I've discovered a new design technique ... well at least a name for it!!

I was browsing through on of my favorite textile art books "Stitch Stories" by Cas Holmes and in a section on collage she talks about a process she calls 'backward design' ..... extracting compositions from a larger design ..... and that's just what I've been doing this week.

I had a larger piece that I made a year or so ago and although there was a lot I liked about it, something was missing so I set it aside (.... waiting for inspiration !)

Inspiration came in the form of an idea from an old sketchbook .... putting the two together meant cutting sections from the larger piece as the basis for the new compositions.

The result is a series of new leafline pieces on the design wall ready for stitching ..... here are three of them .....

I think this will be a very useful design technique for the future .....

And I can highly recommend ............"Stitch Stories" by Cas Holmes, Batsford, London 2015 if your are looking for inspiration !!

Have you tried some 'backward design' ?? Thanks for reading ............CC