Fun with embroidery
It seems that summer is really here! I’ve been working a bit on creative self-renewal and building some new skills that I thought might be useful in new work in the future. I feel this is so important, but it can also be quite difficult to manage with so many other demands on my time. So, this time around, I enrolled months in advance, put it in my calendar, and when it finally came around, somehow made it work (although it was a bit of a frantic couple of weeks!!). So, what did I do, you ask? I took a two-day course in “Haute couture embroidery techniques” at the Contemporary Textile Studio with a lovely lady artist from Montreal, Tamara Rubilar. It was a bit of a gallop through a sampler of a number of different techniques, as well as an eye-opening experience with different materials.
Make it stand out
This roughly what I’m eventually aiming for - we’ll see how close I manage!
It was a pretty intense two days, and I had a kilt order on at the same time, so it was two days of ALOT of sewing, but I so enjoyed learning the techniques, and getting some insight into the thought behind the way some things work, and how to address some technical issues.
Make it stand out
Even just getting ready to start, was a bit time consuming, but so cool! We used a silk panel with a cotton canvas support underneath. Then you have to attach it the frame with two different techniques. It was ready to go when it felt as tight as a drum top!! This is to provide more stable support than an embroidery hoop, and once I started working with it, I could see the necessity - you really have to be firm with some of the materials we used!!
First element started! Just the edging to go. I really enjoyed this one, and to be honest, it’s probably the one that has turned out the best so far!
I didn’t get much farther than this the second day - see all those sequins? A good number of them get sewn into an element that I have to applique to the main piece - I started one, decided I didn’t like my technique execution, so I started the second one, which is better but not perfect. Now I have to go back and re-do the first one so they match!
What do you do when you feel like you’re in a bit of a creative rut? Or maybe that never happens to you!! Anyway, I loved the workshop, even the frustrating bits! And I’ve already been thinking about how I’m going to incorporate it into a special kilt idea that has been rolling around in my brain. It also involves some screen printing, which I haven’t done for a while, so that will be a bit exciting too!
It will probably be awhile before I finish this sampler, but I’m chipping away at it little by little, so I’ll share it with you when I finally finish it!
-Robin
keeping up creativity and motivation
I do alot of different activities, and when you work for yourself, even when you’re doing art, it’s still work! I really try hard to make time to do art/craft that is not for work, but more just for myself. One of the ways I do that is to participate in the Modern Quilt Guild miniswap every year (I’m a member of the Toronto Modern Quilt Guild group).
The MQG runs this miniswap every year to coincide with their yearly convention, which occurs somewhere in the States. You can either swap in person during the convention, or you mail it. There are different kinds of miniquilt swaps, but this one is a direct one-to-one swap, so although I finished the quilt a while ago, I haven’t been able to post anything because my partner hadn’t received it yet.
I like to make a 16” square miniquilt, partly because it means that if I want to, I can back it with a fat quarter! I love this project, I love the challenge of coming up with something that I like to make, but that will tailor with my partner’s likes.
This year’s offering is the latest in a series of SciArt quilts that I have been making.
Full view of the final quilt
I used an improv, strip-pieced background in reasonably low volume black and white prints. I love improv piecing, I can do it with a few rules to keep myself in check, but still allow an element of chance and happenstance! Here, I used about 5 fabrics, and restricted the widths I wanted to use. I appliqued some of my improv immune cell shapes in two bright, solid colours.
Close up of some of the quilting-a mixture of hand quilting/embroidery and free motion quilting (I love carooming around the quilt with my thread!).
And some more views of the quilting!
Overall, it’s a bit of tumbling cells in a blood vessel, with echo quilting along the edges (matchstick quilting), and blood cell free-motion quilting. I like the texture of the mix of applique, free motion and embroidery.
You really get large variation in the quilts that are produced, which is pretty exciting and inspiring. See below for the awesome one I received in return. I’ve participated in alot of these miniquilt swaps, and I have to say, I’ve never received a dud yet!!
