Aurora II Stitchscape

For Christmas I was gifted a pack of craft fabrics which were all themed on the galaxy and space and had some funky dreamlike colours in them. Some of them are a little bit wild and wacky, but my favourite ones reminded me of the Aurora Borealis Stitchscape I recently finished, having been inspired by seeing the bright pink Aurora from my back door in October last year. I'm still reeling a little bit from the amazing sight - which I would say was once in a lifetime, but actually it happened twice last year (even though I missed the first one) so chances are that it can happen again - and I thought perhaps I'd have another go at using the aurora inspiration. 

I think I was inspired by some of the wackiness of the prints to go a little bit wild with my stitching. The big focus fabric has pinks and purples and peaches in it which I've loosely followed, either by filling it in with straight stitches to echo those stripes of light you sometimes get in the light show, with whipped back stitch for more solid lines (in the darker pink) or just by outlining colour changes with a single strand of back stitch (peach pink). I've also added in stitches in metallic purple sewing thread to help to give a discreet sparkle. 

The centre of the fabric pattern tips into purple and I've made this into the epicentre (of what I do not know) and filled it with french knots to match the colours. Some of the knots were also made with the metallic thread and normal stranded cottons so there is a sparkle to some knots as well, then I went to town adding in sequins and several different beads which I got for my birthday from the Old Bicycle Bead shop. They have such a fantastic range of beads, all different shapes and sizes and colours! I finished up a colour of bags of beads in this piece which must mean I can shop again!

There is so much going on in that middle, and the colours are kind of all over the place so I tried not to overcomplicate the other layers. The very top layer is starry and pretty so I didn't want to hide the existing print, choosing to just add some texture with single strand running stitches, deliberately avoiding that really big star so I didn't cover that. 

The purple fabric underneath the crazy one has just had the pattern on it gone over in single strand stem stitch, or whipped back stitch actually, I can't quite remember now, using as close a colour match as I could find so that it didn't stand out from the background fabric colour. I've edged this with french knots to give it a slightly softer look (bullion knots or couching would have been too hard of a line I think).

I have added some french knots to the larger stars in the fabric below, and followed those starry streaks with stem stitch in a single strand, and also followed the lines of the print for the big star shaped stars. 

The bottom fabric I couldn't really decide what to do with so I started adding in some straight stitch stems to see what it would look like. The colours weren't quite right so I ended up adding in single strand fly stitches as well, which still wasn't quite right so pistil stitches were also added. The clumps are bigger and denser, and perhaps brighter, than I was intending them to be but I don't hate it enough to take it out. I've differentiated the closer clumps by making the stitches slightly thicker, and also swapping out the lighter colour for the metallic thread to help to tie it together with layers further up. Dark french knot were added at the bottom of the stems to help give it a ground surface then, because I couldn't leave it alone, clear/silver beads were also added (again to try and balance), and the stems in the fabric print which were vaguely horizonal had single strand back stitch added to them. 

To finish the edge of the layer I have worked blanket stitch around those clumps (I should have done it first in hindsight but never mind). 

It is quite wacky for me, I'm not sure you would immediately think of the aurora when you look at it but I kind of like it. It pushed me slightly out of my comfort zone and it's a colour palette I don't often use really. Stitchscapes are all about having fun and just seeing where it takes you so this is a great example of not caring too much about making it into a recognisable thing. 

So, the stitch run down for this piece is; running stitch, bullion knots, couching, straight stitch, back stitch, whip stitch, stem stitch, beading, french knots, fly stitch, blanket stitch and pistil stitch. 

January Murmuration Stitchscape Swap

 

What a gorgeous start to the 2025 Stitchscape Swap!! It's a slightly nail biting moment for me, wondering who is going to be joining in with another year but I was really pleased that so many of the ladies (no men! Come on chaps!) have carried on with another year, or at least another month of swapping. It sort of becomes part of your routine, and my routine seems to now be to start halfway through the month and panic for the rest of it in case I don't get finished in time. Of course, others are more organised than me!

We've also had a newbie to the group this month which is great, it's so nice to see that the swap is attracting more people. Other's have found this swap and creative journey really positive so I hope that the newer members are feeling/will feel the same way. 

But, just look at these gorgeous cards! If you read my post about my own Murmuration cards, I researched a little bit about what a Murmuration is and where they happen and I think we've covered all of those locations in this collection. There are several seaside, coastal cards, some more marshland/farmland looking areas, and several of them have direct references to the time of day a murmuration will often occur, which is around sunset. 

What is so nice is that several of these places are recognisable landmarks to East Sussex as well with Brighton and Eastbourne piers both appearing. This has been a great theme for local encounters and experiences of Murmurations to be brought to life in textile form. 

One of our members, Jackie, jokingly said on the Facebook page that this was an ideal swap for fly stitch, and she's not wrong! However, there is still quite a range of stitches used to represent birds. Sharon (above) has actually stitched her birds with a sort of rough satin stitch which has given them fantastic movement, especially with the different shades of thread used creating discreet shadows. 

Several cards have had a similar idea to mine and used a fabric underneath their bird swirls to help fill in the gaps and make it seem like there are more birds there without having to stitch them all. I love the simplicity of Jacquie's card here with that cut silhoutte at the bottom. Jacquie's cards are easy to identify because she has such a neat way of edging her cards with the sewing machine. The variegated thread she's used for this edging is perfect. 

I really enjoy Sabine's fly stitch birds - and the fish, they are good fun - they almost appear to be marching across the sky which makes you think of the murmuration in a slightly different way, more like a military drill. Perhaps that's what they are, practice for something. 

Jackie's birds are TINY! The smallest of small fly stitches used to bring the murmuration dance to Eastbourne pier with its distinctive golden domes. I also love the addition of the white fly stitches to represent seagulls!

Water has been represented in really interesting ways in these two cards, just as straight stitch line reflections in the above card, using all of the colours from the sunset in thread to create the reflection.

The card below feels kind of rubbery so I'm not sure what she's used for the background. It's like lots of threads glued together but the glue is sort of spongey? I love the use of threads to create wave texture, all sorts of creatures could be lurking in those depths. It's a pretty evocative depiction of Brighton West pier which is a great habitat and roosting spot for all sorts of sea creatures.

Sam has rather cleverly used dress net to act as the background for her birds, then filled in some gaps with little seed stitches for individual birds and to create extra depth. 

All in all, a very successful month, both in terms of participants and also in the great range of interpretations and techniques used in the cards themselves. 

Bits and Bobs

 

This year is shaping up to be a busy one for me! I've just been looking at my calendar and I seem to have something going on almost every weekend for the next three months and those after that are filling up too! I've just agreed to participate in the Artists Open Houses in May at Pretty Neat Gallery opening in Brighton soon, and I've also been asked to considering attending Fibre Fest - all things textile at the Enterprise Centre in Eastbourne on the 17th May. Plus there are so many workshops to organise and get ready for, as well as my own organised exhibition, Common Threads in Uckfield on the 15th & 16th March (more about that below, keep reading). 

Kit making is a priority for me at the moment, especially as stocks had run really low following Christmas. I am now back in stock of Woolydale II and Mini Woollydale kits which is great. Bluebell Garden kits are my next problem because one of the tree fabrics has run out and I've been trying to find an alternative. A new fabric suggestion arrived last week so I just need to see if I can make it work. Luckily the stitching wasn't linked too much to the pattern of the original fabric so I don't need to change the instructions or anything which is great. 

My current battle to get things done is now with the cat who seems to think that he needs to be on hand for every single job, and not just on hand, but on top of! All I need to do is turn my back and he's sitting on the cutting mat or the computer typing his own emails to people. He's actually not that good at giving creative advice either, just stares at me if I ask him a question, or attacks my threads. Worst assistant ever!

I had a great meeting a couple of weekends ago with some of the artists who are participating in the Common Threads exhibition which is sort of being curated by myself and Isobel Moore, with a lot of help from Helen who is the arts director of Victoria Pavilion Arts. We had both enquired about hiring Victoria Pavilion in Uckfield for an exhibition and Helen suggested we might like to get together for a joint exhibition, which has then turned into a much bigger event with 8 textile artists in total, a meet-the-artist evening on Saturday 15th March from 6pm-8pm with nibbles and wine and two workshops a day; Stitch Journals by Melissa Kosar Saturday morning, Sashiko by Marilyn Willis on Saturday afternoon (fully booked!), Intuitive Stitching by Isobel on Sunday morning and Stitchscaping on Sunday afternoon with me. 

The other artists are Katharine Rabson Stark, Jennifer Grant, Dawn Johnson and Ana Kirby. We are all very different, but joined together with our love of textiles, threads, materials and processes!

The exhibition is open 10am - 4pm and is free to enter (workshops are pre-bookable and have a charge), there is lots of parking and the Pavilion has a little café with coffee and cakes available. It's very exciting!

We had half term for East Sussex schools last week so Baby F was off on holiday and nothing much got done. I did have one morning where we decided to let him sleep in as he'd been a bit poorly and he slept until about 8.15am!! I took full advantage and stayed sitting in bed, having opened the curtains to let the morning light in. Stitching in bed with coffee is a real luxury these days and rarely ever happens so it definitely felt like a holiday day to me. 

I've been really enjoying working on my fox. It's only a little Stitchscape (10cm) but the fabrics came from the Ardingly quilt show, mostly from the same stall whose name I now can't remember, sorry(!), and I was really inspired to use them. He's been a welcome companion on my bus journeys for the last couple of weeks. 

Murmuration ATCs

I love watching the birds. We have a big clattering of Jackdaws who live in an old tree outside our house. Clattering being the official name for a group of Jackdaws and definitely a very apt one as they can be very noisy, especially in the evenings when they come back to roost and have their little routine of all leaping out of the tree at once for a quick swoop round the neighbourhood shouting at each other before settling back down again. It can be quite an impressive experience if you get caught underneath it!

Murmuration is the word to describe groups of Starlings (which are smaller than Jackdaws, although can be equally noisy and squabbly in groups!) that fly in swirly patterns in the sky. If you are lucky enough to see one it is quite mesmeric as they sway and swoop and dance in the sky, seemingly all in tune with each other. Often this happens at sunset which somehow makes it all the more spectacular, and the term 'murmuration' comes from the noise of the wings all flapping and humming together. It can be hundreds, sometimes thousands of Starlings all coming together at once!

I don't know how many birds are in my Stitchscapes, I haven't counted the individual fly stitches made to represent them (you're more than welcome to, answers on a postcard please). I have tried to build up layers of them and have areas that are darker than others so it looks like they're turning, or perhaps flying closer. The fabric underneath the stitches is actually printed with lots of black letters on a white background. The letters themselves looked to me a bit like individual birds so I thought it would be a good place to start. I've gone over the whole layer with single strand fly stitches, then added in some bigger birds with two strands to make the lines stronger and bolder. 

To echo the whooshing and movement, I've threaded some running stitches through the layer below to almost represent the wind perhaps, either wind that the birds are following or wind created by those hundreds of fluttering wings. I wonder if it does feel windy if you get up close to a real murmuration?

In researching it seems that the majority of murmurations are over marshland, piers or other open spaces near to roosting sites. There seem to be several ideas about why the birds gather like this, some have suggested they are keeping warm, some have said it could be due to feeding if it's low to the ground, some have said they gather to ward off predators who would be put off by a moving black cloud. 

I've sort of gone for the marshland landscape as it meant I could have some fun with my fancy sugar craft stamens. The colours overall are soft as I was thinking of dusk and misty evenings where the light is fading away. 

The blue hill I have covered with two strand seed stitches in a matching blue, and then scattered some pale yellow french knots across it to add a little floral aspect.

The fabric at the bottom hasn't had much in the way of texture stitching as I've gone in with my grasses instead. The stamens were stitched down first, just folding them in half and couching across the bottom fold, then one couch on each side to keep the stalks in place. I've used two different types of stamen because I couldn't choose between them. They were given to me by a lady from Ringmer WI a couple of years ago and she had had them for a long time herself so some of the green ones don't have ends on both sides (I think we may be able to call them vintage) but actually it kind of adds to the whole effect for me. 

I've 'bedded' in the strands with some chunky long and tall fly stitches, using three strands so they are really bold, then bedded in the fly stitches with french knots in a tonal pale blue. More of a ground surface (or perhaps even water if you think it looks watery enough) has been added just with a few lines of single strand stitches around those clumps. 

I really like the contrast in these cards. The birds are very bold and domineering so they are the focus, but then when you look at the detail, there is a lot of texture in the softer colours. Without the birds being there, the stamens would be the focus which I feel is the case if you were actually watching a murmuration. 

So, the stitch run down for these cards is; fly stitch (obviously!), blanket stitch, running stitch, couching, french knots, seed stitch and straight stitch. 

3 Year's Worth of Swapping!

 

As I put away the December 2024 Stitchscape cards into my little Papermania ATC folder, I realised that the folder was full! It has enough slots to take exactly 3 years worth of Stitchscape swap cards, how fantastic is that?

Of course, then I wanted to get them all out to have a play with them and see what they looked like together as a big collection. I'm fairly sure that I did get all 72 cards out on my board at once but I don't seem to have actually taken a photo of that amazing moment which is rather frustrating.

These photos are of all of the cards I've received from other people in the swap. You can see the breadth of styles, techniques, fabrics, colours, ideas used. I find it absolutely fascinating looking at how all of the different themes have been interpreted. I wonder if you can guess what all of the themes were (assuming you didn't already know) for each card. 

These are my cards from the last three years. I feel like you can tell that they've all been made by me, the techniques are often quite similar, stitches repeated, using felt for motifs, the way they are all stitched onto the backing card. And I seem to use those flat clear/pinkish sequins a lot! (I do have rather a large pot of them so that's probably why.)

Some ideas have been a bit random; using paper cut holes as sequins for tree leaves, creating sort-of-stumpwork butterflies using magazine pages and fabric for wings, cutting out strawberry punnet plastic to make a 'glass' greenhouse.... They're probably the ones that stand out to me as being slightly different.

The nicest thing is actually to be able to look back and see how I interpreted the themes. I've got folders and folders of cards made by other people from when I belonged to a Mixed Media ATC swap group, and they're all lovely - usually three cards on a set theme - but I haven't the foggiest what my cards looked like and how I interpreted the same theme. You can't see how you might have grown or changed in your style. 

Three piles for three years! And here were are, one theme into the fourth year. I had no expectation that the swap would be popular enough to go on for four years, how thrilling!

Below is what my folder looks like, fat and full of hours worth of stitching, creating and joyful mindfulness. Newly learned techniques, tried and tested methods, recycled materials or purposefully bought fabrics. It's a happy little folder!