in the market

my spring project should have been an exhibition piece, themed "The Making of a Market Town" - i started off full of ideas which eventually whittled down to something around what women brought to market, with a focus on straw plaiting (which was an important source of income locally) - but i could not translate my theme into fabric in time to produce anything good enough for exhibiting

so i turned my attention to the alternative challenge of 15cm squares featuring market stall produce - after some sampling and the usual false starts a 1950s theme grabbed me and fruit and veg started to appear

the first attempt had the '50s right feel, but the gold "atomic" designs didn't work ...... and nor did the accidental stain










so i started again with a brighter background

and the first one is done




i know it's not an original style, but it's my way of exploring and sampling - i considered working the white lines in machine stitch, but decided that the unevenness of hand-stitch fitted better with the fruit outlines - i didn't really want sharp, precise lines



as usual, all the materials are from my stash, so no retail therapy was required! unfortunately, i would need to make quite a few more to make a significant dent in my supplies - time for another clear out maybe