BEVERLEY'S BULLETIN : 3 Achieving Deadlines

As with the start of any new year, everywhere is full of reviews and ways forward.  I've been reading textile blogs with the same themes.
One caught my attention, specific detailed evaluation, and a structured plan for the year.  It included how many pieces are to be made, time allocated to art, in fact so detailed there was a spreadsheet, which was to be appraised and evaluated on a regular basis.  At which point, frankly I thought, give up now, lay down in a dark room and recover!

So I thought I’d use this topic for another Bulletin, because self awareness, ie the speed at which you can work, or how much time you  have in a given week can be vital to help when working to a deadline.  It is another skill learned from my City and Guilds studies.  Often what we think, is not actually what is…

The little record book I have kept for the past 7 years also helps me with knowing myself.  I don’t list hours spent, just things like “painted papers” – “handstitched on blue piece”.  Its surprising when the gaps appear in the making, times of the year when things slow or stop, but aren’t necessarily when I’d suspect, like holidays or around events, but these natural breaks seem to occur around the same time each year.
So perhaps its worthwhile to actually time a few tasks, not as in race against the clock, but as being real about timings.  Some tasks I find, say stitching up the first side of something can take 40 minutes, but by the time I’ve got to the last, its 20, because I’m in the rhythm of the process, know the angle to hold things, etc.   If I had another the same to do straight off each side would likely be 20 minutes or less… but seldom are there production line projects.  And I find the next time, its back to the long slow start.  So I might have estimated 90 minutes to do, but in reality its much longer, yet faster if done in one session, even a break for lunch can throw me backwards in terms of the rhythm of the process.
Or it can be worth noting what times of day you find it easier to work, how much, time, perhaps it’s a little every day, perhaps its only a couple of days a week you have available.  I have the time, but I don’t ever stitch in the evenings, IF I do need creative things in the evening, then that’s when I choose to read my magazines, so its creative input, but of another kind.

I see two options when making work for a deadline.
1) design the piece, stick to the design and work at it, until made.  Even if time gets tight and it means early mornings or late nights to get it done.
2) design the piece, but look at how long it will take you to make and then decide, either commit, be willing to sacrifice other things to achieve, (which might mean cancelling lunch with a friend) or else go back to the design and modify it, or the techniques to be used.

I favour 2), purely because I cannot work all hours, I have done on occasions, but actually working late in the night, I’m more prone to mistakes, more likely to have to redo things, more likely to cut into something vital, likely to tip paint all over the project, and frankly feel a danger to be let loose on the sewing machine when tired.  So for me, the longer I work, the less I achieve.

I am quite good at working my way backwards from a known end date.  Packaging by this time, framing, photography, so it needs finishing by.... lessons given during City and Guilds studies.  We would have to state what would be achieved by when in order to meet the assessment deadline.  A plan would be drawn up, backwards, starting with the end date, listing each week what was to be done, how etc. If we didn't do the stated task... there was a full on interrogation, answers were expected. There was no getting away with “I didn’t get around to it”.  Scary and harsh at the time, but lessons learned. But over time you learn, I can do this task quickly but that one always takes me a long time.  I can do that task in an hour, but then it takes me two hours to clean up the equipment and work area.

And for the record…. I don’t see machine stitching as faster than handstitching, they are different skills, worked and used in different ways, giving different looks.  So its not a speed issue, to use one over another, its simply the design effect you wish to achieve.

In the previous posting I noted the general plans I have for my year's work, and that at the moment is the extent of it.  I write a monthly plan in my sketchbook... but it's so detailed, not!  It's a list.... work on blue piece, complete forms, take photos.  Once completed, then it has to have a red ink tick and a large DONE beside it, nothing quite so satisfiying as a big tick!!!  If its not finished, it gets rewritten in the next months list.  I print off a monthly calendar and pin it up to see, but it doesn’t list tasks, just reminders of a deadline/event.   It will have a MUST DO reminder a couple of days before the large DEADLINE.  I can always see this calendar, its in a prominent place, not to be missed and never covered up. I firmly believe though in the phrase "that which is recorded, gets done" - which is likely the same premise as the person with the spreadsheet plan.  My statement of intent, if you like, is a mix of the puter generated calendar  reminders, the list in the sketchbook, blog postings, and personal emails/contact with friends discussing our projects..  Between them all I have gentle reminders to get on with the task in hand.

So when planning work, for a deadline, things to remember/consider, which I find work:

~ a deadline, even if just a personal one, helps to focus the thoughts.

~ allow enough time for the extras, framing, labels, packaging, form filling – always takes longer than you think.
~ photography, even if that is purely to take a record of the piece for yourself, dull days it can be a struggle to get a nice image.
~ be aware of your self.  When do you work, how much time do you have, are some tasks quicker than others for you.
~ are you a do everything last minute, or a steadily paced worker.  Either way its still about managing yourself and your time.
~ is your design and method of creating larger than your available time.
~ can you find/commit to extra time, or should a design/method of construction be modified.
~ remember to look at your plan or just think about it, make it work for you.
~ don’t spend so long in drafting up the when, what and why, so there’s no time left to actually DO.

BEVERLEY'S BULLETIN : 1 Exploring Stitch

I thought I’d kick of my delve into the files with a basic. Something which is so worthwhile and yet so easy to completely forget about. Exploring with One Stitch.
Are you like me, have the stitch dictionaries on the shelf, and yes even get them out and look to use a stitch not tried before or remind myself of how to create a stitch – but after 30 minutes wading through the book, back on the shelf it goes and I slip back into the familiar.
I have favourites – Seeding, Cretan, French Knots and Raised Chain Band.

There’s a wealth of stitches available to create the look we are after, but each individual stitch can have multiple applications if we just think about experimenting with it. It can be hard to push the boundaries, particularly if you were disciplined into making it perfectly as per the given standard.
I remember back in the day having to produce a small square sample of Chain Stitch and all its variations (or Lazy Daisy).

For some unknown reason I’d worked it on polycotton, my square did not end up square! In class it went up on a board alongside everyone else’s and there was a class critique. I don’t remember what was said about mine, I just remember this wonky ‘square’ glaring at me!  And look I still have it... and its still hideous and I don't know which way around it goes!
Some time after that we were given a class project of stitching a ‘picture’ in one single stitch. I used Straight Stitch, a landscape of a cornfield, with trees in the distance and a barbed wire fence at the front. It was amazing to see how just one stitch could create all of these elements.
I’ve since seen other pieces of work made using one stitch and it can be very creative and usually provokes, is that really just the one stitch?

Work an individual stitch – big, small, make a cluster, a line, a circle, work spaced out, close together, work on top of itself, vary the threads used.

Again I chose a hideous fabric to work on - this time like a polyester knit - why?   This is variations of Cretan Stitch, you can see adding beads or sequins as its worked.

A couple of things have stuck with me from the early days, Texture and Contrast. You won’t see the textures created if they are against similar. Put the lumpy and crunchy against something smooth. And don’t think the Contrast always has to be about stitch – the blank space is invaluable.

This time the base fabric is more creative - its a monoprint using acrylic, with Buttonhole Stitch used to decorate.  I've also used a Couronne Stick to make the buttonhole circles, but anything like a pencil will suffice.  Its still just a stitch exploration, but a bit more attractive than the others.
So, even if you stay within your comfort zone, using the same favourite stitch, try to mix it up and see what happens. The bonus of experimentation is that no-one can offer criticism for it not being a perfect text book stitch.

Enjoy playing.

BEVERLEY'S BULLETIN : Intro

I’ve given a lot of thought to my last post, about reminding myself of techniques, and my thoughts on if/how to collate and make a record of all this information I have acquired over the years.
I don’t know if anyone will drop by here for a read, but as blogs ultimately are selfish things anyway, written from a personal need to record and share, I thought I would blatantly put that out there. Reminding myself, making a record for myself, and at the same time sharing and hoping it also offers something to others.

So I’m going to start a posting under the title of   BEVERLEY’S BULLETIN   looking at the many samples from my stash, sharing the details.

So let’s go back in time. 1992, so 20 years, almost impossible to believe, since I started on this creative journey, by that I mean via formal studies, I’ve been making and creating all my life. So in 1992 I began City and Guilds Creative Embroidery studies, well the first year wasn’t that as such, as the college I attended had a compulsory Foundation Year, although I started the Preparing Working Designs element that year. City and Guilds had switched from being an examination based course to assessment based, and I would be in the second year of this new format. Over the years as anyone who knows C&G will tell you, the how and what of the course has changed many many times, add into the mix that each centre is allowed to teach the course how they see fit to meet the given criteria, the variations in knowledge can be huge. Back in the day... I studied for Part I and Part II Creative Embroidery – I believe they are called levels/diplomas now... but I’m not sure. 20 years ago it was a prestigious thing to undertake, opportunities to study were rare, most counties only had one college offering the course, if you were lucky. For me it was a lifetime dream to take this path, and most of us considered it an honour to get a place.
At this time also you could find day workshops in all sorts of topics, run both privately and via organisations such as the Embroiderers’ Guild, and I’ve attended many of these. Today...sadly both formal studies and one off workshops are disappearing. So from all of these resources open to me, I’ve studied lots of things, some with the ‘names’ from the creative textile world.
I attended two colleges to study City & Guilds, the first being the only option around at the time. My Part I studies were quite formal and conventional, a very good grounding, all sorts of basic info was drilled into us, which still stays with me. But it could be quite disciplined and prescriptive in the how and what. However my Part II studies at another college could not have been more different. Very creative, and eventually freeing, once I finally got used to being able to do almost as I pleased! The room would be filled with everything necessary and we would be told to go and play! There would be questions of ‘miss’ – what happens if..... and the answer was always go and try it and see.
So the examples will come from this background, its absolutely by no means definitive, the right way, the only way. I think its very important to remember that, as for a long time I felt a bit of a round peg in a square hole, trying to make myself fit in with others ways. Unless you are making for coursework or set criteria where it is important that ‘rules’ are followed, or evidence produced – guess what, you are allowed to make things the way you want to, how you want to. The end result may not be as anticipated, it could be better or worse, but it all feeds into the knowledge base for the next time round.

So this is the background to my project, next time, I’ll have something practical to think about.