Spiral Abstract IV

This is all going better than expected!  I've now finished the fourth one in the series, though it does have rather less stitching in it than the others.

Here's the design, as a transfer on the lining fabric on the back:

Then overstitched with running stitches to transfer it to the front:

And then stitched properly in chain stitch, with Gutermann silver metallic thread:

Just one more to do in the Abstract series.

Spiral Abstract III

Onto the third piece in the series.  Everything is the same as before other than the design, so without further ado, here it is:

Tacked through to the front of the fabric:

And stitched:

Finished!

Spiral Abstract II - stitching

With the design transferred to the front of the fabric, I just needed to stitch over it, with the same silver Gutermann metallic thread as before.

It's in three sections, so here's the first:

And the second:

And the third:

Finished!

Spiral Abstract II

The second in the series - the same size, fabrics, thread and techniques as before.  The transfer ironed onto the back of the lining linen:

And then after running stitches have been used to go over the design to transfer it to the front:

It shouldn't take too long to stitch.

Spiral Abstract I - going well

Early days yet, but my exhibition project is going well so far!

Last time, I'd ironed on a transfer of the design of the first (of five) abstract Celtic spiral designs onto the linen used to line the surface fabric.  This, I can now reveal, is black silk matka, the same fabric I used for Kate's Crow.  I've used matka in different colours for quite a few projects (cushions, pictures) now, and I really like it.  I like silk fabrics generally, but I think this is my favourite as it seems quite contradictory; it looks quite rough, almost tweedy, but is actually very soft, and is matt, without the sheen of most silks.  I'm particularly fond of this matt look, as it means that metallic threads look extra sparkly when stitched onto it. And, of course, that's what I'm using now: Gutermann metallic thread no. 41, silver.

(By the way, while I would love to be buying my fabric locally, there are no shops near me that sell it or pretty much anything else silk, apart from maybe a bit of habotai or sometimes some cream dupion during wedding season.  I buy the matka and most of my fabrics by mail order from Hansson of Guildford.)

So, back to the stitching.  To transfer the design to the front I used my long-winded but tried and tested method of stitching over the transfer on the back in small running stitches, in this case in a pale grey sewing thread:

I can then stitched over this is in the silver metallic thread, using chain stitch:

The great thing about this method is if I decide a line is in the wrong place, I can just unpick the stitches and it's like it was never there.  I'm always nervous of marking my surface fabric, and this is the least invasive method I know.

Anyway, a bit more stitching (I know it looks almost white in the photos, but it really is silver in real life):

And a bit more:

And finished already!

Spiral series - Spiral Abstract I

Apologies (again) for the silence - I've been busy, but I'm afraid on stuff I can't discuss as I don't have the clients' permission.  That all sounds very mysterious and dramatic, but it isn't really!

No difficulties in talking about my next project, though: I want to put together a small exhibition of work.  I don't have a venue yet (I know where I want, but I may not get it.  I'll keep you posted!), and have decided to do a series of pieces as variations on a theme.

The theme in question is Celtic spirals; I'm going to do 10 pieces in total, with two sets of five interrelated items.  They'll all be done in the same materials and technique, and the same size, providing continuity.

I'll get onto the second set later, but the first one is of abstract Celtic spiral designs.  Some of you may remember previous pieces that I did, Kate's Crow and Moon.  Both have a complex spiral design as a background.  This is probably cheating (I'm going to regard it as recycling), but I dug out the original designs for the backgrounds:

and to form the abstract patterns, I traced sections of these designs, mixing them up a bit as appropriate.

Here's the first one, as a transfer ironed onto linen which has then been attached to the surface fabric:

Time to start stitching!

St Cuthbert's Flowers: everything else

Apologies for not having posted anything in ages, but I'm back now.  Even if I wasn't blogging I was sewing, and have finished the St Cuthbert's Flowers panel.  As I've kept you waiting far too long already I won't drag it out any further - this post will cover the rest of the project to completion.

So, last time I'd got as far as the outline of the flowers and leaves in buttonhole stitch.  The next step was to fill them in.  First the leaves, in split stitch:

And then the flowers, in split stitch for the petals and French knots for the centres:

They don't look like much like that, but that's not the finished item - they're cut out and applied to a background of red cotton velvet.  Flowers first this time:

Then the leaves:

The white tacking stitches show the centre of the background fabric, to allow me to get the cut out pieces aligned correctly.

They're rather fluffy round the edges like that, from the by now rather frayed linen, so I edged them in couched gold thread, tucking the fluffy bits in as I went:

Much neater!

I then added stalks, also in couched gold:

The gold threads are couched using the same shade of green as the leaves, to tie it together.

With the tacking stitches removed (or most of them - there's one left in the centre that I missed, though I did spot it later and took it out):

The client specified the finished piece needed to be 54cm x 54cm (21" x 21"), to fit an existing frame.  As it wasn't to be a panel to be hung on its own, I stretched it over a piece of mount board I cut to size, rather than anything stiffer.

Pinned and the corners mitred:

Then the back laced:

Finished!

Even though it's to go in a frame, I also covered the back, using a gold brocade, though unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of that.  It won't be seen, but it finished it off far more nicely than leaving the lacing exposed.

It's now with the client, who seemed very pleased, which is always nice!