer panels for the light and shade and it had strong horizontal lines, changed the colour as I need more in the red orange range.

Bottom: tried some free machining in a dark thread with a contrasting head and a flirty tail. used markal on top to make it more colourful but its not either a great fish or a good translation.

Chapter 10 - even fishier

2010-05-29T10:51:00.000-07:00

Absolute final decision now for the piece! I am going with the lively stuffed net attached to a long view of the ship mono print, with Sian's blessing. Really pleased with this as it looks to be a lot of fun.

Making the fish for the net now and trying to translate the paper textures in a few different ways. Here are some of my efforts:-

1. The paper fish is cut from paper with a mono print which was then over printed.

Top translation: corded pin tucks with the cord showing on a soft turquoise silk - I think it is delicious!

middle: diamond quilted - tipping the crossing lines the other way - not so fond of this one - a bit bland and ended up with not so much texture when it was made up and stuffed.

bottom: lots of gathers for the horizontal lines and then stitched with wavy lines for the vertical lines - this is much more successful and has lots of texture and interest.

2. The paper fish was cut from paper which first had lines drawn with neocolour crayons softened with water and allowed to dry then painted with runny acrylic and salt added.

Top translation: serpentine stitch freely worked and crossing to make the bubbly line.

middle: the material itself had the vertical lines - a nylon sheer sold as curtaining - over a red metallic synthetic. Stitched with long stitches to gather the material slightly. It's a bit of a free interpretation - but a lovely fish!

bottom: the material was a commercial print with corded pin tucks. I originally intended the back to show - but it actually looked better with just the relief as the material was such a good translation. They all have their merits, but I like this one best.

3. The paper fish is dyed kitchen towel tucked on to cartridge paper.

Top translation: corded pin tucks on both sides so sometimes the cord shows and sometimes the corded relief line.

Middle: seam pressed open and frayed together with lines of zig - zag couched cords - the least successful, I think.

Bottom: the most successful translation - dyed silk with soft pin tucks pressed so they lie unevenly.

Chapter 10 - a bit fishy

2010-05-27T02:44:00.001-07:00

The fish lines from the top:-

Top - I gathered some dyed sheeting and pulled the gathers variably and stitched to a firm heavy cotton stay to get the fish shapes. The middle fish was then machined on top of the gathers. This didn't make enough difference to mark it out clearly from the adjoining fish so I stroked markal on top. I like the effect, but would make individual fish and join them, I think to get the variety.

Middle - I joined three different materials to see if this was better and used quilting and cutting around the tail areas. The orange fish is pretty horrendous, but the definition is good.

Bottom - I took a length of dyed cotton and made corded pintucks with a 4mm needle, changing sides to get the different effects. Then I pintucked across in the same way. I used different free maching to make the fish look different - but again I think making individual fish and joining would be better.

As the pattern of the fish lines is so pronounced I think there is a case to be made for using all the methods to produce the fish.

Thinking about the diamond shapes - I have tried dyed scrunched tissue, it is shown in the previous post where I cut out the diamonds and pushed the tissue in the gaps - this is the back of the big paper design. I tried one background colour, several background colours and the fish prints. I forgot to take photos of the single and several coloured backgrounds as I rejected them so quickly!

I am favouring scrumpling the fish prints to appear in the diamond gaps. I think as there can be several reddy orange diamonds I can avoid having a large fish in the contrast colour - little flashes are more effective. They will be sewn to the background material which will be quilted over wadding around the diamond shapes and the the fish lines applied on top, topped off with the net- sampling machine cords, twisted cords for this and the long lines to the monoprint.

I crumpled the monoprint until it was soft and floppy and then quilted to a firm background with polyester wadding. The scarred and unscarred sea bed areas were free machined using fancy stitches to get small shapes effect without heavy stitching to avoid tearing the paper. The sediment plume was hand stitched. Detail has been lost - but maybe because it will be a 'long view' it is not so important. Think I still prefer the cloth version.

This was printed on fine cotton poplin. I machined the unscarred sea bed and the sediment plume areas first so they would not be flattened when quilting. A firm heavy linen backing with thin polyester wadding was then quilted with duller threads in the scarred sea bed areas and the ship areas outlined with black and dark metallic whip stitch. The areas of sea bed left unscarred were joyfully whip-stitched in appropriate colours with a variegated metallic thread in the bobbin

Chapter 10 The final design and samples

2010-05-25T01:10:00.000-07:00

Following on Jenn's comment, have had a go at amending design - does the process ever stop?!! - Now the mono print has a place as a long view of the ships and scarred sea bed and connected to the net with cords. The extras can be concentrated at the top of the net. Thanks Jenn.

Having chosen the large net as my final design I thought about the constraints of the project. The smaller design is lively and colourful but the development needs to have pattern, the opportunity for fabric manipulation, machine stitching, one main colour group and still retain the liveliness and colour that would go with a net full of trawled sea bottom.

I experimented with tessellations and drew one that gave two stylised fish shapes. These will be for the background of the piece and I will sample for ways of giving texture and high relief to the shapes.

The big fish shapes were cut from the different decorated papers. Tone is darker at the bottom of the net where the crush would be heaviest and lightens towards the top.

Questions about the larger fish shapes:

All different as in the papers?

Each line different? My original thought was to have a connected line of the same colour and texture placed diagonally so when the slips are on top the edges show at different parts of the net. Gathering tighter and looser would produce the tessellated shape. Differences in the fish could be made with machining on top of the gathers.

I will sample to answer the questions about the diamond fish shapes:

one background colour?

low relief?

high relief?

varied?

Need to blend with the solutions for the bigger fish shapes.

As I intend to have more fish slips on the top of the background, I am thinking to make sure the shapes on the outside edges have plenty of relief and texture.

Sampling also for the net cords, hanging cords, and word ribbons.

The regularity of the tessellated shapes will be broken up by the slips made to go on top - these will be coral shapes, different fish shapes in different sizes and seaweed shapes - some poking out from the net along with the word ribbons and draining sea water. I hope this will answer both the demands for displaying techniques and an evocative design.

Chapter 10 bigger designs

2010-05-23T00:40:00.000-07:00

Design A - I think this is my favourite now. It is very 3D. The back net shape was one of the A3 decorated papers, though it doesn't show - I was thinking to translate with a heavily machined and gathered base. The 'filling' is from my scrap bag (one of!) and I could have great fun making the 'catch' in the decorated papers and translating by using lots of the free machining techniques for different textures. The 'net' I'm thinking machined cords? twisted cords? net made on soluble fabrics? The word ribbons like sea pouring out of the net could be backed up with more very thin torn fabric, threads and cords also pouring out.

Design B - I had the idea of a manta ray with this design. It has a lot of the elements of the powerful research pictures. The big design to be translated into fabric manipulations and the smaller to be printed and lightly quilted around the main areas - the 'tail' experiments with free machining the words on ripped ribbons, or pleated and machined on top.

Design C - I like the drama of this design together with the fun of making things to put in the net. The big dramatic boat shapes I wanted to be overpowering - thinking heavily pleated material to make them with machined lines on top and a bit darker than the photo shows. I'm not sure about the amalgamation with the computer design - though I like the design in the middle instead of sea colours. I've tried a few different variations but not entirely happy with any. From the top - 1,2 3,and 4.

1. not enough tonal variation - the ship pieces are darker than photographed but thin they still needed to be darker

2. a bit plain and blocky

3. The best of the four I think, but has lost the mood of the small design where the black shapes are as overpowering as the ship is in reality.

4. Ship pieces again need more thinking, but could showcase the middle more - top edge needs more thought too for its finished middle edge.

Chapter 9 decorated papers

2010-05-23T00:08:00.001-07:00

Some of the papers I have decorated for my bigger designs. They include swirls of gel and texture paste, sponging, spraying, allowing paint to run in several directions, salting, monoprinting and over printing. Some were produced on the computer using the designs from earlier chapters. Tissue has been crumpled on to cartridge paper with dilute PVA in the paint, as well as crumpled and painted on their own. I did get a bit carried away as it was sunny and I had a table outside, but you can't have too much decorated paper!

chapter 8 Starting to design hanging.

2010-05-18T13:29:00.000-07:00

The small black design samples. 1a to e were made using words from the given list and 2a to e using words from my own research list.

These are the small reworkings in colour of some of the black and white samples. I have added some preliminary thoughts about how they can be translated with fabric and thread. Number 3 is computer generated using 1b as the starting off point with the ideas of the sediment plume, the double track of twin nets and the scarring of the sea-bed.

Not keen on no. 6

No. 5 has the idea of escape/flight from the horror - but I think it needs more thought.

No.4 is not as elegant as the black and white version - less middle I think.

No. 3 I like very much - but think it might be much clumsier translated

No. 2 is a regular pattern based on the before and after trawling sea bed - could be much more interesting in fabric with related but different before diamonds.

No. 1 I think this is my favourite for mood - but think I would eliminate the sky area and have the bold shapes defining the top edge. Could have great fun with the contents of the net!

Chapter 8 researching conservation theme

2010-05-18T13:15:00.000-07:00

Fishing is often a hazardous occupation and it is made more so by man's greed. Often a big catch is more important than taking notice of bad weather or fishermen are forced to take risks to avoid losing a job or a livelihood.

Over-fishing is depleting the oceans of fish at an ever-increasing rate despite laws, fishing rights and the efforts of organizations like Greenpeace.

The most iniquitous over-fishing method is bottom-trawling as companies try to increase their catch of marketable fish. I have chosen bottom-trawling as my theme as there are strong images attached to it.

Chapter 7 Soluble lace work and translating drawn marks

2010-05-18T13:08:00.000-07:00

Playing with soluble lace samples.

Not quite complete - still have to do translating drawn marks in soluble lace stitching when my machine comes back.

Machine back - hurrah - have inserted the translations at top.

Chapter 6 revisited

2010-05-15T12:33:00.000-07:00

Hoping to have learned a bit more I had another go at layering my free machining. i am happier with these samples.

First another go at getting the light behind - a bit more successful - better tones and a sense of looking through - perhaps the background could have had a bit more stitching.

Going for ripples with a pale background of two layers of tissue which was used for mopping up with snippets of dyed kitchen cloth and blue organza covered with pale green organza and smoothly stitched. Topped with a cable of dyed cord on a darker dyed cotton cut back round the ripples and frayed. Melted back the organza in places with the point of a soldering iron to show the tissue. I think there is good depth with a real sea-bed feel.

The stitched piece is much more complex than the paper design but keeps the same elements, there's good tonal variation and its quite a sparkly piece with lots of interest. I like it a lot.

The base is quite brightly dyed blue cotton - topped with blue green and white threads and a pale green organza stitched with a pale variegated thread then topped with a crushed silk stitched with white, all topped off with bluey green organza and stitched with darker thread. I cut away the top organza from part of the silk and melted back the organzas to show the background in places.

Chapter 6 - design translations

2010-05-11T05:34:00.000-07:00

A mixed bag of efforts in translating the designs from chapter 2. It was more difficult than I thought it would be to keep the feel and subtlety of the paper designs. I think I'll have to have another go after, hopefully, learning from my mistakes,

a. Bubble wrap was used as the base layer over fabric and thread snippets. This looked great but it was a pity that it all got covered up as the sample went from bad to worse with hardly any of the delicious bubbly background showing.

My backgrounds were too busy with shapes that interfered with the rhythm of the main repeating shape and the tonal variation was lacking - ho hum

b. Embellished felt as the background and machined silk on top - quite a nice, flirty look, but the paler ripples needed more interest.

c. Three layers contrasting straight and curvy shapes with a trapped fish feel about it. The machined top shapes are rather clumsy looking - perhaps the sample should have been bigger for better shapes and the fishy shapes - which were really foamy water shapes originally - as the second layer, not the top.

d. Tried to get the light behind with sparkly thread and lightly dyed background fabric but it looks a bit bland; not exciting enough to peep through and intrigue. Tone values wrong again - the top two layers should have been much darker.

e. This reminds me of the beach at Whitesands when the tide comes in fast from different directions and makes complicated wave patterns. I used two layers of stitched tissue for the soft background, the horizontals in stitched dyed cotton and the fine stripes in threads woven through. I did try the fine stripes in cloth but it was really clumsy-looking.

Chapter 5 - Translations

2010-05-08T23:50:00.001-07:00

This group was started on the polycotton with the cogs up and moving the zig zag lever to change the width of the stitch - very limited in effect. The free machining was so much more lively and I really enjoyed producing these.

1. on scrim over a sea green curtain fabric with a gold streak.

2. on polycotton drop cloth - I think this is my favourite of the dyed pieces of cloth!

This scrim without any backing was so hard to stitch in zig zag lines as it was so open and kept pulling the stitching line flat. After a few layers of stitch there was more to grab on to and it became easier.

As I wanted the lines of the drawing as well as the flowing circles I left in the threads as I moved back to the left:

1 on silk

2 on organza over polycotton drop cloth.

To get the broken lines I used zig zagged cable:

1 on polycotton

2 on a metallic brocade covered with sheer organza trapping a variety of threads

3 on silk - as this was cable I stiched from the back and although I used a sturdy fabric for the backing the quilting was much more obvious on the back than the front. I tried an ordinary zig zag on the front but the smaller spacing led to less loft.

A frottage sample. Tried to mimic the holey lines created over the mesh with a twin needle whip stitch.

1. On two layers of grey net placed so a pretty pattern was created and three different combinations of thread.

2. Two separate layers of tulle twin needled and then overlaid.

This was a sgraffito patch which was translated three ways to get the broken covering of the crayon and the smoother scraping away.-

1. quilted polycotton cut from a drop cloth with 2 layers of whip stitch using a serpentine stitch in the machine - white satin stitch highlights which were not very successful.

2. Threads trapped between 2 layers of tulle using same serpentine stitch to hold.

3 Silk waste, mohair and acrylic yarn embellished on to acrylic felt. I like this one a lot.

Chapter 4 dyeing threads and materials

2010-05-02T22:46:00.000-07:00

Pieces of heavy weight craft vilene dyed in blue, turquoise and sea green with brusho - not washable.

I took advantage of the sunny weather to play with dyeing as I could do it outside - given my propensity to get dye everywhere, this was a good move. Fortunately, I managed to get most of the dye on to the cloth and threads with only slightly blue fingers.

Bondaweb coloured with various media and bonded to polycotton.

Sheers, scrim nappy liner and kitchen cloths

Silks cotton and calico dyed with blues, turquoises and greens - they scanned and photographed more purply and washed out looking than they actually are. This is the scanned picture.

Space dyed cord and soft embroidery thread for use in the bobbin on top of tissue and old cotton pillowcase used as drop and mopping up cloths.

Threads, tapes, yarn and ribbons space-dyed in shades and hues.

Chapter 3 free machine experiments

2010-05-02T22:24:00.000-07:00

Sample 1 - straight stitch, zig zag and some whipstitch, trying to make all the little squares visually different - though some have rather subtle differences - the heavy covering seems to mask the stitching technique sometimes.

Samples 2 and 3 - After miles of unpicking, discarding, oiling machine, defluffing, playing with tensions, I finally managed to produce some respectable cable stitch samples!

Sample 4 - whip stitch and corded whipstitch with variegated and metallic threads in the bobbin.

dreams really do come true!

2010-04-29T12:21:00.001-07:00

The summerhouse is no longer our guest bedroom, cum meditation space, cum office cum workroom - I have it for myself! We have a new log cabin in the garden for all the other uses!

I am in the process of gathering all my bits together and attempting to organise them efficiently.

Here are pictures of my unnaturally tidy space and Stephen took a picture of me because he said I looked so happy.

Chapter 2 final design experiments

2010-04-13T04:20:00.001-07:00

For the first one I cut long, curvy diamond shapes from layered papers and then applied to new backgrounds - on the right is the negative shape applied to a different background.

Having fun pushing my layered decorated papers in a few different directions.

Chapter 2 combining papers for water effects

2010-04-05T01:07:00.000-07:00

Shapes from my photographs were identified and used to cut strips and pieces to make further combinations. I took straight lines from the lines of small waves rolling in, rippled lines from more complex wave patterns, individual shapes from patterns in the foam and the water; some are layered and pieced for more complex images.

Chapter 2 computer play

2010-04-04T11:07:00.000-07:00

These are decorated papers made in Adobe photoshop using some of the preliminary designs from the first exercises then changing filters, adding distortions and layering to make both subtle and dramatic changes.

Chapter 2 decorated papers

2010-04-04T10:46:00.001-07:00

These are some of the decorated papers for the design exercises. The one above is a selection of the kitchen papers under the paintings and after wiping my brushes.

Above that the papers are tissue inked and then scrunched to a base, markal resist and brusho,
brusho and bleach, markal over neocolor and scraped and in the middle candle resist with brusho.

At the top - neocolor rubbing over a large grooved button, brusho and bleach, brusho and candle resist, vilene diamonds printed over markal resist with brusho and in the middle PVA swirled, dried and painted over.

Chapter 1

2010-04-04T10:28:00.000-07:00

These two got out of sync for some unknown reason - they should be the last 2!

The mark making experiments in my sketchbook.

Module 6 Chapter 1

2010-03-20T02:00:00.000-07:00

These are some of my water photos selected for the mark making exercises.

Paperwork for Module 5

2010-03-19T23:11:00.001-07:00

Chapter 13 Study three artists

2010-03-19T13:43:00.001-07:00

Chapter 12 resolved sample Hedgerow secrets

2010-03-15T00:25:00.000-07:00

It is finished at last and I still have fingers left, though with smaller tips! I did videos of both sides before they were sewn into the 3d shape, and they uploaded into the post and I could play them, but I could not get them to publish. I kept getting an HTML error - don't understand this - any ideas anybody?

It is a 3D resolved sample on the theme of hedgerows showing texture in the use of manipulated fabrics and hand stitching. I think it is fit for its purpose and I am satisfied with the result. I like the spareness and transparency of the windows set against the riotous heavily stitched panels. It looks different every time the construction is turned round or over reflecting these properties of a mature hedgerow. If I was making it again I would use the pliers to pull the needle through the difficult spots much earlier!

Size - each panel is 18.5 cm square approximately, as the frayed edges add to that - the whole piece measures 111cm by 18.5 cm.

Design time - 9 hours

Stitching time - 26 hours

Cost - approximately £4.65

The sample from the top and underneath the sample turned upside down.

A view of the joined panels. They may not look as if they blend consecutively as they get a different orientation when the hedgerow is made into the 3 D shape.

The tulle window looking through to the rhodes square with spider web.

The tulle window looking from the bottom.

A view of the bottom.

A view of the top.

This is the hedgerow right way up. Each panel is roughly 18 1/2 centimetres square with protrusions for the edges. It took a few attempts to get the balance right, but it now stands alone quite firmly.

This is the hedgerow upside down. It's also stable in this position.

I wanted to try out my blue design so I had a go whilst my fingers were recovering for another bout of heavy stitching on the other sample.

This is two side views and a full frontal of the blue sample. I used quilting, stuffed tucks and gathering for the main textures with herringbone and loose french knots in the hand stitching. The top layer was raised with balls made from woollen yarn stitched into shape and then stitched to the sample. The edges were 'hedgerowed' with the wools I used for stuffing the tucks and the material frayed.

The top view has photographed much flatter than it looks in reality.

Chapter 12 resolved sample in progress

2010-03-09T05:36:00.000-08:00

My fingers are so sore from the hand stitching through not so friendly surfaces - much use of pliers to pull through, so I thought I'd let Sian have a look and comment while I rest awhile.

These are the reverses of the textured surfaces and window. The tucked scrim may have some twining cords over the surface - still has edges to finish. The Rhodes stitched square has a very fine enormous Rhodes stitch over the whole piece.

These are the textured pieces for the triangular construction, still needing some finishing work.

The three layer window under construction.

One of the single windows - yet to be framed - over hand stitched bottom piece. I restricted myself to variations on Rhodes stitch and french knots throughout the resolved sample.

Propped up one of the windows to show how it will be constructed.

This is a triple layer window with twin needled tucks on polyester sheer. The layers were cut with a soldering iron to make lots of little windows. two frames were made from plastic canvas and two of the sheers stitched to the frames leaving lots of ends for the edges, then the frames wre sewn together enclosing the third layer - its not quite finished - waiting for sore fingers to recover!

I propped it to show how see-through it was - unfortunately the light bounces off the sheer when photographed and it doesn't look so transparent as it actually is.

sampling for resolved sample

2010-02-10T02:01:00.000-08:00

Hand stitched sample using mainly herringbone with a few loose french knots. I dyed scrim in very soft pastel colours and stitched an overlarge square to a square of heavy twill with large soft tucks. Some of the tucks were stuffed with a rusty fancy yarn and the scrim slit to pull through a few strands. A piece of silver birch bark was enclosed. Its not a greatly successful sample - the bark looks like an add-on rather than well-integrated, the scrim was a little too large and I didn't get the swirly look I had anticipated. I think the colouring was a little too soft also.

I put the windows over a couple of my papers to show how transparent they are. The top is white tulle twin needle tucked with a fluffy mohair yarn in green. Then tucked over the top with a finer variegated yarn.

The bottom is twin needle corded tucks with three different cottons on nylon organza.

The darker sample has a centre of birch bark I peeled off one of the stove logs. It is surrounded by a peachy-lilacy shot satin tucked on to pelmet vilene. A ribbon yarn I discharged-dyed was sewn in between the tucks.

The lighter sample was cream silk tucked with a large twin needle and heavy wool yarn. Ribbon yarn was hand-sewn in between the tucks and a centre of freely worked french knots. A litle copper lustre was added to the ridges and the large centre. I think this would also be better if the silk was lightly coloured first. These are a bit too smooth for my hedgerow theme. The words I'm wanting to represent include - twining, twiggy, tangled, secret places, knobbly, rough and small spaces.

The windows are corded twin needle tucks in various sizes. The bottom example is lovely, but it is not see through and I don't want to cut this one through because I have other thoughts for it. I'll do another layered one and melt the organza in places to provide peep holes.

I've tried a few edges :-

1. A very light peachy satin ribbon which came as a tie round a fleece blanket. It was finely tucked first and then tucked to the edge of the pelmet vilene window.

2. Heavy wool yarn attached with a twin needle in rows with some fine free cross stitching on top.

3. Cotton scrim attached with loose french knots in rust, brown and pale turquoise with some beads. This would be better if the scrim had more colour variation - a dyed bit is even now drying!

4. A fine organza ribbon in a rusty brown attached with variegated thread with fine twin needle over tucking. Herring bone with a pale variegated turquoise thread over the top and rocaille beads added at the edge. I like this one very much.

For texture sample 1 I machined lots of different whites on to a cotton background and then quilted over polyester wadding on to a twill base. This was topped with a fine nylon organza in a light peachy colour and more machining in a darker shade added. I think it would be improved with hand stitching - close cretan in the valleys and spaced on the hills. It does have a lot of height.

Another sample for edges, borders and transparency with plastic canvas as the support this time.

The centre is tucked polyester sheer. This is held to a border of heavy plastic canvas with Rhodes stitch deliberately worked unevenly so it shows as texture rather than pattern. I got into a groove and made them all the same size as I had cut the canvas with the size of the stitch in mind but I think it would be better with different-sized stitches and I also think better with them butting up to each other without a stitch space in between.

In between the Rhodes stitches I have tried beads, long cross stitch in a soft chenille yarn, tent stitch in tapestry wool and tent stitch in a doubled variegated cotton.

Edges

-outside - interlaced rayon thread giving a plaited look to the edge, couched eyelash yarn, and couched knotted bulky wool yarn. On the outside I am favouring one of the less even edges and the sheep's wool on the inside seems to fit the bill best.

- inside pearl cotton and a silk thread cross-stitched, tapestry wool tent stitched, variegated pearl cotton doubled and tent stitched, sheep's wool couched.

This is the back of the sample. I had thought of making two separate sides and then joining them together, but I like the less ordered look - hedges are scalped these days to look very spare and square after cutting, but inside the growth is still as wayward as ever. I have tried a little stitching over the top and like the staggered chain.

more Chapter 11

2010-02-08T15:40:00.001-08:00

more relief textures to play with

a - twisted strips glued in formation

b - manipulated and layered tissue

c - different view of b

d - window experiments

Stage 2

Not having any clear picture of where I'm going, I haven't settled on a colour scheme yet - keeping my options open.

The sheets 1 - 4 are the flat relief papers I divided according to some of my drawings.

Sheet 1 - papers torn to make a rolling landscape and a meandering one.

Sheet 2 - a watery icicle division cut rather than torn for clean edges and torn divisions as looking through the hedge branches.

Sheet 3 - selections of papers used with overlapping - a leafy one and Fibonacci squares piled from largest to smallest.

Sheet 4 - an abstract using quite exciting squares and an icicle manipulation on three levels.

These are 3D constructions from my digital papers.

The blue one has a dark base layer with lighter sides and a window cutout in the top layer. The height is from stacked card squares - could translate with stacked vilene squares with textured edges. It is influenced by the research photo of the hedge which has a frame of thorny twigs looking through to a hollow of meshed twigs.

The construction forming triangles has one rectangle and one square which would be heavily textured and three squares with frames and transparent windows with some cording? tucking? which still allows views through to the textured areas. Unfortunately. the tracing paper is not very see- through. This is also influenced by the hedge picture which is very complex and this construction reflects that complexity. I took a series of pictures of this bit of hedge, getting closer and closer each time to let it reveal its secrets slowly. The construction would need to be viewed from several angles also to give up its secrets.

I'm intrigued by both of these so might sample for them both.

Some of the flat designs would make great fabric postcards.

my furry friends

2010-02-07T02:05:00.000-08:00

I did a pumpkin seed relief texture sheet and left it out overnight to dry on the table. When I collated the sheets for blogging I couldn't find it any where.

I just found it under the computer table - without a single pumpkin seed - the mouse had eaten every one as well as the flour and water paste backing.

Chapter 11 - stage 1 - decorated papers and subdividing images

2010-02-04T23:03:00.000-08:00

I was going to work in white, but my bleaching of 2 different black papers produced yellows and browny pinks so I might go with a range of natural shades from very light to very dark. I really like the bluey greens in the third sheet too - decisions, decisions.

I tried a range of printing and bleaching using cocktail sticks, cotton tips, feathers, sponge shapes, and an almost empty reel of tatting cotton with an interesting circular texture. Some of the papers were first patterned with a white wax crayon. Some of the white papers were coloured with tea and some printing was done with tea. This was quite hard to get a clean image - too wet and it just ran, too dry and no marks. Some of the bleached papers were over-bleached with a second method.

The relief papers are only for ideas as they will not be amenable to cutting up! Seeds are scattered all over as it is. The softer samples are made with flour and water paste and I used this t hold the rice and beans and seeds. I rubbed the samples with a graphite stick to see what textures would result.

Finally, I chose a selection of my digital manipulations as they had some gorgeous textures.

I t was hard to settle on a few photographs because there were so many delicious ones to choose from and I'd had such a good time in Adobe creating all sorts of different images.

I chose the icicle, hedge and leaf series to use for the designing exercise. Some divisions are suggested by the original photo, some by the digital manipulation and some abstract. Some were drawn with the idea of 3-D interpretations.

Chapter 10 stitch to translate

2010-02-03T03:51:00.001-08:00

I did find the rubbings and the subsequent translating rather difficult. The rubbings were hard to get decent unsmudged images and it took a while for me to see patterns in the ones I did get. I tried not to look at the originals but just worked from the rubbing itself so I wasn't influenced by what I thought I should see based on the work before.

1. I made a rubbing on to the black cloth too and tried to leave a lot of it showing. My first idea was to use thorn stitch variations but it ended up being a very free cross stitch. I used very fine cotton threads and silk threads with some wrapping.

2. Some fine tulle gave the hazy look inside the little amoebas and I thought chain and detached chain would echo this. The amoebas are surrounded by a couched textured yarn held by a very fine cotton thread.

3. More couching of the main lines of the rubbing and free fly stitch layered for the background.

more Chapter 9 - stitching it up and rubbing it out

2010-01-31T03:07:00.000-08:00

These are my formal and informal stitching patterns. I used wheatear stitch connected and detached. The formal patterns are at the top with the corresponding informal example underneath. They were great fun to do and a chance to sit still for a while and listen to some opera!

You can probably see the chorus, the soloists, the rhythmical and arrythmical melodies!

It took a while to get any decent rubbings. Chalk smudged, markal tore the tissue, candle made amorphous blobs. I finally got some half decent ones with a white neocolour crayon.

more snow!

2010-01-30T00:34:00.001-08:00

It snowed again so I was out with my trusty little camera getting snap-happy again. Not having a very tidy garden has its advantages - this red bucket under the twigs looks gives fire in the snow in the early morning sun - hope you enjoy the piccies.

Chapter 8 - Fabric Translations

2010-01-26T07:22:00.000-08:00

1. top right - I made a background of cream cotton topped with fine nylon curtaining sewn with fine twin needle tucks. The leaves were made from a cotton-look linen lightly quilted with disposable nappy liners with a feathery top stitch and satin stitched edges. I used the nappy liner because I thought it might curl interestingly when I applied heat. The sample didn't - it just went hard and flat - so I left well alone!

bottom right - silk organza over cream cotton. The organza has fine corded tucks with a heavy silk thread. The sheer leaves from the organza lightly gathered and leaving the gathering ends - it's much softer and more fragile-looking than in the photo.

2. top right - I trapped layered shapes of heavy vilene between coarse light grey net. I put two layers on top to create more shadow.

bottom right - I used a permanently creased shiny white polyester curtaining with very thick polyester wadding and used heavy machining to create the shadows. There is actually quite high relief which looks a lot flatter in the photo.

3. top right - I used three layers of creamy organza - the bottom is heavily corded with 4mm twin needles and a thick wool yarn, middle with uncorded fin tucking and top just stitched.

bottom right - the creased curtaining again tucked every which way.

4. top right - grey net stitched all over with lines and tiny circles to give slight gathering and create shadows. the old man's beard with finely split wadding gathered on to a thread or a fluffy yarn.

bottom right - background silk stitched with an automatic spiral pattern bent round to create high spots and low spots. Heavy vilene cut into feathered shapes and held under tulle with long stitches holding the vilene in place.

Chapter 9 stitch experiments

2010-01-24T20:46:00.001-08:00

These are the stitches I practised. Some are new to me, some variations on a well- loved stitch .

Straight line stitches - thorn, seed, ermine, star, sprat's head

Looped stitches - cretan, detached wheatear, tete de boef, long-tailed daisy, crown, looped stem stitch,

Knotted stitches - long-tailed french knot, portuguese knotted stem stitch, danish knot stitch

Composite stitches - sham hemstitch, raised chain band, whipped chain, torocko and a stitch I invented from seeing the back of bonnet stitch - two parallel lines of running stitch with longer spaces between the stitches than the stitch itself , then threading through making short and long zig zags.

Chapter 7 Texture and Relief Sampler

2010-01-23T05:15:00.000-08:00

The sampler was great fun to do and I closed my eyes and randomised the little samples first to see if I could tell just by feel what processes I had done. Then I arranged them so that the low , medium and high heights were not together. The textures I tried for were - sharp, angular, soft, padded, yielding, firm, stiff, wobbly, furry, rough, smooth, furrowed, holey, floppy, hard and crunchy. Each square did contrast with the next with my eyes closed.

In rows from top left:-

1. darted to the middle from each side and each corner then the middle pushed up for stability.

2. Tucks stuffed with halved cocktail sticks and rolled with pointy ends up - ouch!

3. layered knife pleats

4. Square with circle gathering, softly stuffed with sheep fleece and bubble edged to another square.

5. Silk corded with heavy wool

6. Cross gathered to make little soft bubbles

7. Coarse grey net gathered into a square with rough ends up

8. Shaped quilting with washers edged with coarse woollen yarn

9. Heavy linen sewn as single tucks and layered in log cabin fashion

10. Nylon organza tucked from each corner and base sewn to stabilise and produce hollows.

11. Fine tucks standing up like little furrows

12. Cotton scrim gathered over pipe cleaner and gently manipulated to produce soft folds.

13. Nylon organza corded with heavy woollen yarn and high tucked alternately to make a base with insubstantial floppy tucks.

14. Strips of cotton scrim finger corded and coiled.

15. Parrot peas in net pouch - has sound too!

16. Heavy linen tucked, tucks slit and scrubbed to make a furry surface.

Chapter 6 Gathering - (ye rose buds while ye may?)

2010-01-22T03:36:00.000-08:00

a. simple gathering

1. cotton scrim ruffle zig zagged on to a kebab stick

2. hand gathered nylon organza

3. machine gathered polycotton

4. Cotton scrim gathered by pulling threads.

5. cotton lawn ruffled with three rows of shirring

b. tucks and gathers

1. heavy cotton with regular tucks across the width and then shirred along the length. The heavier material from the tucks reduced the gathering of the shirring.

2. Fine linen look cotton tucked, gathered and then the tucks stitched to each other to form little pockets.

3. fine old cotton sheeting with large and small tucks gathered

c. more complex gathering

1. polycotton shirred in wavy lines across the width and along the length - showing the reverse side to see the little pockets formed.

2. cotton scrim with threads pulled from around the perimeter of the material

3. fine cotton sheeting close gathered in two directions

4. fine cotton sheeting shirred in two directions

d. flights of fancy

1. tucked, shirred, rolled and frayed

2. nylon organza gathered on to cocktail sticks by using the sticks as the gathering thread

3. parrot peas circular-stitched into nylon organza

4. fine cotton sheeting folded and snipped into fringes then shirred

5. lines of circular stitching to make a soft mound.

Chapter 6 tucking, pleating gathering and generally messing about

2010-01-19T02:48:00.000-08:00

Samples of tucking and pleating:

a. knife pleats, box pleats and single pleats held with a line of stitching and allowed to flow below.

b. Tucking from left to right - plain tuck, centred tuck, high tuck, pin tuck, overcast pin tuck, satin stitched tuck, twin needle tucks, corded twin needle tucks

c. stuffed tucks from top to bottom - small and large straws, bobbly yarn, plastic bag, thick soft acrylic yarn, heavy coarse wool, corded with fine polyester yarn, corded with shiny rayon cord.

d. 1 -left to right snipped and stuffed with painted kebab stick, length of cotton fringing from a towel, bubble wrap, sparkly acrylic knitting. Fancy stiching on some edges making high tucks.

2. snipped tucks and slit tucks scrubbed to fray edges.

e. varied widths crossed tucks

f.1. tucks machined in different directions to make wave pattern

2.alternate corded tucks with my new 4mm twin and high tucks on nylon organza

3. alternating corded and uncorded twin needle tucks horizontally and vertically

g. corded tucks and tapered tucks held in fan shape

h. short tapered tucks from opposite edges making a 3d sample - its floppy in cotton scrim - would be sturdy in a stiff material.

i. tucks gathered on to a kebab stick and two sizes of straws

j. corded and twin needle tucks cut apart joined together

k. short, long, curved and corded tucks put in from the back and the front to make a little wooded scene.

Chapter 5 Quilting experiments

2010-01-17T08:38:00.001-08:00

Wadded quilting

1. Top layer of fine cream cotton with crystal organza frill under heavily stitched medium non-woven interfacing. Quilted with polyester wadding.

2. Coarse cotton bubble weave over silver paper and bubble-wrap with centre double-stitched and cut away to show silver and bubbles.

3. Linen-look cotton top layer over polyester wadding with ivy leaf design in relief from heavy stitching in various cream and dark cream threads.

4. Shiny silk top layer over tinner polyester wadding with design stitched in heavy cream cotton.

5. Fine cotton top layer over polyester wadding and tied to form squares.

6. I knitted a heavy rib piece with triple double knitting yarn on 12mm needles to use as stuffing.

Top layer of fine, old cotton sheeting and channels formed with single knotted cross stitches.

7. I layered snippets of coarse grey net under fine tulle and stitched in lines to form a square in one corner which was more heavily layered to change the height. It doesn't show in the photo, I'm afraid.

Chapter 5 Shaped quilting

2010-01-17T08:30:00.001-08:00

1. Buttons in various sizes, some doubled and one tripled for more height. Hand-sewn with running stitch under a fine cotton top layer.

2. Washers under nylon organza stitched with a dark pewter-grey thread with straight stitches.

3. Plastic straws hand stitched under poly cotton.

4. Plaited art straws held in a triangle by covering ground with wheatsheaf stitch in varying sizes over unbleached cotton scrim.

5. Hand made cord from heavy wool yarn held under 2 layers of net - one coarse grey and one fine white tulle - with heavy running stiched in shiny rayon cord.

Chapter 5 Padded and corded quilting

2010-01-17T08:17:00.000-08:00

These samples are experiments in padded and corded quilting:

1. Top layer - polyester curtaining with diamond shapes outlined in gold and stuffed with sheeps's fleece.

2. Pelmet vilene topped with cotton scrim and a coarse grey net stuffed with soft fluffy polyester yarn on the corners and strips of cardboard packing in the middle. The top layers were cut larger and gathered on to the base to provide more height for the stuffing.

3. I made rouleaux stuffed with a heavy wool yarn and then attached from the back, seam side down to a linen- look cotton.

4. Using a twin needle and pin tuck foot I corded 1ply wool, fuzzy yarn and shiny rayon cord to linen look cotton.

5. I stitched a channel with two colours of thread on a cream finely- woven cotton and threaded with a heavy wool yarn.

Chapter 4 Fabric investigations and edges

2010-01-14T21:25:00.000-08:00

A selection of white and neutral coloured fabrics were catalogued and fabrics from the categories were investigated to what characteristics they had. A selection of fabrics were manipulated, cut, and melted to form decorative edges.

Chapter 3 Texture and relief in paper

2010-01-12T12:40:00.001-08:00

I printed the photos in groups of 4 with two pairs of identical photos in each group. Then I cut the middle out of one of the pair to set in the paper relief.

1. left photo - I used tissue crumpled, squeezed and spread with baking parchment to resemble the background of the photo.

right photo - I used a lot of watered PVA and pressed parts of the tissue so it was very transparent and left other barely adhering to create the low relief of the background.

2. left - gathered and pleated 3 ply tissue for the foreground leaves over 1ply crumpled tissue background

right - I found in my experiments that the fine hand made paper was very feathery at the edges when torn. I exploited this and tore along the embedded fibres to represent the flavour of these lovely old man's beard seed pods.

3. left - the icicle photo was layered and waved in Adobe photoshop - I cut contours from copy paper for the icicles and made the waves from snipped 1 ply tissue.

right - crumpled and smoothed tissue many times and applied to a watery glued background. It looked more even when wet; dried the places I pressed more were darker.

4. left - a very gluey background - applied tissue and swirled with my finger, then added v shaped swirls on top. The bottom chunky bits were tissue softly folded into humps.

right - more icicles- background with layered 1 ply tissue - icicles of bubble wrap from a padded envelope, keeping the backing to get the shiny bumpy look.

5. left - made a fairly flat background with manipulated tissue on glue so the foreground would show up better. The Queen Anne's lace seed pod was made from a plastic straw finely split.

right - the contours were built with layers of tissue then a piece of crumpled 1 ply tissue was glued over the top and pressed into the hollows.

Chaper 2 Paper manipulations tester

2010-01-10T22:50:00.001-08:00

I pleated and ripped a variety of materials to see how they reacted.

1. cartridge paper 2. copy paper 3. copy paper crumpled and smoothed many times

4. tracing paper 5. thick hand made paper 6 shoe box tissue 7. face tissue 1 ply

8. face tissue 3ply 9. handmade paper with fibres 10 toilet tissue 1 ply

11. hand made paper with fibres and spots of colour 12. baking parchment

13. 1ply medical couch tissue 14. kitchen paper 15 planed wood rough side up

16. plastic bag 17. planed wood smooth side up 18. greaseproof paper

Chapter 2 scrunching

2010-01-10T22:43:00.001-08:00

A4 pieces were scrunched to fit 1/9th A4

From top left in rows to bottom right:

3ply face tissue lined A4 pad bondaweb backing

kitchen paper baking parchment medical couch tissue

plastic bag fine hand made paper cartridge paper

Chapter 2 Translucent manipulations

2010-01-10T22:16:00.000-08:00

I used tissue paper sometimes in single ply, sometimes double or treble, translucent hand made paper, plastic bag, plastic drinking straws and baking parchment.

1. 1 ply tissue over little mounds

2. 3 ply tissue over mounds

3. twisted and knotted tissue

1. plastic bag cut with fancy scissors and layered in opposite directions

2. tissue ripped and horizontally layered

3. tissue layered over tissue dots

4. plastic bag slit and pushed into ridges

1. plastic drinking straws cut in half - some with cut sides up and some with rounded

2. holey tissue

3. Crumpled fine hand made paper with fibres

4. Strips of twisted tissue

1. 1 ply tissue on a lot of glue and pushed into formations

2. baking parchment pleated

3. shoebox tissue in irregular pleats

4. plastic bag in irregular pleats

1. crumpled balls of tissue glued close together

2. ripped strips of tissue glued with gaps

3. tissue pleated in three directions

4. tissue scrunched and pleated.

1. twisted and knotted tissue

2. tissue threaded through pieces of plastic straw

3. tissue softly gathered and knotted

Chapter 2 gathered paper

2010-01-10T22:01:00.001-08:00

I gathered a tissue paper and a fine hand made paper with added fibres. The tissue was very soft and a little drapable; the handmade paper crisper.

1. tissue cut round and round to make a long thin strip and gathered once through the middle.

2. Hand made paper in separate strips, gathered through the middle and kept on one thread so they could pile together.

3. Several different sized circles of tissue gathered round the circumference and slotted inside each other.

4. A strip of tissue gathered at each end and in the middle - one puff concave, the other convex.

5. A square of tissue gathered on two adjoining sides

6. A square of hand made paper with several rows of gathering pulled unevenly.

7. Squares of tissue gathered and placed with gathers running in opposite directions.

8. Ovals of tissue gathered at one end and joined to make a 3D structure.

Module 5 Chapter 1 Hedgerows and snow

2010-01-09T05:02:00.001-08:00

These are just a few of the scores of pictures of hedgerows and hedgerows in the snow I have taken and played with in adobe photoshop. I have chosen the ones which lend themselves most to textural interpretation.

The first group is the queen anne series - of an icy stem of queen anne's lace against the hedgerow background. I turned the picture sideways for the textural effects.

The second group is the ivy series - of iced leaves and flowers. I couldn't resist the coloured pictures as they made my heart sing.

I love the effects when using the distort functions and have sheared, twirled, waved and twisted to my heart's content.

There are two posts for chapter 1 as organising a long post never turns out as I expect or as is shown in the preview!

Module 5 Chapter 1 more photos of icicles and snow

2010-01-09T04:29:00.000-08:00

The icicle series

The branch series: This is a series from one photo of a branch from a hedgerow loaded with snow. The modifications give a range of textures to play with. There seems to be enough material here for years of playing!

records and authentication

2010-01-07T05:03:00.000-08:00

Chapter 12 Three Artists

2010-01-07T04:57:00.001-08:00

composite sheets for media cottages

2010-01-05T13:05:00.000-08:00

Assessment piece

2010-01-05T08:58:00.000-08:00

The media cottage panel is finally finished. The first picture shows the panel as an accordion book. It is tied with handmade cords finished with tiny books about the occupants of each cottage. I'm not quite sure if the hanging basket is a cheeky finish or gilding the lily.

The media cottage book.

The media cottages as a panel.

No. 1 is the radio house with photo roof. The occupants are keen formal gardeners and have a very ordered life, though they sometimes annoy the neighbours when they play loud music on the radio when gardening.

At No. 2 are the intellectuals in the book house with newspaper roof. Their garden is allowed to flourish more naturally. though well-kept. They are quiet and self-contained and never annoy the neighbours or complain of others.

The people in No. 3 live in the TV house with video roof. They have a huge collection of videos and a very large television set. They have no time for gardening, though the previous occupants left them a lovely garden which is now going to rack and ruin. The grass is overgrown at the back and strewn with coke cans. The place needs a little TLC and DIY.

Each front garden has wrought iron gates in the shape of ornamental capital F's

The Media cottages back view.

Design time 47 hours

Stitching time 72 hours

Approx cost £7.50

Evaluation: The piece works very well as a panel and would be good mounted as a sandwich in a clear mount so both back and front views can easily be seen. As a book structure it has a slight weakness where the houses and gardens join. If I was starting again, I would strengthen this area.

Christmas is coming!

2009-12-20T12:15:00.001-08:00

Happy Christmas to one and all!

All the module chaos has now been banished from the living room for the season. Have knitted this little chap below for my grown up son's stocking. He lives in a flat which does not allow pets and he is very fond of black and white cats. Hope he will give him a home as he is a little lopsided and a bit unsteady on his pins. Perhaps I'll come up with a little friend for him before the big day - I'm allowed one pair of knitting needles and a ball of wool!

plodding on with assessment piece - the media cottages

2009-12-18T06:12:00.000-08:00

a.The house and roof is made from fabric paper. I printed pictures and made the paper on muslin coated with diluted PVA. Then cut out bricks and tiles and assembled on handmade paper.

The result - though very cute - did not lend itself to stitchery - it just broke apart with a needle big enough to penetrate the sandwich. I had to think of another way round.

1. This is middle sandwich of the book/panel. It is scrim with pulled threads and two cords stitched to provide the robust decorative joins to enable the pages to fold.

3. This is the front of the middle house. The assembled house and roof was photographed and printed on to ordinary paper which I then crumpled and smoothed many times so that it became fabric-like and added a lot of texture to the images. The house walls are of books and the roof of newspapers. The garden has a path and a pond and the gates at the bottom are wired cord shaped as a double ornamental capital F.

These are the three front views, but only the middle is stitched so far. Just to show how they will eventually work as a panel.

assessment piece samples

2009-12-07T02:30:00.000-08:00

No. 4 is a picture of the whole first page - but the camera colours are not good so I've included separate scans of the pieces for the colour. This is the prototype for each page.

The tiled roof is made from fabric paper I made using computer generated images of newspapers. It has a ridge in blanket stitch with perle cotton.

The house is a piece of hand made paper with applied bricks of fabric paper made from computer images modified in photoshop. The window has little twisted cord bars and dyed knitting ribbon frames. The door is machine embroidered silk with a cord frame.

The garden is on handmade paper with one of my grid samples applied. The garden path is printed handmade paper held down with strips of dyed knitting ribbon over dyed silk waste - edged in the same knitting ribbon and flowers and shrubs added with silk waste and open and closed french knots.

The back of the house is unbricked - not sure whether I don't prefer this - and window and door treatments similar to the front.

A back.garden will be added to make the reverse page.

Each page will follow the same formula - the colourways and garden treatments will be slightly different to reflect the individual nature of the occupants.

Links will be - tiled roof - tiles same size - just different pictures - but tone the same.

bricks with the same colour pointing

window and door in the same place on each house

same garden gates at bottom of the garden for each house

garden path in same place for each house and all diamond pavers.

The front 'page' will have two flower pots in front of the house made of buttons which will have cords coiled around. The cords will uncoil to keep the book closed when it is not a panel.

Chapter 11 proposal

2009-11-26T07:21:00.001-08:00

My proposal for an embroidered panel is a sort of accordion book which is in grid form. The panel is the whole book which will measure approx 16 inches long by 11 inches wide. As a panel it can be hung from 3 brass rings sewn into the backing at lower roof level.

The inspiration for the media book came from the photo I took of the little houses. They were lined up on a mantlepiece in a cafe we visited on holiday. I fell in love with them.

The embroidered panel will be of media houses.

House 1 will have roof tiles made from old photographs.

The house will be fabric paper with scanned images of radios from the images I made in photoshop for the media book. It will have a little grid for a window and maybe an opening door.

The structured garden will be made from strips of handmade paper with silk waste and knitting tapes applied as in the sample. The strips will be woven and then stitched to the dyed scrim. Further embellishment awaits the eyeball procedure - I am considering paper beads from the handmade paper or little lace flowers stitched and dissolved - or a few twinkly beads.

The gates at the bottom of the garden will be two joined elaborate F's to look like wrought iron - made from wired cords.

House two has newspaper tiles, books for the house and a formal garden in a regular pattern. The sample with the curly f's is a possible - but I'm also leaning to squares of paper with flower stitching with cords around joined in a grid on dissolvable material. The wrought iron gates will have the J pattern.

House 3 has video tiles for the roof- tv walls and a tangled garden of layered machined cords full of junk - the gates are broken.

The panel is joined at roof level and with 3 rows of machined cords.

The proportions of each house follow Fibonacci 3" roof - 5" house 8" garden making a length of 16" for each section of the panel. Panels are 3" wide with an inch gap between, making the panel 11" wide.

Chapter 10 book-type structures

2009-11-26T04:19:00.001-08:00

I had a lot of fun with the book-making. When I was dyeing material for my grids, I coloured some of my waste paper and envelopes so I would have some pretty paper to play with. Also used some of the computer generated papers and a few bits of my handmade paper as I do have a lot!!!

1 and 1a. Three of these are made from one sheet of paper, folded in different ways. Two little books made by folding into 16's and slitting the middle, the triangular book made using map folds. The accordion book with forward and reverse cut outs was made by halving an A4 sheet and gluing into a strip then folding.

2 and 2a. On the left is a flag book where the flags move in opposite directions when the book is opened - not entirely successful. On the right is a star book which opens into a star structure with ties to keep the structure tight. I like this one and will make a really pretty one for a present, I think.

3. The round book, the long book and the media house book.

3a This is the front of the accordion book showing 5 different media - newspapers, books, videos, radios and televisions.

3b - The back view showing 4 well-tended gardens and one junkyard.

4 and 4a. The envelope book - inside is a little book made from an old envelope which got coloured when dyeing. I cut out a grid for a little more interest. It is sewn in a classic manner down the fold.

5 and 5a My friendship and joy book - I used one of my handmade sheets torn into pages, sewed the first knitting tape to join them and trapped the other thread and cord with letters made from pulp, thin stained wood and monoprinted heavy cotton.

Chapter 9 a and b Stitchery and edges experiments

2009-11-25T19:59:00.001-08:00

Had a go at hand and machine stitching on some of my paper samples.

1. From my research picture: tried to recreate the essence of the ancient script

2. Top - these are little pictograms - I left the ragged muslin around the blotchy paper for an archeological find look!

bottom - translating the very pictorial script and edged with an automatic stitch with altered length and width.

3. Used my f's and J's to create an ancient-looking tablet - (has a very modern pink plastic grid embedded!!) I made a long memory string in the sewing machine to make the script - first time I've tried this.

4. Top - this was the plastic embedded grid that fell off - I tried to shadow the embossing with stitches and added a cut edge held down with machined script - it doesn't really work - and the edge is too big for the piece.

bottom - Hand stitching with big elongated F's - tried for a layered look with depth and I'm quite pleased with it.

5. Top - lines of lower case curly f's to look like paragraphs of printing.

bottom - A pattern from my research experiments with J - I sewed on a knitting tape to edge that I had discharged for a subtler look.

6. A selection of edgings

7. Used my embedded leaves for a pictogram effect and joined 4 pieces with an insertion stitch.

Chapter 8 Experimental embedding

2009-11-24T07:58:00.001-08:00

More paper making for the grids. Had planned to do this in the garden and made the pulp the day before the weather forecast was somewhat better - best laid plans....!

Ended up in the kitchen again- seesawing on my boards inside a plastic box to squeeze the water out. The paper making does get easier with practice but drying room is still a problem when its wet outside.

1. Top - embedded jute scrim and I dropped a few different splodges into the wet sheet

bottom - a bit of silk waste trapped between two sheets

2. Top - This is my prison window!

bottom - I embedded a heavy pink plastic grid that used to be packing - but it fell off when dry - the embossed pattern was much more interesting anyway.

3. Top - The aforementioned heavy pink mesh trapped between two sheets

bottom - laid some withdrawn threads as a grid and surrounded with pulp.

4. Top - Used a round grid with silk scraps in a grid in the middle

bottom - fruit net trapped between two sheets - may cut away the protruding bits

5. Top - One of the drawn thread grids embedded - I do like the subtle colours in this one

bottom - it's hard to see the grid, which is a bit of cotton scrim pulled into eyes over a splodgy 'eye' background.

6. Top - Lime green plastic bobbin lace I made for a previous chapter - which has scanned blue again!

bottom - one of the weavings I did embedded in a green splodgy sheet

7. Top - Another drawn thread grid surrounded by pulp

bottom - the felt grid made in the previous chapter surrounded by pulp

8. Top and bottom - two with silk waste grids in the centre and allowed to dry with curves in the surfaces

9. Top - Jute scrim grid sandwiched, silk waste pressed into edges and the sheet dried after moulding around a bowl.

bottom - felt grid embedded in pulp and dried around a bottle to make a curved surface.

8 and 9 could not be scanned as they were 3 dimensional and have photographed orange when they are definitely red.

Chapter 7 Even more playing - making grids

2009-11-21T23:29:00.000-08:00

Again the very bright lime green wool I dyed and the lime plastic string seem to photo and scan as a greeny blue - maybe the computer can't do lime greens?

1. This is my first attempt at making my own grid - a little messy and if you look closely there are some elongated F's in there.

2. and 2a. On and off the frame - I'm quite pleased with this one.

3. There is a lot more green in this than shows up - I stitched with two different violet threads as upper threads and a green in the bobbin.

4. This was made on a round embroidery ring using fabric strips I dyed as the weft and bamboo yarn and dyed knitting ribbon as the warp.

5. Made on a take apart frame, so has a loopy fringe - it's a sampler where I tried out all sorts of needle weaving, wrapping and threading with a variety of wefts; fj can be seen in the upper right hand side.

6. Used cords and little folded squares of dyed muslin for this - sewed the grid and then skewed it by whipping a couple of the cords together.

8. This was done on Jute scrim - I buttonholed joining rings.

9. Upper - A grid of holes punched in some firm linen and threaded F's with dyed muslin - added a bit of depth with a fuzzy yarn sample.

Lower - I had some scraps of very thin wood which we use as kindling for the wood burner. They were stained and then I punched a grid and threaded with a glittery thread - letters at the ends and a trapped cord in the same thread in the middle

10. These were media inspired - motherboard in dyed felt on the right and a telephone exchange board on the left.

11. I cut a grid from dyed felt and wove dyed muslin through the middle row. The bits I cut out I sandwiched in dissolvable and made a grid with a few overlayed automatic patterns.

Chapter 6 - more playing with grids

2009-11-18T07:53:00.001-08:00

These samples are my experiments with grids. They are all scanned in the middle of A4 paper.

The very bright lime greens seem to photo and scan as pale blue - very odd.

9 This is the loopy one from the last chapter - the colours show better now I scanned it instead of taking a photo.

8 I machined in both directions and then threaded through bundles of withdrawn threads together with fleece and sewing threads. They make a sort of stylised 'f' shape.

7 This is a fat little grid threaded with all sorts of bits and pieces: fruit net, plaited plastic string, stuffed ribbon, machined cords, fleece, handmade cord and strips of fabric. The colours are actually much more vibrant than this shows.

6 A threaded grid with hand stitching over the top - deliberately fine and spider like in contrast to the heavy threading.

5. Some needleweaving trying to use my letters and research patterns.

4 A withdrawn grid with the threads couched down as a border of j's. Needleweaving over bars and crosses. Getting the weaving over the crosses took me ages to get right - I kept heading in the wrong direction and spoiling the pattern.

3 The back view of 2 showing how the thread bundles were looped over the bars.

2. Withdrawn threads to contrast and looped at the edges. Threads from other grids bundled and knotted around bars. It is not blue as it looks here but violet and green - though quite pastel shades, this one.

1 Lots of threads withdrawn with some hand stitching and machining groups of threads in different ways.

Chapter 5 Playing with grids

2009-11-09T00:16:00.000-08:00

For this chapter I tried a few different materials to make grids from. I used a natural linen scrim, an aida and what I thought was an evenweave linen - though the grids show that it wasn't.

The natural scrim was quite dark so I dyed some of it after bleaching it to a lighter colour. I tried bands in different formats and left one or two monocolour to see what would happen with texture only.

The evenweave was very difficult to withdraw threads from, after a couple of days of sore fingers, I decided the linen scrim was much more friendly!!

Where I just shifted the threads in patterns, I loved the effect. It is rather subtle - perhaps stronger colours would have given a stronger effect.

The loopy ones were fun. The monocolour experiment was given the J treatment and the very fringy one had withdrawn threads sewn back as J's. This was banded in violet and yellow green but the heavy looping seems to have almost obliterated the green.

In the experimental samples I tried various ways of stylising the letters and sometimes just went with what happened. In Exp 8 I was going for big statement capital F's - but it looks distressingly like a swastika.

The first is a piece I was just squaring up after dyeing and the fringing looked so lovely I had to take a photo before messing about with it.

Some of the pieces are destined to have more fun with in Chapter 6.

Chapter 4 2nd attempt at paper making

2009-11-03T03:06:00.000-08:00

Deep breath and second lot of pulp is ready to go. I decided to tear coloured papers to colour the pulp as I didn't want just plain dyes in the papers - I'm glad as they were nicely flecky after the pieces were pulped. The new blender was heaven to use - I pulped it all in 15 minutes - it took 2 hours with the old one. I 'd like to try with dyes though - dropping colours on to the sheets to get a mistier effect round the edges where the colors meet.

2,3, 4 and 5 are the backs and fronts of sheets made with uncoloured pulp with a few dabs of ink. I embedded string and pulled it out and embedded torn up leaves from the garden and then pulled the paper away after it was dry.

22 and 23 are views of the jute grid embedded and 24 is a woven grid I dabbed pulp on. There wasn't much left for this - so I am going to have another go with the remaining woven grids when I 've made more pulp, so I can dunk them.

18 and 25 are letters. One I formed out of pulp with my fingers and the other letters were formed on the grid and then squashed between the boards when draining.

16 and 17 are views of the piece with varied cords laid across and left to show at the edges as a fringes

11 this is the piece under the drip in the greenhouse which has shattered one edge - a pity as this was a sturdy piece which had couched beautifully.

20 and 21 Couldn't resist the leaves in the garden - left these as embossed shapes

6,7,8,9 and 10 are pieces made on a plastic grid using different arrangements of the coloured pulps

12, 13, 14 and 15 show a piece I made on the mesh and then cut part circles with a cookie cutter - I tried different sheets underneath front and back to see the effect.

and 27 are alternative papers. I made them by painting muslin with pva, sticking magazine scraps on, painting again and pushing tissue into the gaps. Its very sturdy, though a little plasticky. That could be covered by stitching.

Chapter 4 Papermaking

2009-11-02T00:31:00.000-08:00

This was my first attempt at papermaking. The paper was a mixture of printer paper margins I had saved over some time, old tissue paper, kitchen roll and old envelopes. My old food processor had been saved for this very operation. It wasn't a great success. I realised why I got a new one as it would only work for a few goes and then it needed half an hour recovery time. In the waiting time I bashed the soaked paper within an inch of its life with a wooden spoon.

I had planned to do it in the garden - but it rained - so I spread a big plastic sheet in the kitchen - which didn't stop water getting everywhere! The cat litter tray was a little narrow and had to be filled to the brim in order to get my mould in.

The first picture is my first attempt. I saved it because I figured it couldn't get any worse. Couching the wet paper was most frustrating as it kept coming off in bits. I finally decided not to keep redoing and have 'arty' sheets instead. I was just getting the hang of things and I ran out of pulp.

I had more success with the second lot of pulp. This also was not without its difficulties as the food processor gave up the ghost after the first few whizzes. By the time I found a cheap blender the pulp was a bit whiffy but I added a bit of powdered cinnamon and it was OK. The spicy smell does not scan, however.

These sheets are now spread in the greenhouse, summerhouse and living room and not drying very fast. One in the greenhouse was under a drip - so there are interesting holes in the sheet.

7 forgot to number the pictures again - sorry Sian - this is the order.

In 3 I embedded wood shavings in crude letter forms and 2 is the back of it. 5 and 7 have dyed fleece embedded and a little colour added, 4 is the back of 5. In 6 I tried letters cut from chapter 2 sheets. I expect they could all be improved with some stitching!

Chapter 3 Grids

2009-11-02T00:19:00.001-08:00

These are grids I have collected and made. In 1. we have samples of grids from a fine organza to a #7 plastic canvas. I pulled threads in some linen and cotton evenweave to make more interesting grids.

In picture 2 is a grid I am making in lacemaking fashion from plastic garden string.

3 and 4 are woven grids using oddments of dyed threads and material from the last module - recycling!

More Chapter 2

2009-10-26T00:11:00.001-07:00

Having a bit of a failure with my papermaking attempts. Just getting the hang of things when I ran out of pulp. I consoled my self with playing in Chapter 2 again.

I tried a glue layer and in number 11 it spread and dissolved the ink to look rather messy.

I had fun with cut outs, overlays and a bit more playing in Adobe with my creations.

Back to my second lot of pulp!

Module 4 Chapter 1

2009-10-24T03:02:00.000-07:00

Research sheets

I compiled three collections in the first image. They cover visual media, post and packing items, and tools of the writing trade. The second image shows a collection of alphabets from early pictorial alphabets to modern calligraphy.

I have picked out violet, red and yellowgreen to use as the colour scheme in this module.

Module 4 Chapter 2

2009-10-24T02:22:00.001-07:00

I played around on the computer with the alphabet, with different fonts, with sizes and with combinations of letters. I finally chose F and J to work with.

I thought they had a nice foreign look in some combinations, they joined together in many different ways and the capitals were quite different from the lower case. I also discovered that two capital J's upside down together make a lower case f. Not a world-shattering discovery - I admit.

I wrote the letters with various 'pens' in ink, pencil, graphite and paint. I used bleach in the big F's. I tried writing over sequin waste and cutting out letters from rubbed sequin waste.

The doodling into stylized patterns of FJ was soothing to do and cutting out lots of letters in different styles occupied a happy hour. I had a great time on the computer. The 3D look of massed letters was pleasing and I used these sheets in a few different ways - as backgrounds, folded and as cutouts. I tried lots of my productions in Adobe photoshop, with, I think, some stunning results. This is not a quick process, however, and it whiled away many hours!

I could go on and on but my paper pulp is beckoning.

Chapter 10 Module 3 Finished pocket

2009-10-21T03:28:00.001-07:00

The pocket is finished at last. The belt is made from covered washers with alternate embellished felt ovals with a glittery cord spiral held in a plastic pocket. It is fastened with composite beads on the glittery cord which is threaded through the final two washers. The washers are joined with heavy cord spaced to receive the felt ovals. The ovals bear no weight which is carried by the joined washers.

The top pocket front is made from several layers of machine embroidered monoprints and edged with dyed fleece couched hard to make a softer edge. the base of the pocket is made from corded silky yarn stitched in a spiral around the central motif which echoes the bottom pocket.

The bottom pocket has a base of a monoprint and the top is made from tiny machine-made cords

which are stitched together on a firm base. it is edged with fleece as the top pocket but more finely. The outside edge is a continuous spiral around both pockets.

Design time - 27 hours

Completion time - 38 hours

Is it fit for it's purpose? It sits well around the waist and does not feel too heavy. The top pocket can hold small items like lipstick, keys etc - though not in a crowded place as it would be easy to pick this pocket! The bottom pocket would hold a handkerchief or tissues. I feel it is a decorative piece rather than a very practical one though. I'd wear it to the opera but not to the supermarket.

If I was making it again I would make the outside trim a little more even as it gets bigger - it bulges a little more on one side than the other. I also would consider making the opening of the top pocket off centre towards the top so that there was more 'pocket'.

I am pleased with it overall and find the colours and variation in texture very attractive.

Composite

2009-10-21T03:06:00.002-07:00

Lucy Locket lost her pocket

Kitty Fisher found it

Not a penny was there in it

But a ribbon round it

Research three artists

2009-10-21T03:04:00.001-07:00

GUSTAV KLIMT

Dierdre Hawken

2009-10-21T03:02:00.001-07:00

RECORDS

2009-10-21T02:40:00.001-07:00

Lucy Locket lost her pocket

2009-10-15T11:39:00.000-07:00

Kitty Fisher found it

The pockets - almost finished. Still sampling for the cord which will spiral round both to connect them - am thinking a softer edge - couched in hard every so often to leave a softer bulge. The belt is made from bound washers and little spirals in transparent plastic pockets machine stitched on to spiral-embellished felt.

2009-10-15T11:33:00.000-07:00

accessory mark 2 proposals

2009-10-08T05:15:00.000-07:00

stomacher

2009-10-05T22:52:00.001-07:00

Zandra Rhodes

2009-10-02T14:19:00.001-07:00

Zandra Rhodes is immediately recognisable by her pink (once green) hair and her very extrovert dress style. She had to open her own retail outlet in the Fulham Road as her creations were, at first, deemed too outrageous by British manufacturers.

Her designs are often not what one would wear to the local supermarket. She uses reverse exposed seams to great effect as well as accessories like jewelled safety pins. The colours she combines are often eye-stopping. However, there are Zandra Rhodes designs which, though they are unmistakably Zandra, are universal in their appeal.

I would happily wear the skirt and the figured, easy-fit dress. The wonderful skimpy coloured outfits I would have to leave to those of younger years and finer figures!

Resoved sample

2009-10-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

This is my resoved sample with trimmed tassels.

Chapter 9 resolved sample

2009-10-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

The research sheets which inspired the resolved sample are both the fairground and the computer spirals. They brought to mind the song - 'Windmills of your mind'

'Like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel ..........running rings around the moon.........like the circles that you find in the windmills of your mind.'

I remember as a child at the fair feeling I was running rings around the moon on the chair-o-planes. The computer spirals as a sheet seem to exemplify the ever-shifting mind, computing image after image.

I wanted the sample to have a lot of texture, depth and movement with lots of hidden areas as the brain is so convoluted and the mind can home in tiny bits in an enormous whole.

I tried out a few ideas on the working sheet - little squares of applied cloth to get lots of folds was a good idea but failed to work properly. I decided to apply a larger piece and stitch it in squares to get the crushed look. This worked well and I used some of my dip-dyed muslin to apply to the base.

Then I machined in spirals in the corners of the squares and a 'moon' shape' as the focal point. I made machined cords to match the graduation of tone and colourand hand-applied them - I tried out machining to the base but didn't like it. I cut out some of the applied material and frayed it so I could add some half hidden and exposed spirals and a 'windmill'. I used some scattered beads to add hollows to the raised material areas.

It is a very textured piece, which doesn't show so well in the final photograph.

I finished with a handmade cord in a silky yarn and laced the piece over a wooden frame over padding to keep it looking soft. The final touch was a pair of tassels using the colours of the piece.

Line drawings and composite buttons

2009-09-28T11:18:00.000-07:00

Here are the missing line drawings and composite buttons:

Bead Samplers

2009-09-28T10:06:00.000-07:00

These are my bead samplers. The first is a sampler of trapped beads and edges. The backing is a subtle monoprint bound with a discharged print.

Going from the top left we have:

Binca with drawn threads exposing violet sequins.

Purple stone from Marloes beach trapped under free tatting.

Enamelled elephant (old earring) under stitched threads held with seed beads.

Seed beads under nylon organza stitched in groups

Pistachio shells dyed green and violet under nylon curtaining

Glass flower arranging pebbles under rose ground hand-made lace.

Shisha held traditionally

Flat fima paillettes under Torchon ground lace

Dyed shells under nylon curtaining.

Dip-dyed stone held with metallic thread and beads.

Balls of fine wire waste under green organza

Stitched and beaded large bead under stitched mesh

Dip-dyed earring bit under holographic metallic thread

Felt bead under polythene held with beads

First row edging:- Bugle beads laddered with metalllic thread, with fine hand-made springs and sequins, beads and sequins, triangular paillets

Second row edging:- fringe made with seed beads and crystal drops(plastic!) with a centrepiece of cloisonne beads.

Third row edging: - columns of bead shapes made from fima an washed in washing machine to make a silky finish.

Fourth row:- wooden beads and sequins, seed bead chains and laliques stars stitched with metallic thread.

I made this next sampler from some of my printed fabrics cut to form a spiral outlined with machined cords. I wanted the beads to spiral too, following the fabric shapes.

Top left we have a covered washer, wing nut, fabric beads, buttons held in various ways, safety pins and paper clips, sequins held in various ways, some with bead toppings, bugle beads topped with sead beads to stand upright, springs made from fine wire stitched in a row with sequins.

Top right we have seed beads following the cord and graduating in size, washer made into a composite bead, buttons held in various ways, beads in various ways and beads in graduated groups and line patterns.

Bottom left we have paillettes and sequins stitched in different ways and with various little piled toppings. Triangular paillettes in the corner with seed beads, seed beads in a long pattern, painted vilene shapes with bead columns and hand-made beads from fima.

Bottom right we have seed beads and bugle beads following the cord and graduating with rows of beads graduating in size to the edges including beads made from fancy knitting yarn and dip-dyed beads from the notions pot.

The sampler is backed with dyed fabric mitred at the corners ( one corner not so good!) and framed in hand made cord with spiral couching.

MODULE 3 Chapter 1 Research sheets

2009-09-06T00:34:00.000-07:00

Chapter 2a Playing with paper

2009-09-06T00:13:00.001-07:00

Paper spirals: threaded, cut out, twisted, wired, steamed, made with different shapes and paper printed on both sides.

Using the corrugated sides of cardboard boxes, made lots of 3d spirals and gathered together in a sort of fairground composition. I lined a box and decorated with spirals and used the previous piece as a background.

I made paper beads and tissue-covered wire to make the cut-out sample - though I'm not very fond of it - the top paper is too plain.

I used one of my computer images for the background of the last one and echoed the movement with paper beads.