Hejsa!
Last weekend I went to an embroidery workshop. The teacher, Adriana Torres, is someone whose work I have admired for quite a long time. So when I saw that she was going to teach in London, I jumped at the chance to take part. It was a really lovely day, learning new stitches and chatting with other stitchy people.
When I was emptying my bag after the workshop, I had left a bunch of random skeins and bits of thread on my work table. I don’t know why but they inspired me to start a little slow stitching piece…
I set myself a challenge to only use stuff that was already on the work table, except for the piece of fabric for the background. It started with a pink circle on the yellow-ish background. Then I grabbed the threads, including that bird’s nest of cut threads, some scraps of fabric, a few pins and a needle and then I worked on this while watching Tour de France.
I had no plan at all, but the selvedge gave me the idea that maybe it could be a beach, so that’s what I made:
I don’t know if it is finished yet. The sea and the sun may need a bit more stitching…
I really enjoyed using those random bits of thread to make the cloud. I just picked up the bunch of cut threads and made a rough cloud shape and couched the threads in place.
Working like this has been really relaxing. Add something, and that sparks the idea to add something else, which in turn gives the idea to add other elements. The couched organic shapes on the sand was especially lovely to stitch. I barely shaped them at all, merely nudged them in a general direction and then stitched them in place where they fell…
Slow stitching is not new to me, but I do mostly stitch patterns. And I want the patterns to be *just so* and that means it requires more…focus, more deliberate attention. But with slow stitching I can just switch off and just stitch…
Switch off. Stitch. And watch the Tour de France. Which is exactly what I’m going to do now! :-)
I hope you have a lovely weekend!
x Carina
Some Interesting Things on The Internet
The quilts by Lucy Engels are fabulous and right now the printed versions of her quilt patterns are an absolute steal at just £2.00! I am very tempted but I have a feeling that I probably wouldn’t actually get round to making the quilt(s). But maybe you need a modern quilt pattern or two?
Sprang Basics. This textile technique is new to me and I thought you’d like to know about it too. Also, if I share it with you then I don’t have to drop everything to learn how to do it. Maybe it will become your new obsession? :-D What is Sprang?
I deleted my second brain. Honestly, I sometimes think about doing this with my Google Keep notes. There are so many and I probably really only need to keep a fraction of them. Maybe I’ll go through them and see if some can be deleted. Or maybe shared with you and you can keep/bookmark them until you share them and then someone else can bookmark them and it becomes an endless circles…
Yubinuki. Yubinuki are embroidered Japanese thimbles.
All the books from Common Threads Press look interesting. One of each, please. :-)
Medieval Finger Loop Braiding. I really don’t need another craft………
Check out the work by artist and illustrator Louise Smurthwaite.
They Have Their Doubts. What it’s like to be in school, trying not to use A.I.
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