I've continued to work on the project I started last January, printing and hand stitching linen squares. Each square is a new canvas and I approach it with no vision in mind. I'm led by my mood to choose a colour and pattern and I'm enjoying the freedom of play with this, I don't need to consider repeats and I let the design evolve naturally. Once the ink is dry and heat set I can begin the hand stitching, most of them are fairy simple, the patterns are quite bold and an uncomplicated stitch brings the piece some harmony.
My intention was to make a quilt with them all, I think this will still be the case, I just need to work out how to make it a little calmer. There's a lot going on here.
Perhaps sashing with some coloured linen would help, I feel the squares need some space to breathe.
The lighter colours look great in real life, though they're very tricky to capture in a photo.
I may make a couple of quilts, I'm not sure I could handle all these colours and patterns in one piece.
I will continue to make up squares as I'm really enjoying the process and starting something without a plan has been very liberating. Even though it is creating a challenge to make something cohesive with such a varied selection of squares, I hope to be able to pull them together to create something pretty special in time.
If you're on instagram, you can follow the progress of this project with the hashtag #cmprintandstitch
