Sunday's Stitches - February 1st

The RUNNING STITCH. Love, love, love this one. It's easy AND the best part - it can be manipulated in a zillion ways to create additional colors, textures, etc. I hand painted another piece of really nice linen I bought at the Lazy Daisy, with Neocolors, and brushed some water over it with a fan brush to create a nice painterly surface upon which to stitch. Using a variety of colors of perle cotton I worked the Runinng Stitch straight, curved, in trios, in a wave pattern with the ALGERIAN EYE stitch. I've read this is a great stitch to use as a foundation upon which to build other stitch patterns. I can see that possibility and am going to explore that.

(Click on the stitch names if you would like to learn how to do these stitches.)

Can You Feel the Love.....? Well Can You?

Here are some Valentine ATC's I made for various reasons. The backgrounds and decorative elements were made from silk dupioni, soy silk, linen, foil, canvas, tulle, organza, cotton and angelina fibers that were stitched, melted, felted, ironed and embellished into sheets of fabric that could be cut and stitched. I painted pearl acrylic paints white and blue and white and silver and pink on bristol for the backings so they can be written on.

SUNDAY'S STITCHES: A Case of Mistaken Identity (NOT!), An Orange Mess, and A Crooked Chain

I'm adding a regular section to my blog starting today called Sunday's Stitches.

I've been dabbling on and off over the last year or so with teaching myself embroidery and I've decided that the only way I'm going to learn is if I take it seriously and do it regularly. So I've organized my supplies, bought some really nice linen, put a basket next to my favorite chair by my favorite window and have committed myself to going through Sharon B's stitch library and a few books Acey suggested (with my pal Michelle) week by week until we complete the entire library by December.

If you're interested in following along, I'll be posting pictures of my progress and lessons learned every Sunday evening under the sub-heading....

The Learning Curve
Lesson #1

Gizmo does NOT know the difference between Esmerelda and white perle cotton...

Nor does he care.

Lesson #2

Make "heat setting " the Neocolors a priority BEFORE stitching on the hand painted linen.

(Will Shout take that out??? I hope so. I've had that shirt since I was 17.)




Lesson #3

If you think you're off to a good to start and don't "need" to use canvas (where you can see the little squares and count them to make sure stitches are even) -- it's probably a good idea to make chalk lines for stitching reference so your stitching doesn't look as though you did it after 2 (make that 3) martinis. Oops.

Final thought: I still have to work through the Arrowstitch and Alternate Chain stitch tonight. I did learn that pulling the thread really tight when executing the Algerian Eye Stitch makes a nice little hole in the center, and that there are more variations of the chain stitch than Bon Jovi has hairstyles. I think this is going to open up a whole new dimension for my work. Thank you Jude and Acey for being such an inspiration.

Finally.....

Finishing up Odds & Ends...

Working on stitching and beading today. I don't know what it is -- but I love to work with black & white + one color. Very appealing to me.

These are little journal covers I made by painting on cotton duck with Neocolors II Artist Crayons, Acrylic Paint and Acrylic Textile Medium. I then stitched and embellished them with beads and metal stamped embellishments. The tassles are various fibers and a string of glass beads.

I've been having fun working with these smaller projects but I'm itching to start something of substance.

Looks like we may get a decent "snow" Monday night. Maybe I'll find some inspiration in the white silence.

Surrounded by Pink.......and I Don't Even Really Like Pink!

I've been in the mood to make some things for the Season of Hearts.

Taking a lesson from Acey's passion for purple , I rummaged through my stash(es) of various materials and began plucking out everything that was even remotely pink. Pink thread, fuscia yarn, magenta silk, coral satin, baby pink organza, rose tulle, shimmery pink painted tyvek, hot pink Swavrovski crystals, salmon angelina fibers, etc., etc. I've never worked like this before (for fear of making a mess) but how enjoyable that was.

I wanted to make some type of fiber/fabric base to make some pins and valentine post cards. So I grabbed a few pieces of peltex and began layering pink stuff. Once I was satisfied with the layers, I covered them with a piece of polyester organza and free motioned all over it with pink metallic thread. Then - came the heat gun.


I made a few different pieces like this and cut out a bunch of hearts. I love the lacey effect you get when you heat blast stitched organza. Sometimes you burn right through the fibers and if you've used kunin felt for a base (like I did) you melt right through that leaving holes. I like to layer something shiny behind the holes like satin or foil for interest.

I decided to get out the bead box and started adding some beads. I'm in love! After a few hours of fumbling like a big fingered idiot with the beads (I do hope that gets easier in time,) I decided to do some more free motion stitching over the tops with metallic threads.

Now I'm trying to decide what to do with all of these little hearts.

Some will be turned in to Valentine pins by finishing the backs with wool felt or fabric, satin stitching the edges and adding pin closures. Others may few may find their way on to a little art quilt -- maybe utilizing that black and white woven background I made a while ago. I did promise Sabrina her pick of the litter to wear on her denim jacket on Valentine's day. In any event, I'll be working with these over the next few days along with a few other things, and will post again once they're finished.

Parting Shots: Almost done with Lisa's Peace Sign Tote, and here's the robe I made for Sabrina for Christmas. I used a delicious cuddly minky fabric and when I asked her what kind of "pretty, feminine" fabric she wanted for the collar and cuffs, thinking she would want some toille, or satin, she said, "SKULLS." " I want skulls."

Horrors. A pretty robe, with SKULLS? I searched far and wide for the "prettiest" "skull" fabric I could find. It was a learning experience as I did put the collar on and faced it with interfacing so it would lay nice. I had a great time making this for her and want to make another one in maybe a flannel backed satin.

Ahhh, teenagers. Pretty skulls. Yeah, sure.

Better LATE Than Never...

As a progression of "catching up" I have a few special things I received over the holidays that I wanted to share with you.

First, I received the most amazing Secret Santa gift from Holly (a member of my Cyberbee Group.) I was unable to attend the Christmas Party our group had so Michelle was kind enough to stop by to drop off my gift. Imagine my surprise when I opened this beautifully wrapped gift

Front of the bag is above, the back of the bag is shown below.

Not only did Holly "make" me this beautiful sewing bag in the perfect colors it is just perfect for sitting in my office chair for quiet sewing in the evening. (She also stuffed it with some wonderful surprises - some edible and some useful) The workmanship on this little tool bag is beautiful - as there are pockets, a zipper pouch and mesh divider as you can see here. On the outside the butterflies are fussy cut and beaded and the background it beaded. It's gorgeous.

When we have our Capital Quilter's Guild meetings and Cyberbee meetings I often get to see her things first hand. Her work is absolutely beautiful. Thank you again Holly for your thoughtfulness.

Here's a link to Holly's webshots album. Take a minute and go have a look at her wonderful work.

I am also the fortunate recipient of this beautiful piece of art - stained glass wind chimes from Katie.

Katie and I have a mutual appreciation for oneanother's work and we worked out a little trade. I'm making her a neocolor journal and she made me this. It's very similar to the one she sent me over the summer however the colors are different - upon my request. Her beautiful garden art adds color and life to our yard all year round. Check out Katie's blog to see more of her stunning stained glass work, as well as some of her more recent endeavors - including mixed media art and art journal pages.

As for me, well I've been hard at work on Katie's journal, a little giveaway prize for Clevelandgirlie and Lisa's peace sign tote bag -- both of which are almost complete. Once those are out of the studio I'm going to regroup as I have sever new projects slated to begin, as well as I am attending (I'm so excited about this) Lyric Kinard's art quilt workshop next Saturday. I'm really looking forward to this workshop as I'm hoping to pick up some skills in beading.

More to come soon. In the meantime, stay warm, bundle up and drink more soy lattes!!

Happy New Year - Finally

New Year's Day reminds me of a sunrise -- the dawn of of a beautiful day.


It's very invigorating to me - the start of the New Year. And, in honor of this renewed sense of energy -- I thought I'd start my New Year posts off with a list of my "hopes" for the future.

In 2009, I hope....

to be open to exploring new things (creatively, physically and mentally)
to become stronger and healthier
to spend more time with people I have things in common with
to increase my level of competence in activities I enjoy
to be a better wife, mother, daughter and sister
to learn to accept others for exactly who they are and not who I expect them to be
to experience deeper meaning in my faith
to increase my level of focus

I also sincerely hope that 2009 brings to you health, joy and deeper meaning to your own life.

Now let's get back to doing what we love!