I’m continuing to make small samples in the SAQA 100 Days Reboot Challenge, and at the moment I’m exploring some stitch textures and presenting them as 3.25inch squares mounted on recycled foam core, as per the plan I outlined just before it started.

The challenge is a private group on Facebook, but from time to time I’m posting some of the images here. So far so good. On Day 9, Tuesday of this week, I posted this gold dot on black patches with orange neon stitching:

This next one I made and posted on Day 10, yesterday. I also have several others waiting in the wings, so fingers crossed I can keep up the momentum and remain a few ahead, not that there’s any stress over it as I was going to be exploring anyway – but it would be nice to get to the end in early November having achieved the 100 posts on time.

I’m particularly pleased with this one, because before I worked out what stitching to add to the fused shapes, it looked rather boring. There’s a lot of exciting potential, both at this delicate scale and at something larger.

Talking of ‘larger’ my floor frame is nearing completion, but needing another adjustment, which probably won’t happen until next week…. but that’s OK, because I’m doing a lot of auditioning while thinking about which larger project to work on first.

In my Pinterest wanderings I came across a print “Water Dreaming” by Australian Aboriginal artist, Rosie Nangala Flemming. If you click that link, you’ll understand why it spoke to me of hand stitched texture. I filed the image in my contemporary hand stitch board, adding a note “lines = stitches!” To me, lines have always meant potential for stitches or seams.

I backed some nylon organza with Misty Fuse, cut some shapes and ironed them onto fabric. The big bold stitches look easy-peasy, almost inept, even careless perhaps. But actually, it took several unpickings to figure out where my stitches should go.

That sample has suggested some other possibilities; so the next is with red leather circles + neon green stitch. The black machine stitch line outlining the 3.25″ square of foam core mount will be removed, of course, once it is in place.

Triangles, squares, ovals, weird organic shapes – there’s a lot of potential here.

I made this little suede leather square sample way back in 2014. I’ve always loved it, but never done anything with it. I do think it could make a great art quilt block in a grid design, and am thinking about that. It could involve the fusing technique, so as I’m making small samply things just now, here’s one from yesterday:

The square behind the stitched piece is a 3.25in square of foam core; and why that particular size is a matter of recycling something that has been sitting around buried in my cupboard for many years.

In a recent clear out, I came across the package of 25 x ~8in x 3.25in sized pieces, carefully prepared by someone at the Embassy of Australia in Washington DC to give viewers the information on each of my quilts exhibited there in June 2005. Each label had been carefully taken down, placed in an individual envelope labelled with the quilt’s title, and they were all packed in a plastic bag and included with the quilts that were returned after the exhibition. I suppose I had thought I might use some of them again… but didn’t. After nearly throwing them out, I had an inspiration that they could be used to mount some small things. I removed them from their envelopes, found they were precisely cut the same size, and realised that if I cut them in half I’d have a large number of matching mounts for some small works, little samply things.

The several I’ve already done are turned back and the edges laced on the back, and of course, the basting guidelines removed. I may get some felt to cover the lacing so they can hang individually, might hang several related ones in vertical rows, or I may have those little panels mounted – we’ll see. I may do a group of tiny landscapes – collections of small things is what I’m aiming for. I intend to keep the project moving along during the next SAQA 100 day Challenge that is due to commence on Tuesday next, August 3rd.

This is partly because I’m waiting for a floor standing embroidery/quilting frame I’m having made here, that is almost ready for delivery. Such a frame will enable me to work on larger areas, with the ability to quickly and easily remove the clamps and move to a different work area of the fabric. Despite inquiring widely here, I found nothing suitable second hand or in deceased estates, and in the craft craft shops there’s nothing like what I want. If I’d visited the US I would have bought a floor standing quilting/embroidery frame by a well known maker for about US$65 to $70 and brought it back, but to import one by ordering from here would cost me about 3x or 4x that. However, who knows how long it will be before we can travel up there again to visit our families? I found a local carpenter, son of one of my friends, who agreed to make something using the US one’s online photo and description. It should be ready this week, and I’m looking forward to its delivery – it will be demountable and all the bits able to be stored in a bag when it’s not assembled and in use.

In progress – some very brassy gold lame overlaid with some very fine black nylon organza and then some other segments added over that. Both these metallics look as if they could be great, but I had to pause the audition because I was expecting a visitor and needed to straighten up a couple of things before she arrived.