Crazy Patchwork

On Tuesday I went to my Embroiderers' Guild meeting where I took part in a workshop on Crazy Patchwork so loved by the Victorians.
I had never had a go at it before but I had plenty of scraps from my stash to work with!
I had decided to limit my colours to green and orange but increase texture by using a variety of fabrics including velvet and lurex.
I started joining my pieces together randomly.

When the pieces were all joined and supported by a piece of blanket I was ready to begin the embroidery. The stitching is used to enhance, support seams and cover up untidy areas.
Using a combination of stitches enhances the look of the piece and I started with herringbone, straight stitch and lazy daisy, all worked in green and orange.

I shall carry on embroidering over the next few weeks.

I have now finished the piece but not sure what to do with it. I am thinking of possibly turning it into a jewellery roll but that may have to wait as I have quite a few things to finish.

Weaving

Last summer I went on a 4 day course to learn how to tapestry weave and during those few days I was hooked and you can see my efforts below. I decided to have a go at weaving a dog rose so I started with a quick sketch and then chose my colours.

 I warped up the frame and then I was off with just a plain weave. I was trying to weave a picture so decided to concentrate on the shape and colour of the rose.

When it was finished I took it off the loom , tidied up the back and then mounted it on a painted canvass with a haiku.

I also mounted another small weaving I had made earlier.

I have a long way to go before I can call myself a weaver but I am enjoying what I am doing and improvement will come with practice!

Winter Weather

 For a couple of days just after Christmas there was some snow which lasted for about a day and a half before it was washed away by the change to rain.
Snow makes everywhere look beautiful before cars and people get on it and make it dirty and it muffles the sound making everywhere seem peaceful.
The pictures below show how pretty, sparkly and clean my garden looks with the sound of silence.

When the snow is fresh you can tell what has been walking in the garden from the footprints!

I am developing an embroidery workshop entitled Silver. The snow has given me another idea for an embroidery involving snow and ice. I have already completed two which you can see below.

I will think of a different background and then embroider some leaves in the snow and ice with silver and white threads.

British Museum 5thDecember

On the way back from Paris I took a detour via the British Museum which is not too far from St. Pancras station. I had a ticket booked for the Scythian exhibition at 12:30 but because Eurostar was on time I had time to have a quick look at the Ancient Greek gallery.

There were some fine Minoan pieces with beautiful patterns which I thought might be useful in my embroidery.

I love the patterns on this geometric vase.

When I look at the Elgin marbles I am always fascinated how relatively thin marble was carved to give the impression of depth.

At 12:30 I made my way to the Scythian exhibition. The artefacts were on loan mainly from the Hermitage Museum in
 St. Petersburg. 
The Scythians were nomadic tribes and masters of mounted warfare who flourished between 900 and 200BC. Their encounters with the Greeks, Persians and Assyrians were written into history.

Discoveries of ancient tombs have unearthed a wealth of Scythian treasures Amazingly preserved in the permafrost, clothes, spectacular gold jewellery - even mummified warriors and horses tell us a story of a rich civilisation which eventually stretched from its homeland in Siberia as far as the Black Sea and even to the edge of China.

Gold work

Leather shoe

Embroidery

Part of a felt wall hanging- The Pazyryk horseman

Felt swan

I have always wanted to have a go at felting the Pazyryk horseman and I think I will add this to my list of future projects!

Embroidered Pot

I have been working on my pot inspired by the ancient Minoan pottery. The background was constructed of strips of cloth based on the colours of Crete.

 Stitch patterns were machined to blend the colours together. To knock the colours back  I rollered beige paint thinly over the top.

Choosing a spiral stamp reminding me of one of the Minoan patterns I printed randomly across the background first in an orangey- brown and then gold.

Gold thread was couched over the gold-printed spirals to provide depth to the background. Cretan stitch was  embroidered  to increase texture and Linear B writing was added to the background. I have finished the pot at last. Please see below!