Boom !

I have been on a mission to de-clutter my life lately - not so much the worthy, esoteric kind of emotional de-cluttering, but simply getting rid of things that take up space. Now I don't exactly live in the kind of rambling mansion that runs to attics and cellars filled with generations worth of hand-me-downs and heirlooms, and I am generally quite good with throwing things out - no hoarding issues here, thank you very much. But like anyone who makes things, be it as a hobby or a career, I have started to accumulate projects in various stages between 'just needs finishing off' and 'gotta start that one day', so I have made a vow to tackle these one by one, and only start something new once something old has been ticked off my list.

Since my interests are varied enough this should be ok, as I can flit between knitting, embroidery, sewing etc etc, which is handy as I get bored easily. More to the point, though, I hope that this will finally give me more of an impetus to document my work more regularly.

On that happy and optimistic thought I shall leave you with a small piece I made a few years ago and that re-surfaced during the cleaning / de-cluttering rampage. It is based on the work of art collective eboy , and in case you were worried, it has already been re-homed to Hackney...

Blooming Blossoms

Right, long time no update!
I have been surprisingly busy with work lately (Yeah-money! Booh-no posts!), but I thought I should put a few more pics up in the interrim. The below are both cross stitch on natural linen, done with two strands of MEZ cotton.
This sampler is mainly victorian borders from several old books and patterns I had. It was meant to fit into a frame I had (see inner border), but it just kept growing, so it turned out fairly big.

The second one is actually framed and hangs above my parents' sideboard. It's one of those victorian sentimental pictures with a hidden message. And no, it's not "Help me, I'm being locked in the tower and forced to embroider till my fingers bleed.". Starting at the bottom with F for Flieder (lilac) and going clockwise around the wreath, the initials of the flowers spell Freundschaft (friendship). Aw, bless...

Total Rubbish !

I wish I had a camera, but for some reason I can't (or won't) get round to getting a new one. Which means that, positively speaking, there is plenty of time to post all of the backlog. On the down side, everything is fairly old. Or badly photographed. And mainly embroidery. *sigh*

Anyway, onwards and upwards. I have an old round foot stool (legacy of one of my flatmates), that is badly in need of recovery. Now, I always wanted to embroider upholstery, but a whole armchair or sofa is somewhat daunting, I'm sure you'll agree. So this was perfect, not bigger than a cushion cover. I was looking for something that would naturally sit with the circular shape, and I wanted it to be photo-realistic. I cannot recall exactly how, but I ended up with taking a picture of my rubbish bin, top down...
And this was the result:

I should also explain that I never got round to having the stool upholstered, so any ideas about what to do with an embroidery of a heap of rubbish, answers please on a postcard to the usual address.

...somebody's watching me...

I know what you're thinking, but it felt like a good idea at the time, and now I feel weirdly guilty each time I try and pack him away in a box...

Best foot forward

If all my posts seem to look like one long trip down Memory lane, that's just because I don't have a camera at the moment, so I can't take pictures of my recent work... so here's some more old stuff !

I always loved embroidered slippers that aristocratic ladies would work as Christmas presents for their husbands, but I wanted to do something a bit less stuffy, so I mutilated a worn-out pair of trainers (Adidas Gazelle as I am sure you will have noticed), and scanned them to convert into an embroidery pattern. They were rather expensive to have made up, but then again, I went to the best bespoke shoemaker I could find, George Cleverly in the Royal Arcade.

And no, I don't actually wear them.

Granny Square

Well, almost. It's a cushion cover I made for my grandmother some years back, showing her, my mother and my aunt. The original picture was taken as a souvenir for my grandfather to take with him as he left for WW2, and he never returned. I took some time to finish this, but I finally made an effort and gave it to her for Christmas, which she was very happy about.
I am glad I pulled myself together, because 2 months later, my grandmother had a stroke from which she never regained consciousness, and she died soon after.

Steptacular

This is one for the truly dedicated (or 'anoraks', as they are more widely known...). It's a life size tapestry celebrating the genius that was STEPS. Who could forget lyrics such as "A smile's a frown turned upside down" ? Rumours of an impending reunion have so far proved unfounded, but the world still holds its breath in anticipation of Claire's solo album...

Ok, this started out as a joke, but I always wanted to work a really big canvas, and I couldn't think of a subject to suit me. For the techno freaks: it's a 10 hpi canvas, worked in cross stitch with Anchor wool, 250 x 400 sts, and I finished it November 2001. In December, STEPS split up, but to this day I refuse to accept responsibility...