Welcome to my readers, I have just managed to squeeze in a second June post before this month bows out! The beautiful weather has remained for a long time but rain is promised today which will be very welcome for the thirsty garden, virtually empty pond and and water butts. I, for one, am happy being busy indoors. I don’t find it pleasurable sitting in the sun, but do love to be out walking, or gardening suitably covered and in the cooler parts of the day.
We have had a friend staying with us recently, and she brought down her Cricut machine, as she thought it would be fun to explore its possibilities. Among other things, the Cricut can create personal stencils from drawings, and Anne has been encouraging me to draw, for that very purpose. Inspired by some of my eco prints, I have drawn a series of flowers which are suitable to cut into stencils. I Would point out that in the examplse shown, I painted in the the small grasses afterwards.
My botanical prints continue to provide fresh ideas constantly, and are proving to be such a lovely resource. The “stencil” technique, using the Cricut machine, is dependent on special software which is downloaded onto your laptop, and uses a scan of the drawn image, to create the stencil. I very definitely have my limits with software! Anything built into the laptop, I have made pretty good attempts at using, but I know that I am definitely not up to coping with this! It is second nature to Anne, and she has very kindly used the machine to cut my drawings into stencils. Not at all sure why the background has turned blue, again, in the photo! The background is actually white!
I enjoyed painting some postcards (6″ x 4″ ) with a watercolour image painted into one corner . A simple message with a few words, perhaps to say “thank you”, or “get well soon” can then be written around the image! I play with the paints and colour mixing, ensuring that each painting is unique. I am not using a stencil brush with my stencils, but a rather fine paint brush, painting with my water colours into the stencil. Then I continue to work on the initial results after removing the stencil, eliminating the obvious limitations of a stencil, adding further detail as I wish! Basically it is giving me a foundation for my painting! Cut out of plastic sheet, compatible with the machine, the stencils can be wiped clean and used many times!
I write letters by hand so infrequently these days, purely because emailing is so efficient and speedy, but I have been thrilled to hear that recipients of a hand-written message, on a hand painted, printed or stitched card have been thrilled to bits. I must do this more frequently!
This month I have created five collages and have completed three of them with stitch. The other two will be finished by the end of next week. They are created from mixed media including: botanical prints on a variety of different papers; a mix of painted papers from my scrap bag; individual English paper pieced (EPP) units of squares or hexagons, covered in silk which I dyed during the botanical printing process. I have also included snippets of the silk which have beautiful markings on, occasionally.
(I have just noticed some tacking stitches still visible on one of the EPP units: to be removed immediately!)
The silk paper-pieced units take me back to my roots in patchwork, which started in the late 60’s, over 50 years ago!!
As you can see in the photos, the collages have
curled slightly, but each one has yet to be glued onto a wooden board, cut from Ash. The individual mounts will be free-standing. I have been turning over ideas in my mind for a while now, for a different way to present these collages, and I am very happy with how these will look.
I have finished the stitching on two narrow collage hangings. The photo to the right, was taken just before completion.
This small section measures 4″ x 2.5″. I have used a Hera marker to mark out my straight lines for hand stitching, and am leaving the knots at the start and finish of the thread, as added texture. Two of the marked lines are visible in the photo to the left.
I absolutely love hand stitching, and it rests my overactive brain, and gives it a chance to dwell at length on some of the ideas that are flitting around my head. “Playing” with like minded colleagues and friends is also very beneficial as we all pick up all sorts of ideas and little tips from each other. The secret really is the word “playing“, and when the “what if? ” question arises, whether it be on your own or with a friend, then just having a try to see what might happen will give you some answers. Having fun and not expecting instant really good results is everything. Being creative is a learning process, whether it is positive or negative, and that fact alone is really important to remember.
A Date For Your Diaries
Gate Quilters Sewing and Craft Group are holding a coffee morning and small exhibition of quilts, on Wednesday 12th July 2023, from 10 am to 2 pm in aid of Cornwall Hospice Care, and Cornwall Air Ambulance. It will be held at St Mary’s Methodist Church Hall, Chapel Road, Par PL24 2AE Raffle: First prize, Single Quilt (made by the members). Fabric, Books, and Sales Table, Tea and Cakes. For further information please contact Margaret on 01726 879533. Everyone very welcome.
Until next time, Happy Stitching!
Di
Di Wells Stitching News 