Playing with paint

Playing with paint
abstract art

24 October 2011

Down Memory Lane Monday - creative embroidery

I have no doubt a lot of my followers will remember these creative embroidery pictures.  Creative embroidery allows you a lot of freedom to go wherever the fancy takes you, which suits me because I am more comfortable with being able to please myself on which direction I take.

Creative embroidery also allows a free rein when it comes to using stitches from other techniques in a different way.

this was an exercise in applique and I used a seed pod for a design.  I then cut it out and frayed the linen edges and....

turned it  into this

with the taffeta 'flowers' and burnt the edges with a candle to melt them.  the leaves are threads sprinkled onto silk and covered with organdie fused over the threads.

I used various threads to demonstrate some stitches, and turned it into a wild abstract garden
An exercise in couching I called this "Night Wave"

My stitchin fingers friends will remember this .  It is a needlepainting of a West Australian Wattle tree.  I lost count of the french knots when I got to 2000...there are knots on knots to give it a textured look and give dimension to the picture. The I used wool threads, mainly, with a change in some of the grasses.   The background is linen.   I like the way  this  shows up the vastness of the countryside over in the West with the effect of the wide expanse of blue sky.

More next week










16 comments:

  1. Hey, Shirley, your creative embroidery stitches are truly beautiful. Love the flower garden and the couching exercise one is fantastic. You are a master of stitching Shirley. Hugs Judy

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  2. Hi Shirley. Your story about your Dad touched me...and since we had a few parallels to our stories, I bopped over to your blog to get to know you a little better. You are a beautiful beautiful stitcher. I'm so glad to have connected through tea. Thanks for sharing and taking the time to tell me a bit of your story...

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  3. Oh, Shirley these are amazing!!! How do you get a background like in the last piece...it looks like a photograph...do you do a transfer image then embroider on top? It is just fantastic!!! That is one hellofalot of french knots!!! Oh dang!

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  4. Oh Shirley wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!! Your embroidery are works of art, I've never seen anything like this before.
    I add it to your followers, I invite you to become my followers, I would be a great pleasure !!!!!!
    Kisses, kisses
    Emi

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  5. I love the freedom expressed in your wild abstract garden, and wow! how unique to turn a couching experiment into a wave! That's creative! The last pic of the wattle tree I first thought was a photo! I can only imagine the texture it must have, and the layers to read as 3-d. I am so impressed with these works you've been sharing. Thank you.

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  6. I can see I am well behind here! Where does the time go?
    Beautiful work, Shirley. I love your embroideries in this post, the one with the tree is fantastic!

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  7. What a great post! So many beautiful examples of really nice stitching. The freeform garden is wonderful and it has such an excitment to it. The Wattle Tree....WOW the dimension is fantastic, I can imagine it is something to see in person.
    Deb

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  8. Hi Shirley, these are all lovely. I know what you mean about the freedom from creative embroidery. I particularly love the wattle tree though, it looks so lifelike.

    Thanks for sharing these again, I did miss some of them here and there. I am thoroughly enjoying your Memory Mondays. Take care.

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  9. Thanks for the comment on my blog. I looked around on your blog. You are such a creative lady, my goodnesss you make gorgeous things. This post gives me so many ideas....

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  10. Except for the wattle tree your embroidery is new for me. Wonderful, wonderful! My mouth wide open I am looking at your lovely embroidery.
    Thank you so much for showing it.

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  11. Your blog is fantastic Shirley........the stitching is brilliant and I love your stories....keep well xx

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  12. I enjoy looking at your creative embroidery pictures. The Night Wave and Wattle Tree look like paintings with texture - so awesome. :)

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  13. They are all smashing, but I really love French knots so I think the tree is my favourite.

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  14. Simply beautiful...lovely work!

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  15. Hay,

    Your blog is so nice..
    And I will follow your blog.
    Please take a look into my world.

    Love and happinesssss...
    Marijke
    www.marijkevanooijen.blogspot.com

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