February TIF

The challenge this month is EXCELLENT, as the old brain cell is really working. The question is very subtle in its phrasing. I started with the same ideas as KnitsOnTheBus in her Feb.5 post, having grown up in Canada about the same time.

I did a mindmap, breaking the question into lines:

What are you? which gave me fashion and lifestyle; this gave platform shoes, hot pants, mini skirts, etc., for fashion, and double glazing and throw-away plastic shopping bags for lifestyle. This gave the idea of a window with the panes done in shadow-work embroidery illustrating the fashions, windows symbolic of looking out on the past. For the bags, I thought I might cut up the plastic bags into strips and use them in needlelace techniques to make a paper shopping bag, but it just didn't appeal.

Old enough? which gave me age, youth, experience. This gave lace because I'm young enough to still be able to see to do it, it's something I don't think the world should lose because I'm old enough to have learned it from some of the world's experts in Honiton, and the clematis was ready to come off the pillow anyway, ready for designing how it would work with the rose.
So: I am old enough to remember Honiton lace making.

Here are some pix showing the finished clematis and rose...
which will eventually be one fall of the jabot instead of the clematis over the rose (or vice-versa) in two falls, which didn't work...
I've pinned both the pieces on my Brugges pillow and now have to decide fillings - I keep thinking of Four Pin for the negative spaces in the interior, using plain old Trolley Net to connect the whole shape to a horseshoe shape that will surround the composition. Needs more thought.

To remember? which gave me memory, forgetfulness, Alzheimers, senility. As I worked on the lace, I kept thinking of memory and became more and more drawn to that as design concept.
I'd read this book years ago (The Making of Memory, From molecules to mind, by Steven Rose, Bantam Press, 1992, ISBN 0593 021800), then using Sharon's palette of colours, I did a collage with organzas using naff orange bling fabric underneath, and here is a taster of where this is going - I can't stop working on it, it's so exciting I'm "in the flow" with it...The pic was taken just as I was losing the light and the flash was off, so hand shake made it a blur, but I think it works well as a taster. ...I got out the embroidery threads to select some bright orange, but decided on beading instead. I keep my embroidery thread stash in an old damask table cloth onto which I've sewn some strips of duvet poppers. It keeps the colours fresh and dust-free.

Grumpy

I was feeling grumpy over the weekend because there was housework that had to be done, we went to the market on Saturday which is always nice but takes daylight time away from lace making time, and my bobbins needed bowing so I couldn't finish that last leaf at the top of the clematis piece. The first pic on this post shows my bobbin trousseau with the bobbins separated into piles of runners and passives (or knots and nots if you like). The second pic shows the trousseau with the bobbins bowed into pairs, which I did after I cleaned the house from top to bottom, ready to go again Monday morning, ungrumped.

Ha! I figured out how to put the pic where I want it it the blog - I found both ends of the appropriate tag in the html and copied it where I want it, making me feel inordinately proud.
Anyway, this third pic shows the clematis piece as Work In Progress - you are looking at the back of the lace as it's worked so the face is towards the pillow for readers not familiar with Honiton lace making.
I just need to finish the flower on the right, under the top three leaves - you can't see the pricking in the photo. And just to show you what it looks like as I work on the lace, when I've dressed the pillow, this next pic.

As you can see, I decided not to do a beaded piece as I said in the previous post, prefering to do Honiton lace instead. I'm thinking this piece will be the top fall of a two fall jabot, with the centre of the bottom fall being based on this rose that I did last year, from a pattern I picked up at a Devon Lace Teacher's Day at the Priory School in Exeter.

I haven't done all the buds and stems coming out from the central rose, because I want to finish the clematis first, to determine how the negative spaces will look. It's a bit complicated to describe this creative process...
Speaking of which, I have come to realise that I'm not really a planner type artist: I very seldom do the mindmap and sketches first. What usually happens is that I get inspired by the colours and textures of the materials and they speak to me, except of course with white lace, where it's the lines. In fact, I usually get wildly enthusiastic and leap right in, resenting any preparation time at all. Pinning & basting - bah humbug - just hold the pieces together and feed them through the machine.
Here's a pic of the lavender sachets I made using my stash of Liberty lawns (which have a gorgeous hand and are pure pleasure to handle). I used up all the lavender I collected from this year.
So I guess I've been reasonably productive for January - only two days to go until the February TIF challenge - and my good friend Cynthia sent an email saying she's put a surprise package in the post for me - can't wait to see what arrives...