I adore alliums, I think actually they are one of my favourite flowers, with their Pom Pom shapes on a stick and gorgeous shades of purple, crimson and white. In addition, they are a great bee plant. And bees need all the help they can get. As a gardener I’ve planted hundreds of them (in other people’s gardens) but always dreamed of growing the huge alliums (Allium giganterum), the ones with the flowers the size of a child’s head.
I love a bit of Free Motion embroidery (FME) on hand painted fabric. And there was a lot of it with these two thread paintings. I tried to capture the shape of all the teeny flowers that make up the Pom Pom ball but after a while it got super confusing, not to mention a bit obsessive so I just had to try my best and hoped it made visual sense. You can see the detail of these in the close up shots.
Pre-programmed stitches were used to create the randomised background texture by pulling the fabric through the machine slowly in different directions, to allow the machine time to partially create the programmed stitch, resulting in abstract effects. I enjoy this technique a lot as it does something that I can’t consciously do and adds a bit of serendipity.
The stalks were pretty easy to produce with satin stitch of different widths. I do love the fresh green of the stalks. It’s so wholesome! Purple and green is one of my favourite colour combinations. They really pop against each other in such a pleasing way.
Both of these allium pictures are now sold. If you would like to commission something similar then please get in touch alternatively, check out the current work for sale in my shop
