I included a small puffin in my Staffa piece, but it turned out to have a mind of it’s own, and demanded it’s own picture. I have scaled up the original bird and it gave me the opportunity to add much more detail. My sisters think it looks thoughtful, so Pensive Puffin it is. Sewing time for this was 17 hours.
Last in the peacock series (for now anyway) is simply a feather. The eye is silk, the rest is free-machine stitched. This is the perfect technique to reproduce the sense of movement and fluidity that I wanted. 8 x 10 inch frame.
Number 2 in the peacock series, this has just one bird, but I have added a feather. The body of the peacock and the eye of the feather consists of silk with small scraps of cotton. The crown and the rest of the feather is created using just free-machine stitching. Framed with a mount (no glass), 12 inches square.
This rather ornate piece was made for my son and his husband, whose favourite bird is the peacock. It is made from cotton and silk, and the blue background is quilted with a free-style heart design. This started me on a peacock series...
Like Snake and Boss, this is inspired by another carved stone in Iona Abbey. I have used the same fabrics, but there is a lot more quilting in this piece. The hand-drawn Celtic knotwork patterns are stitched using Trapunto - a technique where the background is stipple quilted to leave the design in relief. Mounted on a 16 inch square canvas.
Based on a view from the top of the island, with sea, sky, grass and the famous basalt cliffs. Heavily stitched cottons, several of the fabrics were bought in Oban specially for this piece. The bird is a puffin, there is also a dolphin playing in the water. 22 x 25 inches, unframed
This piece was inspired by a visit to Iona Abbey. The snakes and roundels are based on a carving in the Abbey, and the colours are inspired by those used in The Book of Kells. Cotton, calico and metallic fabric, 17 x 23 inches
Sashiko Blues is quite different from my usual work - it's all hand-quilted. I was involved with the Heids and Herts project and taught a workshop on Sashiko in the Auchtermuchty Community Centre. Sashiko is a Japanese technique where large stitches create complex geometric patterns. Traditionally white thread is used on blue fabric, so the background is (literally) a patchwork of blue material from my stash. The sashiko patterns were hand-drawn and marked up on the background. 24 x 34 inches
The latest in my "Circles" series, this time the circles are on a circle. Silk and cotton fabrics, combined with circular holes and straight stitching make up this contemporary piece. 12 inch diameter
SOLD A small, framed piece using colourful silks on calico - just for fun. 6-inch square £35
This is the second piece where the bird (usually stitched somewhere in the background) has become the main focus. It's inspired by a photo I took of a juvenile Herring Gull standing on the harbour wall at St Andrews. I love the colours - the details of the harbour are all free-machine stitched onto the brown fabric that you can just see at the edges. This is mounted on an 18 x 11 inch canvas.
Salmon Circle is designed as a traditional patchwork piece, with a central motif and borders with cornerstones. The salmon come from an earlier work - a stylised leaping fish, and they are circling around a Celtic knot design. The cornerstones feature a pair of salmon shapes.