This is just a closeup of the restored quilt and the initial that was embroidered on it. I bracketed it with the feather stitch to stay in the basic "flavor" of the original quilt. All the embroidery on this piece was redone as the thread on the original was disintegrating, pulled or missing. I tried to match the color as best I could, but chose to use a perle cotton instead of the stranded floss to help with wear.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Gaga's quilt restored
This is a pic of the full quilt restored. Whew!!!! I hope my son will cherish and it lasts another 25 plus years!!! :_) The only differences on this quilt from the original is that I did a couple of variations on the feather stitch and added a bit of herringbone here and there! I didn't realize how tiring it gets to use the same stitch for a project this size. Great learning experience! I also added the family name initial and the approximate year it was made along with the year it was restored on the front. I wish the makers had realized the importance of documenting their information in years past....but....alas...we have to rely on our own memories there! At least I had the opportunity to fix that problem on this quilt! Enjoy!
Thursday, January 11, 2007
TAST Button Hole Stitch
I am participating in Sharon Boggons Take A Stitch Tuesday. http://www.inaminuteago.com/stitchdict/stitch/Buttonhole.html. This is my sampler of some buttonhole stitch variations so far. I've a lonnnnnggg way to go yet, but this is a start. I'm really enjoying the varity of ideas that folks are coming up with for this. First are the flowers that can be made with the button hole stitch. These can be seen at http://www.needlenthread.com/2006/11/embroidered-flowers-using-buttonhole.html. I've actually used this stitch on pansies for some DYB rr's i've been in. It's a great idea for Holly hocks, etc. Then there's Pam Kelloggs ideas that can be found at http://kittyandmedesigns.blogspot.com/ She always comes up with some good information and ideas to use with different stitches. Give them a try! I better get going and see what else I can conjure up! :_)
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Bee diagram
A few days ago, I did a brazilian embroidery bee tutorial. I have since been asked to add a diagram.....and finally got a chance to make it. Each line running across the body of the bee represents the row of cast on stitches. Beginning with the rear row, the sequence of stitches is as follows: 3, 5, 8, 8, 5, 3. That is the number of cast on stitches that you will need to add for each ros. The head is made with a french knot....or a variation of it...I wrapped the needle 5 or 6 times to make a good sized knot. The antennae are made with the fly stitch and the wings are created with bullion knots. I wrapped the needle 35 times approximately. If you want a fatter looking bee or larger wings, all that is necessary is to increase the number of stitches or wraps. I have also made this little "hummer" with all bullion knots! That version is not as fuzzy looking, but is still cute. Another option would be to use the turkey stitch and cut the loops! Now THAT would be a fuzzy, buzzy bee!!!
Cabachon pin
This is also a result of my Fimo explorations! I joined into a beaded cabachon swap and needed to get this done and mailed. I layered the royal blue and the turquoise colors, cut a slice and pressed it in my noodle maker and came out with the base. I cooked that, then decided to add some metallic Fimo shapes which I attached with Liquid Sculpey and baked again. I then glued the cabachon to some interfacing, and started beading. I had no plan (as usual) but simply played a bit and this is the result. I'm a little worried about the loops at the top being a little too much, but...well...since i've already added some ultra suede to the back, i'm gonna have to leave it I guess. It was fun to do and the little group I belong too will be continuing to have swaps, so more are likely to come! Enjoy!
Fimo explorations!
I have also been exploring the wonderful world of Fimo and all that can be created with it. I mixed and mashed and pressed and played and this is a sampling of what I came out with! I think they are kind of interesting....especially the ones that look like wood. But....then.....I love wood and trees and nature and.... :__)
New additions!
Other happenings on the home front, the day after Christmas....Caleb joined us! He popped into the world, weighing in at a mere 6 pounds, but if he's anything like his dad he will soon be chomping his way thru all the food in the house!
Snowwwwww!!!
I'm not always the best at keeping up with this blog...and this isn't really stitch related. BUT!!! It is precisely why there hasn't been as much stitching going on as i'd like there to be!!! I have had to keep on bundling up and going out to shovel this WHITE stuff!!! :_) Here in Colorado, we have been absolutely covered up since four days before Christmas! The first snow we got about 31 inches here at my house with five foot drifts. We lost our blazer for a while there! LOL!! Next week we got about 8 inches of it and now THIS week we are supposed to get another 12 inches!!! Sheesh!!! What happened??? I like snow....but....WOW!!!! I thought this was rather a pretty rendition of our frosty covering tho!
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Honey Bee tutorial cont.
Voila! Completed honey bee!!! I just love to make these little dimensional gems! Sometimes, I will do a twisting, run stitch behind the bee to symbolize the movement and flight of the bee! Let your imagination run wild and have fun!
Honey Bee tutorial cont.
It should look a bit like this when you have pulled the thread through. Take your thread back to the back of the fabric, right next to where you came up. That will complete the wing. Repeat the process for the other wing. When you are done..........
Honey Bee tutorial cont.
When you are done, it will look like this. Also, if you are using Edmar rayon thread, you will want to wrap the thread clock-wise instead, to accomodate the "z" twist of the thread! Now, you need to hold the wraps and pull the needle through, completing the bullion. If the bullion twists a little bit, either tickle its tummy by running the needle gently under the loop or turn it a little bit between your fingers until it straightens out.
Honey Bee tutorial cont.
You will now thread a needle with some white thread, knot it and pull it through the fabric directly to the side of the body of the bee. Pull the thread completely through. For the bullion stitch that makes these great dimensional little wings, you will need to take a tiny bite right beside the spot that the thread originally came through. Like the cast on stitch, DO NOT PULL THE NEEDLE THROUGH THE STITCH! giggles..... Wrap the thread around the needle about 30 to 35 times.
Honey Bee tutorial cont.
For the next set of black stitches, move your needle slightly outwards from the yellow stitches to accomodate for more stitches. This will create some dimension to the body and make the bee look more "pudgy". Now you will create eight (8) cast on stitches with your black needle and eight stitches with the yellow needle that will follow. Thennnnn....you will be back to the black thread! Reduce the number of cast on stitches to five (5) and again, park the needle. Yellow is the final row of cast on stitches and will consist of three (3) stitches. When you take the thread to the back of the fabric, knot it and cut it off. You're done with the body! Next, we will make the head with a french knot. If you prefer to use a colonial knot, go for it! I like the french knots (which for some reason I keep calling them pearl knots giggles...), as I can increase or decrease the number of wraps on the needle as I want and affect the size of the knot accordingly. In this example, I wrapped the needle five (5) times then took the thread to the back of the fabric again.
Now, for the antennae, bring your needle and thread to the top of the fabric approximately a quarter of an inch and to the right of the head, pulling the thread completely through the fabric. Move directly to the left, about a quarter of inch ( I eye this to make it look more realistic. All the "measurements" I am giving you are just approximations) and take the needle to the back of the fabric, then back up in the middle, right beside the pearl knot. Take this slowly, making sure that you catch the loop of thread. You will then tack the thread down by pulling the needle over the loop and back to the back of the fabric. Repeat these fly stitches four more times for the legs as shown here.
Now, for the antennae, bring your needle and thread to the top of the fabric approximately a quarter of an inch and to the right of the head, pulling the thread completely through the fabric. Move directly to the left, about a quarter of inch ( I eye this to make it look more realistic. All the "measurements" I am giving you are just approximations) and take the needle to the back of the fabric, then back up in the middle, right beside the pearl knot. Take this slowly, making sure that you catch the loop of thread. You will then tack the thread down by pulling the needle over the loop and back to the back of the fabric. Repeat these fly stitches four more times for the legs as shown here.
Honey Bee tutorial cont.
Repeat the process and create two more stitches. You will then want to take hold of the the needle AND the stitches and pull the needle through the fabric and cast on's, closing the circle. This will create a little ridged loop over the fabric. Your thread will now be on the right hand side. You need to push the needle through the fabric at the base where the thread was originally brought up and draw the thread completely to the back. We will now need to switch to the yellow thread, so just "park" the needle and black thread to the side for a moment. Repeat this process with the yellow thread, only increase the number of cast on stitches by one stitch. Draw the needle and thread through to the back of the fabric, just as you did with the black thread and temporarily park this needle and switch back to your black thread.
Honey Bee tutorial cont.
Once you have place the loop on the needle you will pull the excess thread towards you, tightening the loop and draw it towards the opening where the needle came back out of the fabric. It should look similar to this photo when done. (For those of you that are left handed, reverse the direction of the needle and use your right hand to loop the thread over the needle.)
Honey Bee tutorial cont.
The cast on stitch is done the same way that you would cast yarn onto a knitting needle. Basically it is a slip knot....for lack of a better term. Once you have placed your needle thru the fabric (taken a bite out of the fabric) you will start "casting on" stitches. Pick up your thread with your left hand, creating a semi circle that will allow you to loop the thread over the needle. Twist your hand in-ward, counter clockwise to close the circle and drop the loop over the needle. The first batch will be only three stitches. For more visual references, check out Sharon B's Stitch Dictionary..... http://inaminuteago.com/stitchdict/stitch/caston.html
Honey bee tutorial cont.
you will want to bring your thread to the top of the fabric about three quarters of the way up the stinger. Take a "bite" of the fabric, from right to left, bringing the tip of the needle out next to the thread. DO NOT PULL THE NEEDLE THROUGH!!!! Here we will start making cast on stitches that create the body of the bee.
Honey Bee Tutorial Cont.
To begin you will want to make a small straight stitch, approximately a quarter of an inch long. This represents the stinger so you will need to decide which direction you want your hummer to fly. The stitch itself will be partially covered with the body of the bee! Once you have made this stitch.....
Honey bee tutorial
to
I belong to the Hand-Embroidery group over at yahoo. They are a super group of folks and the owner Lillian and moderator, Melissa are just great! Long story short, Melissa has a blog, http://www.honeybeesbliss.blogspot.com, titled such for the meaning of her first name! At any rate, she saw the dimensional embroidered bee here that I had stitched on a pin cushion and wanted to know how to make it. Hmmmm.... wonder why? LOL!!! Soooo....i'm going to attempt to do a little tutorial here. If anyone has a question about any of the steps, please let me know and I will do my very best to help out! Also, if you are not familiar with the cast on, bullion or fly stitches, I would recommend that you practice on a "doodle cloth" before you jump into creating the bee on a block. The stitches are easy once you are familiar with them, but can be a little frustrating at first. DON'T let it stop you! Like anything in embroidery, practice and just relaxing to enjoy the process are all you need to start creating dimensional embroidery!
To start out, you want thread two millners needles. I used size 11. One with black, the other with yellow. It's important to use millners needles as the cast on stitches and bullion stitches as the eye of the needle is the same dimension as the needle itself and will allow the stitches to slide easily off the needle. I prefer to use Edmar rayon thread, but don't always have it on hand, so will also use DMC embroidery thread (as shown here.) I vary the number of strands that I use as sometimes I want a bee that is larger (or smaller) than the example that I am going to show you. For this particular BEE I used two (2) strands of DMC thread. The bee will be approximately 1/2" when complete. We will be using the fly, cast-on and bullion stitch to create this little "Hummer"!!
HBVariation5
Another addition to my Take A Stitch Tuesday! (www.inaminuteago.com).
This bit I did before I accidentally "found" the fish! :_) I was experimenting with changing the sizes of the stitches withing the row as well as their location. I like this idea from the perspective of creating the image of a fence on a block. It has potential if lazy daisy stitches or fly stitches are added to it as well. I'll have to continue to play with this one!
HBVariation4
This time I played with increasing and decreasing the size of the herringbone within the row. I was pleasantly surprised when I created a fish!! This will be GREAT for a project I have to do for a grandson! Woohoo!!! I think i'll try making the stitches a bit more dense then some of the fish can be more distant, some more up close! Even running another color under them...or weaving some organza type ribbon thru the stitches would be cool! Ohhhhh, the potential!
Take A Stitch, HB Variation
I played around a bit more last night and came up with some variations that are new for me. I thought i'd share them with you. This is a pic of them overall. Then i've got close ups i'll share of certain ones. Enjoy!
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Melissa's DYB block
I'm trying to keep some stitching momentum going today. DH finally went back to work so I can focus on this! This block is from one of two DYB rr's I am in. I struggle with this for a bit....don't know why, but I got there and am fairly happy with it. Hopefully Melissa agrees! LOL!! You can see her work at www.honeybeesbliss.blogspot.com. I created a two tone rose on the bottom corner using bullions for the light pink and then added some cast on stitches in a deeper tone to accent it. The buds are made out of bullions. Just above is a herringbone variation. (I had already done this prior to Sharon B (http://inaminuteago.com/blog/index.php) announcing the stitch for TAST! SOOO, i'm pleased I have a couple of variations under my belt! There is another HB variation directly above the rose on the feather seam and again above the tree. Do you think maybe I like the herringbone? LOL!! Other variations I enjoy are a cross between the HB and the cretan or the chevron and cretan. I then typically get mired in finishing them off with lazy daisy stitches, fly stitches, etc. To break that habit I will experiment on my sampler and see what I find! I added a little bee charm, for Melissa, some beaded flowers and one of my trees! OH! I almost forgot, I also did a feather stitch variation, sweeping curves like a feather, floating above the tree in some kreinik (sp) metallic. Last but not least, I added a MOP button with some lazy daisy stitches and added a flower bead in the center to create a flower. Sooooo, thats it! I threatened Melissa I would do a tutorial on making a BE bee. Now i've got to get busy as a bee and start taking pics! 's
ArtBra Block
I am a part of a group of ladies that create Art Bra's and a special quilt for donation to various foundations for breast cancer. This is my raw block for the 2007 quilt. The theme is hearts and the primary color is to be purple. Well....that's a toughy for me, as I don't generally work in that color! I had to some digging to bet this one figured out! LOL!! But....this is what I created. I have my design ideas worked out on paper (also a rarity for me) and the thought behind this particular heart is that it was broken with disease and will be beautifully mended to create a new whole. I will add other heart motifs in the patches as well to show the strength of our spirits to overcome all obstacles! Enjoy! Stay tuned for further developments!
Herringbone variation
I decided to join in the fun and participate in Sharon B's TAST project! You can find more info on this at www.inaminuteago.com. I began "playing" right after I saw the posting last night. I was struck with the idea of creating a swirl with the herringbone stitch. Soo, I made these litle herringbone "commas" with some variegated dmc. I kinda like them! I think I will try to do some more, varying the sizes more dramatically starting with really small and going to super larger! The herringbone is one of my favorite stitches so this will be fun to play around with! I will continue to post work ideas as I get them stitched! Hmmmm......even layering these would be fun...or making them into swirled medallions or.....:_)
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