Finished colour play canvas work

As always, I work better to a deadline! Lincolnshire Textiles have another exhibition at the Chapter House in Lincoln Cathedral next year. Two years to work towards it, with the theme of Botanicals, but with a competition at the October meeting to encourage at least one being finished, to give the procrastinators a nudge. Only one piece can be entered, and the visiting speaker Anne Brooks of HANNEMADE is judging the entries, and a members’ choice.

Just the incentive I needed, not that I am competitive, just the deadline. It’s turned out to be an amalgamation of several projects and workshops, which has meant I have finished several projects.

It started in July 2024 with the “Impressive Metal” workshop with Alysn Midgelow-Marsden , which I then used for the “Colour play” with Alex Hall at “in the stitch zone” in January through to March, “Colour play canvas work 3, 4, 5, and 6”, with updates each week until we started a new project. This is how Colour play canvaswork 6 looked then, the canvas work still on the frame.

It did have a few more stitches added before taking it off the frame, folding in the edges and checking for placement before……

…… mitring the corners, not the tidiest at the back!

A close-up of mitring one of the corners.

It was then slip stitched to the velvet……. and left until a couple of weeks ago.

It still needed a backing, with another piece of mount board covered in fabric and laced, so that it could cover the lacing on the back of the main piece.

I also found a white Tyvek flower that I did with Karen Lane at a Seata workshop some time ago. Fortunately I hadn’t painted it because I didn’t know what colours to use, which meant I could use colours to go with the canvas work. It’s a bit wishy-washy here. I also painted the stem, before using a heat gun to tighten it all up and make holes in it!

It looked about right after I’d added another layer of colour……

……. but it wasn’t quite right after the heat gun, so I added more colour.

The machine stitched pansy had a few hand stitches added near the middle on the bottom petal.

The placement of the big flowers changed, but the Tyvek one, especially the stem, wasn’t quite right and after suggestions and trial and error……

…..it ended up like this. Here it’s propped up for the judging. There was some fabulous work, so no surprise I didn’t win. But a win by getting it finished, not just one project but five! At last year’s competition I’d asked how to decide between so many beautiful pieces of work, and someone had said they chose which one they would like to take home and live with. Another win, I’m looking forward to getting it up on the wall and seeing it every day.

It just needs a ring to hang it from. The back of the canvas work might not be neat, (it’s well hidden) but the back as a whole is very tidy. Oh, the only other thing, I don’t think I signed it, nor have I come up with a title yet. I can also put all the threads away, and I’ll have another plastic wallet to use for another project.

Lincolnshire Textiles / Lincolnshire Poacher

I’d almost finished my “Lincolnshire Poacher” piece last week before our Ukrainian “Sunflowers” arrived. In fact on Friday morning I started the last bit, the mounting, so I could blog about it, but things went slightly awry, so in the end I didn’t even get to do my blog until Monday!

Earlier in the week I started the “cheese-making”, using the template that I’d cut to the right size to cut a piece of wool / cotton wadding, which was a scrap left over from my stained glass window quilt, then a slightly larger piece of the yellow to cover it. I loosely tacked it through the wadding, making sure not to go through to the right side.

Just checking the scale.

I then added the “rind” with the textured stretchy fabric, after working out where it needed to go, and putting a long line of thread to define the wedge.

The “cheese” was attached with tiny stitching.

The grapes were stitched in the same way over the wadding, and placed in front of the cheese; no photo of this stage.

Then, after trying various rigid circular things (a DVD was not quite big enough, the lettering touched the edge), a lid off the large bucket of Lidl Greek yogurt was found to be the perfect size. DVDs filled the inside, to raise it level with the top. Next I did running stitches around the edge of the circle to gather it up, and the blue soluble pen was removed.

The “plate of cheese, lettuce and grapes” ready to attach to the 6 inch piece of mount board.

The piece of calico had a really deep crease that wouldn’t iron out, so I blocked it.

A piece of felt was stuck to the mount board to soften it all, and all set to go last Friday morning. We knew the “Sunflowers” were due to dock at Dover at 1 o’clock lunchtime, so there was time to finish the mounting and do my blog before the last-minute preparations for when they arrived.

I attached the “plate” to the backing fabric, then put a couple of pins to hold it in place, even having remembered to sign it with my logo initials.

I started mitreing the corners, and had almost finished the fourth one, feeling quite proud of myself, when I suddenly realised that the felt was facing me, not softening the right side. I could hear my mum’s voice in my head saying “pride comes before a fall”.

And having looked at it before I took it apart again, I realised the lettering was closer to the edge on one side, so laced across the back with it still partly attached to the backing fabric.

I then set to re-mounting it, mitred corners, lacing across the back, thinking I was still alright for time, called Colin through to see if it looked OK….. only for him to say the whole thing looked wrong and the lettering was in the wrong place.

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I looked properly. I hadn’t re-checked the alignment after lacing the back of the “plate” and it had moved on the few stitches holding it down. More haste less speed, another of my mum’s favourite quotes to me.

So, off it came again. Breathe, calm down and slow down. Finally, third time lucky and it was done. It just needed a felt backing to cover the lacing, which I cut ready. But by now I had not only run out of patience, but also of time to do my blog.

I ended up quietly stitching it on once I’d got to the meeting on Saturday morning, and it was handed in and positioned amongst the rest of the pieces. Four more are yet to be added, but all is in hand.

I’ve also handed in my finished shard, so all is ready for the exhibition at Lincoln Cathedral.