Satin Stitch

Last month I told you I was going to work on the piece I started at Summer School.  I had machined all the pieces together and was then trying to decide what to do with it.

I thought I would put the three words I had used in all the printed fabric onto a photo.

The fabric is much darker in the photo than it actually is!  I was thinking of cutting the letters out of fabric and bonding them on.  However the printed fabric was done in my handwriting, so I used an italic Copic pen to write my three words on tissue.

I used satin stitch with a dark grey thread for 'captivity'.  And an ochre thread for 'freedom'.

Then I needed to decide what colour to stitch 'identity'.

I chose the variegated skein.

So now it's back to thinking about the other pieces I've already started!

Thanks for being here today
Bernice

What I did next!

Last time I shared my new poem Conviction.  Despite having at least three textile pieces on the go, I decided I had to start a new piece with the new poem.

I wrote the poem onto calico with an italic Copic pen.  I used my Thermofax screens to put broken bits of chain using acrylic paint.

I cut it up into 4.5 inch squares leaving the two questions whole.

I laid out the squares fairly randomly in terms of which line they came from, but made sure that each square was facing a different way.  I sewed all the squares together and added the questions at the bottom.

This will be put onto wadding and a backing and a binding put round the edge.

I want to add some more chains.  I thought about maybe painting some of the plastic chain I have left from the Dancing in Fetters piece.  In the photo you have to imagine that the chain has been painted to look rusty.

However I've decided I will stitch large chains.  I scanned the thermofax image into the computer and made it larger.  I've printed it off ready to trace onto tissue so I can hand stitch later this week.

I'll let you know how I get on.

Thanks for being here today
Bernice

Conviction

This week was Write Poetry week with Sara-Jane on Zoom. 

The thread for the workshop was 'volta' or turn.   The volta is a dramatic change in thought and/or emotion and can be seen in all types of written poetry.  I only completed one of the three exercises.

Conviction 

Iron strikes iron
Metal on metal
as sparks fly. 

Sweat trickles
in rivulets down wrinkled skin,
wiped off with dirty rags. 

Smoothed iron
heated and beaten
into chains 

leg cuffs, hand cuffs
to tether the wrong-doer.
Judged, convicted 

transported
in overcrowded prison ships
fettered by the chains 

of crime. To live,
to die on foreign soil
with time to consider 

the life lived before.
What chains do we wear?
What fetters us? 

What holds us back
from all that we can do?
Not crime but lack 

of conviction
in ourselves, our abilities.
No confidence. 

A continual questioning
Who am I?
Am I enough?

Thanks for joining me today
Bernice