TAST Week 6 - Chevron Stitch

TAST Week 6 - Chevron Stitch

A nicely productive week for me so far. 

Didn't get too many Chevron stitch samples done, but I shall add some more to my journal page at a later date when I get some time to experiment some more.

Chevron Stitch

Double row of Chevron stitch in two heights

Raised Chevron Stitch

And all together on my journal page they look like this

Happy Stitching

 

TAST Week 5 - Herringbone Stitch

TAST Week 5 - Herringbone Stitch

Herringbone stitch has many variations and it is very popular on Crazy Quilts. 

It can be used as the base stitch to 'build' many designs on and in this way can be combined with many other stitches to make very interesting patterns for seam treatments.

Here is the unstitched hand dyed evenweave panel that I am starting for February's stitches. 

The working area is 9 inches square and will eventually be put in a journal book along with the other 'pages' of stitches. There could be any number of different stitches on each panel. It all depends on how much time I have for stitching and whether I experiment lots or a little with the various stitches.

 

The Basic Herringbone stitch worked in DMC stranded cotton floss.

 

Stacked Herringbone

 

 Rows of Overlapping Herringbone

An experiment with curved edges

This was meant to be Long and Short Herringbone stitch, but I think I ruined it slightly by trying to do it on a curve. I probably should have at least drawn a guide line for the curve first, but I hardly ever plan ahead. Free Form Stitching is the name of this blog for good reason, haha!!!

Now this next one is actually called Ladder Herringbone, but I think it is very like a 'laced' Cretan stitch.

I really should not have used three different colour threads in my needle at the same time as it is very difficult to see the stitch. Sorry about that.

And here is a Closed Herringbone stitch.

Started off a wee bit uneven on the left for a couple of centimetres, but then once I got the hang of 'what-happens-where' things got neater.

And to experiment some more with the Closed Herringbone stitch .....

(I like the solid look of this stitch)

I wondered what effect a variegated thread would have with this stitch.

I rather like the result. Only problem was that it uses up a LOT of thread, but sometimes it is necessary to use quantity just to get the right look to a project.

I shall definitely be using this textured stitch in my CQJP.

So here is my Journal Page so far with all my TAST week 5 stitches.

Happy Stitching

CQJP January Block

CQJP January Block

Just a few days after the end of January and I have my block at a good finish point for the Crazy Quilt Journal Project.

So this is the 9 inch completed block so far.

And here are a couple of close-up pics

 

 

In that last pic you can see I've added a piece of crochet to a seam. 

I have decided to create a piece of crochet lace (or maybe two or three pieces) for each of my blocks. Crochet is my 'other' passion, so it feels very natural to include my own crochet on the crazy blocks. Crochet pieces will be designed and made specifically for the cq block and staying within the colour scheme. That will make my blocks even more 'personal' to me.

I shall be adding a raised stitch butterfly to the centre fabric patch at some time in the future, but I want to have a few blocks at the completed stage so that I can stitch a few at a time for continuity throughout the 12 blocks. 

I'm not sure yet what form they will take. I've still got that part on the project design board.

I'm happy to have the first block of my CQJP done now, and I look forward to getting February's block started. I'm really enjoying the challenge of working on these blocks.

My stitching 'theme' is not entirely traditional looking. I am trying to incorporate a more geometric look to the blocks as I don't want to go too 'flowery' with them (although a flower or two did pop up on this block, lol)

I love experimenting with pattern, line, shape and form.

That's all for now folks!!

Happy Stitching

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TAST Week 4 - Cretan Stitch

TAST Week 4 - Cretan Stitch

Knowing that I have a very busy week this week, I got stitching this Cretan Stitch on the Tuesday when Sharon first posted it on her blog.

I enjoyed creating these variations of the stitch and will definitely 'play' some more with it.

From left to right the stitches are:

Cretan Stitch in lilac

Various stitch lengths and widths in navy blue

Knotted Cretan in light blue

(this one took a bit of coaxing to get it right, and even then I had trouble getting the knots to stay in place, but I persevered with it)

Raised Cretan in green

Open Double Raised Cretan in green

 

And the reason I have a busy week this week is that hubby (that crazy-dooman) bought a boat last weekend and has given me a shopping list of things he needs for it and things to do to get it ready for taking out this coming long-weekend - and he also says I need to buy a life jacket and a wet-suit for myself (waaaahhhhhaaaahaaa). I have no idea where he got the impression that I would be accompanying him. He knows I love swimming and is trying to entice me to go out on the boat with him. But I have no love of the ocean and I hate (no that is not too strong a word for it) fishing.

Wish me luck, and I hope I return here in one piece to stitch TAST week 5.

Cy - BJP - January

Yay!!! I eventually got around to finishing the top part of my 'teardrop' pendant. Not bad for a beading novice I think.

I'm happy with how it turned out.

I purposely left some of the orange showing through as it's a great contrast for the black, and it enhances the gold semi-see-thru glass beads.

 

And finally.............. drum roll please..........my first bead encrusted Teardrop Pendant on a gold chain.

 

I also tried it attached to a black neckwire which is shorter than the chain and for using as a choker pendant. 

The photo below was taken at a different time of day and the colours are more true without the glare of the shiny bits.

This was a big learning curve for me. 

When I next use this encrusted bead embroidery technique I will do things differently. But that is what this BJP is for ...... to experiment with techniques that I may have not tried before, or to play with and develop techniques that I have enjoyed using.

February's BJP will be the same shape as above but a totally different technique that will be such fun to do.

WATCH THIS SPACE.

....Cy....

A link to the Bead Journal Project is in the right hand column.

TAST Week 3 - Feather Stitch

TAST Week 3 - Feather Stitch

Here are my experiments with Feather Stitches for this week.

And here is the journal page so far, with three week of TAST stitches.

I feel sort of cheated, or hard done by, with this stitch because I was very short of time to do any stitching this week, and I don't think I have experimented with feather stitch enough for my liking yet.

I may have to come back to 'play' with feather stitch some more when I get some spare time, but at least I did manage to get a few rows done in time for my weekly reveal on

Tuesday Stitchers Group Blog

BJP - WIP - January

BJP - WIP - January

My shape for this challenge has ended up a Teardrop.

The starting point for this piece is my own hand-made black and gold scroll bead that didn't make it into a necklace in it's own right (poor thing). 

I thought the orange felt background was suitable for showing off both the black and the gold. All other colours that I auditioned had a muted effect on one colour, and I want both colours to stand out equally on this.

And then I started the embellishing with gold beads.

When this pendant is finished it will be heavily encrusted all over and hopefully have the light reflecting off it in all directions. 

The bugle beads semi-circle are in two colours - gold and copper. I think they work well together. The orange background was a good choice here as it enhances the gold and copper beads.

I'm looking forward to working on the next section of it during this coming week. 

Very pleased with the progress made this week.

CQJP - January samples

CQJP - January

I still haven't got even one block made up yet. I need to find a whole day when I can get my sewing machine out and get cracking on this. But I have, at least pulled together all the parts to complete my project. So you can see that I haven't exactly been idle on this challenge.

The fabric I have blogged about before, so here are the

Threads - Beads - Buttons etc.

TAST Week 2 - Buttonhole (Blanket) Stitch

TAST Week 2 - Buttonhole (Blanket) Stitch

My experimenting with this stitch was good. Tried a couple of new (to me) variations, and I'm well pleased with the result for my journal page.

Stitches include - back-to-back buttonhole, 4 variations of wrapped buttonhole, V-buttohole couching, alternate sides buttohole couching. slanting buttonhole, length pattern, layered and graded buttonhole, outline buttonhole, wheel, ridged buttonhole, bar (or detached) buttonhole.

I have two favourites from above - the orange detached buttonhole flower was great to work on, and the wrapped buttonhole variation on the very left at the bottom of pic has an interesting look to it I think.

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TAST Week 1 - Fly Stitch

TAST Week 1 - Fly Stitch

I have decided to do my TAST stitches on 9" x 9" squares of recycled even-weave linen that I have hand dyed. These will then be made into a stitch reference journal and added to throughout the year.

I shall also be using these TAST stitches on my CQJP but my Crazy Quilt blocks will get many other stitches too, because I want to use more than the 4 a month TAST stitches on each block right from block one, so I shall be creating two separate challenge projects. 

1. TAST - a stitch reference journal book
2. CQJP - a Crazy Quilt Wall Hanging incorporating some TAST stitches.

I am expecting to get at least 4 weeks of experimenting with TAST stitches on each square, but I may alter that if I get carried away with some stitches.

I shall mostly be using up my stranded cotton thread stash 'left-over' from other projects. It's amazing just how many colours one person can collect, and it's even more amazing how many knots and tangles just suddenly appear in the threads in the bag.

It must be one of life's little mysteries - who puts the knots in the bags?

Anyway - on with TAST 2012.

Here is the first of my hand dyed 9" linen squares before the needle got to it.

And here is a bunch of threads from my stash bag (just a small handful of them).

You can see I tried to keep the threads in order on the project cards, but it seems that someone threw a bunch of knots in the bag too. Ah well, I'll untangle that lot as I get to it.

The purple thread in the following pic is where I randomly started stitching my fly stitch. 

I won't be using a doodle-cloth as my stitching samples will all go straight onto the linen so that I can keep track of any bloopers I make too.

And Finally my "play-piece"................. all my fly stitch samples for TAST 2012 Week 1

Bring on week 2

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I'm Back. ...Time To Get Stitching

Well, I was a long time absent from blogging due to Christmas not leaving our household until today.

The last of my seasonal guests have now left me clearing up the mess, lol (thanks Emma!!!). The family and friends who spent Christmas and New Year with us had a wonderfully Jolly Season. The hangovers should just about be clearing by now (and there were many of them) and we are almost getting the farm back to normal, whatever 'normal' may mean.
It sure is quiet around the house now. No more cauldrons of food to make at dinner time, no more production line sandwiches for the masses at lunch. The turkey and ham have been consumed, the decorations have been packed in their little and big boxes, the spare bedrooms have been vacated, the tents have been packed up and taken away, and the caravan can surely wait a few days for me to clean it out properly, although I have removed anything from the caravan that could possibly grow life-forms over the next couple of days.


No time to take a breather.... I've got a lot of stitching to catch up with. 


Take A Stitch Tuesday............... here I come ............. watch this space.

Crazy Quilt Ideas

Progress on the Crazy Quilt that I am making to do my TAST stitching on.

I have eventually found the blue/teal colour that I was looking for, and I was in such a hurry to photograph it that I haven't even washed or ironed it yet.

I have played with arrangement ideas and colour schemes in my digital program and come up with the following ideas that I am happy to continue with refining until I get the modern/contemporary look for my traditionally stitched CQ blocks.

12 blocks in 4 x 4 arrangement joined edge to edge around a large square in centre for extra embellishments.

The centre could also be another CQ block or applique focal point.

Same arrangement of 12 blocks 4 x 4, but with sashing between blocks, and a black border on centre square and black binding around whole wall hanging.

Almost the same as above, but with a solid black square centre piece. Plenty of scope for TAST embroidery on that black square.

3 x 5 arrangement around a large central rectangle. I rather like the wide black border too.

Now this is more what I am looking for and I'm starting to feel that I'm getting somewhere with the designing.

Change the orientation and add WELCOME to the middle (I might not really add this to the final work), and my wall hanging is just right for the wall in my entrance hall that is right opposite the front door.

So much for my earlier thoughts that I definitely wanted a square wall hanging.

The blue/teal coloured areas in any of my designs above could also be made up of CQ strips and blocks in similar colours, tones and shades to that lovely fabric I have found. 

No more prevarication, digital or otherwise.

I'm ready for the needle and thread.

Planning my CQ project

Planning my CQ project.

 Over the last couple of days I have been pondering on my CQ colour scheme because I have not worked with this particular combination of colours before.

I have a very clear picture in my head of how the wall-hanging will look (will someone please invent a camera to take pics of my imagination).

Anyway, I need my CQ to be predominantly black and white (achromatic) with hints of teal/blue for highlights.

It has to have very straight lines, be extremely modern, and contemporary at the same time.

Therefore I challenged myself to only using brand new fashions cotton fabrics from the quilt shop.

I do not want any texture or shine in the fabrics. All the texture will be created with the stitching and embellishments, and I think I might only use buttons as embellishments

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Clear lines throughout. Organized and boxy. No lacy bits or frills (that is going to be a challenge for me to stick to).

Then I started to wonder how I am going to work with this "new-to-me" colour scheme. In the past I have always used bright colours, happy colours, warm colours in everything I've done. How am I going to stick with my achromatic scheme for a whole year?

Panic set in.

What if I don't like it? What if I give up because I can't work with these colours?

Here is a pic of the colours I have bought so far. A fat-quarter, or a fat-eighth of each at the moment. To be added to with subsequent trips to my favourite store.

 

The black and blue butterfly fabric in the middle was the first piece I chose, as it has the right colour blue/teal (although it looks quite a bit darker in the photo than it does IRL)

I have added beige/gold to my achromatic scheme as it is the same colour that outlines the butterflies and ties in nicely with the lotus plant Egyptian(ish) pattern in the same colours.

To cut a long story short (oops, too late) I decided to make up a test piece as a trial to see how I cope with the blacks and lack of brights. I worked on this test piece in varying amounts of daylight and night light to see if I would have trouble with the dark fabric.

Sample is just under 8"

This sample has given me a better idea of how best to use the colours (or how NOT to use them). 

I started off ok with the dark's in the middle, but then I "sort of" lost it a bit before working out that I needed to get the white/lights on the outside. And I'm not sure that those beige/golds really work, or maybe I just have to use them sparingly.

The setting I envisage for my wall-hanging will definitely be square. Each block will be 8" and sewn directly to the next 8" block (no sashing). So it will either be set 3 x 3 blocks, or 4 x 4. I don't mind having to make 16 blocks if I do the 4 x 4. But if I do the 3 x 3, then I would like to make up the extra 3 blocks (so I have total of 12 for CQJP) as a table runner for the hall table near where my wallhanging will be hung.
 

I usually leave everything to chance when quilt-making, so planning ahead like this is a totally different way of working for me. And for me to actually make a test piece has never happened before.

I'm looking forward to seeing this project progress.

2012 TAST & CQJP project

2012 TAST & CQJP project.

I have signed up for both the TAST and the CQJP challenges for 2012. 

 

TAST (Take A Stitch Tuesday) is an embroidery stitching challenge run by SharonB of Pintangles. Aim -  to focus on one particular stitch (one a week for the whole year) with an emphasis on advancing personal stitching skills.

 

 CQJP (Crazy Quilt Journal Project) is to create 12 Crazy Quilt blocks (one a month for the whole year). Aim -  to increase awareness of crazy quilting internationally and to provide a central location for the public to view examples of crazy quilt projects in progress and completed. Details here.

 

Both these challenges complement each other and I shall be using some of the TAST stitches as embellishment on a CQ wall hanging in a particular colour scheme that I have never used before (that is an extra challenge to myself). I also envisage using the TAST challenge stitches on another piece that will, hopefully, satisfy my “free form” and mixed media yearning. I am, predominantly, a hand-stitcher by choice, so I can see these challenges taking up quite a bit of my time.

Take A Stitch Tuesday 

Crazy Quilt Journal Project