Tiny Hoops

 

It was back to workshops at the end of January and I revisited Heffle Quilters in Punnetts Town, East Sussex, to work on little 10cm hoops for the day. They had no set theme requested but had previously been interested (at a talk given last year) in my Stitchscapes with shells in so had asked me to bring some along for the workshop. It's slightly tricker to put together packs of inspiration for workshops without a specific theme but I mixed together a selection of sea and coast and hillside fabric combinations in the hopes that there would be something for everyone. 

I enjoy making these packs. My system is to pull out fabrics from various stash sources which fit the bill, cut up lots of little pieces in the right size and then lay out all of the hoops (pre-backed) and start laying the fabrics on top, almost randomly, until the fabrics build up to the right quantity. Without thinking too much about it you can put together some interesting combinations which have different stories to them so, even though you've used the same fabrics, there is a different idea that could be interpretated in each. 

Of course, these combinations aren't set in stone and at my workshops I take round two big boxes of scrap fabrics (with the ultimate goal of making the scrap pile slightly smaller but it doesn't seem to be working as a stash busting method!) which can be substituted for or added in, and they can always swap between themselves. Sometimes people will also bring their own fabrics along if they've been inspired so it's a creative free-for-all with a little bit of initial direction. Half the time the packs are picked over with the same enthusiasm as seagulls around a sandwich and the ladies have got stuck in before I've had a chance to really explain what to do. It's nice to see such enjoyment from everyone and always bodes well for a creative day.  

I'd put together this little example piece for the workshop, and there's a rather embarrassing Instagram reel which you can find on my Instagram account (and Facebook page I think) of me putting it together if you wanted to watch it. I've used the same fabrics as from the selection provided to the Heffle Quilters and the same size hoop but it's always nice to show someone what you can do and the scale that can be achieved. Oddly, I haven't actually started stitching this one yet but I have started another piece which I began after the workshop as there was a fabric pack left over and I felt bad for it being unloved.

This is the second 10cm hoop I've been working on, and I've been experimenting more with combining the front and backs of fabrics. There are more fabric layers in this piece but it still only uses four fabrics. The top white fabrics show the correct side (with paste printed ditsy flowers) at the very top, and then the reverse underneath which is a slightly different colour and with no visible pattern as the paste print tends to be surface only and doesn't sink through the fabric. 

I've also used the zesty green circle print twice, cutting them into rolling hill shapes and layering them together, bringing the paleness of the creamy sky down a bit with the lighter shade of the reverse. 

Scrolling through Instagram the other day I came across an image posted by another textile artist who had just received an order of the most amazing looking beads. I followed her link and discovered Old Bicycle Shop who have fantastic shaped and unusual beads in the most amazing colours! My order arrived a few days later and I was keen to try out these glass petal beads. I think you're meant to use them to create beaded flowers but I've always called them pebble beads and used them in seascape type Stitchscapes as little rocks because they add such a wonderful texture and dimension. 

I was too excited to wait until after working on my stitching to add the beads so popped them in first which looks a bit odd in the below photo but it will be built up around those to help keep them upright and make them look less random. If you are a lover of beads, definitely check out Old Bicycle Shop!

When I've finished this little piece I'll go into more detail about what I've done on each layer - with better photos too, these have just been snapped on my phone at random points. I've been using it as my bus project so it's been stitched on my hour long Friday night bus journey, and accompanied me to Costa for my hour long early morning Costa stint on a Tuesday. (I end up doing admin on my phone for the other journeys.) I really treasure these two hours of the week as currently they're the only time I can stitch in the daylight. My occasional snatched moments of stitching in the evenings if I can get them are lit by the dayglow lamp and it's just not the same!

Last Friday I even managed to have a brief five minutes of the golden glow moment (which would not have reached me if I hadn't been sitting on the top deck of the bus). It made the beads in this little hoop sing and glow from within - how amazing!