Stocking Detail 23

Progress on the pink stocking is slow going, but I am enjoying it. I have found that when I am tired it takes longer to decide on a fiber and stitch for a particular spot. I was adding a piece of trim across the toe area last night. I tried three different fibers , all with different stitches, before I found something I was happy with. This is very unlike me as I usually avoid the frog stitch. I'm also whipping and lacing stitches more than usual. When I was taking this picture, I noticed how linear all the stitching is. I've since started adding the extra bits and straying off the seams. There is much still to be done, but it is coming along. At this point, I am thinking these will be done for next year. There are a few charms and such that I want to use on this stocking that I don't have in my stash, and a motif or two to create that will take more time than I have before Christmas. When I started the first four stockings, I started early in the year and planned to finish them that season. That was several years ago. I've since enjoyed pulling them out each autumn and adding to them throughout the season. My current goal is to keep working on them when the season is over and finish them before next advent. If all goes well, next year will be our first in a house of our own. The home inspection was this morning. I was really looking forward to it, but I had to miss it. My little angel has had a fever for the last three days and may have an ear infection. So, I stayed home and my husband went alone. He took notes for me, but I am more obsessive about details. It would have been easier to ask the inspector questions directly. There aren't many major concerns, but there are some things to address. Hopefully, they can be resolved.

Anyway, on to the photos. First is the full shot for a snapshot of current progress.

Here is my 'princess of the cows' seam. I wanted dimension and fluff to balance out the other seam along the cuff. These silk ribbon loops filled that requirement nicely. I dyed these myself. The ribbon came from RibbonSmyth. It has a wonderful feel to it and is very nice to work with. Several of the other fibers used on this stocking, including the thread in the seam here, I also dyed at the same time. I was experimenting with starter packs of Setacolor and Dye-na-Flow fabric paints. It was lots of fun and produced some nicely colored fibers to play with.
Zigzag chain over herringbone:
Knotted cable chain with added lacing:
I'm not sure if I like this yet. I had something darker in mind for the lacing, but this fiber jumped out at me.
Pekinese stitch, lacing done with feather boa yarn:
Crested chain stitch, with last week's TAST, pistil stitches added:
Pistil stitches are one of my favorites for accenting a seam or motif. They have all sorts of uses. Many sources for inspiration can be found among the blogs of my fellow TAST participants. I particularly liked the way Elizabeth and Maureen used this stitch.
This is the 'feathered' up and down buttonhole, which is now hidden under the added stitches. I've done this week's TAST stitch, berry stitch, in the little V spaces, with a different thread for each of the detached chains. I've also laced the seam with a knitting yarn, a ladder type. The lacing goes up the seam and back the other way to fill it out.

Stocking Detail 18

Progress on the pink stocking...

Auditioning laces and trims:
The lace angel would have to be dyed, probably lavender gown, pink face and hands, and gold for the wings and halo. That would fit the color scheme. First layer of seam stitches almost done:
This seam is made with alternating composite stitches, Head of the Bull and Crown stitch. It's kind of a family thing. My angel has quite a collection of cows for only being a year old. So this seam is symbolic for our little princess and our obsession with cows. She isn't quite 14 months yet, but she can "moo" while pointing to a cow picture.
A few seams with new stitches learned from Sharon's Take a stitch Tuesday challenge:

Knotted Cretan
Knotted Cable Chain
This is my first attempt at this stitch. It adds a wonderful texture, but it's beauty is somewhat lost here. I'm hoping to highlight it a bit more with accent stitches or beads to be added later.
Up and Down Buttonhole
I attempted the feathered variation, but the angle isn't quite right. I think it looks more like a cretan variation.

Pink & Green Crazy Quilt Block

I've returned to the pink and green CQ block that I began embellishing during Sharon's encrusted crazy quilting class earlier this year. It's always interesting to see a block develop. I can nudge it in one direction or another, but each one seems to take on a life of its own.This one has strong angular lines. I may be able to soften them up a bit with further seam embellishment. We'll see what happens.

Here are a couple of details still in progress:

The first shows last week's TAST stitch, Zig Zag Spanish Knotted stitch. It took a while to get into the rhythm of this stitch. I later realized that I left out a step, but it isn't terribly obvious. I'll get it right next time. I used Caron Wildflowers thread for this stitch and couched down some fluffy knitting fibers with it. Along one side, I've added cast on stitches. I've used cast on stitches before and never managed to make them neat. The light bulb finally went off as I was doing the last stitch. By passing the thread through the fabric on the other side of the starting point, the stitch is anchored all neat and tidy. I probably won't rip these out and redo them, but now I know the trick for next time.

This week's TAST includes variants of the Pekinese stitch. Here, I've done two rows of double Pekinese stitch with different lengths of back stitch. I plan to lace the rows also, but haven't chosen a thread yet. Look for that in the next update. I'm not sure I like how much space the bottom row takes out of the brocade patch. I'll be keeping an eye on that space more as this block develops. I'm starting to see fine golden spider webs around the edges of this patch, open in the center.

Progress on the Blue CQ Block

I've added another TAST stitch to my blue CQ block. It is the drizzle stitch, which I've admired but never attempted. I was put off by the whole idea of having to rethread the needle so much. However, it is a stitch with great character. So for the challenge, I went ahead with it.
A needle threader might have been useful, but it really wasn't so bad. Finicky threads aren't so fun, though. The first two photos show different angles of the drizzle stitch done with a silk blend knitting thread with very little twist. I cast on twelve times for each of these stitches.
The next two photos show the drizzle stitch as more of an accent to another area of stitching. I used a number 8 pearl cotton for these. At the bottom of each silk ribbon flower, I did one drizzle stitch with eight cast ons and one with four cast ons. The photo to the left also shows a larger drizzle stitch cluster from the earlier photos for comparison. That thread is a little larger, somewhere between the sizes of a 5 and 8 pearl cotton.

This next photo is a close up of just the area with the smaller drizzle stitches.





The last photo shows the whole block as it is now. The embroidery is mostly done and I will be moving on to other embellishments. On to the beads, buttons, motifs, and such.

Blue CQ Details, TAST

I've worked a bit more on my blue crazy quilt block. With so much going on, I am just not dedicated to one project at a time. Crazy quilting is nice to work on a bit here and there to relax between other projects. These blocks also take longer because I have no finished project in mind for them. They simply exist to enjoy the process. When I finish enough blocks, I'll figure out what to do with them.

This first detail shows my variation on the linked chain stitch. This was a TAST stitch a couple of weeks ago. I probably should have started with the actual stitch, but I'll get around to that sooner or later. When I read through the original TAST post describing this stitch, I kept thinking it might be interesting with an extra chain. So my version has the twisted chain alternating with a set of three chains.

This next detail includes the twisted satin stitch. I started with straight stitches in yellow cotton pearl #5. Then I added the twist stitch with a light brown silk thread that is much thinner. I like the effect in this spot, but if I use this stitch again I will try it with pearl for both parts of the stitch.




The last detail shows a seam with different stitches built up in layers. It started with the feather stitch in variegated thread. I added pistol stitches with the pale silver thread and then fly stitches with navy silk floss.

Beads or glitz to come later.

I started embellishing this block during SharonB's encrusted crazy quilting class in February. She's running the class again in November. If you're interested in learning more, be sure to check it out. Sharon includes tons of information and eye candy in her lessons. I thoroughly enjoyed the class.

Blue CQ Details, TAST

Take a Stitch Tuesday ran with the crested chain stitch a few weeks back. It looked interesting and I wanted to try it, but I didn't know where. I was also offline for a while and couldn't access the directions while I was stitching. Well, I am back online now and finally found a place to try it. I did have to redo a part of it that was too crooked on the curve, but I like this stitch and plan to use it more. It adds a good deal of texture and interest. Here, the stitch was worked with rayon floss, fairly closely spaced, and over some couched fibers.

In this detail, the original line of buttonhole stitches felt too straight and had too harsh a contrast of values. So, I added some lacing over the buttonhole stitches. The lacing thread was a silk tweed knitting yarn. I don't do much with lacing stitches, but I am pleased with the result here. The lacing pattern produced a nice wave like look and toned down the value contrast. It turned out so nicely that it's a shame it doesn't contrast more with the dark fabric underneath. I may try to enhance it a bit by adding small gold accent stitches or beads.

Back in Action

After my recent move, I am finally getting settled and back to blogging. The new apartment wasn't ready until a week after we left the old apartment. So, everything went into storage and we went to visit my grandmother for a week. She was thrilled to have us and we had a wonderful visit. I took one project with me to work on. Only one fit in the car with all the baby gear. I chose the blue crazy quilt block that I started embellishing during Sharon's encrusted crazy quilting class last February. She is offering this class again in a few weeks and I highly recommend it. Her instructions are great for beginners and seasoned crazy quilters interested in applying design concepts to their crazy quilting. This is the progress I've made so far. None of the seams are really finished yet, but there are a couple of things to highlight.

The white wavy seam is my attempt at the Portuguese Stem Stitch for Take A Stitch Tuesday. It wasn't done correctly as I was working from memory, but it is some variation of knotted stem stitch. Now that my internet access has been restored and I can stitch with the instructions, I will have to give this stitch another try.

The chevron seam has straight stitches along side it. The idea was to continue the geometric shapes from the patch above it. This is my first try at doing this purposely. I'll be working at this more as my muse permits.

This next seam is a herringbone stitch with buttonhole stitches done over it. I've tried it once before, but I like this one better. I used a #5 pearl cotton for the herringbone. Then the buttonhole was done with 2 strands of the new DMC color variations embroidery floss. If you haven't seen this combination of stitches, Annie has instructions on her blog.

There are several things going on here. On the left seam is branches feather stitch that will have white stitches or beads added later. A fancy twist of fibers was couched down around a printed angel picture. I've started a meandering filler design with detached chain stitches on the right. Along the edge of teal lace, I started with a wide cretan stitch and then added rich yellow straight stitces for an accent. The yellow was picked up from the printed patch and will be repeated as an accent throughout the block.

Sampler progress, TAST bullion

I've been making progress on my sampler. Here you can see the verse is finished, I've embroidered a heart at the bottom, and I've started on vines that will frame the piece. The bullion roses and buds still need leaves and stems. I think I'll add something to the center of the heart, but I'm not sure what, maybe a couple of bullion roses or a charm.

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 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.

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 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.