Stitch Camp 2023. Part 2.

Stitching It Up!

It took me longer than I thought to finish, but alas, let’s take a look at where I left off and take it from there. From a focus on mark making, I worked my way into working in layers.  I couldn’t really imagine how I was going to “blur the boundaries.” This had been an alien concept to me. In fact, I completely missed it the first time around!

So I went from six sections of mark making sewn together as the basic design to carry on with and gradually added bits of interest and stitching. With a limited color palette of blue, green and white, I expanded with many shades of these colors. I also learned some new embroidery stitches, the crow’s foot, which I particularly liked. Moving on, I appliqued various printed pieces and tidbits that added detail and dimension.

At last, I came to appreciate Gwen Hedley’s boundary blending technique and expect to learn more of its’ ways as I work on future pieces. I’ve always referred to my work as textile collage, but Gwen’s method really does have a unifying aspect to it. Working this way shifts the nature of the process from collage to working on it more as a whole. We’ll see how this influences future works.

Much to consider: I felt stretched as I went along and the creative aspect came into play, particularly as I went deeper into blurring the boundaries. Something was released within me. I felt a sudden surge to play – to explore with more freedom and I thoroughly enjoyed the process!

Thanks to Gwen Hedley and the TextileArtist.org for the experience!