Zenbroidery finish and construction

A short post to catch up. I am clearing the decks for a long post in the next few weeks - about my piece for the Guild's upcoming SALA Exhibition.

This is the Zenbroidery piece I had not quite finished when I went to England at the end of February. I like Zenbroidery projects when I am travelling, as they are 'grab-and-go', but there was only an hour or so left to do on this one, and it was not worth the luggage space.








I finished it in the days after my return

I had already identified the lining and zip needed  to turn it into a bag. A piece of Liberty lawn given to me by a cousin as part of a 70th birthday present was pretty near perfect.

Side 1

I really love the result.


I haven't as yet decided what to keep in the bag, or who might like it as a gift, but I think it is lovely.

Side2

I'm sure it will find a good home.

Zenbroidery 3.1

I last posted an update on my latest zenbroidery project in September 2018. This is a grab-and-go project that has not seen much activity in the light of the other things I've had on the go.
















I have worked some of the larger, more solid flowers in a version of Portuguese knot stitch and lots of the leaves in a variety of filling stitches - trying things out.

I've tried to flow the colours across the piece, shifting from red-yellows into blue-purples.

I just love working these pieces. It is freeing, experimental work and the results make useful bags (always an incentive!).

I've played with bullion knots  needle-weaving and stars.














I still have a bit to finish, but  probably not enough to take it with me when I travel in March. It is a good grab-and-go project, but only has a few hours left in it, so it is in my sights to finish before the end of the month.

Let's see how I go!

Zenbroidery 3

The project I took to England to keep me occupied once I finished the Estense bag, was another Zenbroidery. This one is larger than the ones I have done previously - a rectangle roughly 30 cm x45 cm.

Unlike the previous one, this design is not conducive to complete coverage. The white space between the flowers and leaves needs to remain as part of the design.













Once again, I am using a pack of perle 5 thread in bright colours and making it up as I go along.











While in the hoop progress seems fast, it is useful to keep viewing it in the context of the whole!

Nevertheless, it's a lot of fun and most satisfying to just pick up, decide on a colour and a stitch and have a go. The fact that it is made up of small components provides a sense of completion in a stitching session.







I also learn a lot about colour combinations just by playing.









I'd doing this between other projects - it's very satisfying, heaps of fun and unpressured.

Not much more a girl can ask for!

More zenbroidery

The zenbroidery piece I have been working on while travelling is the third piece I have worked. The first was a mandala. The second is the one below.

When I finished my Christmas cushions, I wanted a no-pressure project that I could pick up and put down over the Christmas period. I reached for another of the zenbroidery pieces in my stash - along with one of the cotton thread packs I had originally purchased from Herrschners ( more recently I have bought them in Australia through the Fox Collection).

This design presented more dilemmas than my previous mandala because there was potentially more white space. As the mandala was in quite narrow rings, there were fewer choices of whether to fill or not to fill.

I began roughly in the centre with some of the spirals, and left quite a lot of space.


These designs are  great for experimenting with stitches. The spirals lent themselves to running stitch in the Kantha style. I used star stitch on many of the centres and quite a bit of stem stitch.

I worked out colour as I went, once again, grading through the rainbow from the centre out. As I went, I experimented with leaving white and filling it in. By the end I had pretty much filled it all.


I find these great fun to stitch. I love making it up as I go along, trying things out, adjusting, adapting. It really IS colouring with thread - with the extra pleasure of playing with stitches.

Because I worked this on holidays over Christmas, mostly in my hand, with only the occasional use of a hoop for tricky stitches, it needed blocking. My intention was to turn it into a bag. I tried therefore to square it up by blocking.












This worked well, so I found a lining fabric and zip. I really like the look of this. The thread is from China and I enjoyed working with it. It is perle, soft and pleasant to work with- very little tangling, no shredding and wonderful colours.

I folded it in half, sewed up the sides and added a zip. It makes a lovely gift. I'm glad I filled in
most of the white background with colour and texture. The resulting pouch  is a useful size for a pencil case or small tools.


I have given it as a gift to a cousin. It's handy and not readily lost.

I've been working another, slightly larger, while travelling.


I like the thread, the colours, the patterns - and the leeway to make your own emphasis and colourways.












I can see myself making more of these.