Fabric Book and Tast

Good Afternoon, my friends.  Despite my promises to myself to blog more often, I keep getting distractions.  II only hope that I still have some friends out there in Blogland.  I have only gone missing temporarily.

I dont know if anyone remembers the butterfly cushion I was working on eons ago, but I finally made it into a cushion cover...

 At long last the pages for my fabric book are being stitched together.  I finished all the individual pages and stitched them back to back.  Now I feel I am on the home run.  I thought if I did one page a day it would not take me long to get them together, but there have been other distractions.  I was going to stitch the pages together with herringbone stitch but my shaky hands will not allow me to slide the needle along the inside of the seam so I resorted to an easier way, which although not as tidy will work ok and will be covered up when the front cover goes on.  I have started by attaching the pages to the back cover which is made from the purple/blue fabric, and this is continued to cover the spine.

sewing the pages together

this is the pile of pages ready to stitch together

In 2013I started on a band sampler for something to do.  Nothing as efficient or wonderful as Sharon's, but just random stitching to keep my hand in to remembering the stitches.   I have joined the new Tast challenge for this year, and this sampler will be perfect to add the new stitches to.  Here are some photos of what I had done so far.

I have even taught myself to do a reasonable long and short stitch

While I was at Nanango I had a lovely coffee, chat and stitching morning with my friend and neighbour Julie.  She is working on a white on white schwalm cushion cover and this is when I started sewing the pages together.  I get more done when I have company.

Till next time enjoy your day wherever you are.

Busy Busy Days

I think all my blog friends must be despairing of me ever coming back, but like a bad penny I always turn up eventually.

These past few weeks have gone in a whirl and there are more busy times to come....will get to that.

Through it all I have managed to have a finish of one of the later pages....and may have to extend my expected finish date the rate I am going.

This page is about playing with textures.  I attended a workshop at the quilt group last year where we learned a couple of techniques.  This one was free motion stitching layers and then burning the top layer.  Well I used that as a background for a collage, something I am coming to love, but still learning.

The leaf on the right is  a piece of crazy patch from many moons ago, and carried the leaf shapes across to the second piece of burned fabric.I stitched the seams in gold thread. The check leaf on the left is the same pattern as the  taffeta fabric I had my first long dress made from when I was 17.

At present I am home, but for the past two weeks have been helping Himself prepare for a hip replacement operation.  He came over to see the surgeon, and was fortunate enough to get a date this month so there have been a flurry of visits to various people, and lots of paperwork. 

We spent a week at serenity getting things organised there.  The op is next week, and he is here with me now.  I have had to wrap him in cotton wool because the surgeon said if there is even a suggestion of broken skin he wont operate because of the chance of infection.

He will stay with me again after the op, and then I will go back to Serenity with him until he is able to look after himself again. 

This afternoon I have escaped to the back room where the computer is determined to have some time to myself.

While I was at serenity I had a couple of days sewing with my friend and old neighbour, Julie.  She has been working on a schwalm cushion cover I started her on about 5 years ago, so it was good to see how much she is achieving with a bit more encouragement.

Julie is a great friend, with a lovely nature and is very supportive of me.

Here is a photo of her piece.  She had never even heard of pulled thread work or schwalm before she started this so even though it has been a long time project she has done well. She was always an enthusiastic learner and took to everything I taught her with enthusiasm.

The weather was lovely while at the farm, and the flowers are all coming out in bud.

 From top left my yellow orchid, pic of the bush, azaleas, marmalade bush, rainforest tree with seeds, monsteria , iris in bud, old faithful purple crucifix, and a white iris.  The garden there is so neglected it is lovely to see some of my plants surviving

It is almost wine o'clock now, a time I look forward to at the moment
happy stitching my friends till next time.......

Super Moon and More pages ready

Sunday night I woke in the middle of the night...the result of dreaming a snake was chasing me at the farm.....and when I looked out and saw how bright the moon was, I realised it was the time of the Super Moon.  This is when the moon is closest to earth over our area.   Although I did discover that the event was in fact last night ..trust me to get is wrong.

Wee hours of Sunday night

Monday night  

Both nights  could not resist going outside in my pj's to  take photos. The first one is very clear, and don't remember what setting that was on so second one was not as good.  The moon looked much closer in reality and it was amazing to see it so close.

I managed to finish off this page.  The theme has a story that I wanted to include in the book as this technique played a big part in my embroidery journey.  When I first learned embroidery in 1994 I became obsessed with crazy patchwork and created a number of bears, cushions etc.   The circular piece I used for the the head of the butterfly was one of a pair that was to be made into earrings....never happened.  The body was to be added to a shirt....never happened either..... so I resurrected them for a page in the book.

The seams are stitched in gold thread. Because of the busyness of the wings I did not want to overpower the body so the three images across the bottom of the collage are closeups of the 3 embellishments I did on the head and body.  The wings fabric was left over from making a clutch bag for a bride, and the fabric was left over from her wedding dress which she gave me to keep.

Over the weekend I managed another finish. It shows a method of couching.   The design was something I created when I took part in  Sharon Boggon's journal course , where we learned about colour and design.

I have called it Cactus Garden.  The I used bright pink 'rats tail' which I couched with herringbone stitch.  The beads were from my stash. I might add that the postcard is really straight on the piece, but dont seem to get straight photos.

The above page also has a story, and was created for a challenge also at the beginning of my embroidery journey.

 The theme was "joy" and applique was the technique to be used.  Well! the only applique I knew was commercial applique on shirts, I had never heard of Visofix, my library of embroidery techniques was non existent and I had no one I could ask.  So the above is the result.

The stitching is deplorable, but it was what it was at the time so is really significant in showing how far I have come from those early days.  I am enjoying getting all these old memories together.

I actually do still have the first bear I embroidered and display it proudly on a shelf.  But that can be a blog for another day.  The stitching is so ugly, but I love that little bear.

Till next time .....

Old sample stitches and pot garden

Hello again my friends, another long absence, but I have been busy. It is also winter here so I have virtually been hibernating.

I have been working on the pages of my fabric book and wanted to share these below  with you. Originally the book was to be all about Tast Stitches I have now decided to include pages of my early attempts at embroidery.

The  photo below is my very first example when I went to learn basic stitching from Debbie Mercer in 1994. These particular stitches were in preparation for two projects with her...a silk ribbon bouquet and a crazy patchwork cushion.

In 1998 I undertook a creative embroidery course by correspondence and this was my very first sampler on running stitch

I have many special memories of the people who helped me along the way and who encouraged me so much.  Now I look back on some of my early work and shudder, but I was fortunate to mix with people who never discouraged me and only gave me the will to continue.

This week I am off back to the farm for a couple of weeks, where it wont be so cold and there is a fireplace. I will still be "on the air" with my tablet and fancy wifi.

 Before I go I would also like to share some photos of my pot garden.   At last my strawberries are fruiting with a lot more to grow and ripen and I have tomatoes coming along. My herbs are also flourishing.

As you can see the gum tree in the park is still shedding leaves everywhere.

bye for now

I Am on a Roll with the pages.

I am beginning to think that some time this year I might....notice I said might....be able to get close to a finish.   The book is going to be not so much a stitch dictionary, but a record of what I have been doing with my spare time over a period of 20 years.    That is of course apart from painting, and working on larger projects.

These are what I used to call my "scratchings" but they are making me feel they are more than that.  Anyway here are a couple more.
Please not that I am having trouble with my camera, and just cant get the perspective right and have had to resort to altering it as best I could on the computer.  So if things dont look straight it is totally an illusion.

 All three of these are a few years old and from when I was first learning to embroider.   The one above was when I was practising some different stitches i was teaching myself from books

Above is one of two samplers I worked with silk ribbon, and trying out the different flowers.  i was very much a novice then.

Here is another oldie.   I was doing a lot of crazy patchwork at the time, and some of these were just things I was working out to use. Don't you like my spider web.  I was taught this by Debbie Mercer who was my very first embroidery teacher when I started in 1994.  She was so talented and a wonderfully encouraging lady.

I am beginning to believe that all these scrappy pieces I have had put away are going to be made into something that someone in the family will value and want to keep.

The pile of pages to be completed is getting smaller and smaller.

I Have a Finish

Well at least I almost have a finish!

 All I have to do now to my little art quilt project is to sew the backing on and make a hanging sleeve.  But the front is done.   I haven't decided what to call it yet.  The theme for the challenge was the word "Botanical". So if anyone can help me with a clever name for this I would appreciate it. I am terrible at coming up with names.

For the cap on the yellow mushroom I soaked some linen in a pan with some rusty nails and other rusty bits and pieces I found in an old tool box and then I boiled it up in a mix of tumeric powder in balsamic vinegar and that was the result.  The blue cap is needlelace. I might add that the vinegar stripped the rust from the nails.

 I loved the sheen of the velvet I used on the large mushroom and just happened to have some taffeta that I had pleated up ready for some smocking.  It had been in the box so long that when I removed the threads the pleats stayed there and was perfect for under the mushroom.

The "trees" in the background are cut from some fabric I painted and stamped. I have mounted the whole thing on some thick felt, and other fabrics are some I have had for a long time just waiting for the "right thing" to come along.

closed herringbone

This was a sampler I prepared for a stitching workshop

 I have been back to working on the pages for my fabric book.  It is growing.  The pages are 11.5cm x 11.5cm.  I am looking for a site where I can do some collages with the photos so I can post them in groups.

The pages are a mix of stitch samplers I have done for Tast (which stands for Take  a Stitch Tuesday with Sharon Boggon here)  and samplers I have done with other workshops, or when I have been sharing my own knowledge with friends .  This fabric book is the second I am working on, and includes samplers from my embroidery days from the beginning to the present day.

Dont know the name of this flower but it is giving a nice show in the garden here

This unusual little shrub is quite pretty

My fuschia is very happy in its pot, and never seems to stop flowering.

 I love geraniums and have several colours in pots on my back patio.

The weekend is almost upon us once more. The year is flying.  Have a nice day.

Sorry about the small text I have tried to make it larger but it doesn't seem to be working.  So hope it is on your computers.

Another Year Almost Over

Merry Christmas to all my followers who have become my friends.  I hope you all have a lovely day and enjoy the company of family and friends on Dec 25.

 Is it because I am getting older that the years are going faster.....or has the world gained speed all over. This year just seems to sped by.  I have barely had time to tidy up from xmas last year and here it is time to put up the tree again.

Even though I have not been here much this year, there has been some stitching.

happening. i finally finished my butterfly cushion front.    I removed all my terrible attempt at long and short stitch on the flowers and just replaced them with outlines.

Now all I have to do is make up the cushion itself and find an owner for it.

 

Because I am so hopeless at long and short stitch I decided to have another look at Mary Corbetts Tutorial.  That and with the help of instructions from the above  book showing a clear picture of the stitch I was able to complete this attempt.

What I achieved is shown on the top left above  worked  in wool thread, and I think if I keep practising I might get the hang of it. The other two  pictures are also part of  the  band sampler I have started.  Yes I am definitely one of those people who  starts something new before finishing the previous projects.

There has also been more finishing off of pages for the fabric book as well.

buttonhole stitches

Workshop sampler

Fly stitch sampler I did when I first started embroidery

Lily  sumptuous stitches workshop top is a sampler of Mountmellic work. The tatting flower was a gift from my friend Suztats

 Which now brings me to my shopping spree....well only a tiny spree, but guess what I bought... another book!....yes another one.   But this one I have yearned for for so long so when I saw it, I could not resist so dragged out the credit card and took a big breath and bought it online

 It was wonderful recently to see my Day Lillies flowering.  They are such a bright happy colour and are growing just outside my window.

see you in 2014

.

Back to the P...ages

 "Ages" is a very mild expression for the time it is taking for the Pages.  More like an ongoing saga. 12 pair (front and back sewn together)  of pages are now complete.  7 pair are awaiting embellishing and yesterday I came across 6 more old samples of stitches which need to be made into pages.

Does anyone remember my attempt at couching for  Tast way back in week 9 of 2012.   I now have it on one of the pages for the current Tast  fabric book.  The yellow ribbon has been replaced by lilac and I have cut the piece into a circle to fit onto the background. It is called "Dancing in the dark"

I have the Gimp photo editing programme and I have been fascinated at the many designs that can be created with the stamps and processes.  I think it was in 2010 that I took a couple of designs and printed them on to fabric and embroidered over them.  The next page is one of those designs

Here is the original design. The finished product is not much like this.  I can even see better possibilities now.

Since starting the putting together of the pages part of the project I have discovered quite a few examples of me playing with stitches over time,   from when I first started embroidery in 1994 so it looks as though there will have to be another  book for these older pages I have put together.  I even have my very first attempts at basic stitches on a sampler......or should I say scrap of fabric.

Early on in my embroidery life I became besotted with reef embroideries, and the next page is a sample of what  I came up with  trying out various stitches in relation to corals and grasses that grow under the water.  

In March 1995 I commenced a correspondence course on creative embroidery. which I was enjoying until I contracted Ross River Fever and had to give it away after the first year or so.

The  next are two pages I now have ready are  from early in the course of running stitch    Although my efforts back then were very amateurish I want to include them as a step in my needlework journey. 

Now if I can get these fabric books  completed before anything happens to me someone in the family might want to keep  them  rather than find a box of "mums rubbish" which would just be assigned to the bin

Last but not least are another two pieces of stitching  worked for Tast.  I got quite behind a few times due to illness and other things, so both of these are composites of more than one stitch.

 The lace and surrounding motifs on the page above  are from my collection of antique laces.  The piece of lovely tatting was made for my by my friend Sue of Suztats . The colours went perfectly with the background fabric which I dyed at a transfer dyeing class I attended last year. The stitches are up and down feather stitch, raised cross stitch flower, buttonhole bar, herringbone and french knots. 

Finally  another composite group of stitches from Tast.  I have called this "Mother fish and her babies".  I really went to town with the stitches on this piece.  Mother fish is outlined in Palestrina or Double knot stitch.  Othere stitches are Pekinese stitch, up and down buttonhole, linked double chain, oyster stitch, algerian eye, bullions, drizzle stitch and sheaf stitch.

I loved the background fabric for the page it reminded me so much of the frolicking fish so I outlined some of the shapes in running stitch.
Like threads, one can never have enough books....well that is my excuse for another purchase anyway.

At last I have my own copy of The Batsford Encyclopaedia of Embroidery Stitches by Anne Butler.  I found it at Abe Books and it arrived in a short space of time although it and the wrapping suffered some damage where the post lady forced it into the letter box.   Needless to say I have spent hours studying the contents.

Even though these encyclopaedia may cover many of the same stitches, there is always something new to find in them.