Thinking Outside the Box

 

I was never happy with the 'Cross Words' piece made for the Out of the Fold exhibition in September 2023

The cotton organdie, already crisp and further stiffened through the paper lamination process to newspaper, just didn't hang right. 

The discovery of a spelling mistake, only pointed out when up and hanging in the exhibtion, could have been easily fixed. The great thing about stitch is that it can be unpicked!

But instead I decided to deconstruct the whole thing and repurpose into a new piece of work

There were 169 squares in 'Cross Words'

It took a surprisingly long time to cut these up again. And yes I did use a rotary cutter not a stitch unpick.

The left over edge strips have potential too

Sorted into piles of six. What is the significance of the letters chosen?

Stitched into a box net format by machine

Cubes stitched together by hand. To stuff or not to stuff?

Two made and another 16 to go for the project I have in mind. Would still have some left over. Could make at least 24 from the squares I have.

The aim is for this to be an interactive installation piece so people can rearrange the cubes to form words and phrases

It will be called "Thinking Outside the Box" and can be seen at the Textile Connections exhibition in July 2024