Stitchbook Collective: Texture

The Stitchbook Collective is off and running! Our first pack arrived a day early – wow! I was jumping up and down with excitement. Little packages of delight.

A present I have given myself, each month for a whole year – it feels so good.

Then the joy of opening them all up and seeing what is inside …. all there waiting to be played with….

The Texture and Starter Packs are available to buy individually, with unlimited access to the video tutorials.

As a child, I used to go and stay with my step-grandmother, I called her Dabbity, and she would have little embroidery projects ready for me to make – it reminds me of that – Helen and Dabbity have merged together in my mind, it is warmly comforting to have those memories revived.

Once again (like in the Starter Pack) there are 9 tiny samples to create – this is the first one I did

It inspired me to think about making a larger one, with just the large cross-stitches to hold the fabric pieces to the back ground – so I’m off to get some more calico.

The next was a loopy one – I love these loops

and then a spider’s web inspired piece, weaving the textured thread through the spokes

I am having fun with these.

One of the best things about this ongoing project is the Facebook Group that nearly all of the 150 in the Stitchbook Collective are members off. We share pictures of our work and aspects of the processes we go through. It amazes me to see the rich variety created from much the same materials and what gems are created on tiny areas of calico.

Do you have any embroidery on the go at the moment?

Leave a link in the comments, I’d love to see what you are up to.

Love-in-the-Mist of time

Joining Cathy with the wonderful In a Vase on Monday meme.

Love-in-the-mist, Gardeners Garters and (learn to love your weeds) ground elder flowers.

They are cosying-up in an old glass bottle that I found in the hedge of the farm cottage I lived in many years ago. Some of the materials in this piece of collage/embroidery are from that house and that time – the 1970s. Happy memories.

This is how the piece looks now with some Swarovski crystals added and some more stitching.

I’ve combined a little crochet to add to the texture

I’m just a tincey bit excited about adding crochet to embroidery and fabric collage – no that’s not true – I’m leaping about and squealing with excitement – can’t wait to see where this takes me.

~

Thankfully, life is returning to somewhere near normal, a health scare in the family caused us all some anxiety for a while and daily rhythms went a bit haywire, but happily we are through to the other side and good health and well-being has returned. Sorry to be mysterious but as it was not my own health issue, I don’t feel I can say more.

I have just spent a wonderful few days recharging my own batteries with creativity – that’s what works for me. Sleep doesn’t do it, but sewing, painting, crochet and being in my own creative space, exploring all manner of delicious possibilities does it every time. I’ve even started dreaming in stitches and colour combinations again!

I feel like I’ve hit a Vein of Gold, long may it last.