Yes, there is embroidery

I know that I've not shown you any of my embroidery and, as I'm currently working on a couple of quite large projects, I thought perhaps it was time I showed you the work in progress, rather than waiting for the completed articles. I've been making some very special pieces for someone who I know reads this blog so I can't show you those yet as I don't want to spoil the surprise. However ...

I made another couple of biscornu and I'm calling a halt to this particular project for now. Some of these will probably eventually be put into my Etsy shop but I need to hold onto them until our Embroiderers Guild biennial exhibition in September as they're intended in the short term at least to be table fillers for that event.

I'm  really pleased with how they all look piled into this black ceramic dish.

One of the large projects is a hexagonal casket, which will be covered with fabric (probably silk) with lace motifs stitched onto each section. Here are the motifs ...

Each triangular section of the lid will contain a flower and each of the six side panels will hold a butterfly. There are another three butterflies still to complete. I've made boxes in the past, you've seen some of them pictured on here over the past couple of years, but never a hexagonal one. We have a workshop on box making at the Guild later this month so I'm waiting to see if there is a different/better way to do it before I start putting this together.

When I feel like a change from doing such fine work I've been 'playing' with some experiments in colour using silk fabric (inevitably), beads, stitches and wrapped cords.

 These three are just about finished ...

This one is still in progress ...

and this one is only just begun.
There will be twelve pages in all, I think, and each of those coloured squares will eventually be cut out and mounted onto a larger piece of silk, then made into the pages of a book.

I've also been making some silk paper, which I plan to use as a background fabric for stitching.

This last photograph is a little blurred I'm afraid. I've made some more today in shades of gold and red.

And finally ... some flowers from my garden. We're still in the throes of winter here in Yorkshire and, apart from primroses and snowdrops, this is all that is out there at the moment.

Beautiful hellebores.