It ended on Wednesday 10th, though I had made and posted my final 3 samples the weekend before, so essentially, by the monday I was free and keen to start something new. This photo shows the whole collection of 100 mis-matched ‘drink coasters’ 🙂

I have quite a bit of sheer fabric that has always lured me to experiment, but I’ve made only a handful of sheer/transparent works. My stash of sheers is mostly black, white, cream and taupe nylon organzas, but there are some coloured silk organzas, too, left over from a Chungie Lee workshop I took at Fibreswest years ago.

Many modern watercolour paintings (eg Laura Crane) have struck me with their likeness to layered organza, so I fused a few bits of nylon organza, fiddling with that concept, and I like the idea of thread trapped under or between layers of sheer fabrics. I’ll play more with that sometime, but it didn’t all gel enough to take me into a new work using it, not just yet, anyway.

Sifting through my sample collection just decidng where to focus, I realised that the little square surrounded by stitch with a cross stitch in the middle was something that made quite a few appearances in the last couple of weeks of the challenge. I have always had a thing for grids, rigid or more informal; and repeat motifs laid out in grids are the stuff of traditional patchwork. I carry them forward in the way that every artist is influenced by everything they’re seen, done and made before. I only had a short time in the world of traditional quilt making, but that influence is very strong to me. The little repeated square made less plain with added stitched borders and a cross in the middle has become something of a personal motif, and it was telling me ‘do something with it, so I began this new work yesterday.

These squares are rhythmic and fairly quick to do, and I’m sure I won’t run out of the thread I’m using, as there must still be at least 1400+m on the cone. They’re about ~1.5cm, and at this scale on cream, the metallic thread I thought I’d use just wasn’t powerful enough. I auditioned all my neon threads, and I’m happy with this orange, which is adding a gorgeous cast where I’ve sewn, and that will increase when I get into the quilting. I’m liking how it adds texture that doesn’t flatten down even when ironed – it’s a thick thread, of the kind of gauge used for heavy duty outdoor upholstery, back packs and luggage – and being polyester it’s quite springy. Of course, I bought it for being neon orange.

When I’m further along, I’ll show some detail of what I plan to go with these groups of squares. I never show full views of works in progress, nor of finished ones, either, until they’ve been exhibited and/or sold. I’m feeling very excited about this new direction – an interesting development from the last 3+ months spent in exploring through sample making.