Wednesday WOW – November 9

This week has been a little of this and a little of that – and today followed the pattern.

But I had to spend a fair amount of time cleaning this mess first.  You see, there was a missing Zig pen, small scissors, and the supply list for my weekend class.  It felt like one of those hidden object games!  Of course, only the scissors were in this pile (the other items turned up elsewhere), but I also unearthed a shopping list and new pattern I forgot about getting!  I really need to clean up a little more often.  LOL!

These are the fabric I will be using this weekend.  Can’t wait.  It looks like it will be a very busy three days and a lot of fun!  I’m even packed already!

Then I spent the rest of the day working in one of my journals.

I’m currently working through the holiday series of Grow With Love from last December.  I’d like to actually get into the holiday spirit before January this year.  LOL!

So, I’ve had fun cutting out little holiday pictures – elves and snowmen, ornaments and greenery, nutcrackers and wrapped packages.  In case you think it’s too early to start that kind of thing, we had snow this morning!  OK, so it has all melted now, but still . . . .

Sinuous Sunday

Before I show you this week’s “technique du jour”, here is the finished thread-painting from last Sunday.

I had some orphan pieces from several quilts that I used for the background and I stitched several leaf shapes to go with the flowers.  Some of the green is really darker than the photo shows – sunshine isn’t always kind to the colors!

And now . . . . . Machine Couching.

Oh my, that was a lot of fun!  I experimented with several kinds of yarn and trim, and I tried several of my sewing machine attachments as well. 

I have a couple that are designed specifically for attaching novelty threads, but oddly enough I found the most useful foot was my rolled hem foot!  I was surprised!

For those who are interested in the what and wherefore:

Starting in lower right hand corner --

1. straight stitch using a heavy rayon thread (no label!)
2. decorative stitch (tulips) using the same rayon thread
3. straight stitch anchoring two knitting yarns which crossed every 4 or 5 stitches.  Yarns are “Sitar” from Nashua, and “High Sierra Stripe” from I Love This Yarn!
4. Repeat of row 1
5. “Sitar” zigzagged with the rayon thread from 1
6. a novelty yarn couched with zigzag stitch.  It’s left over from an old knitting project and there’s no label.  Sorry.
7. Number 6 yarn doubled and twisted in the hemstitch foot
8. Wire, 26 gauge
9. Same
10. “Razzle Dazzle” thread stitched using a blind stitch, then a silver elastic cord laid along using same stitch mirrored
11. “Julia” from Universal Yarn
12. Same.  It’s variegated so you see different colors
13. upholstery gimp trim
14. “Monaco” from Sensations
15. “Sitar” stitched using the free motion couching foot
16. flower trim, stitched with 5 or 6 zigzags on the narrow parts
17. ribbon braid using the free motion couching foot
18. the heart - “Papier” from Universal Yarn

Also, rows 1 through 14 were stitched using my circular attachment.  You didn’t think I could make nice arcs on my own, did you?!

Well, that was certainly interesting!  I tried several other yarns that did NOT work very well, but I certainly have a feel for what can be done with couched fibers.  There’s certainly lots of potential there.

Next weekend I am going to be at a quilt retreat, so there will not be a Sunday technique, but come back the following Sunday to see what is next.  I’ve peeked ahead and it will really be a fun one!

But now, I have to go clean up the mess I made with all those yarns and threads!  Aaargh!

Wednesday WOW – November 2

Old Man Winter is making himself visible today.  Just the right kind of weather to stay in and sew!!

Just a sampling of the blocks I worked on today.  This project is an on-again-off-again project that I work on between bigger jobs.  I got quite a few blocks done today, but there are way too many left to do!  It’s great for clearing my mind before starting something major. 

I haven’t decided just what that major something is, yet, though!   Maybe I’ll be getting more of these blocks done after all!

Sunday Snippet

Today’s technique is so much fun!  In fact, I plan to do some more of this and try a few variations.  The technique is “Thread Painting.”

I’ve done some of this before . . . it’s basically free motion stitching.  I did this one last year as part of the fiber book page swap.  I used the thread to create shadows and highlights on appliqued pieces.

Today, I stitched on a printed fabric and enhanced portions of the print.

I placed some black felt behind the fabric so these elements will stand out when I place them on a background.  I even like the way it looks on the back!

I cut out the elements – flowers and insects – and trimmed close to the stitching.  For the antennae, I plan to stitch them after attaching to the background, but I’m leaving the printed ones on for now.  So I don’t forget, ya know?

I need to stitch at least one more flower, but I’ve run out of black felt!  I’ll have to do some digging around in the stash cabinet.  I’m pretty sure I have another dark color – maybe even another piece of black! 

So this little project is on hold while I dive into the cabinet.  If you don’t hear from me by Wednesday, send help.  LOL!

Sunday Redux

So, I’ve been working – off and on – on completing some of the pieces from my Sunday experiments.  Would you like to see?

I cut apart the piece from last Sunday that I stitched using my sewing machine’s pre-programmed designs.  The fabric is somewhat more green than it looks in these photos and I used a “peacock” blue to frame the smaller squares.

I did some silk ribbon roses in one of the grid patterns.  I recently learned a different way to stitch the roses and this gave me a chance to practice, practice, practice.

Still working with programmed stitches, the book suggested adding stitch to enhance a patterned fabric.  I did a little bit of free-motion embroidery first and then used circles and leaves to make this piece.  (Please forgive the poor quality photo.  The sunlight emphasized every wrinkle and bump!)

You can see some of the stitching a tiny bit better here.   The grape clusters use that dotted stitch you can see over on the left side.  I would stitch four or five dots, then turn the fabric and stitch a few more.  Voila . . . grapes!

I also did some hand quilting along the lines of the fabric print.  This is the back and you can see what I mean.  Although my hand quilting doesn’t look terrible, it sure is making my machine quilting look a lot better!  LOL!

This one is from further back.  The grid that was giving me so much trouble in sashiko stitching is coming along.  I’m now working on horizontal lines and should finish shortly – if my thread holds out!

And for those who wanted to see jeans patched using this stitching, here you go!  Sarge agreed to allowing an experiment on an old pair of jeans since he would only wear them around the house.  The man continually surprises me.  Of course, he hasn’t actually worn them yet!  At this rate that patch will last forever!  Good thing because I have to tell you – two layers of denim (in some places three!) is not easy stitching!  LOL!

Wednesday WOW – October 26

Today, my worktable is a small disaster!  I seem to be in the middle of a dozen projects at once.

There’s a little journaling and a little quilting, and some silk ribbon embroidery.  Sheesh!  I think it’s about time for some clean-up.

But first, here is a closer look at that journal:

Remember last week I was cutting stencils?  The texture on these two pages (which are not finished, by the way) is from the cut out pieces stuck down and painted over.

You can see them a bit easier in this close-up:

And this is what the cabinet looks like now!  Not very professional looking, but it has a nice homespun, hand made look and that’s OK with me.  Plus, it is a lot easier to read than those sticky notes were!

Sunday Schematic

Today I played with programmable stitches on my sewing machine.

I divided a piece of fabric into four sections and did a little bit of a different collection of stitches in each.  There are so many stitches on my Bernina that the hardest part was limiting myself to these four sections!

I made a couple of grids and stitched some single motifs in one of them.  I plan to do some hand work in the other grid.

Then I tried different weights of thread and different stitches.

There are some interesting stitches available . . . some of which I wonder what I could ever use them for!  Oh – I know!  A sampler like – well – like this one!  LOL!

But I did discover a few stitches that I know will come in handy.  I’m not sure if you can see, but that line about in the center above has two different weights of thread.  The thread broke half way through and I decided to try a different one.  It makes for a good way to compare the threads.

This was one of the easier projects in this book, but it has given me quite a bit to think about.   At first glance you might think these stitches are fairly conventional, but I am beginning to see how I can use them in a not so conventional way to create something unique.  I have started on another piece so I can try some of my ideas.  Hopefully there will be more to show you soon.