Still January

 I have decided to try to post at least once a month, very different from the once a week that I used to do. 

So here I am at the end of January. I have just finished a two day workshop with Ro Bruhn at the Embroiderers Guild, Victoria, which now has Australia added to the link so that we don't accidentally go to Canada!

Ro makes fabric books. And other things. The workshop was about the fabric books. It was a two day workshop with the two days a week apart. 

It was great to be able to get back to the guild rooms. There are Covid protocols in place but they weren't intrusive, especially as we do not need to wear masks indoors at the moment. Long may that last!

Most of the people at the workshop are hand embroiderers but there were a couple of us free motion machine people. However, I ended up not doing much free motion, I didn't set up my fabric properly for that so had to keep the feed dogs up - motion but not free. 

I had gone to the workshop to start making myself do something. It has been a very quiet year creatively. So I didn't really have a theme in mind. Not sure it mattered, it might have helped. 

Because I had lost my blackwork folder (don't ask!!! I have just done an intermediate course in blackwork embroidery) and had searched through all my folders, I had found lots of samples from past textile courses that were never looked at. I pulled them out and put them in a box. The lack of theme meant that I just pulled stuff out of the box and used them. So I suppose I do have a theme - stuff I had. 

I thought we had to make lots of 'pages' for the book between classes, not the case. This led to some rather boring pages. However, I was able to put together two pieces of fabric to make a signature ( two pieces of fabric stitched together to make a page). In fact, I made two. The class today was about how to make the cover and then put the signatures into the spine. I will be able to make more signatures and sew them into the book. Then I will have a book to put in a box, or on a shelf, full of stuff that was in a box. 

I has been interesting to get out samples, some of things I will never do again, and to utilise them. 

I will spend time this week (and in coming weeks) putting pages together and making more signatures for the books. AND I have finally begun using the sewing machine again!

All good. 

Back cover.

My cover has pieces of fabric that were used inside the book.

One 'page' sewn into the cover.

Another couple of 'pages'.

Front cover.

21/1/21 How can I resist??

 Fortunately, I have something to blog about - albeit a bit disappointing for me. I have STILL not found my blackwork embroidery folder. We were supposed to hand it in in October but Covid changed that - it is due in tomorrow!

As it was a strange year, we did it by email. I therefore have all the notes, images, etc, photographed and scanned. So I am going to hand it all in tomorrow - minus the actual pieces. It is all very sad - seeing all the pictures of my work has brought it all back to me. I had totally stalled in my creativity when I lost the folder!!! 

I did move on, eventually. I did my tapestry weaving (thank goodness for challenges, you have a theme and can work on that, not having to come up with totally new ideas!).  It is finished now - and I have taken note of where I put it!!!! Now I just have to remember to send it when the time comes. 

I also joined Stitch Club and have been looking at the various prompts to get you going. One spoke to me. I have spent HOURS working on it. It is the crumpled paper, abstract design. I have now finished my third (yes, 3) blackwork piece - not that this one was blackwork, it was blackwork designs done in colour. 

I spent hours on the embroidery and then printing out all the notes. But I will actually have something physical to hand in, that is good. 

But the reminder of all that lost work has started me up again, thinking about where the folder could possibly be. I live in hope that, once we have been through the assessment stage, and I have handed in what I could, and it is all over red rover, that it will turn up. 

I have enrolled for a course at the Embroiderers Guild this coming Saturday, I have to find lots of bits and pieces. Maybe I'll find the folder then - when it is too late! But then I will have my needle case and my bag for putting on my magnifying glass that attaches to my daylight lamp. That would be nice. 

2021

 Well, today is the first day of 2021. 1/1/21. Let's hope is has less disruption than 2020. 

My brother tells me that the number is a prime number and that its factors are 47 and 43. I think I understood what he was saying. Apparently prime numbers only have 2 factors. 

I have been trying to get motivated - most people I know are feeling like they are struggling with creativity. It takes energy to come up with an idea. The making can be challenging and involving and slow but the initial idea is the thing that takes the most energy - that is what I am finding at present, anyway. 

I have just looked at a video from the Stitch Club, part of TextileArt.org, and the message I got was to try new things, or old things you used to do, and not worry about making anything, just play!! I need to have a think about that. Finding all the bits and pieces may be too challenging!! Also, there were a few ideas and I think I need to focus on one at a time. But it was interesting and refreshing,.

Another idea was to enter a challenge, or a call for entries, which has a theme and try to work towards that. This can be especially good if it is something you have never done before. I'll have to have a look around and see what ideas come up. 

I am still playing around with the blackwork embroidery. I am currently working on a piece that has been painted in random colours, based on the crumpled paper idea. I am just making it up as I go, don't even know what, if anything, I will do with it when I finish. In fact, I have used a piece of fabric that doesn't have much room for making it into anything, or even framing it (not that I would want it on the wall). I may put the various pieces together and make a small folding book - who knows? Who cares? 

One of my Facebook groups has suggested doing postcards this year, to be sent by mid-March. So that might get me going. I have done my first. I am not that happy with it, I think I have done the petals too big. But I won't worry about it too much, I may need to send it, we have to make 11 and I won't throw it out just yet.

I have based this one on a flower that is currently blooming, and will do so for months, going on past experience. The hollyhock. I am collecting the flowers when they fall down and putting them in the freezer. I have used them in the past for dyeing, may do so again. Not immediately, but they are there if I need them. 

More inspiration from other sources

 I joined the TextileArtist.org Stitch Club earlier in the year and have been lurking on the site, not taking up most of the challenges but still being inspired by the initial tutorial and then the amazing responses by other members. 

I have - finally - tried one of the ideas. It was by Sabine Kaner. She suggested getting a piece of paper and crumpling it, then flattening it out and tracing some of the creases to create an abstract design. 

I thought that this was an interesting idea and that it wouldn't take too much creative energy to give it a go. 

I ended up with a design that I thought was doable. I traced it onto some calico and coloured it with Inktense Pencils. 

The pencils were much brighter after I used a wet brush to spread the colour around. 

After several weeks of it lying around, I then decided that perhaps I could use the same design for some blackwork embroidery. I traced the design onto even weave fabric using a water soluble marker (remembering, from past sad experience, not to let the sun shine on it!).

Many hours later, I now have a blackwork piece. I suppose it is really a sampler, as I was filling it in with various stitches and threads. I based it on my nightly doodles and just decided to see what developed as I sewed. 

The initial design had quite a few small spaces that didn't really suit the blackwork patterns, so I changed the design a little. 

In the meantime, I still had the calico. The initial impetus, in the Stitch Club, is to do hand embroidery but I thought I would try out some of the decorative stitches on my machine. The blackwork was taking ages and I needed to do something quicker. The blackwork designs influenced the patterns I chose

. 

Sewing on the coloured Shiva Oil Stick fabric.

 I have been reminded that I should post today, it being 10/10/20 (hi Liz!).

So here it is ...

I have done a little bit of random blackwork (except not black) on the fabric. I am still using the threads I have at home, it still being lockdown and no shops open and no going further than 5km from home. I could buy online but I tried that and didn't know enough about the threads to know how thick they would be, what sort of sheen, how they have been plied, etc. So I will wait until I can actually see them in reality, not virtually. 

And I do have enough to go on with. 

I also used some linen I bought recently (online) and other pieces that I have had for years. I don't even know what some of the fabrics I have experimented with lately are. Therefore, I didn't know what threads would work with the various fabrics. All play, all interesting. 

So ... I decided to just try a few of the patterns from various books and an online resource that I printed out a few years ago. I ended up doing my own variations, not because I wanted original designs but because I  was having trouble getting them right. 

Trying to do the patterns randomly, associated with the randomly placed colours (I had no plan, just wanted to see if it would work on linen), has meant that I am not too bothered about choosing the perfect pattern for the image. Also, it is hard to see the thread at times, it blends in rather well.

The yellow thread is very fine compared to the others and a bit hard to see - whilst sewing and afterwards. I spent quite a while on it and was wondering why I was bothering! But the light does shine on it and pick up some texture. The orange and yellow are Wonderfil threads that I have bought for the sewing machine. The thicker orange one (konfetti) is not much good in the machine, it is a bit thick , so I am glad to have found a new use for it. The yellow (Spaghetti) is good in the machine , not so much on coloured linen. 

The green thread is DMC that I bought online recently and haven't used yet. I got it from Lazy Daisy, which has gone totally online these days. 

I discovered that the colour didn't go through the fabric, so I can see perfectly well on the back. I did have to get my head around doing the pattern properly on the underside and not going over spaces that I had already done, something that is sometimes necessary when you are doing the designs. Usually, you don't see that side, it is on the back. But the back was the front - confusing much? 

Just doing random patterns, for random distances, was very freeing. Also, the coloured background made it almost impossible to see mistakes - there are one or two but I don't really care, they are very hard to notice. 

Using Shiva Oil Sticks on Linen

I finished my piece using my faulty design and inattention. 

I just decided it was finished - 'based on' the original drawing on graph paper. 

Then I got out the small piece of linen I had drawn on using Shiva Oil Paint Sticks. The instructions said to draw on the fabric and then leave it for 4 or 5 days to set. Having Corona virus inertia, that was easy. I actually left it for 6 days. When I picked it up, I rubbed it on some white paper and got a faint smudge on the paper where some of the oil rubbed off. 

Then I heat set it, with the iron, hand washed it and let it dry.  It didn't rub off anymore. And I noticed that the little bits of thickish substance were no longer there. 

Today I decided to try some embroidery on it. It was harder than I had anticipated. I sewed my design at least four times, possibly five. I found that I had a bit of trouble seeing the fabric clearly enough to be perfectly accurate. Eventually, I noticed that the back of the fabric is not very coloured at all, so I could sew from the back.

The reason I had to pull it out was not to do with the fabric being coloured, it was that I chose a design that I couldn't get my head around. I really need to stick to the easier patterns. 

What I have discovered though, is that the paint stick stayed on the fabric throughout the drama. You could see where I had pulled it out on the back but the front didn't show it up at all. 

I could only find links to the produce through various stores. Here is one.

Aargh!

 Date today: 5/10/20

I decided to try out one of my graph paper designs with variegated thread today - for the blackwork course. 

I was well into it when I noticed that I hadn't done the design properly, it is meant to be symmetrical. 

Ah well, it is my own design, I can change it if I like. 

Then ... I discovered that my graphed design isn't accurate!! One side has 5 blocks for the line, the other (supposedly symmetrical) has 4!! So now I am just winging it, will see what develops as I sew. 

The white part of the thread isn't very good, it doesn't show up at all. So I am cutting those bits off and will see if I can find another use for them. Waste not, want not - especially in these lockdown days. 

Fabric Paint that works like dye

 It being 2/10/20, I had to post today!

And I have something of interest - to me, anyway.

As part of the Blackwork course I am doing, we were asked to play with some colouring of the fabric. I know that dyes for plant-based fabrics usually mean you have to mordant the fabric and, honestly, I just couldn't be bothered. 

But then I saw an article in Embellish magazine, about using paint on fabric (except I didn't realise that it was paint at first, it looked like silk painting with dyes). 

The article was interesting. The person who wrote it has done several articles in this magazine over the last few years and I have read them with mild interest. But this one happened to co-incide with the need to colour my linen (or linen-cotton in some cases). 

I contacted her and bought some of her fabric paints: Liquid Radiance. It also happened that she was running a free workshop on Zoom that I could 'attend'. So I did! 

The paints have worked well on the linen and I have had a small play with using coloured (variegated) threads and black threads. I have, once again, only used what I had seeing we still can't go to the shops - they aren't open yet! 

I only used red, yellow and blue. They travel and mix well. They can be put on dry fabric or dampened. Some fabrics didn't work very well dry, especially if they had not been prewashed. The fabric sometimes resisted the water soaking in. 

This piece was so small I had to attach it to some calico to put it in the hoop. 

The paint makes the fabric a tiny bit stiffer, which isn't a bad thing, I think it is less likely to fray. 

Some of the darker patches were a little bit harder to see for the embroidery but, overall, it was successful. 

I have done some samples, now to see if I can come up with a design. 

I did also play with some Shiva Oil sticks but haven't tried to sew on that fabric yet. The colours are nice and strong and I have heat set and washed it, which did get rid of some of the residue. 

Not having any idea of what I was wanting to achieve, I just rubbed on some colour and now need to play with some sewing. If it shows up, the colour is rather strong. 

Just Because I Had It

 As part of the Blackwork course I am doing, we are being encouraged to play with textile multi-media. I started painting on some linen and using Shiva Oil Sticks but more on that later - if it works at all. I had heard that someone has done some blackwork onto felting. Hmm, how is that done? Turns out you make the felt then place some linen over it and do the blackwork through it all. Then you pull out the linen. Not having any felt to hand, and not feeling like making any, I looked around. 

Lo and behold, I had some silk paper, with Angelina Fibre in it, lying around. Why not try?? 

So I found a small piece of linen - didn't want to do a big piece in case it was a disaster. 

It is the Embroiderers Guild, Victoria's 60th anniversary this year and the theme was, surprise, surprise, Diamonds. I found some images online and thought I would try them on graph paper. The designs didn't work well in that format, the angles were not right. 

Feeling a bit impatient, I then decided to just draw the diamond shape onto the fabric using a water soluble pen. The pen has a relatively thick nib (thick for blackwork, anyway). So I had to guess where some of the spaces ended. I also didn't do it all that carefully, so the shape isn't exactly symmetrical. 

I then placed the linen over the silk paper and started sewing. As I did a small design, the spaces were small, I had to choose small patterns. I varied the thickness of the threads to give a bit of difference. I also left some spaces empty - not only to hasten things but for aesthetic reasons too. But it did hasten things. 

When I pulled out the linen, some of the sewing caught in it because I had gone through it when sewing. Most of the sewing was ok but a few stitches did pull. Pulling out the threads also distorted some of the sewing so it doesn't look particularly like blackwork. Ah well, it was just an experiment. I am not unhappy with it, I just don't know what I would do with this sort of thing. This piece is going into my folder. 

Maybe I should call it a rough diamond. 

Experimenting with colouring linen for blackwork embroidery

Our final lesson for the blackwork course I am doing is about colouring the fabric and then doing some embroidery on it. We were asked to colour some calico but I haven't really understood why, unless the teacher thinks that most of the participants will not have coloured fabric before. 

It was also suggested that we use acrylic paint. But I have found that when I use that the fabric handles quite differently, quite stiffly. 

I have decided to play with the colouring of fabric a bit differently. So far, I have used Inktense blocks, the small ones, that look like sticks, and ink.  It has been interesting to find information about using them on fabric. Usually, the articles are about using Inktense pencils and blocks for quilting. We use even weave linen for blackwork. Here is one I found that is about dyeing the fabric for cross-stitch. As I found no information about that, I have decided that linen is a plant-based fabric, not all that different from cotton, so will just assume it is in the same category. 

Today I played with small bits of fabric. I used some that was not washed, presumably has size on it, and some that I washed. Then I tried the Inktense blocks with dry fabric, dampened fabric and dampened blocks. They gave different results. I think the best way to go will be with the dampened fabric because there is less smearing of colour - which will be less likely to come off on the embroidery threads, I hope. 

I have also tried some inks on the fabric, also dampened and not. I don't know if the inks will be permanent but I will heat set them when they are dry. Some sites have recommended leaving the dyes and inks for 72 hours, so I won't iron them till then. Then I may wash them to see if the colour stays. I have only done small fragments of fabric - partly because I don't have a lot of blackwork suitable fabrics and partly because it is relatively expensive and hard to get at the moment with lockdown still in force. Therefore it is possible that I won't bother with the rinsing. I am only playing around with colouring fabric, not with coming up with something that will be permanent and for sale. 

This one is inks on the fabric, resting on a towel that has been used before. Maybe it will be useful in the future, given its absorbance of colours. 

I don't quite know what I am trying to achieve - in terms of a sample. So I will play around, find out some things and then see if I can come up with a piece of fabric that will inspire me to do some interesting embroidery. 

20/7/20

I was reminded of the date today - after I had commented that I had no idea it was Monday. What strange times we are living in.

Anyway, not much to report. I have been working on my blackwork again - was going to write 'beavering' but it is more like 'struggling'. I am doing a sampler for my course and we are up to the shading stage. I have done one bit that is shading according to the threads used, one that is by the pattern (which I repeated because the first one just wasn't right) and am now working on a combination.

I have pulled out the first part several times, to the extent that I am worried that I might be damaging the fabric, so I have pulled out the first iteration and am ploughing on with the pattern and different threads. I am not going to pull it out even when (not if) I find mistakes.

It was necessary to draw the designs on graph paper , partially to get an idea of how to sew the shapes and not have to cary the thread too much across the back. Turns out the drawing and the doing are quite different things!

I have to have a magnifying glass as well as my glasses, that I don't use for anything else, as the fabric is of a smaller weave than I have been using and is hard to see. So I am having a rest now.

We are about to get to the stage where we design a shape and put in shading from dark to light, then work out what pattern to use for the shading. Sounds easy - but now I am not so sure, I have struggled with the sampler, so am less confident. But I have been doing my doodling for ages, might try to use one of those patterns in the near future, maybe try for something a bit more abstract.

Someone sent me a link to some interesting blackwork that is connected to doodling/zentangels, so I hope to be inspired by that. But it won't be any quicker as a process, I expect.

It's been a while

I missed June! How did that happen?
Well, we were in lockdown and then we weren't and now we are again. All very disruptive and confusing.
I have continued on with the Blackwork class. Have I mentioned how slow doing blackwork is?? And how still you sit?
I have found out and now will have to schedule some exercise and stretching times into the day, try not to sit too still for too long. It is a bit like the reminders you need to get off the computer. Only I don't have that really annoying program that you can put on that turns off the screen every 15 minutes. That didn't last long on my computer, I can assure you. 15 minutes passes in a flash.

Anyway, I have got as far as lesson 4. We are working on shading, varying the darkness from dark to light.
First, we were asked to do a sample that used varying thicknesses of thread and to do the variation across curved lines.
Then we were asked to do one that used one thread only and the variation was through the density of the pattern.

I designed my pattern on graph paper and then tried to make it have less density as it grew. But I think I chose a pattern that was too large, so I had to finish it a bit before I would have if I weren't doing a particular task with set measurements (i.e. it had to be over a set number of threads across and down).

I drew it rather lightly so I could rub it out, it is surprisingly hard to draw accurately across each square. 

Also, as I sewed, I could see that I needed to put some extra elements in and doing that made the design denser but needed more room to lighten it up.

And another thing, both examples have mistakes!! I couldn't work out how to unpick them easily so decided to just note them down and try not to do that sort of error again. I'm sure I'll find a different way to make errors.

All learning - which is why you do samplers.

Doing Blackwork

Today's date: 20/5/20.
Where does the time go? Oh yes, we are in lockdown, even though it is easing. I think it is easing for younger people more, us oldies still have to be careful and not take risks.

Anyway, I have enrolled for a correspondence blackwork intermediate course through the Embroiderers Guild, Victoria. It hasn't got me in as much as my tapestry weaving did but I am hopeful.

The lockdown laws are eased a little but that hasn't made any obvious changes to my life yet, just the chance for a couple of non-emergency (thank goodness) appointments.

So ... the blackwork.
We are currently on the module in which you design your own motifs. I have quite enjoyed that even though it is a bit more precise than I am used to doing. It reminds me of the doodling but you do it on graph paper. And then you have to translate that to the fabric. This is where you discover if your design wasn't quite accurate!

I did the first of my own design motifs today (and yesterday - as I said, it is slow!). It was cool but sunny so I sat in the glasshouse to take advantage of the lovely weather.  And it is very peaceful there.

It has a bit of a space module feel to it, to me. But that's ok, I am quite fond of science fiction.

I thought I would put in some links to past posts about doodling and blackwork. As I often say, this blog is a visual diary for me - searchable. I came across some great links (for me) and was reminded of things that I have done in the past that are relevant. Eg, here.
(I am putting this in for me - so I can find it again.)

Deciding what to do

Our course is finished, the exhibition is up.

The small art exhibition will be on soon at The Alcove Art Shop. I have been playing around with some eucalyptus blossom pieces for that. Am still trying out some images.

I have taken some photos and fiddled with them in Photoshop. Not sure what I will do with them yet, just thought I would play around.
I have printed the photos out onto silk and then done thread painting over them but now I would like to try something slightly different.

I am thinking to paint the base fabric and then sew over it in the sort of machine embroidery I did last year (almost a year ago - where does the time go?!) in the Alison Holt workshop. It probably won't turn out all that differently, it will just be a little more my creation, rather than a photo.

I just used Poster Edges, twice. It made the background nice and indistinct. 

I am going away for a holiday soon. I will involve a long flight and then, perhaps, a long train trip. So I am trying to come up with some ideas for handwork to do. But there is the problem of what they will let you have on a plane. And how much I want to carry around.

I have played around with blackwork (just found this site with some free tutorials) in the past and am thinking of trying to develop an idea for that. So I have been tracing some photos, using a black pen to help me develop some images that I might be able to use. Or I might try some doodling patterns as I did when I did the workshop with Katherine Devine, ages ago.

Then I made it black and white, not sure why. 

I am also thinking that it would be good to dye the base fabric using eucalyptus leaves or bark, just for a different effect. So I have been researching that. The even weave fabric for counted thread work is expensive, so I don't want to mess it up. But I am looking at eucalyptus blossom ideas, so it seems appropriate.

I put the image on a light box and it is ready for me to play around with. 

Random thoughts about doodling … and other things

As I have recently said, I am taking up the daily zen doodle thing again.  I have stuck to the small format so far but am feeling a smidgin of interest in trying to produce a larger image.
I have also been in the company of friends who are artists and have expressed interest in zen doodling, so I pointed them in the direction of a couple of sites and a book I had.

Then I was given a book for Christmas (yes, I have read it already, even though it is not yet Christmas).  This book is about the The Great Tapestry of Scotland.  It is very interesting, especially given my Scottish and Irish heritage.  The tapestry is based on the Bayeux Tapestry and the Prestonpans Tapestry, among other things. None of these works are, strictly speaking, tapestries as they are not woven but they are still called that historically. They are all embroideries.
As I was doing further research about the Great Tapestry of Scotland online, I got sidetracked to my local embroiderers guild and noticed they are having classes for crewel embroidery in the new year.
This got me to thinking about counted thread embroidery I have done in the past and how you make up little patterns to fill in the spaces - just like doodling.

This has to be over 20 years old - who says I keep things a long time??

The thing about the crewel and Jacobean work is that is usually has colour and that can change the process. I don't think it matters though, it is still in the same area of design technique.

THEN I wandered off to some Pinterest sites about Jacobean and crewel embroidery.  The images are very reminiscent of doodling - no need to be making up my own designs, I think they have all been invented.  From there I decided to look for some free designs, just to see how much like doodling they really are.  I came across quite a few interesting sites. Several of the sites I visited pointed me to the Gutenberg project site and the book on Jacobean embroidery.  Such an interesting read - and source of designs.

While I was doing a desultory clean-up for the Christmas period, I also came across some designs I drew up when I was doing the blackwork workshop at the Embroiderers Guild.

As I was doing counted thread work, I used graph paper to help me.  But this is a design that is very much like the doodling patterns, I have just tried to remember what I would need to do to be sewing the designs rather than simply doodling.

I was off and running then, looking around all sorts of links connected to my current train of thought. I often come across this site when I am idling around the web - it is always worth a visit.  There are some great links on this post.
This site isn't for crewel embroidery, it is sashiko patterns but they look just like doodling patterns to me.
Here is another site I found through Pinterest.
No wonder I have liked doing the doodling thing - I have been playing around with similar stuff most of my life - off and on.

AND THEN I remembered Dijanne Cevaal's free motion embroidery patterns that she has published recently. They, too, look a lot like doodling.

So, although I have been busy with visiting and preparing for Christmas, not doing any of my creative stuff, I have been busy in my mind.

And the hollyhocks are blooming profusely at the moment, the freezer is filling up with flowers and the pressure is on to get the them out and start dyeing. Someone very selfishly wants to use the freezer for food - as if it were summer.

Face on a Seat

While out walking at Yarra Bend recently, I saw this seat.  It made me think of Faces in Places, a very amusing site of photos.

As we got closer, it looked less like a face but still not too bad. It actually reminded me of a dog, very appropriate as it is a dog friendly park.

I seem to have run out of oomph lately, hence this rather random post. 

I can't blame it on the weather, we are having the occasional hot day followed by lovely cool days and, more importantly, nights.

I am trying to finish the blackwork but it is an uphill battle at the moment, probably because I am not totally pleased with the design. Oh well, soldier on and see what eventuates.

Still interested in blackwork

I have been trying to design my own blackwork piece for an upcoming Emboriderers' Guild exhibition.  I might not get anything finished for it but at least it gives me something to focus on for the moment.

As I was browsing the internet, I came across a Pintangle site (Friday Freebies, I'll have to read more of that). It had a further link to yet another site (String-or-Nothing) where the owner has made up some designs and provided them free.  What a wonderful resource.

I am sticking to simple designs at present.  This is partly because I am just a beginner with blackwork and don't want to make it too hard for myself.  It is also because I am working on a fairly small design and can't afford to have any intricate designs because I don't think they will fit properly in the space.

I am continuing on with an earlier idea but in a different format.  My idea is to produce a stained glass window design in blackwork.  It may come to nothing but it is something to be thinking about.

I spent quite a while on one part yesterday and then noticed that I had miscounted by one thread and had to pull out half of it.  Luckily, I have learnt patience through my tapestry weaving, where you pull work out all the time, so I wasn't too annoyed with myself. Mind you, I haven't touched it since.

I am not sure if I should have sewn in the outline of the design or not, so decided to do the patterns first, then decide.  Taking photos of your work also lets you see mistakes rather more clearly (not necessarily what I was hoping for!). I will keep plugging along and see what develops.

Getting Sidetracked

I was going along quite nicely, working on my blackwork, trying out various stitches, etc.

I am playing around with the very geometric designs in an organic shape.

Then I realised that I had said I would go in a postcard swap in my online group and some of the people had started saying thank you for their card!  I hadn't even started thinking about mine as it is not due to be finished till July 31st.
So I had a bit of a panic and decided I had better start.  I didn't even have a technique in mind, never mind an idea for the theme - Where We Live.
Then I thought about the stained glass window reverse appliqué piece I had made for the Buda exhibition and decided that I would try that technique again. (I got it back today - now to think about what to do with it.)

I have quite a few photos - those that were retrieved when I wiped out my iPhoto library - of some of the stained glass windows in houses in Ivanhoe.  So I tweaked a few of them in Photoshop and printed them out, traced them onto iron-on interfacing and made some 5" x 7" cards.  Who knows why we are using inches instead of centimetres?  We are an Australian/New Zealand group, we should really be using centimetres.

So far I have made two.  It is different with the interfacing, it is stiffer, obviously, but also not see-through.  But I quite like them.  I hope the recipients do too. I haven't sent them yet, I have to make the other two.