Tag Archives: cushion covers

Textile Tuesday Number One!

needelpoint experiments and designsHelloo! Happy New Year – Happy New Decade – Happy New Photo Challenge!

I am really looking forward to sharing 12 glorious months of Textile Tuesdays.

Textiles of all sorts are my first love in the land of Creativity, so I’m starting off with a bumper crop of archive makes that I have just excavated from my many and various boxes in the loft – it is like a museum of my life up there.

The archaeology was prompted by a photo by Sheila on The Great House Exmoor on Instagram  of a doll’s house she had found.

Sheila and her family have bought a fabulous Georgian house on Exmoor which they will be renovating ready for Bed and Breakfast guests. My goodness what a task, but I am SO looking forward to watching the transformation of the rooms as I know they will be fabulous.

About 25 – 30 years ago I had a crush on needlepoint – I had seen someone making a cushion cover and had to have a go – so I bought a kit

This was my first

Then this one

As you can see I liked more subtle colours in those days – it was all terracotta and soft greens – very grown up!

After a trip to Turkey, I was interested in kilim designs

but I didn’t love this one and could not find the patterns I wanted to make so I started designing my own. Following a visit to a Doll’s House Fair I started designing and making doll’s house carpets – a perfect craft for travelling. They are all to the 1:12 scale. 1 inch = 1 foot.  They were wonderful little projects to pack in a backpackIMG_7512

I made this one on a canal boat in Shropshiredolls house carpet

and this one has crossed the Equator twice –  travelling right round the world with me in 1994. I designed it as I was travelling, adding in motifs I came across.needlepoint

The bright colours soon burst forth IMG_7509IMG_7504I became fascinated by how the same colours and the same design could create such different patterns.basketweave-1

daffodil, Warhol style

A computer programme helped me design these ‘Andy Warhol’ daffodils. WdaffI made them as cushion covers but then wondered if they would be better frames as pictures needlepoint daffodiland my indecision consigned them to a box in the loft.

samples

Some need a bit of cleaning. But – what to do with them – having unearthed them from their box, I realise they should not stay there, something needs to be done with them.

These could be cushion coversneedlepoint

starsrunner

I think some could be framed, even in their unfinished state – but what do you think – are they art one would want hanging on the wall?

Food for thought.

~

That is a long post from me! Some months I will most probably post just one Textile Photo – do you have any textiles to share – one piece or many – current or archive. You are welcome to dig deep into your blog archive and revisit old posts – anything goes so long as the photos are your own.

I’m really excited to see your very own Textile Tuesday.

Just leave a link in the Comments.