Showing posts with label #100dayschallenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label #100dayschallenge. Show all posts

Saturday, February 19, 2022

Please let me play

I've been very busy quilting during the last few weeks. It's been such fun! However, I realised that with all of these busy projects, I'm missing the meditative calmness that slow stitching brings. So today I spent some time finishing up my "Please let me play" piece.

Adjusting the composition

In the Out of the Box Textile Artists Group, we've been learning about composition. I've read a lot about it, but it always feels more intuitive than just following rigid (or black and white) rules. I get the feeling that there's a lot of gray area in there to play with. Sometimes you know why a piece isn't working but at other times, it's not as clear.

That's why I turned to my artist friend, Elaine Quehl for help on this piece. Here is my  final piece.

"Please let me play" - embroidery on a clean-up rag

When I asked Elaine for help, the image below is what the piece looked like. The colour on this photo is not very  good, but you get the idea. I knew that I would add things at the bottom but wasn't sure if the composition was the best that it could be. Elaine agreed with adding pieces at the bottom and suggested that the bright fuchsia piece on the left was distracting. Although it was my favourite fabric, I had to agree with her.

Composition on the design wall, before getting advice

I then played with fabrics and came up with this. I replaced the bright pink piece with a lighter one, but after I had stitched it, I ended up removing it - it wasn't the colour so much as the extra piece.

Playing with possibilities

I added pieces at the bottom as a type of echo of the top strip but kept the colours lighter. You can also see that I played a lot with embroidery stitches on both the fabric pieces and the original rag. I have been following Mirjam Gielen of Mirjam Textiles on Instagram (see Related links below). She has a very organic way of stitching that I find fascinating, so I bought her Basic Stitches e-book and used a few of her stitching variations on this piece. To keep it subtle, I used regular sewing thread. 

Trying fun stitch variations

Keeping the added stitches subtle

As I was wondering how to hang this piece - it because obvious - on a clothe line! I covered a 14" x 14" canvas with very light sky fabric. I then attached a piece of clothe line with tacks at the sides of the canvas and used wooden clothes pins to hang the piece.  

Creating my own clothe line to hang the piece


"Please let me play" and Chevy - pride of place on the art wall

To find out how this piece came to be, check out my original post and see Venessa Marr's work in Related links below.

#100dayschallenge2021 on Instagram


Today "Please let me play" is my last post of the 100 days challenge on Instagram. I started the challenge on August 6, 2021.  I did the math and I'm very impressed! It took me 197 days to do the 100 day challenge - that's an average of a post every second day! Wow! 

I started the challenge with slow stitching. I created a piece, "Mixing it Up" that incorporated both free motion quilting and embroidery. I then worked on stitching some eco printed fabric and also finished my first concertina book "Best and Worst of Times".

Mixing it Up with FMQ and embroidery


Slow stitching on
 eco-printed fabric

















Finished my Best and Worst of Times concertina book

Recently I also posted more traditional quilting projects since I was doing less slow stitching. You can see my projects by going through my blog or my Instagram. The one piece that I'm still working on is the Traveller's Blanket. I hope to finish it before the end of the #100dayschallenge2022. 

Slowly stitching the background of the Traveller's Blanket

I hope that you'll continue joining me on my stitching journey, either through my blog and/or Instagram. I really appreciate all of your encouragement. If I keep posting at the same rate as the last challenge, I should be finishing up just before my retirement in October 2022 😊😎

What I learned

  • I have really enjoyed stitching on a piece of cloth that symbolizes my artistic journey. The message is very apt because frankly all I want to do is Play!!! (as opposed to work)
  • There is so much to learn about composition and I hope that it gets easier with experience. Thanks so much Elaine for your advice!
  • I've also learned a lot on my #100dayschallenge2021. It gave me the incentive to play with slow stitching and finish/advance some of my UFOs or WIPs. 
  • I'm going to try to re-incorporate slow stitching into my daily routine. I feel like I need the calmness.

Mirjam Textiles

Related links

Linking parties

I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties. Let's see what's going on! Put your foot down, Finished or Not Finished Friday, Off The Wall Friday, TGIFF with Quilting Gail, Peacock Party, Beauties Pageant, Patchwork & Quilts, Slow Sunday Stitching, Oh Scrap!, 15 minutes to stitch 2022, Monday Making, Design Wall Monday, 

Project Details


Please let me play
14½" x 13" on a 14" x 14" canvas
Material: clean-up rag spotted with dye, hand-dyed fabric scraps, organza, embroidery floss, perle cotton (hand-dyed and commercial) and thread - attached to a fabric covered canvas with clothes line and wooden clothes pins
Techniques: embroidery, boro and sashiko




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Monday, December 06, 2021

Traveller's Blanket Update

I've been doing a lot of slow stitching, mostly on my Traveller's Blanket and then posting on Instagram. There have been lots and lots of hours pleasantly spent stitching and now quilting it.

Quilting the Traveller's Blanket

The last update on my Traveller's Blanket was October 11, 2021. I was showing you my daily stitching on the #100dayschallenge on Instagram. At the time I was up to day 37/100. On Day 39, I started quilting the background of the right top corner of the piece. This picture was taken about a week ago.

Slowly quilting around each piece 

Here is a close-up that was taken a few days after.

Stitched top-right corner

I'm doing all of the quilting with sewing or quilting thread. Most of them are King Tut Superior variegated thread. I love the look of it although you can mostly see the changes in colour when you're up-close.

It turns out that I have lots of this type of thread 😊


At one point I got bored of making straight-ish lines, so I quilted a swirl. Because the centre was puffing up, I added a few French Knots. 

A quilted swirl and French Knots

Right now I'm working beneath the hexie, which is at the right bottom corner of the piece. 

Stitching the bottom right corner

Here is the difference between looking at the thread colour from the front of the hand-dyed fabric, vs the back of the quilt on white fabric. The pictures above and below were today's (Day 64/100) Instagram post.

This is the back of the blanket, with the
variegated thread against the white background

What I learned
  • I'm really enjoying the quilting part and I usually listen to an audiobook at the same time. Last week I listened to many of them. It was very Zen.
  • Of course I did get bored and did some stitching in a swirl. It went well but since there is so much going on in the piece, I don't think that I should do that too often. 😊
  • It's also difficult to post just plain stitching on Instagram so I try to include the shapes around it. They are quite popular - it must be all that yummy colour :-)
Related links
Linking parties
I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties (now that my WIFI is up again!) Check them out and see what's happening out there in quilt land😊 Patchwork & Quilts, Monday Making, Design Wall Mondays, Put Your Foot Down, Needle and Thread Thursday, Off the Wall Friday, Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?,  Peacock Party, Slow Sunday Stitching, 



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Sunday, September 19, 2021

First stitching project almost done!

I haven't been doing a lot of quilting, but I'm now on day 25 of my #100dayschallenge on Instagram 😊 

More stitching in 100 day challenge


I was having fun, then I got bored and then made flowers and enjoyed it again! I guess that the lesson in all that is to figure out how to make a project fun once it starts getting boring. Since I'm making the rules as I go along, it was all up to me.

I'm going to recap but I'll give you a quick version since my last post was on Day 8!

Day 9 - Threaded Chain Stitch


Using 3 strands of Bengal marigold linen thread for the chain stitch, and Honest Yarn lace linen in lac for the threaded stitch.

Threaded chain stitch

Day 10 - Tulip Stitch


I wanted to put something interesting inside the hexie. Since the flower on Day 6 was a real hit, I looked for another type of flower. This one is made with a tulip stitch, which is a variation of the chain stitch. The leaves are detached chain stitch and the stem is...stem stitch!

Tulip stitch flowers

Days 11 to 13 -  Whipped chain stitch and Satin stitch


I got a bunch of new threads and so tried some of these out on the box within a box designs.

Deciding what threads to use

The outer boxes are all chain stitches and are whipped in different patterns. The center boxes are satin stitched.

Six box within a box, whipped with various threads


Whipped chain stitched with
satin stitch centres















Days 14 and 15 - Herringbone stitch


I practiced and did two days of herringbone stitches. On day 14, they were in rows and on day 15, it got tricky and circular. If you notice something weird about the circular pattern it's because the stitching is outside of the spiral! See "What I learned" below for more details.

Herringbone stitch in a circular pattern
Herringbone stitch in rows
 



















Days 16 and 17 - Straight stitches


I used some straight stitches to fill in the diamond shapes within the diamonds. I found these designs in the Joyful Daily Stitches book that I mentioned in my last post. It was perfect - simple but interesting.

Interesting designs using simple straight stitches

Day 18 - Buttonhole Wheel stitch


I had free motion quilted (FMQ) a design that didn't quite work out - so I just covered it with the buttonhole wheels. The centre of the wheels are not very successful attempts at Reverse Bar stitches.

Buttonhole Wheel stitch

Day 19 - Running stitches


I was getting bored of stitching within small designs, so I started stitching the background with running stitches. This is done with Bengal linen thread in Indigo. I took advantage of my day to work in the Parks Canada National Library to take some pictures - I love their index card cabinets, even if they're not used anymore.

Adding running stitch to the background

A great picture of the index card cabinet

Day 20 to 22 - Creating a flower garden


On day 20, I made the stem of the flower pattern using Alternating Up-and-Down Buttonhole stitches. On day 21, it was time to add the Oyster stitches. That took me a few days to master not mess them up too badly 😊 Finally on day 22, I added some colourful French Knots to add to the flower garden. 

Stem and buds in stitches

A border of flowers in French Knots

Day 23 - Pistil and Stem stitch


I love this interesting plant in stitches that are easy and elegant!

Lovely plant in Pistil and Stem stitch

Day 24 - Buttonhole stitches


I decided to keep it simple and fill the smaller box within a box designs with 12 wt. thread. 

Adding buttonhole stitches 


Day 25 - Running stitch


I finished adding running stitches to the background of the centre panel. I love the secondary pattern that the space between the stitches makes.

Running stitch in the background

What I learned
  • I'm glad that I kept notes, because I've forgotten most of what I learned!
  • For the chain stitch using 3 strands of the Bengal linen (day 9), I will use beeswax the next time I use more than 1 strand (I found my beeswax as I was writing this!)
  • The herringbone in a circular pattern (day 15) was not supposed to be outside of the spiral shape! I thought that I was starting in the centre but I wasn't. It's safer to start at the tail, like that you're guaranteed to be within the spiral shape! It is pretty cool though. 😎 
  • So now what? I'm trying to figure out what to do with the rest of the border. Do I just finish it up in FMQ or do I keep embroidering a little more? Let me know if you have any ideas!
  • Update: To see the final image of Mixing it up! (I finally though of a name), go to the bottom of my next post.

Related links

Linking parties
I wrote this post tonight so that I could link up to my favourite slow stitching linking party - Slow Sunday Stitching. Check it out, as well as the other great link ups. Patchwork & Quilts, Off The Wall Friday, 15 Minutes to Stitch 2021, Design Wall Monday. Monday Making, Put Your Foot Down, Finished or Not Finished Friday, Peacock Party, 


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Sunday, August 15, 2021

More slow stitching challenge

I'm happy to say that I'm still doing well with the #100dayschallenge on Instagram. Yesterday I finished my first week! If you haven't been following on Instagram, here is a recap and more details.

Stitching the Hexies, Diamonds and Spiral

So far, I've been stitching with yummy thread on an improv piece with free motion quilting (FMQ) in the centre panel. My #100dayschallenge has been to stitch the centre panel. This week I've played with some very special hand-dyed threads from Maiwa, in British Columbia. They have craftspeople in Bengal who hand-dye silk, linen, cotton and wool with natural plant-based dyes. As well, they have their own brand of thread, Honest Thread, that is also hand-dyed. You can read more about them in my previous posts (see links below).

Days 2 to 7 stitches

Days 4 and 5 - Fly and Cross Stitches

I played with both the fly stitch and the cross stitch within the border of the diamonds. I experimented with the size, and for the fly stitch in particular, the order in which I made them. Generally instructions for the fly stitch are from top to bottom (or else that's what I've always assumed!). I found that for me, this was the most difficult way of making them for a consistent outcome. I'm much better at making them from side to side, or even better, from bottom to top.

Fly and Cross stitches


Both of these stitches are made using Honest Yarn's lace linen thread in Lac. It's one of my favourite colours 😊

Day 6 - Coral Stitch with Chain Stitch Variations

This hexie started with a line of coral stitches. I left it for a couple of days because I had no idea where it was going. After checking out my embroidery stitching books, I decided to play with a chain stitch and one of its variations. 

Coral stitch inside the hexie

Before jumping into the chain stitch however, I added another echo of coral stitching. The first line was made with 2 strands of Bengal linen in madder, while the second has three strands of the Bengal linen in marigold. It's nice to see the difference between a line of stitching using 2 and 3 strands.

I wanted something a little brighter 😊 so I used my hand-dyed #12 perle cotton to make the chain stitch. Next came the fun part. I added a berry stitch, which is a variation of the detached chain stitch to make the petals and then some French knots with some lovely golden #5 perle cotton.

Coral, Chain, and Berry stitches with French knots

Day 7 - Battlement Stitch

Doesn't that stitch sound grand and aggressive! I suppose that it could look like fortifications, but it's just rows of buttonhole or blanket stitches stacked row on row. If I had actually planned this, I would have made the first row (2 strands of Bengal linen in marigold) further away from the edge. I then had to squish the second row into it (2 strands of Bengal silk in madder).

Battlement stitch


Stitching slowly coming along!

Day 8 - Feathered Chain Stitch

I pretty much exhausted my usual stitches after a couple of days, although the stem stitch hasn't made it's way in yet...but I'm sure that it will eventually. So I've been looking at my three wonderful books of embroidery stitches. I'll talk a little about them after this stitch.

I really like the chain stitch. It has so many possibilities and can look very different depending on the thread used. I decided to try out the feathered chain stitch as a filler for the top spiral. I had to practice this one because remember, I'm accuracy challenged, so trying to make an accurate(ish) zig zag of stitches does not come naturally. Even my straight lines are only straight(ish)! This stitch is not difficult - it's really a long-tail chain stitch that follows a zig zag path.

Feathered Chain Stitch

For this stitch, I used a variegated  Eleganza #8 perle cotton from Sue Spargo's collection (more about some new threads in a future post 😊).

Embroidery Books

I have three embroidery books that I LOVE and highly recommend. The first, The Beginner's Guide to Freestyle Embroidery, is the one I used to re-learn to embroider as an adult. On one of our family trips to the South-west states, I did most of the samples in the book. I've mentioned this book before in previous posts.

Beginner's Guide to
Freestyle Embroidery

I use the e-book version of Joyful Daily Stitches - seam by seam by Valerie Bothell to find interesting stitch combinations. It's created primarily for crazy quilting and has a lot of fun stitch combinations, something that I'm always struggling with.

Joyful Daily Stitches - seam by seam

Finally is a new book by Sharon Boggon, Creative Stitches for Contemporary Embroidery. I found Sharon's amazing website, Pintangle, a few years ago. I has a great Stitch dictionary. Sharon also hosts Take A Stitch Tuesday (TAST) which I followed on and off for a couple of years.  I've used this book for many of the stitches in the #100dayschallenge so far.

Creative Stitches for 
Contemporary Embroidery

What I learned

  • I really love learning new variations of the simpler stitches. Sharon Boggon's book is really great for this and I will be using it a lot.
  • I think that this #100dayschallenge is more about posting on Instagram every day than it is about stitching every day - and I'm ok with that. I don't see the point of stitching every day if I'm really not in the mood. I'm much better at stitching every couple of days and preparing for two or three Instagram posts. It's what works best for me!
  • As I mentioned, I got more thread (sigh). I'll either show it off as I use it or will include it in the next challenge post.
  • I had better go stitch today's Instagram post - it's now Sunday! 😲

Related links

Linking parties

I'll be linking to many fun linking parties. Let's see what's going on out there! Slow Sunday Stitching, Patchwork & Quilts, 15 Minutes to Stitch 2021, Off the Wall Friday, 


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Monday, August 09, 2021

#100dayschallenge started

Hi! I started another challenge on Instagram - not really following anyone, just stitching my free motion quilted (FMQ) Improv piece to encourage me to stitch every day and to post a little more on Instagram.

Stitching on my FMQ Improv piece


As you may have seen in my last post, I am having too much fun collecting yarns and threads. I have to justify those purchases, so the least I can do is practice my stitching and play with these beauties. 

My new silk and linen threads


A little about the thread

Before I talk about the effects of the thread on the stitches, below are the different threads so that you can compare.

From the left:
  • Bengal linen in Indigo. It is very fine and so far I've used two or three strands.
  • Honest Yarn, hand-dyed lace linen in a light Indigo. It came in a skein so I prepared it so that I can more easily stitch with it. It's thicker than the Bengal linen, closer to a #8 perle cotton.
  • Bengal silk in Indigo. It not as fine as the linen but varies in thickness.
  • My hand-dyed thread - it's a thicker perle cotton - I believe that it's a size #5.
  • WonderFil size #8 perle cotton, which is slightly different in size from a DMC #8 perle cotton.
  • Another hand-dyed thread - it's a #12 perle cotton by DMC.

Comparing different size thread

Day 2 - Mostly Chain Stitch

It really has been a great education. The threads are so different from each other, and therefore stitch very differently. Here's a closeup of the first stitches so that you can see what I mean.

What a difference the thread makes in the stitches.

The first, outside chain stitches are made with the Bengal silk. Because it's not a consistent weight, it makes for a rather sloppy chain stitch. The second thread is the Bengal linen that I doubled. It's a better stitch but pretty tiny. The inside chain stitch is made with the lace linen. The stitches are much more defined and because of the thickness, it's slightly raised.

In between the chain stitching, I tried out two strands of the Bengal linen in marigold. There's a running stitch and a back stitch.

Day 3 - Couched Filling Stitch

My hexie lost a bit of it's angles as I stitched inside, so it looks a lot more like a circle in the middle. I used a couched filling stitch, so essentially I prepared a quadrant with the two strands of marigold Bengal linen and then made knots at the intersections with one strand of the Indigo Bengal linen.


Adding a couched filling stitch to the middle

What I learned
  • I really need to practice my embroidery stitches but I tend to get bored easily, so this is a great way to try things and compare the results. As well as keeping a record in this post, I'm also writing it down in one of my many journals. It will be a great reference.
  • I posted my Day 1/100 on Friday and then managed to forget to post on Saturday, even if my information was all ready to go. It's going to take a little bit of time to get used to posting again.
  • I'm a little bit ahead so that if I don't stitch every day, I'll still have a post ready to go...if I remember 😊
  • As I found out, Bengal silk thread is not good to use in stitches that are more even. I did use it in a backstitch for the new version of "All for One". In this case I didn't mind that the stitches would be uneven. I should be posting it soon - it's almost done and looking much better!
Related links
Linking parties
I will be linking up to many fun linking parties. Let see what's going on out there!

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