Embroidery: 'Covid Abstraction #1'

If you are a regular here, then you will know that my embroidery (and the majority of my other work) is extremely calculated and planned out. I like order, what can I say! And it’s also to do with the whole perfectionism thing I’ve got going on and probably a wealth of other things. But, last week I managed to contract Covid. Slap bang in the middle of summer and during my birthday week. Yes there are worse problems to have, but it was still very un-fun.

To get rid of the illness quickly, rest is best, but lying in bed all day for two days straight had me yearning to do something creative. There’s only so many trashy films and Sudoku puzzles I can take! I decided I wanted to do some embroidery. It’s a low effort(ish), high reward activity, not messy, and fairly easy to get set up (my box of threads, scissors, fabric, needle). Though I really didn’t have the energy (physically or mentally) to create a pattern or even trace a pre-existing design onto the fabric. So I thought: well why don’t I just sew? And that’s exactly what I did. No pre-planning, no sketch, no pencil guides. Nothing.

As you can see from the above image of what I created, I decided to just do squares/ rectangles as they’re the easiest- I mean who wants to mess about with circles or wavy lines when unwell? Not me, no thank you! And to keep it even more simple, I used just one type of stitch (Satin Stitch), which also happens to be my favourite! I used no outlines and just switched colours when I felt like the one I was using had even coverage. It sort of evolved as it went on and I thought of new ideas as it developed- i.e. filling the gaps with white squares at the end- this was because I thought if I do full coverage in all different colours, it might end up looking a bit messy/ murky. Though maybe I will make another one exploring that idea…

I actually liked this different way of working, or at least I did for this project. It was quite freeing just deciding what to do on the spot and working to no specific pattern or design. It was more like a ‘doodle’ in fabric or a stream of consciousness. And it also backs up the notion that just creating up something (anything) leads to further ideas/ inspiration. Before this I wasn’t that inspired with the embroidery as I had just finished a rather large project and was unsure what to produce next. Now I have ideas flooding to me! Picking up the needle/ pen/ pencil/ insert chosen medium here, really does lead to ideas, especially if you’re feeling stuck or lacking in motivation.

I’ll definitely be working this way again, but that’s not to say I’ll not be returning back to my more organised creative endeavours! It was a really fun ‘no strings attached’ way to create something, which I don’t often entertain. Watch this space for more…