This year I decided to set myself the personal creative challenge to create 100 new embroideries over the span of 6 months.
Usually my embroideries are quite large and each piece can take weeks, sometimes months to stitch. But this project wouldn’t allow for my usual timeline. I would need to work quickly, creating and releasing a new mini embroidery every few days. The project forced me to explore new ideas and push my art and creativity to new heights – which was exactly why I took on the project on in the first place.
Each embroidery is created using a domestic sewing machine and a water-soluble base fabric. A thread drawing is built up by carefully moving the fabric around the needle to build up my stitched design. Once the drawing is complete (and well connected) I dissolve away the base fabric leaving a sculptural stitched drawing behind. Each piece is then carefully mounted onto paper with fine pins and framed in a box frame, like a stitched specimen.
Many of the pieces in the project are inspired by natural forms. You will see lots coral, leaves, seaweed, shells and the odd animal represented in the series. Other designs are simply playful explorations of colour and form. But my favourite pieces in the project are a series of circular embroideries inspired by fruit cross sections. They were just so much fun to stitch and it was a great excuse to cut up (and eat) a bunch of fruit to act as ‘inspiration’.
The 100 Embroideries Project – Interview with Meredith Woolnough
Stitching ‘Orange’ from the 100 Embroideries Series by Meredith Woolnough
Stitched Fruit cross sections for the ‘100 Embroideries project’ by Meredith Woolnough
Piece #100 Rainbow dots (in progress)
Pieces from the ‘100 Embroideries Project’ all framed up and looking pretty
Pieces from the 100 Embroideries Project framed and ready for exhibition
The 100 Embroideries Project by Meredith Woolnough
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