Monday 9 January 2017

Beginning Stone Pathways


One day while wondering what size this year's daily stitching should be,
My Wednesday Studio Buddy, Diane, and I
laid fabric on the floor and gathered rocks.
We kept on thinking bigger and bigger
until I ended up with something that was going to be enormous!


Once home again I realized big was overly ambitious!
After all, I plan to pick up pebbles on my daily walks
so I have to be able to carry them home!
Plus....a daily stitched journal should not take all day....
There has to be time for my larger works.


So you will not see this mighty rock in my Stone Pathways
(That is the name for the moment)
Though it could inspire something huge!


 Here are my first seven pebbles of 2017


  January first had to be special.  It is a pebble from my parent's driveway in Dorset, England.  My mother and I spent many happy hours sitting in the middle of that driveway searching for pebbles with holes.  This one even had a teeny weeny pebble lodged in it's hole.

  
Trace around each pebble directly on a scrap of cloth and cut.
Use various appliqué methods.
Some methods messier than others!

Embroider features like this one's white waistline.
Some look like liquorice!
Whoops forgot to photograph the seventh one!

I am still working on how to assemble them into weekly columns.
Perhaps some stitching will
reflect what the weather was like each day.
I just know I do not want straight even columns for each week.
Irregular freeform is what I have in mind.
Now I have to work out the how!

May your daily stitching be fulfilling.



21 comments:

  1. What a great idea! I will enjoy watching this develop over the next year! Inspiring

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    1. I looked for your email to ask a question, but didn't find one, so I will ask here-what quilt did you use for the background of your blog? It is beautiful, I just love looking! Thanks!

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    2. Thanks for your question Tina. It is not a quilt pattern...just a mishmash of shapes I sewed together and then covered it in stitches. It is called 'Rockbound'. Actually it is not that big. I looked for a photo but one didn't jump out at me. Will have a look through the blog and perhaps repost a photo.

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    3. Cool-this stitched pieces, art quilt or quilts are my favorites! I really love "Rockbound"

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  2. A wonderful path, Penny
    (ha, had to laugh out loud about the BIG one ...
    (you can place some cloth on that, so the other way round ;-) ...)

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  3. Oh, I love this posting. Its always wonderful to read about the inspiration, the plans, the actuality of it all! I'm sort of in a 'pathway' place myself and to be able to follow yours is going to be a gift!

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  4. Love the 'path'. I too am a collector of stones. They each have their own story. You are on yet another wonderful journey.

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  5. Well now, this will be interesting. I'm glad you're not going to try to carry that boulder home - it looks like it would defeat a drayhorse, never mind a human!

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  6. I love this new project! I adore round(ish) shapes appliqued. I think you're on to something here, will be an adventure for all of us to see how this concept develops. Happy new year!!

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  7. Brilliant idea!! I love the pebbles you're stitching and found the "pebble" from your parent's driveway fascinating, I'm from England, although in the North - Lancashire. It's going to be a delight watching these pebbles gathering together.

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  8. I like this! I just finished my last 'squircle'. Based upon Quilty365 circle a day idea. I just couldn't (creatively) do perfect circles (I'm not a perfect type person!) so I freehand cut them and appliqued to 4 1/2" squares. Love your idea of embroidery/embellishment.

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  9. crazy...my husband pulled something out of his pocket the other day. a small fractured part of a larger rock. one side rough, the other smooth and outlined in white!!!!

    penny...this is right up my pathway...

    that big beast of a boulder has some inviting shape-age to it....just saying...

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  10. What a lovely idea, struggling at the moment. Very hot and I don't like it.

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  11. Great ideas, Penny, for 2017 and your stitching. I'm impressed by how often you post on your blog with photos of your artwork. I like the simplicity of your blog, too. Great work. One statement really caught my attention in this post: "Irregular freeform is what I have in mind." Gads but it hits the nail on the head. I am still thinking about a daily mindfulness practice that I can do with my artwork/crafting/photography. It hasn't actually revealed itself to me, yet. I know it will.

    I love the name for this project: STONE PATHWAYS. Perfect.

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  12. I really enjoyed this post. As artists, it is important to find ideas for works/series that resonate and are actually do-able!

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  13. I like your new beginnings! It will be so interesting to check in on your many 'ways'!
    I'm working in circles of sorts...must be in the air!

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  14. A great start - I love the Dorset pebble with it's 'baby'! xx

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  15. Love this idea Penny - your new year missions are always inspired! We are in the middle of a blizzard here in Kingston and no pebbles to be found for some time I am sure! I am hiking the 'KP rail' trails every day, weather permitting when it is safe enough to walk.. but pebbles are all buried beneath ice now.
    Happy New Year der friend.
    Bethany

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  16. Oh wow - at first I thought you were going to use actual pebbles and tried to wrap my mind around however you would mount such a thing. Quite relieved when I discovered I was wrong! I like your new plan Penny - it will be fun to watch it grow throughout the year.

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  17. Oh what a lovely idea - pebbles are such wonderful things aren't they? each with it's own personality, texture, colour, weight and heft. I can never resisit picking up at least one frm the beach nearby - I look forward to watching this progress, your stitching is always such an inspiration

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  18. What an inspiring and fun project

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Thank you for taking the time to comment, your thoughts are most welcome.