On Lots Road, Chelsea

Graphoguide alphabetique

"Methode Jean-Pierre Bonne" - a model for French handwriting. Imagine it used for couching...

I wanted to use these letter forms on a kitchen hand-towel - but couching didn't seem the way to go, because of what happens on the back, loose ends of the thick thread taken through, very untidy.

First, though, adjusting the size to fit the space available. (The alternative was to spend time learning how to do the script, but I'm a coward when it comes to calligraphy.) I made little images of separate letters, cropping the original image, and then lined them up in InDesign -and

printed out jpegs of the words at different sizes till it seemed to fit the space -

Next, the embroidery ... one towel blue and another red ... but how to transfer the lettering? "Do the easiest thing" seems sensible - so I traced the letters onto some some fusible tear-away stabilizer and ironed on the front, then tore it away once the embroidery was done -

A note of caution - on the loopy fabric, the stabilizer must be removed Very Carefully, or the loops pull out. For the second towel, I applied it with light touches of the iron here and there - a much better result on removal.

Fun with letters

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that when there is an upcoming deadline, it is important to distract oneself with something totally unrelated to the deadline task. 

Thus, after a conversation with Hilary about the sad lack of contributions of "letters" for the Contemporary Quilt banner, which she will be sewing together, I resolved to make some, and had a happy hour using up scraps already backed with fusible web, making a crazy-patchwork sort of cloth -

out of which some letters were cut (most shapes derived via typefaces available in InDesign, very much enlarged) -

These were put onto black cloth (size could be anything from 3" to 7" in either direction) -

and satin stitched from the selection of delicious colours in my tidied-up thread box -

It was quick and fun, but there's a sad side to the story....

The idea behind the banner, and the simple, quick task of making a letter (your choice of A, C, E, I, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, T, U, Y - the letters in the name of the group) - was that anyone and everyone in the group could easily contribute.  It was a chance for as many members as possible to be included. But there have been contributions from only a tiny proportion of the 700 members. Perhaps like me they forgot about the cut-off date; perhaps the wide-open nature of the project (any technique, the range of possible size) made it daunting - too much choice! Or is the task too simple to bother with - is it not enough of a challenge? Was it that the contributions were anonymous, makers not given credit?

In any case, the poor turnout is a real disappointment - this "group" project doesn't have "group" participation, and is not representative of the membership. Last time letters for a banner were needed, people were given the fabric and a pattern, and supplied enough for four banners - and that design has been used for various CQ websites -

If the letters I'm sending aren't used, no matter. Perhaps after making the needed banner, Hilary will pass the project on to someone else to continue, and there'll be another call - and more response.

Written on stone

Cemeteries abound in beautifully cut text - 

When the lettering is lead, added onto the stone, the stone behind might weather -

... and the letters can loosen, drop away -

A slow falling from memory ...

Enviable wall art, and a useful seminar

Last week at the British Library's "Make it, sell it" seminar I met Louise (aka Wall Envy Art), who has a unique use for old books.

To create her eco friendly typographic art she takes pages (from books of which there are many copies in existence, she emphasises!), adds quotes from the book - for instance, the one at the bottom is Pride and Prejudice - and then puts them into the perfect frame -

Louise also personalises pages - and sells in several online venues - see more on her website. If you're in the Kettering area, she's doing a workshop there on 31 March.

I saved Louise the trouble of taking home this brilliant quote - it's one of the Great Unanswered Questions, don't you think?  It's now sitting, infinitely ponderable, above my desk (propped up by another favourite object, the "turtle legs" basket made in Botswana) -

The BL's seminar was brilliant - under the format of "speed mentoring" you had access to information from specialists in various components of bringing a product from idea to market:  finance, copyright, the realities of production, promoting your work, selling online. If you brought your product along, you had a chance to present it briefly six times as you moved from table to table, expert to expert, with a shifting selection of the other 30 or so people present. I came away with a lot of useful knowledge and a different slant in regard to developing my "journey bags" as a saleable item.

Specific advice included how to approach shops and buyers (have a trade price decided, and know how many you can deliver and in what timeframe), the elements of arriving at a selling price, and "make the best product you can". Above all, decide what makes your product unique - and get your "story" in place!

Erasure, letter by letter

The "Jasper Johns gets plastered" look of these letters is done by layering cut-out letters with polyfilla (gyproc) - each letter erases the one beneath -

A great idea from Liz Davidson's "Helvetica variations" in the letter-a-day project. The rest of her work along this theme is eye-opening -- do have a look at the drilled version, before and after it had a bath.