Hi and welcome 😊 It's been a crazy week here between stitching, getting ready for Out of the Box (OOTB) Fall Fibre Fling and membership and actually working! When I retired, I never thought that I would ever say that again. It's actually been great, so no regrets!
Stitching Black-eyed Susan
I usually share my disasters but I'm making an exception here. My first attempt at stitching the flower was a complete disaster. I'm not exaggerating. I picked out the embroidery thread since it was easier than re-drawing the flower. Then I watched Fleur Wood's video and it was clear that my stitches had been too long. Fleur uses a split-back stitch to colour in her flowers. It's sort of like a short-long stitch but better. It ended up being very fun to do!
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| First two flowers stitched |
For the first flower, I used 3 strands of embroidery floss for the petals and then two strands for the outline. In my first attempt, I had used a lighter colour for the outline and that did not look good. So I did learn something other than don't use long stitches!
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| First flower needs a stem and centre |
The first flower was stitched with the split-back stitch. I used a stem stitch for the outline. This really helps to show where the petals overlap. I am using very sharp embroidery needles and have left a bit of DNA on my piece. I didn't bother washing it off since it was stitched over.
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| Working on the second flower |
I used 6 strands of brown embroidery floss for the centre of both flowers. I started with the split-back stitch and then covered it in French Knots. The stems are done in stem stitch, in a light green #8 perle cotton.
For the second flower, I used a yellow #8 perle cotton for the petals. I'm happy to say that it didn't make much difference. I'm happy because when I can, I prefer embroidering with perle cotton.
Punch Needle
As I mentioned last week, Fleur has shown us how to use punch needle instead of using a Turkey stitch to make rug-like fringes. I must admit that I had a hard time getting used to using the punch needle but a little practice and some very good information from Amy Oxford of the Oxford Punch Needle School helped a lot. In her video about which yarns to use, she explains the mechanics of the punch needle and gives suggestions of yarns that work and don't work.
In the image below, I was trying to use a cheap inexpensive embroidery thread. If it doesn't work, Amy suggests to either double up the thread if it's very fine, or use a "control" thread such as wool along with it. I managed to do one line with this teal thread but gave up after that. I only watched the video after giving up.
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| Trying various yarns and threads in the Punch Needle |
For punch needle the image at the top shows you that I worked from there, but it's actually the back of the piece. The lovely fringe comes up on the other side, as you can see in the image below.
Later on I used a gorgeous fine variegated cotton yard. I used two pieces of thread in the punch needle. It worked beautifully and the mixed colours of the variegated thread came out great. If this image is a little confusing it's because I flipped the hoop around and punch needled from the front, to obtain a flat lovely area. Since it worked so well, I flipped the hoop again and added some fringe for the top in the same yarn.
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| Experimenting with doing punch needle from the back and the front |
At the beginning, it's difficult not to have the thread pop out of the fabric so once I was finished, I embroidered with the same yarn in the areas with gaps. When the fringe is actually on top, you don't notice these gaps, unless they are huge. On the top, the luscious fringes take up lots of space.
In the image below, you can see that I added some curly twined fabric at the top. In the space between the yellow and green rug area, I stitched the fabric strip down to add crinkly texture.
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| Punch needle, stitching and adding interesting texture |
This is where I've gotten so far. Below the green rug, I added a scrap of blue green fabric and stitched some organic blanket stitches on top. I'm not sure where I'll go next with the piece, but I did add a few interesting bits that could work....we'll see 😁
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| Embroidery stitching on fabric and a few ideas |
I wanted to share with you this great picture I took earlier today. It's been raining leaves!
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| Raining Leaves in the backyard! |
Coming up - Fall Fibre Fling!
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| This Friday and Saturday in Ottawa |
What I learned
- When embroidering, don't draw your flower too close to the edge of the fabric - it makes it more difficult to stitch! I really should know that but didn't notice until I came to stitch it.
- I love the effect that the paint had on the fabric. It's so uneven and splotchy, and yet stitches up very well!
- I enjoyed stitching the flowers using the split-back stitch and it didn't take long that my stitches were improving.
- I really like the stem stitch, so that's what I used for the outlines and the stems.
- As I mentioned I'm happy that in this instance, the #8 perle cotton was similar to three strands of embroidery floss. I just prefer stitching (and threading) perle cotton!
- I know that we'll be going back to work on these flowers later because Fleur Woods is all about layering and she believes that more is better 😁
- Punch needle is a skill that is improved with practice.
- Once I got the basics and my work should have been ok, I looked up Oxford Punch Needle on Google and got the exact video that I needed. I figured that my problem was the yarn that I used...and I was correct.
- So don't be afraid to search out more information if what you're doing isn't working. Odds are, someone else had the same issues and you'll find it solved somewhere!
- I love being able to do punch needle from both the back and the front. It also helped me understand what what happening at both ends.
- I have been stitching much more densely then they recommend when you are making a rug. It will be fun to actually make a small rug at some point.
- I've registered for a workshop on punch needle next winter. The workshop is with Robin through OOTB. Then I can learn to use punch needle the way that it was meant to be used.
- Fall Fling was a huge success. People love seeing what we do and I love having an excuse to talk about it.😊
Related links
- Fibre Arts Take Two
- Fleur Woods, website, Instagram
- Joyful Embroidery with Fleur Woods and Free Motion Mavericks, October 10, 2024
- A bit of this and that and Free Motion Mavericks, September 26, 2024
- Robin at Hooking Outside The Lines
- YouTube video: Yarns And Fiber That Work With The Oxford Punch Needle
I'll be linking up to these fun linking parties. You might want to check some out, after you link up below. 😊 Monday Musings, Design Wall Monday, Sew & Tell, Midweek Makers, Put your foot down, Needle & Thread Thursday, Off The Wall Friday, Beauties Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts, 15 Minutes to Stitch 2024, Oh Scrap!, Slow Sunday Stitching, Tips & Tutorials on the 22nd,
Free Motion Mavericks
Welcome to week 504 of Free Motion Mavericks! It was a productive week! Thanks for linking up. Here are the projects from last week that included FMQ, ruler work or walking foot quilting.
Kat of Scrapbox Quilts finished quilting two very lovely Swirling Star Christmas Toppers. Check out her post to see the FMQ from the back!
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| Swirling Star Christmas Toppers by Kat |
Donnalee only has the buttons to add to her Avocado Cat. How cute is that?
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| Avocado Cat by Donnalee |
Dawn of Quilting by Dawn made a gorgeous Circle of Friends quilt for the newlyweds. In the photo you can see the lovely stitching.
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| Circle of Friends quilt made by Dawn |
It's now your turn!
Wow! Your blog post is so informative! So much to read and take in! I love embroidery and thank you for your explanation about the split stitch and length! Your "What you learned" segment is great! Nice to meet another Canadian blogger. I am just getting back into again, after ins and outs. I will be back to visit and share my FMQ!
ReplyDeleteThanks Peggy, I wasn't able to visit your blog. I hope that you'll link up - pretty much anything if you want :-) Thanks for visiting and leaving a comment.
DeleteYour stitching is beautiful, Andree. I've not done a lot of hand embroidery, but I have thought about trying that needle punch tool. But then I talked myself out of it! LOL Thanks for sharing with us at Monday Musings!
ReplyDeleteThanks Brenda. I'm surprised that you could talk yourself out of it - that's a lot of discipline! I wouldn't have taken this up if it wasn't part of the course but it's turned out to be fun...and I do have so many yarns and don't even knit or crochet! I still want to add weaving to the mix but that's going to have to wait. Thanks for dropping by :-)
DeleteYour Black Eyed Susans look great, and I love the textures on your punch needle piece. Those raining leaves make me smile.
ReplyDeleteThanks Deb. Texture and beauty everywhere!
DeleteYour black eyed Susans are so realistic. Thanks for sharing so much of your technique! TerryK@OnGoingProjects
ReplyDeleteOh, I love your pretty sunflowers. I think I need to purchase Fleur Wood's book. I did smile at your comment of leaving your DNA on the piece you stitched. I do that too.......all the time. =) I hope you show us photos of the Fall Fibre Fling. It does sound exciting. Oh, love, love love your raining leaves.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kim. I love embroidering flowers. I haven't been able to purchase Fleur Woods' book - it doesn't seem to be available in Canada yet. Yes, pricked and cut fingers are very much part of working with needles and scissors. I'm afraid that I only took a couple of pictures at Fall Fibre Fling. I'll look around and see if I can either borrow some or include a link in my post.
DeleteTes fleurs sont très réussies, aïe pour le doigt qui a souffert, mais ça rend la pièce encore plus personnelle, même si à la fin ça ne se voit plus ;) J'adore tes essais de needle punch, tu as cet oeil artiste pour toujours détourner la technique d'origine ;)
ReplyDeleteMerci pour le partage de lien, bises.
Merci Frédérique. Les accidents avec les aiguilles et les ciseaux sont des hazards de tous les arts fibres! C'est certainement mieux qu'un accident avec une scie! J'espère que tu as passée une bonne semaine.
DeleteYour sunflowers turned out beautifully. Filling large areas with satin stitch doesn't always work very well, my daughter has also discovered that. Your needle punch piece is really interesting. Enjoy the show, hopefully you'll find lots of inspiration too.
ReplyDeleteThanks Kate, it was a good show. I did take a couple of pictures of inspiring pieces. I'm still having lots of fun experimenting with punch needle and I'm glad not to use satin stitch - as your daughter discovered.
DeleteI love your black eyed Susan and I, too, have had similar struggles with punch needle. I am sure there are a few projects hiding in my stash! Thank you too, for linking up to Tips and Tutorials...probably ending it at the end of the year....unless something really inspires me!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kathleen. I understand for the Tips and Tutorials. I tried many years ago for a similar linking party but there wasn't much interest either. There are also so many great tutorials everywhere that it's hard to come up with innovative posts. I do appreciate your efforts.
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