Sketchbook Project V 14: Thread Trails (combining pages )

 This is my final sketchbook 'Thread Trails' before posting back  to Brooklyn Art Library - I just had time before the deadline to put it back in it's original cover and show it to  fellow EDAMers  and friends Hazel and Teddy but neglected to take a photo !  Just have to wait until its digitised. 

I'm constantly  amazed how different  the individual pages look in juxtaposition with others ( but then  did spend ages playing with different combinations) . Keen to explore further possibilities of drawing and stitch.   

Sketchbook Project V14 : Thread Trails ( making pages)

 I've participated  several times with  the Sketchbook Project of Brooklyn Art Library ) most recently in the 'tiny Sketchbook project' )   and despite good intentions and ordering my sketchbook well in advance , I always seem to need a looming deadline to motivate me.

For volume 14 , I chose the theme 'stitch and story'  and after several  false starts , was inspired to use some of the monoprints  I'd done on fabric having reacquainted myself with them on EDAM book-making classes. When stitching , I'm always intrigued by  how different the  stitching can be on the backs , ' the unconscious  side'  so assembled several 'pages'  with different monoprints/ sheets of cotton organdie  glued together with bondaweb. I then had a fun time with them stitching on the train  ( above) and even at home (below) !   

These are the final 6 pages , front and back that made the  cut ( I did a few more that didn't  quite work ) . In the next post  I'll show how they work together   in the final  book format 

  

Blues in the Mail

In response to the Dislocation theme for the next CQ challenge, I settled on  chopping up and rearranging this wonderful piece of hand dyed  cloth from Jo Lovelock ( looking forward to buying some more from her on Friday at Sandown quilt show)

Of course with quilt layered and a deadline looming, I found that  I didn't have quite the right blue threads for the job despite have a good collection - they were all on the red rather than green side of the spectrum.  However some quick online ordering from Barnyarns ('King Tut' and Madeira)  and Wonderfil brought some contenders winging their way through the post. Always difficult choosing colours from the screen but I think the heavier 12wt 'spagetti' and  fruitti' threads will do the trick ( they work fine in the machine with a 14 titanium needle and are nice for hand stitching too)

 

I'd intended to do some sample stitching today but a little fragile after a wine tasting session  yesterday at the Club at the Ivy ( very swish glass elevator) . So instead I took some photos with different orientations of the proposed indigo shibori layer that's going over the top and have left them around to marinade and mull over. I've also finally got round to ordering  indigo supplies from Kemtex - hope to be setting up my own vat in the garden in July, concentrating on dyeing pieces of vintage quilts.

Thread Count



 Reading through  the section on threads and needles in  Helen Parrott's 'Mark-Making' and the article in the latest Quilter by Sheena Norquay on seed stitching, I've been having an audit of what I've got!
The hand threads I like to use best are cotton perle no 8 (or equivalent - House of Embroidery 'Mystique' is a favourite) . I untangled 2 large plastic boxes worth and divided into 4  boxes instead.
I've blogged before about the Gutterman silk buttonhole threads my mum bought in the 70's, a treasure which is a joy to use.

I have several  biscuit tins, it started with cotton quilting threads  and then I've recently discovered Wonderfil 12wt cotton , plain and variegated - a very well behaved thread with a tight twist and slight sheen . It reminded me a bit of  a thinner version of DMC cotton a broder which I also like to use. I have quite a few white and cream threads (including sashiko) which I mainly use to dye my own indigo threads.



My mum was a very keen embroiderer and hoarder. Threads I inherited  range from fine linen to thick 'Perlita' with Anchor soft embroidery and cotton perle 5  along the way. These I mainly use for zig-zagged couched edging to Journal Quilts

I sold/ gave away the goldwork and wool tapestry threads  but held onto the stranded cotton which I thought might come in handy one day. The requirements list for the Dorothy Caldwell workshop include  stranded cotton in black and white. At last, their day has come! Apart from  I don't have those colours......  Just like justifying fabric stashes,  it seems you never have exactly what you need , however large your collection.