Showing posts with label Fleur Woods. Show all posts

Thursday, April 23, 2026

Views Both Far and Near and I Quilted This!

Hello and welcome 😎 I'm thrilled to share Views Both Far and Near with you. I learned so much and I'm so happy that it's finished. The last few days have been very intense - I'm glad that I don't do this for a living!

Views Both Far and Near

Last week the piece was getting close to finish. It's mostly a blur but by Sunday evening I knew that I would have the embroidery finished on Monday and that I would spend most of Tuesday framing it. I also watched the course that Take Two provides all of its student on photographing our art with a cell phone. That left the photography session for this morning.

Views Both Far and Near

In the last two weeks you've seen a lot of process photos. Here are a few closeups of the finished piece. In the area where the nut was (I never did find it!) I added various semi-precious stones such as amethyst, since stones are also a part of nature. I also added some fun critters such as the bird next to the clover. I stitched many tiny flowers in the areas that I had covered in stem stitch. Very loose couching was used above the orange proddy flower. It covered the area quickly and looks like fields of plants.

Details of the stitching

A rabbit lurking behind a row of plants

The top of the piece with shells and a turtle hanging out by the water

In the image below, you can see how the canvas was covered on the sides. It was quite the learning experience!😧

Side view of the piece.

I mentioned in my last post that Take Two also offers a course on how to take photos of our art with our cell phones. It was a great course and I learned so much. I even discovered that my phone has all kinds of editing settings that I had been looking for! It turns out that the default was on auto - so when I explored further, I found out how to adjust colour, brightness, etc.

After the section on lighting, I knew that the best photos could be taken in my dining room in the morning. The wall next to the window has wonderful lighting but is painted a taupe colour, so I stuck a white cardboard to the wall and used the existing nail to hang the piece. The cardboard doesn't have to be centered since I'm going to get closer and crop the image anyway.

A white cardboard sheet is placed on the wall
to get the best lighting

The other thing I learned was that it's best to use your feet to get closer to the art that you're photographing than to use the zoom function on your phone. It's too bad that I can't do that with the wildlife in my backyard! 😀

What I learned

I learned many things while making this piece. Most of these you can read in my previous posts.
I did learn a lot while trying to attach the art piece to the framed canvas.
In theory my method should have worked but when I attached the piece to see if it would work, I hadn't stitched the sides much. I learned that when you add all of that stitching, the art contracts and becomes smaller.
I did what I could, but it's certainly not to a professional standard. Since I'm keeping this piece, that doesn't matter as much.
Next time I'll try to face the piece and then attach it to the canvas, if a canvas is necessary.
I'll add more photography tips as I keep learning. 😊

I Quilted This!

Here are the posts that included FMQ, ruler work and walking foot quilting last week. Thanks for linking up 😊 and consider grabbing the button.

Kat from Scrapbox Quilts is participating in the Make 6 quilts in 6 weeks Challenge with Villa Rosa Designs. Her first quilt, Cabin Fever is very cute. Kat quilted it in a cross hatch.

Cabin Fever made by Kat - the first of six!

Margo Young of MY Quilts and Crafts finished and gifted two baby quilts. They are so cute!

Baby quilt by Margo

Another baby quilt by Margo

Preeti of Sew Preeti Quilts finished another lovely quilt, Polite Society, for a magazine about using precuts. Check out her post for more of her precut friendly patterns.

Polite Society by Preeti

Gwyned Trefethen is getting ready to FMQ her secret mission. Here is a sampler of the FMQ designs that will be on her quilt.

Gwyneth's FMQ practice sandwich

FMQ loops with open hearts by Gwyned

Terry from On Going Projects finished quilting her 2021-22 temperature quilt. It really looks great! You'll want to check out her post to read all about it.

Clam shells quilted in the borders of
Terry's 2021-22 temperature quilt

It's now your turn 😍

Thursday, April 09, 2026

A very slow-stitching project and I Quilted This!

Hi and welcome! I've been busy getting ready for the Out-of-the-box Fibre Artist's show, Fibre Fling 2026. I've done more quilting than art recently so I'm now working hard to finish three art pieces to put into the show. See, UFOs (UnFinished Objects) can come in handy!😊

Nature's Textures

In September of 2024, I took a course with Fleur Woods entitled Joyful Embroidery, offered through Fibre Arts Take Two. I learned many techniques and during 2024 worked on two different pieces which I shared with you in the blog. One of the advantages of the Take Two courses is that once you're enrolled, you have access to the course but you also can join the teacher every time the course if offered to a new group. I was happy to resume the course this winter when Fleur Woods' course was offered again. Another perk of the course is that you can submit to participate in the course's online exhibitions. I wasn't ready to submit anything after the 2024 course but that's what I'm now working on.

It's still a work in progress but I can see the end, even if I'm not sure what to add 😁

A few empty spaces to fill

The last time I shared this class's progress, on January 1, 2025, I was working on two separate pieces.

Punch needle and embroidery project

Embroidery on the hand-painted fabric

When I read the theme for this year's online exhibition, Nature's Textures, I decided to make the embroidery and punch needle piece smaller and add some of my original embroidery. It's been so much fun thinking up things to include and to try to make the piece cohesive.

A few details

Details of the left side of the piece

At the top I attached one of my black-eyed susan flowers. I also padded it with batting to give it some depth.

Underneath it, I covered the area with hand-dyed fabric and added three woven picot stitches in dark green perle cotton to look like fern leaves.

Underneath that is a little pond with pink lilies in the water. The pond is the backside of a punch needle, surrounded by punch needle on the right side (which is 3D).

On the original version, I had attached a spool of thread. Since the theme is Nature's Texture, I changed it into a log with moss.

I also cut leaves from a fabric and backed it with an iron-on adhesive fabric so that the leaves are stiffer and don't need to be totally tacked down.

Details of the bottom left side of the piece

Beneath the leaves is a piece of pink batik that I embroidered to look like flowers.

Next to it is a green coil as well as a piece of green fabric with a few yellow-green woven picot leaves.

Beneath that is a gathered piece of green fabric standing upright. It has frayed edges. The monk cloth beneath is finished with yellow-green back stitch.

The sections in the middle were made in 2024 - you can read more about them in previous posts listed in the Related links section.

I want to mention that the textured blue and green fabric surrounded by beads is a technique that I learned from Mirjam Gielen through Patreon. It's a fabric manipulation technique called "cuir froissé" or "creased leather". Details are in my November 20, 2024 post.

Details from the other side

On the edge of the top of this photo I added a brown coiled fabric and a nut on top.

Beneath the punch needle dark brown leaf shape, I added a flower - it's a specific rug hooking technique called Proddy that originates from the Yorkshire Dales. It used fabric strips to create wonderful high-relief texture. I added a couple of backed fabric leaves next to it.

At the bottom, there is a purple thread woven flower surrounded by yellow perle cotton. The purple weaving was done with hand-dyed silk thread that I bought from Karen Turner. The final bright yellow perle cotton border is made with detached blanket stitch, as taught by Mirjam Gielen.

The right edge has an embroidered clover. I used an amazing book that I've had for over 40 years, Wild Flowers of the North by botanist Ruby Gibbins Bryan and artist Muriel Newton-White. It's one of my most cherished books. The images are all hand-drawn in black and white and each plant/flower has lots of information about it. I'm a big fan of clover, so this is a red clover plant. I used Karen Turner's hand-dyed silk for the flower and even stitched the tiny leaflets in tiny woven picot stitches.

Red clover plant in progress

Wild Flowers of the North

I'm really happy with my piece, "Views Both Far and Near" so far and I've learned so much making it.

Next Steps

As you can see from the images, I don't have much left to cover the background monk's cloth. However, I want it to be thought out and deliberate - not just adding things to finish it.
Considering that I've spent the last day doing sketch book art, I would say that I'm really not sure what comes next. That's OK - now I'll do a little bit of "research" to get ideas on how I should finish this.
I'm sure that I'll be adding in more details such as more stitches on the clover to make it slightly puffier.
In the photo below, you can see what the piece looks like now. I machine stitched a strip of fabric to the right side, and then had to hand-stitch the other side down since there was so much texture in the way.
Once all four strips are attached, I'll stay-stitch the monk's cloth and then cut it away from underneath the green strips.
It will then be time to attach the whole thing to the 12" x 10" canvas. I may put batting between the canvas and monk cloth.

Views Both Far and Near - so far

What I learned

The hardest part about making this piece was to reconcile that I was making both landscape and close-up views of natural elements. I would usually do only one or the other, but since it's an abstract piece, who says that I can't do both? It took me a while to give myself permission to do so.
Based on the point above, I've decided to name this piece, "Views Both Far and Near".
As you can see, I used and learned many wonderful techniques to make this piece. That's what keeps me happy and stitching!
With our Take Two courses, we have a bonus course on how to photograph our art using cell phones. I've watched part of it but will have to finish it and then use what I've learned to photograph my piece.
I'll share with you any tips that I learn 😊

Related links

Joyful Embroidery posts

Updates and Happy New Year!, January 01, 2026
Many Updates and Free Motion Mavericks, November 20, 2024
Scraps, Embroidery and Free Motion Mavericks, October 31, 2024
More Joyful Embroidery and Free Motion Mavericks, October 23, 2024
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

Mirjam Gielen, Patreon and Instagram
Karen Turner and her shop
Proddy rug hooking, Heather Ritchie's Guide to Making a Proddy Rug
Wild Flowers of the North by botanist Ruby Gibbins Bryan and artist Muriel Newton-White

Linking parties

I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties. You may want to check some out before you link up below 😍 Monday Musings, Put your foot down, Sew & Tell, Off The Wall Friday, Finished (Or Not) Friday, Patchwork & Quilts, 15 Minutes to Stitch 2026, Slow Sunday Stitching,

I Quilted This!

Welcome to the I Quilted This! linking party that celebrates quilting on a domestic machine or custom quilting on a long-arm. Feel free to link up and share any recent project, even if you're not quilting it! Here are the posts that included FMQ, ruler work and walking foot quilting last week. Thanks for linking up 😊 and feel free to grab the button.

We have a quiet week in the quilting world - but that's OK - most people were probably busy with family and such.

Kat from Scrapbox Quilts made a green scrappy placemat for the monthly color challenge at Freemotion By The River. What a lovely green placemat.

Kat's blocks in her scrappy green placemat.

The back of Kat's green scrappy placemat

It's now your turn 😍

Thursday, January 22, 2026

Getting stuff done and I Quilted This!

Hello and welcome 😊 Has your winter started yet? Apparently the weather here is cold enough for the Rideau Canal to be open for skating - so it's officially winter in Ottawa. The weather inside my studio is lovely so stuff is getting done! My plans for 2026 are ambitious, but at least I'm working on them.

FMQ the Cowboy panel quilt (SAHRR 2025)

I stitched-in-the-ditch most of the quilt and it was time to start quilting the blocks. I used the walking foot for the quilting that was straight lines and then switched to the FM or darning foot for the rest. I'm very happy to report that my tension was perfect even with the cotton thread.

Here are a few of the blocks. Some of them were quilted in straight lines with the walking foot.

Straight line quilting

Other blocks got a mix of straight line quilting and then FMQ.

Straight line and FMQ for this block

Some blocks were FMQ.

Lots of fun FMQ

FMQ with dark variegated thread.
The cow will be outlined in another colour.

FMQ with the possibility of adding
more details on the hat and boots

I worked through the quilt by colour. The straight lines were mostly done with blue thread. I then started FMQ with the dark variegated thread and finally a soft gray polyester thread. Once I finish quilting the blocks, I'll tackle the panel. I really don't mind following the fabric's pattern but I have to be careful to actually stitch on the line! 😁

First baby quilt in the making

My youngest adult child has three friends who are having babies so we are making them baby quilts. JJ helped me decide on the patterns and the fabric. This first quilt is from the Martingale book, Modern Baby. We chose the Square Dance pattern because we want to include fabric that relates to the parents' hobbies and lives.

Square Dance pattern

Modern Baby by Martingale

I'm using my stash of Kona cottons to make the shapes while the squares within will be novelty fabric to reflect their interests and of course baby.

This is what the quilt looks like so far. Unfortunately my design wall is not wide enough, but you get the idea.

The first row of the quilt

The first block is a Star Wars fabric, the second is cute dinosaurs, the third fabric has a rainbow and flowers and says "Be happy, be kind, be you" and the fourth fabric is adventure themed.

It took me a while to figure things out because the pattern assumes that you'll make all of the same pieces at once. Since I'm using the fabric I have, I had to figure out how to make each block. The trickiest part was to make the half square triangles with three different fabrics. It took a few tries but I got it! I'm happy to report that I didn't have to use the seam ripper much 😁

I've made a rough plan to keep me organised.

The plan to keep me on track

Embroidery

Yesterday I finally put away our Christmas tree. Now I have my slow stitching space back in our living room. I started by stitching the year in the next square of my Not so daily stitching project. I couldn't help stitching it in white 😀 as a nod to the silly colour of the year, but I then had to add a bit of colour!

I also experimented with the turkey stitch. I stitched it in beautiful silk yarn. Our local yarn store is closing since the owner is retiring. I've been in there a few times in the last couple of months to pick up some beautiful yarns to embroider with. You can get quite a bit when it's 40-50% off.

Practicing the turkey stitch with silk yarn

before the haircut!

Turkey stitch with a trim

This was very much a practice block, but I guess I should add a little something to make it more cohesive.

I've been wanting to practice this stitch but didn't remember its name. Fleur Woods, the textile artist that I took a course from last year is offering the same course again and since I registered last year, I can participate in this one. I reviewed parts of the course and found the turkey stitch. I want to use this in the last coiled project that I was working on to add flowers to the piece. The turkey stitch will be perfect!

What I learned

I've really enjoyed quilting the cowboy panel quilt. With so many blocks to quilt, it's fun to jump from one to another to use the same coloured thread.
Since my tension is doing great, I don't even have to change the bobbin thread except from dark to light to match the top thread.
I do enjoy FMQ by following the lines in the fabric images. It's just getting harder to stay on the line but I'm OK if I take it slowly.
I'm also FMQ with a strong pair of reading glasses, that has a clip-on magnifier attached to them. What a difference it makes. I now have two sets (upstairs and down) and use them to embroider and get that darn thread/yarn into the needle!
I really enjoyed figuring out the Square Dance baby pattern. I should be able to use the Kona solids from my stash. We also have some really cool novelty fabrics to choose from.
I've been really scattered and overwhelmed during the last week. Today doing some slow stitching really helped to calm me down. I feel so much better. 😊

Coming up

Things are getting busy so I'm going to use this space to keep myself organised!

This week's prompt for Project Quilting is plaid - the finished project is due Sunday.
Round 1 of SAHRR 2026 is now out - it's the hour glass block. I need to get fabric from my stash and make at least one block. The linking party closes on Monday.
The Cowboy panel quilt is my January OMG - I have until January 31^th to post it.
The blue house for A Quilter's Cove QAL needs to be done by January 31^th so that I can host the linking party!

I Quilted This!

Welcome to the I Quilted This! linking party. I'll be featuring the projects from last week's party that included FMQ, ruler work or walking foot quilting. Thank you everyone who linked up. Feel free to grab the button.

Kat of Scrapbox Quilts quilted another charity quilt with a donated flimsy and backing. Kat quilted this baby quilt in a continuous circle.

Baby quilt quilted by Kat

Melva, of Melva Loves Scraps, made a quilted panel for her t-shirt. Melva quilted the block before adding it to the t-shirt using a reverse appliqué technique. If you're interested, read her post to find out how to make your own!

Melva's finished t-shirt with a quilt block

Melva and her Arches National Park t-shirt

Preeti of Sew Preeti Quilts participated in the Starry Seas Blog Hop. Her quilt, Dawn to Dusk, was inspired by her commute. You'll want to check out her post for more details of the story.