Never Mind the Weather

Do you remember a couple of months ago when I embroidered this piece of net? I was inspired by the weather forecast and at the time I hoped it wasn't going to snow... but it did! I didn't expect it to still be snowing a couple of months later... but I digress!

 

 

This piece of work was passed on to Catherina who could do with it what she wished... even cut it up!

 

However, she decided not to cut it up  or alter it but instead very cleverly added a backing. She stitched a woodland scene with snowdrops.

 

And then hung the stitched net over the top like a curtain.

 

So the whole scene can be viewed through a snowy veil of net.

 

I think it is quite ingenious and I would never have thought of doing that. This now has to be passed to the next member in the group for another contribution.

 

As part of the same project I received Catherina's initial textile which was a sun dyed cloth, covered with weather related images...

 

such as feathers to represent the wind and snow flakes to represent... well, snow obviously! (We can't get away from the stuff can we!)

 

I dithered for quite a long time wondering what contribution I could add to this cloth and then when I read Catherina's post about how meaningful birds have been in her life recently it seemed obvious that I should make a bird. Immediately my mind was racing and I had in mind a fabulous cockerel... a Weather Vane... how clever would that be to link back into the theme. But then I had to stop and remember that this needs to be passed on to three more people and it is no good me having a finished project in mind.

 

So what I have made is less a weather vane and more like a weather pigeon.

 

I'm not at all happy with the end result but had to stop myself adjusting and adding to him. I very much wanted to add embroidery to the wings like the lovely bird in this post but had to stop myself. The urge to finish something is rather strong but I need to leave it be and let the next person in the group add their mark.

 

We don't meet again until the end of April and I expect it will be a while before other changes are made to these projects but I'll show you the results when that happens... perhaps by then it will be warm and sunny. I can but hope. Meanwhile perhaps I should make myself a bird with embroidered wings?

 

You can read about Catherina's story of this project here.

Let it Snow

Just before Christmas I was invited to join a group of four friends who meet on a monthly basis for a bit of stitching and chat, with a view to possibly having an exhibition. It was all lovely and very low key but they do set challenges to keep each other working and motivated.

 One of the challenges has been to work on a textile piece inspired by the weather. These will then be passed around each member so we can all add to or change the original piece before passing it on to the next person. The others had already started their weather pieces before I joined - some were printed, some stitched and others dyed.

I knew I would like to make a stitched piece but up until now I wasn't feeling very inspired. But today I've been in the studio all morning and have come up with this piece of fabric inspired by the the weather forecast for the coming week.

It is free machined in white and silver thread onto a backing of silk net. The sequins were an after thought because I felt it needed more sparkle.

It was a nightmare to photograph but I'm quite pleased with the result...

And also quite pleased I'm not the one who has to decide what to do with it next!

It was quite tricky trying to work on something unfinished without a view to the end result but a good exercise in not being too precious about one's work... after all the next person might decide just to chop it up. I'll let you know!

It might not be snowing around here yet (and I'm hoping it won't) but it's feeling pretty chilly, so I'm going to come out of the studio and camp on the sofa with my knitting. The fire and a cuppa beckon!