I’ve stayed focused on my shard piece this week, and apart from a Schwam workshop at Lincolnshire Textiles last Saturday, I’ve continued with it each chance I’ve had to stitch.

The first thing was to find some more threads, to vary the shades, texture, gloss and add a bit of sparkle. The “Bella Donna” viscose ones above may look beautiful and glossy, but they are horrendous to stitch with, very quickly untwisting, separating and becoming fluffy. I usually try only to couch with them, but thought the blue was such a good colour that I’d have a go (bottom right). It’s slightly better stitching in thin air with them, at least the fabric isn’t abraiding it, and it does glide against itself ok. It would have been easier to do Corded Brussels, and if I use it for another section it certainly will be the corded stitch.

I also used two of these trusty Madeira threads. I bought them years and years ago in a tiny little shop in Alnwick when we touring in the camper-van. Over the years I’ve used them a lot at some time or other, only for hand stitching, and often with another thread of some sort.

The difficulty with these was using two strands, the first time the blue with a fine perlé, not too bad (middle bottom), and it catches the light more than the photo shows. Then I started using it for the section that went down to the point.

The cord was less anchored, and going into the machine stitch down one side, it pulled it across, and I ran out of thread. While finishing off the end, I realised I could pull it over a little more and leave myself a new section. So I used a strand of the blue and the silver together, both very fine and inclined to tangle, especially as they were rather long with wanting to make sure I didn’t run out of thread again. Again the photo doesn’t show the sparkle.

It’s certainly a slow process. I’d done eight sections by last week and have now done seventeen, and started the eighteenth. I’m not sure how many more I’ll do as I’m assessing where to go next as I go, but I’m enjoying the process. The Corded Brussels Stitch is not only much better to do, it is also significantly quicker than the Brussels Stitch.

The coasters in the photo, showing the piece as is, are from Barcelona; Gaudí’s work is so stimulating and inspiring.

A couple of people have asked me about the piece in the last week or so, and thought it might be based on a stained glass window when I’d told them it was for a piece for Lincolnshire Textiles Exhibition to be held in the Chapter House at Lincoln Cathedral in August. Certainly rose windows and stained glass generally do inspire me.

Looking through photos a couple of days ago I found this, which we came across by accident when we were walking in Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter in April 2013, in the Plaça de Sant Miquel. It reminded me of some of my degree work “Informed by the organic”, that I was working on for the degree show in May.

New work is often influenced by earlier work and input, even when it is subconsciously. Looking through photos is often a good starting point, and although I didn’t find many pictures of the people and dog that I was looking for, I did find lots and lots of things that are ideas for my art and textile work.