Ochre

I enrolled in the  Alison Glass Stitch Club a few weeks ago, and I received the first month's club journal the other day.  It's a beautiful publication, filled with informative articles, links to additional resources, many color photos, and detailed instruction for several projects involving the month's featured technique:

 kantha stitching.

Kantha is a traditional stitchery technique from India.  It involves stitching layers of cloth together using rows of large running stitches.  The resulting textile, with no batting between the layers, is soft and drapey and slightly puckered.  

The example photos featured bright saturated color combos, so I was inspired to develop a vivid palette for my project also. 

 I settled on 'ochre' as my inspiration:  

A class of natural earths, mixtures of hydrated oxide of iron with various earthy materials, ranging in color from pale yellow to orange and red, and used as pigments.

I pulled an array of ochre fabrics, including a couple of backing possibilities. 

I've been serenely stitching along on kantha rows for the past few days.  I'm particularly enjoying the portability of this project, spending pleasant hours out on the deck!

 

Depending on how long my attention span continues, my length of stitched cloth might possibly become a soft little jacket some day -- not making any commitments at this point though :)

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