Back to Stitching - Tast 2012 Barred Chain, Satin Stitch, and Stem Stitch

Wow 3 postings in 3 days that is what I call "catching up".   When I went away I had just started on my barred chain stitch, so put that into the box that I had ready together with the threads.  In the box I had all manner of things that I thought I might need....fabric, threads, needles.....you all know the drill.

Well as usual when I go to Serenity I have to take other comforts as well...like dishes to make different meals, and stuff like that.  I also had to take a quilt that could not be washed in my small machine so on the pile it went with my pillow and a smaller quilt.....and of course there were the clothes....at the turn of a season what else does one do but take clothes to cover all emergencies and shoes too.

Well I had gotten everything organised that I was taking in the back room, and the day we were to leave was very funny....As I was bringing out the various things I could see "himself.s" eyes getting more and more terrified at the amount. ...we did have his bag and the esky to fit as well didn't we and only had the sedan ...so when it came to the sewing box I thought I would be good and just take the bare minimum and I was able to walk out with two small boxes. One with pens/pencils for the sketchbook, and the other with a small mix of threads and ribbons I was using for the project , scissors and pin cushion.

At the last minute I did pick up the box of green coloured threads.  So this improved the look on "himself's" face a lot when I said  "that's it" .  

So now we come to the stitching part.   At first I was not keen on the barred chain, and had never seen it before, but as I got used to the stitches I could see all sorts of possibilities.

Then I decided to use the small piece of silk to do the catch up week and included the satin stitch when it came up.

Satin stitch together with long and short stitch have always been my nemesis when it comes to stitches and one day I hope to master them to perfection.  As I said I had only taken a small selection of threads so that was it in the pinks and purples.

Some time ago I had done a geometric sketch, playing around in my sketch book, and when the stem stitch came up I thought it would be a good design to use.  I called it "where's the party" so used bright colours on a bright background.

It needed a couple of tweaks, and here is the final design

"Where's the Party?"

I tried taking the photo in sunlight, but the yellow colour disappeared so had to take it inside.  To view more wonderful samples of the Tast stitching click on the Pintangle link