7/31/2011

Directional flow...

Posted on 7/31/2011 by

19


Sometimes, you just have to roll with it...
drop everything and try something you've never done before.
It's one of best things about the Web (for me),
this inspiration that comes from people so openly sharing their handiwork...

I've been following the beauteous progress of Karen's circle work over on Stitching Life. 
When she stitched this one,
I was upstairs within five minutes pulling out materials to give it a go.

It just happens that way sometimes.

My couched spiral didn't end up quite as solid...in fact, it went quite cattywampus.
It's not symmetrical, nor tidy, and all the couching is very uneven.
But this is who I am with cloth.


One of the most appealing aspects of the couching technique is the wide range
of materials one can use/re-use to "couch."   This spiral is recycled sari ribbon but think of the possibilities
for upcycling old clothes, worn linens...

Go over here to see Judy Martin's eleven months of couching obsession.
She even stitches in her car.

19 comments:

  1. Clare WassermannJuly 31, 2011 at 12:27 PM

    oooo yes I like that!

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  2. ElsJuly 31, 2011 at 12:29 PM

    What a beautifyl swirl!!!!!
    Love the couching, must keep that in mind again! (thank you Cristie)

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  3. deanna7treesJuly 31, 2011 at 1:49 PM

    you have made it your own. i love that you added beads. i really like it.

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  4. JackyJuly 31, 2011 at 10:26 PM

    Very organic looking, I like that.

    Love Judy's blog and have been following her couching project...have even started my own (with her permission). I find its quite meditative to sit and couch such a simple design. But isnt the textural element wonderful.

    Jacky xox

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  5. YvetteJuly 31, 2011 at 11:52 PM

    love it, especialy with your handwriting

    till soon

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  6. AnonymousAugust 1, 2011 at 1:25 AM

    I love that word cattywampus. Yours is beautiful, so organic and expressive. Thanks for the mention too :-) I think most of us look up to Judy.

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  7. Penny BerensAugust 1, 2011 at 5:59 AM

    Loving the organic nature of your douching. I've tried stitching in the car...trouble is I go green!

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  8. layersAugust 1, 2011 at 9:59 PM

    You get inspired quicker than I do.. I am the great procrastinator.. I would probably start something like this and never finish it as I would dash off to something else.. but I can see all the possibilities in store for you.

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  9. gerfilesAugust 2, 2011 at 5:46 AM

    Cattywampus = wonderful...

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  10. PennyAugust 2, 2011 at 6:26 AM

    This is wonderfully 'you'! I love it when an idea hits and the artist then creates it in their very own style. Keep spiraling!

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  11. Caterina GiglioAugust 4, 2011 at 9:38 AM

    just found your blog, wonderful stuff here... your spiral is lovely...
    and I too adore Judith's work ...

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  12. AnonymousAugust 4, 2011 at 11:47 AM

    I love the way your spiral meanders so confidently over the whole of the lovely, softly disintegrating piece behind it. :o)

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  13. RobinAugust 5, 2011 at 11:47 PM

    Hope she's not stitching while driving! I once tried to knit at stop lights... after getting repeatedly honked at because of not going when the light turned, I put the knitting away...

    More to the point of your blog, your cattywumpus spiral gives me goosebumps. Yes it does! Guess I'm a cattywumpus kinda gal. Thanks for showing this and for the links!

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  14. Deb GAugust 7, 2011 at 5:38 AM

    It's wonderful! I like things to be a bit off-center myself. :)

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  15. SweetpeaAugust 7, 2011 at 10:33 AM

    K (stitching life), "cattywampus" was one of my grandmother's favorite words which I'd forgotten until I used it here. Funny, but she was quite the stitcher (unlike my mom) and I remember lots of peaceful hours being around her while she worked on projects, or mended. I was very little at the time but I bet she sewed unevenly like me!

    Penny B...had to laugh - "organic DOUCHING"?! good one :>]]

    jude & ger, very pleased to have you visit, thank you.

    underatopazsky ~ that spiral serves as an anchor to that shredding piece of silk. Didn't start out that way, but certainly is the result. Thank you!

    Robin, I knew we had something more in common than just beady lust :>]]

    Deb, many thanks...me too, I am definitely an off-center kind of gal.

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  16. JeannieAugust 14, 2011 at 12:07 PM

    Beautiful! I love the addition of the beads. I wonder if cattywampus is a NW term, like pouring down rain? My husband gave me a license plate holder that says "speaks fluent Snohomish" as he laughs at how I express myself.;-)

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  17. Long Ridge FarmAugust 17, 2011 at 5:08 AM

    cattywampus has a history in the northeast as well! great word
    and i love that you are couching...i just spent hours looking it up on the web to learn about it and now want to work on it...nicely done spiral, i say

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  18. kaiteMAugust 27, 2011 at 2:47 PM

    cattywampus? now that's a word i've never heard before, it's a wonder in itself. i like your squewif couching, that's my style as well.
    try it unapplied to the base cloth but applied to itself and you'll end up with a sculpture.

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  19. tAugust 28, 2011 at 3:07 AM

    I love this, and yes I love couching too, and spirals too... and the earthines of this is just superb...

    xt

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