Works in Progress - knit and dye

Thought I'd share a couple of small things I did last week. The fibers I dyed for the sampler I'm making. I was going for salmon. It's actually pretty close.




This is an i-cord knitted with Lion Brand chenille yarn. It will get used in M's book of textures and colors. I've already got her stroking fibers and exploring texture. I just love it.

Crazy Quilt Project Detail 7

The motif in this detail started with a fluffy, slubby yarn that was couched down in the shape of a heart. Flowers were added with silk ribbon stitches in the darker pink and French knots with #5 cotton perl in the lighter pink. Chain stitch leaves were sprinkled throughout with pale green rayon floss that was also used for the couching.

Other details include a beaded seam, a purchased trim seam accented with straight stitches, and a feather stitch seam accented with detached chain, straight, and pistil stitches.

Crazy Quilt Project Detail 6

This motif was worked freehand with stem stitches and then French knots were added along the lines of each heart. The thread is actually a finer weight knitting yarn in a silk/cashmere blend that I hand dyed.

Crazy Quilt Project Detail 5, TAST

Last week I mentioned TAST in a post title. For those who don't know, this refers to a stitching challenge issued by SharonB of inaminuteago.com. You can read more about it here. Each week she introduces a stitch and challenges stitches around the world to try it out and see what they can do with it. Debra Spincic hosts a web ring for the challenge here and there are lots of photos on the Take a stitch Tuesday flickr group. The TAST challenge is about midway through. I first heard of it a few months back when I was taking a crazy quilting class from Sharon. As much as I might like to, I can't devote the time to fully take on the challenge each week. However, I thoroughly enjoy reading about each week's stitch and seeing some of the work others are doing. I have been able to try out some stitches that were new to me, like the up and down buttonhole and basque stitches. You can see how I used the up and down buttonhole here.
Here's a photo of my first attempt at basque stitch. It's not too bad and I'm sure I'll try it again.
The photo at the top of the page is another detail from my finished project. It fits in nicely with last week's TAST stitch, French knot. You can see three different ways I used French knots. I've sewn them in groups of three to add texture to a patch while leaving the the texture of the fabric visible. I used them as a filler on a lace motif. And I've used them with feather stitch and detatched chains on a seam treatment. There are many ways to use French knots and they show up in most of my stitching projects in one way or many.
Be sure to check out Sharon's stitch dictionary for instructions for these and many more stitches.

Work in Progress - Sampler

Part of a bible verse on a sampler I'm working on, I'm sort of designing this as I go. I've started with the words and will add heart motifs, bands of decorative stitches, and perhaps vines with flowers along the sides.

Crazy Quilt Project Detail 4

This detail from the recent project shows a chain stitch vine with ribbon stitch leaves and a lace flower motif with beads.

Crazy Quilt Project Detail 3

Another detail from the finished project, this a small motif in the center area. Stitches include spider web roses, French knots, lazy daisy, stem, feather, running, and buttonhole.

Crazy Quilt Project Detail 2

Another detail from the project I just finished.

The flower was a purchased trim. I can't quite remember which kind, but it has the look of a Christmas season type of trim that I probably picked up for a bargain. I added the gold thread swirls next to the flower. The ends of the swirls ended up hidden behind the matt in the frame. I started this project a couple of years ago and then hit a creative block. Not knowing what was missing, I showed it to the recipient and told her my plan was to make it into a pillow, but I wasn't sure. I gave her some options and she chose to have it in a frame. Because I hadn't intended to frame it when I began, there was a bit of stitching around the edges that you don't see in the frame. I ended up adding a bit more stitching to it in the last few weeks. It is finished now and I'm happy with how it turned out.
In addition to the flower, this detail shows a seam done of herringbone in #5 perl cotton with French knots and straight stitch accents in rayon ribbon knitting yarn. The other bit is the end of another seam with eyelet type trim that has pink silk ribbon threaded through the openings and chain stitches along the sides in gold thread.

Crazy Quilt Project Detail 1, TAST

This is a detail shot of a crazy quilt project I'm finishing up today. Stitches include chevron, straight, French knots, pistil, detatched chain, whipped wheel, woven bars, stem, and ribbon stitches.

Butterflies

The hand embroidery group had a swap in May that I participated in. It was a design challenge swap. We were all given the same pattern to stitch and paired up with a swap partner. This first photo is the butterfly that I stitched. The stitches used include chain, detached chain, stem, satin, and French knots. The purple outline on the outer edge of the wings is a line of single detached chains stitched perpendicular to the wings. The feathery effect is just what I was going for.



The second photo is the butterfly I received from DeAnn. I love the texture and the colors she used.

More butterflies can be found on the group blog here.

The pattern can be found by searching for "butterfly & lazy daisies" in the pattern library at needlecrafter.com.

I also received a piece of turquoise suede from Lin Moon a few weeks ago. Thank you, Lin Moon. It is so soft and yummy to touch. I had several ideas for it, but I haven't settled on one yet. It may end up in the little one's book. I've started sketching and listing ideas for the book in a visual journal and collecting fun bits to use. The hubby actually invited me to tag along with him to Joann's recently. I have the best hubby you could imagine. I restrained myself rather well so as not to discourage him. However, I couldn't pass up a bargain on a bit of bright orange furry fabric that will go nicely in a color themed book. I have a couple book ideas so far, basic kid stuff that will be in variously textured fibers, colors, numbers, family photos, and an alphabet book with all things cow related. I'm doing pretty well with that last one, but haven't thought of anything cow related for the letters A, I, O, V, and X. If nothing else comes to mind, I could do a cow playing the Xylophone, but I'd like to keep it a little more realistic than that. If you have any ideas, please send an email or leave a comment. Thank you to everyone who has left comments lately. I've really enjoyed them.

Round Robin Block Home

A few weeks ago my Anything Goes round robin block came home. These are not my usual colors and I couldn't imagine how it would turn out. The ladies in the group really worked their magic here. It looks great. Thank you ladies.