what if? - abandoned projects

What if I like in-between projects? What if I have the bodies of many of those projects, tucked in various drawers and boxes? What if I join Arlee's hand embroidery Facebook Group (already happened)? What if I dig out one of these projects and start working on it again (again, already happened)? What if I show you some progress photos? What if I say that I originally abandoned this piece because I didn't like the fact that the braids were going 'wonky'? What if I say that I preferred them straight?

What if I was persuaded to embrace the 'wonkiness'? What if they were right? What if I included a "wonky" section, then some embroidery, then 'straight', then more embroidery, then more "wonkiness"? What if I added some beaded backstitch?

What if I say that I'm enjoying the process? What if I say that I'm using my own, machine wrapped braid? What if I say that it doesn't really matter, because the handwork is the entire point of the piece? What if I say that the piece is 5 1/2" wide X 70" long? What if I say that I'm just past the halfway mark? What if I say that I may need to repeat some fabrics? What if I say that I don't think anyone would notice? What if I say that I've already raided a friend's stash? What if I say thank you? What if I say that I'm happy with my overall progress? What if I say that I'm totally in love with the process? What if I say that I won't give up all of my other techniques? What if I say that this one is particularly restful and relaxing? What if I say that I love blues and greens?

What if I say that I'll have a lot of TV to watch, before finishing this piece? What if I say, what do you think?

rock on!

My contribution to the Embellished Rock Swap over at the wildly creative Cloth Paper Studio, Yahoo Group. The swap requirements were simple. Take a 7" square of fabric, use some type of dimensional embellishment and design the piece in such a way that it could eventually be wrapped a rock. I went a little overboard, so the recipient might need to find a small boulder to wrap it around!!!! LOL!

I ruched some yo-yo's (suffolk puffs to our friends across the pond) and added both traditional and slightly distorted embroidery stitches. Included in the mix are feather, french knots, straight, whipped running stitch, detached chain, cretan and whipped wheels (at least that's what I think they're called). A few beads were couched and stitched on, some freeform pin tucks, free motion machine embroidery, a few splashes of paint and I call the piece done. Well not quite finished, because that won't happen until someone finds just the right rock!!!

As usual, this was all done totally intuitively. I started with the silk dupioni background fabric, added the large ruched yo-yo and then just played around with fabric, floss, thread and beads until I was satisfied.









The full piece! I'm hoping the pin tucks will make it easier to wrap around a rock.



Doesn't this tempt you to make one for yourself? The piece isn't actually due until April 30th, but for a change, I've finished something early. It feels good, but doesn't help me with the other piece I need completed by the beginning of April. The muse goes, where the muse wants to go!!!