Plain Sewing

 Mum was an embroidery teacher and produced many accomplished pieces like this  canvaswork photoframe for her City and Guilds. She was always being asked 'Does your Margaret Sew?' to which the answer was
" No, but she  loves fabric and is good with colour" ( I made batik as well as adding to Mum's stash by scouring jumble sales )

 When I did eventually start sewing it was patchwork (that love of fabrics) and Mum taught me to hand quilt. I loved that - a simple stitch which altered the texture of the cloth and the gentle rhythm so  soothing.

Which is why I've gone back to working on my 'travel project', to lose myself in some hand stitching while I brood on compositions and solutions to other projects on the go.
Kathy Loomis has a thought-provoking post on the continual chase after new techniques to the detriment of sustained work  which chimes with me.  I would also add  needless embellishment to that list-  the quote
“No technique before need.” is one to treasure. Back to some plain sewing!

Rebinding Blue-Green Algae ?

 I've been taking photos of some of my older quilts  to include in my website , also to review candidates for a space I've got at work next to my desk. Surprisingly I haven't got too many  quilts that are plant related but I  used images from  books in Kew's library for these 'Blue-Green Algae' quilts from 1997. I entered them joined together for a quilt show  at the time and had them on my wall in my previous flat  but they've been separated for a while now - and stuck in a drawer.

 I love the hand quilting on these, all in silk buttonhole thread my mum bought at an NW Branch Embroiderers Guild sales table  - don't think I'd have the patience now. But the binding lets them down now - I've got so much better at it . So do I rebind them using the methods I use now ( I  prefer to use a facing on the back) or let them stand as evidence of the stage I had reached  at that time?

Of Mice, Moore and Journal Quilts

This weekend mainly ignored the sun tempting me into the garden and concentrated on finishing off a few Journal Quilts that had been on my conscience.

January's 'Indigo Knife Edge' is a photo of a Henry Moore sculpture printed on some Indigo fabric and then stitched using the ideas from my drawing class of rhythmic lines very close together. I'd forgotten how tricky indigo can be to photograph- the above image was scanned, the one below photographed, the reality somewhere in between! The Henry Moore was from when there was an installation at Kew, I'm looking forward to seeing the large exhibition of his work at Tate Britain. February's 'Llangollen Snow' is inspired by the snowy landscape when we went up to 'QuiltFest'. It is recycled from offcuts from 'Thin Blue Line' and 'Breakthrough' quilts, already partially stitched and painted, just a bit of stitching required to join the offcuts and suggest the trees.

I'm rather taken with the back of this piece. Although it doesn't show my machine quilting skills in a good light(was having terrible problems with the tension- the needle didn't like going through gesso!) I rather like the loopy effects. I'm sure if I was trying to obtain this particular 'stitch' I'd fail dismally!
For several months I've been struggling with a barely functioning computer. I'd decided that this would be the weekend to back-up everything and grit my teeth and do a total re-install. Ian remembered that the cause of similar problems had been an incompatability between an optical mouse and XP , why didn't I try using a wired USB mouse instead. With nothing to lose ,I plugged in the teeny USB mouse from my laptop. Magic, problem solved, it was worth marrying him!! I've ordered an 'intellimouse' from ebay but while I was round the back of the computer plugging in my printer again (I'd been forced to print from my laptop for the last few months ) I found that although I had separate remote devices for keyboard and mouse, that the keyboard device worked for both. With 2 sets of signals,no wonder the poor mouse was confused and refused to respond to either!

Pojagi -Chunghie Lee Masterclass

I have for many years been interested in Korean patchwork where the seams in transparent cloth are an integral part of abstract designs. I made this door curtain for my previous flat, printing images of gum leaves onto silk organza using the computer and trapping silk leaves between 2 layers. I used French seams on the machine to join the pieces (not knowing how it was done 'properly' - it turns out this is one of the methods used) When I was in Japan with Susan Briscoe in 2006, I bought Pojagi books (in Japanese but very clear diagrams) , a couple of kits and old kimonos in lightweight gauzy fabric which looked like they'd be a suitable substitute for the hemps that are used.

I'd heard from Australian quilters who'd been involved in workshops and collaborative projects with Chunghie Lee what an inspiration she was and certainly the pieces I'd seen in the V&A
sparked my interest further. I joined the Surface Design Association as I knew she'd taught at their conferences and hoped to get to one someday. So I was delighted to see that she was coming with an exhibition to the Festival of Quilts - and that she would be teaching a masterclass. I signed up as soon as booking opened - it involved a long day trip by train but worth it.

For the class, Chunghie had brought along a selection of old and new pojagi (po-jah-ki) wrapping cloths and our first task was to learn how to wrap items and tie them properly -ingenious and so practical as well as beautiful. I coveted the older ones of handwoven hemp in cream and indigo.

She had samples of all the different seam techniques ( including the equivalent of fell seams). The most interesting and what gave the thinnest, stiffest 'line'were the triple stitched 'kekki' seams.

The different methods were systematically taught and we settled down to the quiet rhythm of stitching - a silent hour resulting in a real connection with cloth.

Years ago I used to to be able to stitch finely but with concentrating on large dramatic stitches in my quilts, I've lost the knack. My stitching did improve over the day , especially after I'd shown Chunghie my best efforts and asked whether it was small enough-'Not really' she replied.

At workshops I'm always the one that spreads out and invades other peoples space no matter how much I aim to control it.

Chunghie was realistic is saying that although it was a masterclass, she didn't expect masterpieces . It will take some time to practice and perfect the techniques but I have several ideas of what I'd like to produce - I'm particularly interested in a variations in blacks and dark colours, maybe in degrees of opacity. Having bought a copy of the 'Pojagi and Beyond' I'm starting to think of how I could achieve 3d sculptural pieces.

I also went to her lecture - besides a brief history, the main emphasis was on students work( a taster can be seen on this video clip from Rhode Island School of Design). Most of the students did not have textile backgrounds and they brought an invigorating approach to the pieces produced .The collaborative project with the Silk Road Ensemble looked particularly interesting - I'll think of the huge indigo banners when I next listen to the CD. Also in the talk Chunghie showed some of her own work in varied exhibitions and installations. It was fascinating to see the same pieces that were in her gallery at FoQ hung in different locations and formats.
The combination of homage to traditional techniques and the 'unknown women' who made them , with a rigorous art school aesthetic makes a very powerful statement. More please!!

Stitching, Sunflowers and Pimm's

Another tantilising glimpse of my FoQ entry! I've finished stitching and have decided it is too complex to include a mid layer of organza, so am now planning the top (painted ) layer by drawing on sheets of tracing paper over a photo of the completed top. I didn't get started until today with distractions of gardening and related activities - somehow 1/2 an hour always turns into 3 ! I only went out to water some plants,then while I was filling the watering can , noticed a couple of nice ceramic pots with dead plants, in down the side of the house- empty them out and replant them and it would save a trip to the garden centre. After that I hacked back some vegetation at the end of the garden so Ian could dig out some more turfs. With hazel hurdle in position (tho' not yet secured) it's beginning to take shape.
I don't know what made me think of it but I suddenly remembered some sunflower fabric and panels that Ian's cousin Heather in Canada had sent us for a wedding present. Perfect for garden tablecloth and cushions and smartens up the inherited plastic furniture no end. Still got to sew some matching napkins (or 'doilies' as they're known in this house) but I'm not a huge fan despite usually getting food down my front. Being the end of the month, we've run out of beer and rose wine for spritzers so was reduced to looking through the backs of cupboards. Found Ouzo for Ian (I'm not keen) and then hit gold - an unopened bottle of Pimm's I bought in Duty Free a few years ago, as an example of a typical British drink for a conference fuction in Hungary. Dispatched Ian to the corner shop for R Whites Lemonade and with mint or lemon balm from the garden and lemon and cucumber we feel we're at Wimbledon.Cheers!

May Journal Quilts

Both my Journal quilts for May have a sea theme. 'Bexhill Pixels' ( CQ 6 x 12 inch) is a souvenir of my birthday outing , based on photos manipulated in Photoshop inspired by the Susan Collins 'Seascape' installation at the De La Warr Pavilion, particularly the projection of images onto a window framed by real seascapes beyond.

Susan Collins: Stokes Bay 08-09-27 14.13

My favourite digital print at the exhibition (detail above) contained bright splashes of colour: "Pixel interventions where ships, yachts, people, birds, windsurfers etc pass in front of the camera when a pixel is being captured."

Using Neocolour II crayons, I ruled lines of colour on a used colour catcher, lightly sprayed with water to diffuse the colours then painted with acrylic medium to seal the surface. I found half a shirt from a charity shop (imitation ikat print from Mauritius), perfect for the background. Stitched with variagated threads by hand and machine. I was aiming for a less regular size to the hand stitches to indicate the pixels but it's so hard to be random! Back to the drawing board.

The indigo back (below) has possibilities.


The BQL Calendar Challenge for May was trapunto ( using an additional layer of wadding stitched behind the letters as stuffing) Following a workshop with Angie Hughes on lettering, I've used words from an August Strindberg quote in a couple of pieces so continued the theme using 'sea' and 'sky' in 'Jazztext' font size 400.

Having got carried away looking through my indigo stash for something suitably marine, I neglected to read the bit in the instructions about choosing PLAIN fabric. I tried to make the letters stand out a bit more with some FMQ and some hand seeding stitches but it's decidedly subtle. Only by taking photographs at a jaunty angle then cropping could I emphasise the shadows.

I'm afraid I'm just reverting to type - in our family we consistently applied the principle:

'If all else fails, read the instructions'.

Stitch Size?

My current quilting projects ( 2 for FoQ and a workshop for QuiltWOW) are plodding along without much to show or share at the moment. So my thoughts returned to a post on BQL Yahoo Group a few weeks ago, asking about quilting stitch size - how to obtain that 'heirloom' 14 stitches per inch. As my stitching has grown (literally!), it made me question what the ideal stitch length is and what constitutes 'ideal'. My current average stitch size ( as show in TBL 'Gythion Glow' above) is about 2 per inch. I can however stitch much smaller. This is my first ever quilt project c. 30 years ago - I was determined to get the teeniest stiches and worked up to 12 or 13 stitches per inch ( counted on the top only). In those days, pretty much all that was available was 2oz polyester wadding which is easy to stitch through and the cottons I pieced were from clothing from jumble sales - not too tight a weave. I used a 8 or 9 between and the specialised 100% cotton glazed quilting thread 'Belding Lily' from US. I started off using a 18" wooden quilting hoop but when the rectangular ones made from plastic tubing came available,this became my favourite - it still is as it's easy to adjust the tension evenly. In the late 80's /early 90's I settled on about 8 stitches per inch for consistency ( it took 7 years to hand quilt my one and only double bed quilt based on medieval tiles !)
When I got my Bernina sewing machine and could achieve small stitches that way, I started to increase the size of my hand stitching for decorative purposes, using cotton perle and silk buttonhole thread. In the late 90's it was about 5 stitches per inch in 'City Girl Dream of the Sea' (below)
And 5 years ago in 'Serifos Storm'(below) I'd increased (or should that be decreased!) to about 3 or 4 stitches per inch

As part of the TIF challenge last year , I returned to using glazed quilting thread but in huge tacking stitches (1 per inch! ) - appropriate to a piece about barely being held together. Although, with practice, I could probably achieve very fine stitching again ,my preference now is for combination of machine quilting and BIG handstitching which feels right for the scale I'm working now ( ignore the quilt police!) I use chenille needles ( needed to penetrate layers of acrylic paint as well as fabric and cotton wadding). The key it seems to me is evenness and consistency and developing a rhythm that suits and is enjoyable.

Finishing UFO's II

Another UFO ( UnFinished Object) has now turned into a WIP (Work in Progress). I made this lap quilt/wall hanging in the 1990's based on the Guinea fowl at Kew ( they're such characters , resembling rather manic city gents that I called them 'The Chaps') The background is made of hand dyed silks and cottons ( that dates it to pre 1998 when my kitchen was refurbished and I could no longer make a mess dyeing in buckets ). The chaps themselves are hand appliqued in different grey fabrics which were also used in the borders and on the back ( below)

I started out hand quilting but ended up 'echo' machine quilting around the shapes of the guinea fowl and made a freezer paper quilting pattern of smaller guinea fowl around the border.

All that was left to do was to stitch feather patterns on the guinea fowl themselves - I did a couple then abandoned it - it's quite tough going as they were appliqued using vilene so there's 5 layers to stitch through!

I've been inspired to finally finish it as a birthday present for our nephew who loves birds and birdwatching and might appreciate it rather than being stuffed in a drawer. A few wonky stitches until I found the notes and diagram I'd made several years ago for teaching 'crows foot' Very satisfying - I can see me using this stitch more now I've rediscovered it.

8 down , 4 to go. If I have sufficient time I might machine stitch their feet and crests - I'm not convinced how permanent the red fabric marker pen is.