Blogs and Brooches

Today I finished off some hand stitched brooches I thought you may like to see.

Some have been made from an old jumper that had seen better days.

I don't know what I'd do if I could'nt be creative,its such a threapy to me.

I am so greatful to have discovered blogs, I'm sure they have inspired so many people.

The blogs on my blog roll are the first ones I found via flickr, amazingly talented bunch you are.

As you can see my bag is inspired by that story.

We had to include a found object and I chose a key.

Hi,

Hope your having a good week, It's been very hot here and it sounds like thunder on it's way.

Here is a picture of the machine embroidery I did on my course.

It depicts Ariadne from the old textile I sketched.

I did it straight onto the fabric with out drawing it on first, hence it's a bit wobberly.

This is a story about Ariadne.

Since ancient Greek legends were passed down through oral tradition, many variations of this and other myths exist.[2] According to one version of the legend, Minos attacked Athens after his son was killed there. The Athenians asked for terms, and were required to sacrifice seven young men and seven maidens every nine years to the Minotaur. One year, the sacrificial party included Theseus, a young man who volunteered to come and kill the Minotaur. Ariadne fell in love at the first sight of him, and helped him by giving him a sword and a ball of the red fleece thread she was spinning, so that he could find his way out of the Minotaur's labyrinth.

Thank you

I just wanted to say thank you so much for your comments left on this Blog.

It's lovely to be able to share my excitement of art and stitch with others who understand and apprieciate.

I will post some more pictures and stitching bits tomorrow.

I just need to put my feet up and have a sherry!

Oh and this is a sample of Alice's stitching , beautiful.

An inspirational few days

I had a truley wonderful, thought provoking , inspirational time on my course at Compton Verney.

Alice begun with telling us about the exhibition The Fabric of Myth.This exhibition explores textile myths from classical literature and their influence on both historic and contemporary art. It looks at artists who consciously use fabric as a medium to communicate both personal and cultural myths.

We visited the exhibition with Alice who guided us through the artist's work , this was to be our rich resource for our own story in stitch.

During the tour we made sketches and notes of the many beautiful exhibits.

Artist's work on show included

Ray Materson an American, who whilst serving a long sentence for armed robbery, found redemption through embroidering the story of his life. He is now a major ‘outsider artist'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Bourgeois famous for her fabric sculptures.

Alice's own work Metamorphosis.

Alice explained that the marks we made on paper would become our own expressive stitches.

We had to be quick with our sketching as time was flying!

Hi ,

Today I bought a new sketch book for a course I am going to on Saturday.

I'm very excited as it's here http://www.comptonverney.org.uk/?page=events/workshopsAdults.html

Hope this link works!

I am attending the Story in stitch with Alice Kettle.

Drawing a story in stitch - SOLD OUTSaturday 26 July, 10am - 4pm and Sunday 27 July, 10am - 1pmA unique opportunity to work with artist Alice Kettle. Participants will start by visiting The Fabric of Myth exhibition, and use it as a reference to draw their own myths and stories with machine stitch

I will tell you all about it next week.

Vintage patchwork

I was very lucky to be given all these old patch work pieces.

I was interested in the card and paper used to make them as much as the fabric.

A piece of social history all linked together.

I have enjoyed arranging them and making patterns,from the front and back.

These are from around 1973 and 1974, check out the hair styles!

I hope to develope this further.

Today has been a lovely day.

1. No school for six weeks yippe! ( I work at a school)

2. It's my daughters 13th birthday so we have eaten lots of cake and had lots of friends round.

3.I have not done much house work except to hoover a bit (makes me feel like I have done some thing)

4. Take the dog for a walk.

5. Upload some pictures of some vintage textiles which you may like.

I will try and add more in the week.

Now I have got to get tea ready.

Bye for now!

I enjoy making things from old fabric scraps.

I like the idea of turning something that was once discarded into something treasured.

Here are a few brooches I have made recently all using old jumpers I have hand dyed and boiled.

As you can see I get carried away while I'm working.
How can I stop to tidy up when I am so absorbed in my stitching or painting.
I also find it difficult to throw away even the smallest scrap of fabric or thread.
Small pieces can be so interesting, like a piece missing from a jigsaw puzzle.
I am always delighted to find that missing piece,buried deep in a basket or draw.

This embroidery was based on colours in gardens.

I used many strips of liberty silk fabrics, overlapping colourful prints.

Hello

I have never been very good at writing so I wonder why I'm starting a blog!
I'm pretty hopeless at typing too so you may find quite a few pictures.
So I will try and share some of my mad creative days.
You can see my work also on flickr as Kayla coo , this is a nick name my dear Grandma gave me.

http://flickr.com/photos/kaylacoo/