Perpetual journal / nature Diary Jan

Perpetual Journal for January. As you can see I have been mostly drawing birds this month. The weather has been very cold and not much foliage to draw. This year has been more about wishing for signs of Spring. In strict lockdown with horrendous numbers of deaths and new cases of Covid it has been a grim month. Thank goodness for drawing and stitching and our daily walks. If you scroll down you will see a new work in progress using these drawings as inspiration for stitch. More detail  and daily progress on Instagram. Love to you all out there, keep on going on. My husband is to have his first jab on Saturday, every person I hear of having their jabs is a little bit more hope. x

 

Winter cloth finished. Slow stitching.

 At last this piece is finished. 6weeks solid stitching but worth it.

 Each little square became an achievement in itself and a daily goal so it was like a calendar of Winter, recording the cold blustery,wet days as well as the landscape. There in the centre are the bare trees in the winter wood, all twigs and movement. In the field squares around it are furrows, sunshine and the crossed out days of illness. I decided to leave some blank to allow calm and silkiness to contrasdt the busy stitched squares. There are french knots around the wood to lead you in and add a raised texture.

 Last picture are of silk cards - little magic carpets to go to the exhibition in April at the Guild at 51.

Winter cloth continued.

 I made a few cards to take into the gallery in Cheltenham this week. They are machine embroidered but still take a long time, drawing, stitching,painting and finishing. But they are, with my photocards, an affordable option and when the fancy takes me, fun to do.

 Sitting in the gallery on Thursday stitching was interesting too. Getting to discuss the work with the visitors and the gallery manager ,the lovely Jo. The stitching is repetitive and calming which occupies the left hand side of the brain and allows the right hand side to wander freely. ( see my post on Instagram) It takes a long time but the time, somehow sinks into the cloth. I have the time to consider the symbols and meanings. and it has become a calendar of these winter weeks.

The practical bit- it is thin silk on 4 backing layers of cotton.( an old well washed table cloth so very soft.) the whole thing is lovely to stitch because it is soft as butter for the needle to go through. It is kantha style stitching ( fro India)and tradtitionally old saris would have been the backing layers. The running stitch causes a puckering that the silk lights up. it is worked in the hand rather than on a frame like traditional English quilting where the backing fabric is held taut. Most of the threads are silk and it is destined for the Guild Gallery mini exhibition, Silk, within the gallery in April. So I have to get on with it! I am putting silk binding around the edges - work in progress above.

Winter cloth - meditation and slow stitch.

This piece, that I have named winter cloth, is the next in series from the cycle of the seasons cloth. I have stopped work on that until the spring comes and I can consider spring colours. So this is slow, quiet stitching enjoying the textures created by the rippling effect of the quilting on silk. There is winter sunshine and bare twigs and branches.I think all hand stitching is slow stitching but these repetitions are calming.Not that the design has come easily, it never does, but the stitching itself is soothing.