Eye Candy, Samples and Experiments

Plenty to see here, lots of visuals, I decided to make some samples, the following small rectangular pieces are all atc size. I had cut some backing fabric ages ago to this size when I first became quite excited about doing lots of swaps. Realising that I didn't want to do that many now, I decided a good use of these would be to do a series of experiments, which became samples and in turn became a sort of sampler.

This first one is needlefelted, the lighter shapes are pieces of my hand made paper that I have cut out and embellished between the layers of wool.

I decided to do some of these pieces as experiments in stitch.

Here is some more hand made paper shapes between the layers of fleece.

Some experiments in border stitches.

To break the monotony I decided to play with some free style stitching.

More handmade paper, this time just torn, more abstract.

Just playing with colour in chain stitch.

This was interesting, hand made paper circles outlined with stitching.

An image from Rock Art, simple stitching of outline.

A nice way to make a frame, stitching over a thick yarn which had been felted down to begin with.

I couldn't resist trying the circle idea again, it was so much fun to do.

An abstract piece, thinking primitive shapes.

Playing with stitches again over hand made paper square/diamond.

Framing a circle.

Hand made paper again, letting the abstract go free. I kept thinking standing stones, or doors when I was stitching these.

Voila! Here they all are stitched together, it is just a visual record of my ideas and experiments, to place on the wall to remind me of what is possible.

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Another Experimental Piece.

I just wish that I had taken pictures of this in progress, it would have been easier to explain and also to remember how it was done.

I began this piece by making a natural white/cream felted background. I was inspired by some stones that I have been sketching. I started to embellish some blue linen into the felt and then decided that I didn't want this effect over the whole piece. I experimented with different colours and then when I had finished what I felt was enough of an abstract background I decided to add some stitching, I did this with some hand dyed cotton which I dyed with rust/tin last year, it seemed to tie in perfectly with the colours that I wanted.

The next two pictures will let you in on a little technique I have discovered. This is the back of the piece. After stitching I felted some of my hand spun yarn down to make a rock art design. The beauty of this if you look closely at the following pictures is when it comes through to the right side it punches the design right over the stitching and it is slightly raised so you have another layer/texture.

These first two pictures show the back of the work.

These next photos are close ups of the front. I hope that you can see how punching the yarn from the back makes another layer. It is slightly raised.

I must admit to being very pleased with this discovery and I feel that I will be using this technique again to create different layers.

I don't know whether the photos really show what I am trying to explain, but if you look carefully you will see that the stitching does indeed disappear under the embellished outlines of the rock art drawings.

Well, back to work. BFN Tricia

Adding my swaps

Before I place the cards I have made on here, I am adding a picture of some of the wonderful foxgloves from my garden which I grew from seed. I am putting these flowers here to cheer me up, it's been a terrible week for me in more ways than one but the main reason is that I have lost a very dear cousin who died on Monday. She was in her mid 70's which is no age these days. It came as quite a shock because as far as I knew she wasn't in poor health. It just goes to show that none of us knows what is round the corner. She will be in my memories for a very long time as being someone who would be there for everyone, she would help anyone and always had a good word to say about everyone she spoke of to me. She will be sadly missed by many.

Well as promised here are some of the cards I have recently made for swapping with different people. These have all been posted now, I hope that the recipients like them.

This is a needlefelted landscape I made to swap with Helen on the postcard group of Stitchin fingers.

This next one is winging it's way to Alis from unlimited textiles.


the one below is a small atc that I made for the hand stitch lottery on the textile challenge site run by Carol T. The stitch I was given to use was fly stitch. I have used the stitch on the path as well as the flowers.


This last ATC is on it's way to France for Anne who made me the beautiful cross stitch teddy. In this needlefelted piece I thought that Anne might like to see a scene from where I live. That's why I decided to make a very small scene of two oast houses, these can be seen all over Kent . I hope Anne likes it.

Been very busy

Well, I have just tried to start a blog on Stitchinfingers but I'm afraid I have given up. Not only did I lose it all after pre veiwing but the darned picture thing that keeps stretching all pictures that are above a certain size is really getting on my nerves. So I will be blogging here instead. I did try!

On a good note, I have been oh so busy, what with my new toy (The Embellisher) and all the swaps, I have had to make lots of lists. I'm getting a bit overloaded but I would prefer that to being bored.

Well as I promised everyone, I will add my first big project that I used the embellisher for.

I thought I would make my Grand daughter a little pressie, she is such a clever lass. She is already a British Champion in Acro Gymnastics and she is only 11 years of age. Very shortly she will be going in for the trials for the Worlds Competition and she will be the youngest competitor. She has had a lot of obstacles to overcome to get this far and she never gives up, so she deserves something nice.

My Grand daughter as well as my own 14 year old son have been into Goth fashion of recent years. So when I asked my Daughter what she would like we had a chat and we both decided that a Goth Fashion type bag would be appreciated. Well I couldn't find the material I wanted for the project so I decided to make my own on the felting machine. here is the result:

This is the front of the bag, made with needle felt that has been woven the make the check fabric.

Here is the back, she is so pleased with this especially as it has her name on it, she is Rebekah really but she likes to be called Bex.

Now my teenage son wants a hat, he likes a flat cap he has which he wore when he was younger at one of the Victorian days at his primary school, trouble is this one is brown, so now I have to make a black flat cap, help, I've never done this before. Well, I've made a paper pattern from the one he has, but I won't be using felt. I have some plain black fabric so I'll just be doing a standard flat cap. He doesn't even want any patterns or motifs on it so it shouldn't be too hard. He looks so cool when he wears his flat cap with his shoulder length wavy hair. I can't wait to see him in the new one.

Well, the other reason why I have been so busy is that I have been making lots of swaps. Here are the ones I have received today;

This one is from Helen Miles The photo doesn't do it justice I'm afraid, it's simply beautiful, it really reminds me of the sea and I just want to go down the coast when I look at it. Thank you Helen, your's is in the post, I won't put the picture up until you receive it, I would hate to spoil the surprise.

This next one is from Liz we met on the Unlimited Textiles site and this months challenge is to make and swap a Postcard with the theme of landscape. This is a beautiful piece and it is made with a lot of beautiful silk, how did Liz know I loved Poppies? Thank you Liz.

This last swap is an ATC from Anne in France, we were introduced to do this swap by Doreen in Australia, apparently they have been doing swaps for some time now. Thank you Doreen for introducing us. Thank you Anne for such an exquisite little card, you wouldn't believe folks how small these stitches are. Don't you just want to give her a hug. Your card Anne is in the post too, I hope you like it.

Well that's just about it for now, but I will put my cards here that I have swapped next time. Till then, bye for now. Tricia

Another Swap safely received.

I can put this one up for viewing now that I know that Doreen has safely received it in Australia.

I made this especially for her and I was inspired by something that she said to me. She asked me for my surname and I said that I often forget to give it probably because I don't like my married name. Well, when I told her it was Cook she said to me, where would Australia have been without Captain Cook and that she thought that there was nothing wrong with the name.

Well, when I couldn't decide what to do for her I thought about what she had said. Well, when we lived up north we went to a place about 30 miles from where Old Cap'n Cook was born. It's a lovely place called Robin Hoods Bay, you can see it on the internet as it is a very well known holiday and tourist attraction on the North East along the Yorkshire Coast. Many an artist has sat and painted it from different views as it is so quaint and picturesque.

So there you have it. This is why I made this ATC for Doreen, I am really getting into this landscape work in needlefelt. It's like painting with wool.

More swaps

Hello again,
I've, just received this beautiful ATC from Ati in Norway, I am so proud to be in possession of such wonderful stitchery. Ati also posted some lovely fibres to me with this card, it is so generous of her, Thank you Ati. I thought it such a clever idea to post something extra, I had to do the same. I hope it arrives safely for her, as it does make it a little bulky especially with my needlefelted piece. I won't put Ati's on here yet as I don't want to spoil the surprise. Hope you like it Ati.

Cyberfyber swaps

Hi all, I am a little behind taking photos at the moment, so I thought I had better catch up. First there is the Cyberfyber swap. Here are the two cards I decided to request:

This is the postcard and is made with Bridal Lace, isn't it beautiful, I particularly like the way it has been coloured.

This one is the ATC and has lots of interest, stitching, layering, there is metal foil under one of the layers and then there is the architectural feature with cherubs. It's really delightful. Thank you Susan, I love them.

Well, I hope that Susan likes hers, I have concentrated on a really Kentish/English theme. The first one below is a Postcard and is needlefelted with embroidery. It is called Old Kent Orchard.

Here is a close up of the Postcard.

This next one is an ATC and is the same theme but obviously on a smaller scale.

It is entitled: Old Apple Trees