So I decided to take some photos of work in progress, although I missed out a few vital steps along the way, as I was so busy stitching, that I forgot to photograph! I used a technique based on cutwork circles, that I used a lot for the 'nine' exhibition.
I picked out a piece of blue fabric and some blue and purple threads. I am very naughty, and don't do preliminary sketches or write down ideas very much. I just like to play with colour and stitches on a spare piece of fabric (or quite often on the edges of the piece I'm working on!) and take things from there.
I drew a large circle on the fabric with washable marker and superimposed smaller circles (for the cutwork) on it, as the starting point. I then worked these in a variety of purple threads.
I filled this with more small circles. You can see the faint pen marks. These were worked in blue thread, and the very centre in purple again. I wasn't sure what to do next (my work evolves as I stitch!), so rummaged through my fabrics, and found a bright green piece which provided quite a contrast. I decided to put this piece underneath the blue fabric, so you could see it through the holes.
At this point, I drew a square border around the purple circle and worked lots of blue circles randomly within the square until it was full. I cut round the edge very carefully, and buttonholed the entire edge to strengthen it. Then I placed it on a square of green fabric and attached it with lots of French knots.
I stitched this to a piece of calico stiffened with pelmet vilene and backed it with another piece of stiffened calico.
The final piece.
More photos in my shop, therainbowgirl.etsy.com
