Samples 2016: Week 41, Geometric/Lollipop

Geometric design? A good excuse to play with dissolvable fabric, as if I needed one! Free machining it is then, on Solufleece. I made a simple network of triangles, with three different straight stitch fillings, then zigzagged over the outlines to make sure it held together nicely.

I guess lollipops could be any colour these days, but blue wouldn't seem right to me so I stuck with classic fruity colours.

An openwork sample like this just has to be pinned up for its photograph, I can't resist seeing its shadow pattern. Oooh...

Samples 2016: Week 36, Mesh/Ice



Mesh? A great excuse to dig out the dissolvable fabric! I laid down a grid of white pearl cotton and silver metallic thread first, with big hand stitches. Then I machine stitched some of the diagonals with shiny white rayon 40 on top and blue metallic on the bobbin.

After dissolving I pinned it out to dry - tedious but always well worth it.

Then as usual I couldn't resist photographing the finished sample raised on pins to get the shadows!
    

Samples 2016: Week 16, Dotty/Kingfisher

Bright turquoise and orange for "kingfisher" colours, naturally.

And for "dotty"? Back to my favourite free machine embroidery on dissolvable fabric - tiny turquoise dots, linked to each other and a few big dots of orange felt.

I've photographed this one raised on pins for the shadow effect. 

New work: Pollen

Here’s another of the new pieces I’ve got on show with Textilia III at Farfield Mill.

This one’s inspired by pollen grains viewed through a microscope – something I did a lot of in a previous life, long long ago.

It’s all machine embroidery, some free and some using a flower stitcher attachment. As so often in my recent work, the shadows cast by the suspended motifs are an important part of the design. I like the way they give depth and life as the piece changes with the lighting. This does make photographing the work tricky though – I can’t get the shadows I want without ones I don’t! 

New work: Bloom

This is one of the new pieces I’ve got on show with Textilia III at Farfield Mill.

It was inspired by alliums, and created by free machining on dissolvable fabric. Each bloom has two or three lacy layers with beads between to make it three-dimensional.

 

As they stand up above the background, they cast interesting shadows – one of my favourite tricks!

Dragonfly Dance

This new piece is a celebration of the dragonflies that brighten our pond and garden every summer. Well, every summer until this one, it seems! Maybe it was the recent bad winters… I hope they’ll be back next year.

These dragonflies are machine embroidered, with delicate wings of Lutradur touched with silver. They float above the surface on fine wires, casting shadows that add to the dance.

Flower Power

At last all can be revealed - this is where all those bright flowery bits ended up. Two new framed pieces made with the Flower Stitcher attachment on my long-suffering Bernina.

I love little motifs like these when they’re suspended above the background and spot lit so that they cast interesting shadows, adding depth and life. So tricky to photograph though – I can never get the shadows I want without others I don’t!