Look what came in the mail last week! The marketing staff at Houghton Mifflin had 18″ x 18″ posters printed to promote my up-coming book, Pocketful of Posies. It was a complete surprise to me, and to celebrate this along with the summer solstice, I’d like to offer a Poster Giveaway to 3 of my readers (international addresses included). Please leave a comment on this post by June 30th and the winners will be picked at random.
Update: See other banners with wrapped wire lettering here.
This summer I’ve been invited to two weddings, with the first being held on June 25th on Cape Cod. Both the bride and groom are designers and I thought they would like something artsy and personal for a wedding gift. 
I started by writing out Karen & Graham in a flowing script and then enlarging it to a lower case height of about 1/2″ . Then, using long-nosed pliers, I bent some 32 gauge cloth wrapped wire, using the hand written lettering as a guide. 
This is a technique that I figured out while sewing the book cover design for my children’s book, Pocketful of Posies, which you can see here. I wanted letters that were raised enough to create shadows. And because the wire was a separate flexible piece, it was easy to move the words around for proper positioning on the artwork. 
After determining the size of the names and their placement, I cut out a square of orange wool felt and added my customary wavy edge and some cut out holes. I then wrapped the wire with 2-ply variegated embroidery floss, hiding the knots in the back. 
This is where I do most of my work, on an old ironing board. 
The light green floss wrapped wire didn’t provide enough contrast with the background, so I wrapped a single strand of dark green floss around the wire, candy cane style. 
The banner was cut out of a light teal colored wool felt that matched Karen & Graham’s invitation. Then I blanket stitched around the orange felt edges with pink variegated embroidery floss. I chose some fish beads and a heart made of bone to decorate around the wedding date. 
Then I made some tiny 1/4″ roses following Mimi Kirchner’s great instructions from her easy felt rose tutorial. Some silk ribbon leaves were added, too. 
After I figured out how much space to leave for the date and beads, I cut out the scalloped bottom edge of the banner. The outside edge was blanket stitched with some variegated pima cotton (Caron Collection). From my collection of stuff, I picked out some more beads and some beach stone pendants with holes drilled in them to hang from the scallops. 
I then stitched the floss wrapped wire words and numbers in place and sewed the beads and stone pendants to the banner. It needed some color on the bottom to balance the orange square on top, so I added another clump of felt roses and silk ribbon leaves. 
I made a sleeve of felt at the top and slipped a piece of driftwood through. After drilling 2 holes in the driftwood, I threaded some pima cotton through and braided a strap for hanging the banner. 
Here is the finished banner, which I hope Karen & Graham will enjoy for many years! 
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Crooked Man from "Pocketful of Posies", Houghton Mifflin 2010
The borders for the illustrations from Pocketful of Posies are coming along faster now and I don’t always remember to take pictures of the process. Here are two finished pictures, starting with the “Crooked Man” rhyme, with all of the crooked things from the verse. In the book, the words from the verse will be printed on the orange felt background, traveling all around the center illustration clockwise.
detail from "Crooked Man", "Pocketful of Posies", 2010
I’ve added a crooked line of tube beads to the border sides. The inside border of purple rick rack has a hand stitched edging of dark orange embroidery floss.
detail from "Crooked Man", "Pocketful of Posies" 2010
Here’s the crooked man, with his crooked cat and mouse.
detail of "Crooked Man", Pocketful of Posies" 2010
This is the illustration for “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep”. I made the original small, about 75% of the printed size of 10″ square. It need a larger border to balance the larger stretched upholstery fabric background, so I made the side pieces bulge out to fit the space more.
"Baa, Baa, Black Sheep", "Pocketful of Posies" 2010
To get an idea of the scale, the felt leaves are about 1″ long. These shades of orange and green are my favorite color combination. They’re definitely not my colors to wear (I’m a winter), but I find them pleasing to look at. See these colors in the post about my studio here.
detail of "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep" from "Pocketful of Posies" 2010
detail from "Baa, Baa, Black Sheep", "Pocketful of Posies" 2010
Note: See other posts from the Pocketful of Borders series here.
Ceilidh
I’d like to present this group of dogs in honor of my pet and studio companion, Ceilidh, who died last month. Her name, pronounced Kay-lee, is from the Gaelic word for a folk music and dance party. This is the last photo I took of her this past winter, just before she turned 14. She was a lab/golden mix and a real sweetheart who gave us many wonderful years.
The first picture in the series is a faux tile I made in 1990 for our kitchen. See all of the tiles on an earlier post here.
Faux Tile, 1990
This white dog is in the “Sidewalks” poem illustration from my book You and Me: Poems of Friendship.
detail from "You and Me: Poems of Friendship" 1997
Here’s the dog who laughed to see such sport in Hey, Diddle, Diddle!
detail from "Hey, Diddle, Diddle!" 2005
This little dog is made from a key, hook eyes and other found objects. See an earlier post about the whole piece, “Walking the Dog”, here.
detail from "Walking the Dog" 2005
This dog is dancing in a ring around the rosies from my upcoming book, Pocketful of Posies.
detail from "Pocketful of Posies" 2010
Note: See other posts in the Close-ups series archive here.
pages 18/19 from "Pocketful of Posies", Houghton Mifflin 2010
This double-page spread pictures 3 rhymes from my upcoming children’s book, Pocketful of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes. I’m preparing the fabric relief illustrations for a traveling show, which you can learn about here.
Illustration mounted on foam core board
I chose a border of dark felt to contrast with the light lavender background. The outside edges were blanket stitched with variegated pima cotton.
The corner pieces have the usual squiggles, along with my initials and the date.
The 4 side border pieces are green, with variegated embroidery floss loops. These pictures show the tea house, which illustrates the rhyme, “Polly put the kettle on”.
detail from "Polly put the kettle on"
Here’s the cobbler shop from “Cobbler, cobbler mend my shoe”. I cut out the wooden signs with a jig saw and painted them. The shoe sign is a little over 1″ long. The cobbler’s apron is made of leather.
detail from "Cobbler, Cobbler, mend my shoe"
Here is the finished border mounted on the stretched upholstery fabric background.
pages 18/19 with the finished border
This shows the bakery for “Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake”. The baby buggy is made with floss wrapped wire, coiled around like a basket. Yes, I admit that it’s a bit obsessive.
detail of "Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake"
detail, page 19, "Pocketful of Posies"
Note: See other posts from the Pocketful of Borders series here.
With the warm weather, parents are out in droves pushing their young ones in strollers. I went through my books and found some details to show you. The strollers are made with wire frames and button wheels. This first one with the red-haired mother is from my 1997 picture book, You and Me: Poems of Friendship.
Here’s a stroller from another page of You and Me with a baby that’s about 1″ long.
detail from “You and Me: Poems of Friendship” 1997
This mother and child is from my 2001 book In the Heart. Autographed copies are available here.
This double stroller is being pushed by the old woman who lived in a shoe, from my book, Pocketful of Posies. The children are about 1 1/2″ tall.
Note: See other posts in the Close-ups series archive here.
Illustration for Simple Simon from "Pocketful of Posies"
When I finished making all of the fabric relief illustrations for Pocketful of Posies, they were stitched onto foam core board. I added registration marks and then sent them to the photographer. Now that the book is being printed, I’m busy making the artwork presentable for their 2nd jig as framed pieces of art.
Each picture needs a different border to match. Strong, bright colors would compliment the illustration for the Simple Simon rhyme, with its fair booths. I made side and corner patterns and cut them out of felt.
I then blanket stitched around the outside edges of the felt pieces with some variegated thread. The Caron Collection has some great colors to choose from.
The inside of the border looked too abrupt, so I tried some rick rack along the edge, to soften the transition.
I chain stitched some loops, the date, and my initials in variegated embroidery floss. Since it’s hard to write on wool felt, I don’t use any guide lines for embroidery, but work free style. I decided to change the rick rack to a golden color, which set the border apart from the inside illustration. So, instead of softening the transition, I ended up giving it more definition.
There was space for a wider border, so I put some green open weave trim around the outside. I added some dark green bias tape underneath the trim, to give more contrast and show the holes.
There’s always a question of how busy a border should be and how many borders within borders to make, like ruffles on a skirt. It could go on and on and you could have a tiny image in the middle, with a huge border around it. Many quilts and fiber art seem to be made up of just borders, which is fine with me.
Note: See other posts from the Pocketful of Borders series here.
pages 40/41, "Pocketful of Posies" 2010
It’s great to get back to work again and my wrist is feeling much better. I’ve been bicycling a lot and leaning on the handle bars is good therapy. The borders for the originals from Pocketful of Posies are coming along nicely and I’ve finished a couple this week. It’s like matting 2-dimentional pieces of artwork before they’re framed, only I’m creating felt edging to go around the perimeter. Here’s a double-page spread of several rhymes grouped in the same scene.
I added a dark brown rick rack around the outside of the felt border to help separate it from the background upholstery fabric. This shows Mary at the cottage door and Peter the pumpkin eater’s wife in a pumpkin.
Here’s Little Tommy Tittlemouse with his fishing pole.
Molly My Sister and I, from "Pocketful of Posies" 2010
This rhyme, Molly My Sister and I, has a little wider border. The artwork already has a lot of detailed embroidered foliage, so a plainer border seemed appropriate.
I added the green ruffled trim at the end, to echo the greenery of the topiary in the interior scene.
Note: See more posts in the Pocketful of Borders series here.
I’ve spent a good part of my adulthood surrounded by boys; sons, friends and nephews. They have kept me grounded and brought a counter balance to all of this girly stuff I do, like sewing and fairy dolls. Having sons has made me sensitive to the male point of view and I make an effort to include images of boys in my artwork, even though it’s easier to depict females. This first picture is from “Vineyard Family”, a piece I made as a naive young mother in 1985 and shows a rather idealized docile child.
detail from “Vineyard Family” 1995
This pair of boys are from “Fall Children” (see more here), which I made 10 years later in 1995. At this point, I’m trying to bring more motion to my figures, perhaps a more realistic reflection of children. Their sweaters are made from cotton socks and their shoes are leather.
detail from “Fall Children” 1995
Here’s George reading a book in a chair made from old worn upholstery fabric. His clothing is also made from cotton socks. The full picture can be seen here.
detail from “George’s Chair”
This boy sitting in his real stick fort is from my book, You and Me: Poems of Friendship.
detail from “You and Me: Poems of Friendship” 1997
This is my favorite boy, “Dusty Bill from Vinegar Hill”, an unfamiliar rhyme I found and loved. His hair is made from a spiky acorn cap, which a friend sent from California. Even though I never learned how to crochet, I figured out how to construct his bag using a regular needle. Bill’s in an illustration from my upcoming book, Pocketful of Posies, which you can find out about here.
detail from “Pocketful of Posies” 2010
Note: See other posts in the Close-ups series archive here.
detail of end papers from "Pocketful of Posies"
I love the way end papers of a book can be purely decorative and bring a connection to the tradition of using marblized paper. There are no interfering words to accommodate and there’s freedom to work in a different way, but capture the essence of the book. For Pocketful of Posies‘ end papers, I used only flower thread and a background of wool felt, which is plain and simple compared with the other illustrations.
To make the border for this picture, I made patterns and cut out felt strips with a wavy edge. The four corners were cut out as separate pieces. The border sections were blanket stitched with my favorite variegated edging thread, Watercolours by Caron.
Since the illustration was such a simple, flat chain stitched pattern, I thought the border could use some jazzy up. I embellished the border with glass beads and silk ribbon embroidery.
I added some lavender rick rick to the inside edge of the border to help set it apart.
All of the border sections were then sewn together into one continuous strip.
Then, with pins, I positioned the border on the end paper illustration and stitched it in place on the upholstery background fabric.
Note: See more posts in the Pocketful of Borders series here.
SALLEY MAVOR 