At Last

At last I’m getting around to posting my works in progress (WIP’s).

Design Wall

Before I give my current lineup I wanted to share my design board – yes I finally have one! We took some insulation board ( I bought the 1/2” but would rather have gotten the ¾” but oh well!). These were then wrapped with white flannel (I had to sew two pieces together) and them attached to the wall with Velcro. I put the first one up myself (well with a little help from my hubby). We didn’t get it straight. My son helped me put up the second one (he’s tall so he could reach the top). I needed it to be above the wall outlet plugs so it isn’t even at the top with the first one. But it works! I’m loving it! I think one will be dedicated to hand stitching and the other to machine stitching. And yes I plan to use the top part – I’ll just have to get my handy step stool out. I have some left over board that I’ll cover with flannel and use to transport blocks to be sewn from the design board to the sewing area.

Now for my WIP’s.

First up is a hand embroidered piece I started while taking Sharon Boggon’s class “Encrusted Embroidery”. We had to work in monochrome – a challenge for me since I love color! First we had to come up with an idea or design statement. Another challenge for me as I rarely do this but tend to just wing it as I go along. But I finally started jotting done some notes and came up with this:

Well I'm finally making some progress. I started out with the thought of my
world turned upside down due to major changes - retirement from a full time job,
moving my household from Hawaii to Texas, leaving friends, making new friends,
living in my daughter's home while we complete finding and buying a new home,
getting ready to welcome our first grandchild, and on and on.

I also am want to start some embroidery for my grandson's room

 His room is in yellow and greys with wallpaper on the ceiling that has
birds. So I got to thinking about all this and jotted down some words and did a
few sketches in my sketchbook and this is what I've come up with for the first
work. A bird's nest in a tree.

Photo of bird nest in tree

I googled nests and found this fantastic photographer Sharon Beals who had stunning photos of bird nests. But I wanted something more common so I found this photo on Mary Ann Fiebert’s blog. I asked her for permission to use it and she graciously gave it.  I simplified it to this drawing and started working. 

Bird Nest Embroidery

First up was pulled thread embroidery which I had never done before. Next I stitched a border around the area as a frame. The tree came next and this is where I am at today. The next will be the encrusted part. For the trees I wanted to give it a “barky” look and also a rounded look. I started by stitching with pearl cotton changing the color from light to dark. On the larger branch I am couching down thicker yarns. On both branches I’m leaving knotholes. Once I finish the trees I’ll start on the nest.

January Crazy Quilt 2012 block

Close up of January Crazy Quilt 2012

Next up is the 12 in 12 crazy quilt block for January. I’ve stitched most of the seams but I’ve decided it needs more silver so I’m looking for my silver threads. I plan to embroider a snow angel, some ice skates and more.

Name Badge for Quilt Guild

The last thing I’ll show for now is a small crazy quilt block that will become my name tag for the quilt guild I belong to. I did my name using French knots. It looks a little wonky but I’ve decided to leave it as is. It’s growing on me!

I have more items that I’m working on but I think this is enough for now. Be back later with my elephant block, some more things for my grandson’s room and a hat.

Happy stitching!

Rose

TAST Notation

Here’s week 5 progress for the TAST (Take A Stitch Tuesday) Challenge run by Sharon from PinTangle.

Herringbone Stitch Sampler

This stitch is the herringbone stitch, part of the cross stitch family and for me not that difficult of a stitch. 

The first row is a non counted one with exaggerated lines. 

The second row was done actually counting the threads and trying to make the stitches even. 

The third row left hand side is a regular herringbone that was done in one color and then a second herringbone done in between it using a different color. 

The right side of the third row is a closed herringbone stitch. 

Chevron stitch is the fourth row and you can tell I wasn’t counting threads! 

The fifth row is a Breton stitch. 

The last row is a threaded herringbone. Again I did the herringbone in one color and threaded it with a second color. I’m still using the variegated thread as in the other samples I’m just cutting the thread so that there is a difference in color.

CQ2012 January Block with TAST stitches

The CQ January block which is still a WIP (Work In Progress) has all of the TAST stitches on it. I just have a few more small seams to embellish and then some small embroidery to stitch and buttons to sew on. Where does the time go? I really should be working on my February block.

Happy stitching!

 Rose

TAST Weeks 3 and 4

Just popping in to add my week three and four progress for the TAST (Take A Stitch Tuesday) Challenge run by Sharon from PinTangle.

Feather stitch and variations

The feather stitch is one of my favorites. I like the airiness of it. I must confess though that I haven’t used it very much. I tend to stick to a few basic stitches in my work. That is changing as I work on my other projects. Here is what I have for the feather stitch (left to right). Single feather, double feather, chained feather, closed feather, Spanish knotted feather, and maidenhair stitch. My favorite of these is the Spanish knotted feather although it doesn’t show that good in the photo. As I’ve stated before I am left-handed and sometimes have trouble figuring out how to do the stitch. The advice given by others especially right-handed embroiderers does not work very well for me. So I have to experiment and as you can see from my samplers I don’t always get it right to begin with. The other thing I have noticed in the written books that I have is they don’t always tell you how to end a row. Again I don’t do my best when I am trying to follow the holes in the weave of the cloth.  

Cretan stitch and variations

This week we were given the Cretan stitch to play with. I did the basic and a few variations. Included in my sampler are the Cretan stitch, open Cretan stitch, Scottish Cretan stitch, knotted Cretan, and raised Cretan. I really like these last two. I had some difficulty with the Scottish one so will have to practice it some more. You can work it as a single stand alone stitch or in a group. The end of the sampler shows my practice using the Cretan stitch on a sort of leaf shape and then the bottom has an open Cretan filling stitch which I like.

I haven’t used these stitches on an actual piece of work yet like I did the fly stitch and the buttonhole stitch. I plan to use the first four stitches on my first crazy quilt block for the CQ challenge. It’s due up by Tuesday so I’d better get to stitching. Be back later with the results of that plus some WIP’s to show you.

Happy stitching!

Rose

Popping In with TAST

Just popping in to add my week two progress for the TAST (Take A Stitch Tuesday) Challenge run by Sharon from PinTangle. The buttonhole/blanket stitch is one that I’m familiar with. I have used it on the crazy quilt block I started in Sharon’s online class. No it isn’t finished yet but I haven’t given up on it. I tend to bounce from project to project putting aside something I’m working on when I’m not sure what to do next on it or I’m just tired of it. The elephant block is hanging near my stitching work area reminding me I need to add some more to it.

Elephant Crazy Quilt Block

Meanwhile I started a CQ (Crazy Quilt) block a month challenge which I have cut the base fabric for and am busy collecting my fabrics for January, mainly white and blue for a snowy wintry day. And as if that isn’t enough I’ve decided to take another online class in embroidery given by Karen Ruane. So I’m playing catch up with that one. As the work progresses I will add photos and notes about them.

Here’s my buttonhole/blanket sampler so far.

Buttonhole Sampler

On the sampler there are a variety of variations of the buttonhole stitch. There are more variations but I am not a fan of precise stitching (well I enjoy looking at it but not doing it) so I tend to stop working on the sampler and go to my doodling instead. You’ll notice on the white on white piece that some of the stitches are closer together than others and some are shorter than others. I like the organic look this gives. I would love to here your comments on my work.

Buttonhole Doodle

And here is my random work using the buttonhole stitch on one of my wandering doodles. I used white floss and a creamy white background to test out working white on white. While doing this project I realized that I needed to hold my fabric sideways in order to stitch. The sampler was started trying to do the stitches top to bottom (or bottom to top) vertically in other words. If I work horizontally they turn out much better. I am left handed and often have to try different ways of doing embroidery stitches until I am happy and comfortable.
Sorry I haven’t come up with a name for this piece yet.

Happy stitching!
Rose

12 In 12 X 2

This year I’m working (still) on my UFO’s (unfinished objects). Last year I joined Fabric Fascination in trying to do 52 – one a week. That didn’t fare too well partly because of our major changes and partly because very few of them could be completed in a week. So while I still have a lot of UFO’s (and the list is growing as I unpack!), I decided to try for one a month. Hence 12 in 12. Judy also decided to trim down to 12, here's her blog. We’ll see how it goes!

Why the times 2? Well I also decided to get more experience with crazy quilting (CQ) so I joined a block a month challenge. So besides 12 UFO’s I’m also going to attempt 12 CQ blocks. I think I’ll work a month theme for these. I’ll post my progress as I go along.

Here’s a few more items I completed in 2011:

First there is the chair. My daughter wanted a vintage rocking chair for the nursery and she bought one from a sweet little old lady. The chair was over a hundred years old and needed a little work on it (or so we thought). First up was the cushion cover which was a brown plaid that was torn. She asked if I could replace it. So off it came. Well there was this pink fabric under the plaid. So off it came. Then came the original covering in black. Off it came along with the horsehair, batting, straw, springs and even a black spider.  Unfortunately each layer had been tacked on top of the previous one. All those hundreds (yes hundreds!) of tacks took their toll on the wood. I felt it was really unsafe, especially for a newborn and his mother. So eventually my daughter’s father-in-law Willie (who loves to work with wood) took the chair and rebuilt the bottom. He supplied me with the wood seat to cover. After putting on a very thick nufoam cushion I sewed some more yellow and white canvas together to match the curtains in the nursery and gave it back to Willie to assemble. Now I’m in the process of making a cushion for the back of the chair out of beautiful bumper pads made by Marilynn’s aunt Betty. (She decided not to use the bumper pads in the crib so we are repurposing them – pictures coming when I’m finished.)

Next came the camel who was attacked by a little black dog who shall remain nameless. Both eyes were ripped out and the stuffing was falling out. I stitched them together and using black floss embroidered new eyes.

Then I took up knitting again. After giving away a mountain or two of yarn to my Hawaii neighbor’s granddaughter (she loves to crochet and her grandma who was raising her couldn’t afford to buy materials for her), I still am finding yarn as I unpack my craft supplies. I haven’t knitted in years but I actually enjoy it. So my grandson Jaden got a new blue and white striped hat to wear. (The pattern is from Charbridge Knits www. charbridgeknits.com). It’s a little big on him but he’s growing fast.

Then I needed a gift for Aunt Betty. I knew she collected roosters and hens for her kitchen and when I spotted these napkins that had some red stitching around them I thought they would be perfect for some embroidery. I finally found a rooster design that I liked and modified it for my stitching. Some satin, back/outlining and of course my signature the French knots plus some chain stitching all done in a variegated red pearl cotton thread. One was finished in time for gift giving the other three are ready to be turned over now. Now I know she is not going to use them as working napkins but she keeps her table looking so nice with place settings that she may use them as part of the décor. Or we could stitch the four napkins together and make a tabletop. Anyway I love the rooster and will modify it some more and then offer it for sale in my new shop once I get it opened. More about that later!
Finally one more thing to talk about. Besides all of the above I'm folowing the TAST challenge (Take A Stitch Tuesday) run by Sharon of Pin Tangle. She posts an embroidery stitch each Tuesday (well Tuesday in Australia) and then we use it on a sampler and/or in some form on a project.

The first stitch was called the fly stitch. I've used this stitch before. First I did some sampler stitches. I really don't like working on cloth where you can count the threads, it's too organized for me!. So after doing that for awhile I decided to try and use it on one of my doodles. Now normally this stitch is a stand alone one or it can be used as a filler or border stitch. I wanted to see what would happen if I tried to use it as an outline stitch. So first I doodled a small design and then I started stitching. Normally with my doodles I outline the design using black thread first and then start working the interior sections. So I threaded my needle with black floss (2 strands) and took off. The result was kind of surprising because of the lacy effect. Here is my stitching ready for framing. The name of this piece "The Flight of the Dying Fly"!

Happy Stitching!

If At First ...

Okay so you’ve probably heard the saying “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again”. So I think that’s where I’m at with blogging. I really want to blog on a regular basis not just occasionally, but I seem to be trying and trying. So here we go again!

Wow over two months have gone by since I last posted! And now it’s almost Christmas is past! Well I have been busy. Still unpacking and hunting for things. When will I learn to label my boxes better? Knowing me probably never! Ha!

I’ve decided to add my Works In Progress (WIP’s) to the blog so you can see what I’m working on and what lies behind a finished project. 

Oh speaking of finished projects my plans for 52 old unfinished ones went astray but I did manage to do the butterflies on a dish towel. I went back to it because I needed some dish towels. 

                                                    This became a warm up exercise for my fingers before working on other projects. Plus I tested out something my art instructor told me a long time ago. “A broken line is more interesting than a solid one.” The butterfly on the left is solid stitching and the one on the right has some broken lines. Do you find it more interesting? I’m not sure if it holds true for embroidery.

Another side benefit of doing these butterflies is while working on them I made a decision for another project. I had done the shashiko embroidery in a class taught by the kit designer Sylvia Pippin in Hawaii. The kit called for appliqué butterflies using some hand marbled fabric supplied in the kit. I started working on them but was not thrilled with the fabric colors so then I tried using some of my own hand marbled fabrics (I have a lot of these from classes I taught). They weren’t suiting me either so I stopped working on the project.

I contemplated doing them as embroidery but couldn’t decide. Then I started working on the dishtowel, the more I worked on it the stronger I felt to do embroidered butterflies on the shashiko piece. Now I just need to decide whether to make them fantasy ones or closer to true colors! Follow me and see what transpires!

I’m trying to stitch 1 to 2 hours every morning before my day gets busy. I also am now watching my grandson four days a week from 8 to 5 so I may need to find another time slot. But he’s worth it! Oh the pleasures of being a Tutu (grandmother)! Here he is wearing a hat made by Tutu Rose (that’s me of course!).

Happy stitching!

Starting Over Again

Okay let’s try this again. I started out claiming 2011 to be a year of new beginnings and truly it has been! So much so that I’ve let my blogging slip way too long so let’s give it a new beginning also.
A dozen things that have transpired so far:

1. I retired from my full time job with the County of  Hawaii. How sweet it is!
2. We (myself, my husband, and my son) spent the month of June packing, running garage sales, shipping a container load of stuff, and dumping more stuff. It was rough but we made it.
3. With the help of my daughter and her husband I started shopping for houses online. They would go look at ones we found, take pictures, and offer their opinions. Finding a house took longer than expected but we finally purchased one and moved in on August 19. Funny thing is we bought the very first house I had looked at back in March or April.
4. We said goodbye to everyone and boarded the flight that would begin our journey from Hawaii to Texas. It was a difficult flight and I may blog more about that one day. (Difficult is putting it mildly). And of course my husband and I were in tears as we left our beloved island.
5. We moved in on our daughter and husband just as they were doing some remodeling on their home and preparing for the arrival of their first child. Probably another post coming on that too!
6. After moving into our home we began fixing things up, trying to get ourselves organized (still working on that!), unpacking, and shopping for major appliances and furniture. We had no car (trying to shop for that too!) so we had to rely on others for all of our traveling needs.
7. Finally bought a car with the help of our good friend Willie (my daughter’s father-in-law) who drove us around to car dealers, lots, and spent even more time looking online. Got my wish car – a PT Cruiser with sunroof. 
8.  
   
   Went to the hospital to welcome the birth of our first grandson! Welcome Jaden Kaleo Howe! Mama Rose loves you! So does Papa K!
9. Signed up for an online embroidery class before retiring thinking I would be all settled in before it started. That didn’t happen so I’m way behind with the assignments but I am determined to do them.
10. Signed up for another online class. This one for encrusted crazy quilting with the same instructor. I love her work! This is only the second week of a six week course and I’m keeping up with it. I’ll definitely be blogging about those two projects.
11. Did not get any of my UFO’s completed as planned even though I did carry handwork with me on this journey. Did start some more works though and actually completed a few of them. 
12. Started getting back into the hang of cooking and baking. Love doing it. Well except for the cleanup maybe!

Well that’s my dozen for now. Some things may have been forgotten. Here are the items I did finish:

Birds to go in my grandson’s nursery using a pattern we found on Spool. Check my daughter’s blog out to see pictures of them and the wonderful decorating job she did.
A ruffled nursing cover-up for my daughter using a pattern from RuffledBegonia on Etsy.

Here’s some pictures to tease you about my current WIP’s (works in progress) which I will be posting about shortly!

Until then,

Happy stitching!