Embroidery has never been much part of my life or art. I remember having to do small samplers at
school, and a short row could take me weeks.
The teachers always remarked on my untidiness – in embroidery, drawing
and handwriting.
My ‘hand’ work has always been mediated by machines. I learnt to touch-type at age 13 and never
looked back. Typewriters of all sorts –
evolving with the times – and then computers, since the 1980s, have been my means
of writing.
Photography, another of my
loves, has involved more and more sophisticated cameras - starting from my mother's little bellows camera - and later, playing with
Photoshop. I do not draw or paint. I have read all the ‘right’ books on drawing,
and given it a go – even attending drawing courses - as it seems to be the way
of art, but have never been able to sustain it for long.
Sewing machines started to be part of my life around age 7. But even today, hand-stitching quilt bindings and sleeves is a chore – I’m constantly pricking my fingers and drawing drops of blood,
which I have to be really careful not to let fall on the quilt. I usually end
up with one or more plasters round my fingers.
So this embroidery challenge is really that – a big
challenge. I cannot see myself
hand-embroidering, so it will have to be machine embroidery. My sewing machine has a really wide range of
fancy stitches, which I rarely use, so that’s my challenge – getting familiar with
that little used side of my machine, and incorporate some of the embroidery
stitches in my piece.
