Friday Homework for Lesson 6: Four Sided Stitch (some progress)

As I have been unwell, I am lagging behind and have not completed my Sunday Stitch School homework for Lesson 6, Four Sided Stitch yet.

It was my intention to work on a piece of wine red even weave, I had bought in a thrift shop, attracted by the colour. It turned out to be a horrid piece of polyester and did not stitch up well. It was scrapped and I got out a lovely stretch of Danish 32 count linen instead. I am stitching in DMC Pearl #12 and the Four Sided Stitch  is highly addictive. Once you get started it is hard to take a break.

My homework task was to 'Be creative', but I have not had the brain power to stretch my mind beyond the basic stitch. The flu is a good damper on one's creativity.

Sunday Stitch School will take a break over the New Year holiday and open again on January 8th.
Wishing you all a Happy New Year.

WIPW - A Few Cards

Thank you so very much for all your kind comments and well wishes. Fighting the FLU is still at the top of the agenda here.

However, as the last Work In Progress Wednesday post of 2016 I want to show you the set of tree ornaments/greeting cards I made based on four of the five first Sunday Stitch School stitches. The cards were shipped and reached their destinations before the Christmas holidays.

The yellow star in Back Stitch with a hexagon of Danish Knot Stitches.
The white stars (with moon) in Ermine Stitch.
The light blue bauble is made up of Danish Knot Stitches (and Stem Stitch).
The horticultural wonder of red berried pine twigs are made of Anundsjö Stitch.
The navy blue bauble with Ermine Stitches.
I made no Cross Stitch card.

Wishing you a productive and progress packed 2017. Happy New Year. Happy WIPW.

Sunday Stitch School - Off Sick

There is no Sunday Stitch School due to INFLUENSA.

Friday Homework for Lesson 6: Four Sided Stitch (off sick)

I can not hand in my homework due to INFLUENSA.

WIPW - Flu

The only Work In progress Wednesday (now Friday) is INFLUENSA.

Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 6: Four Sided Stitch

Should I close school for a winter holiday? Nay, I want to go on, so here is a fast and easy stitch from the Pulled Thread category, the Four Sided Stitch. It is not new to me, still I wanted to dedicate a lesson to it.

Mum made this table runner when I was little and I remember it from that time.

 I used the Four Sided Stitch on a small quilt, a wall hanging, some years ago

With variegated thread it is never a dull stitch, and it is surprisingly easy to work even on even weave fabric.

It is made like this:

It looks like this on Aida:

English name: Four Sided Stitch
Swedish name: Myrgång or Kvadratsöm

It is often found in Scandinavian embroidery like Hardanger and Hedebo, but it features in many of my books, so I would say it is an international stitch:

Homework:
Stitch a border of Four Sided Stitches on this wine red even weave household linen (actually polyester). Try to be creative!

Friday Revision Homework - Stitches: 1- 5

Here is the Sunbonnet Sue that I stitched to review the five first stitches in Sunday Stitch School.

• Stitch 1 - Anundsjö Stitch was used for the pattern on the apron, and the stem and flower of the cornflower. I am impressed how flexible this stitch is, and that it can be a real building block - a stitch Lego!
• Stitch 2 - Back Stitch outlines the design. I am very pleased with the even stitches I have learned to achieve.
• Stitch 3 - Cross Stitch decorates the hem of the dress. As this is stitched on plain weave fabric and without the aid of waste canvas, I have paid attention to make the stitches as even as possible, and even the back, although not important, looks neat.
• Stitch 4 - Danish Knot Stitch was used to make up the shoes. Not the best of stitches for filling the shoes but they add a knobby look - ostrich leather shoes? wow, Sue must be well off!
• Stitch 5 - Ermine Stitch decorates the bonnet. This stitch is also one that can be changed in many ways, here I chose to use it in its basic form.

It has been fun using the first five stitches in this way.

WIPW - No Progress

Sorry, I am still taking time off from work on Trinity Green. Nursing duty, the approaching Christmas and other things have made it impossible to do any work on the TG quilt. The boxes of cut triangles are collecting dust!

Sunday Stitch School - Revision: Stitches 1-5

Five lessons of Sunday Stitch School have taught me the following stitches: Anundsjö, Back, Cross, Danish Knot and Ermine. I think it is time for a wee revision. What have I learned, which do I like and how can I use the stitches?
Click on the links for each stitch to read the original posts, learn the stitches and see the result.

Anundsjö Stitch
It is a charming and easy stitch with an interesting historical background. It 'should' look uneven, so it is a very forgiving stitch that you don't need to pay too close attention to. It is most suitable for  depicting plants, thorny stems, bushy pine needles and the like. Maureen of CrazyQstitcher has made a nice sampler of all the stitches and used Anundsjö stitch for cornflowers - the perfect choice in my opinion. This is the more traditional and Swedish style.

Back Stitch
Here is a stitch with emotional pressure. I think it looks best when spaced evenly, although many have reassured me if you make it too even you can just as well stitch by machine. True, true, the beauty of handwork is that you can see it is made by hand. Anyway, my objective was to hone my stitches and I think I have improved. Concentration is the key.
It is the perfect stitch for fine lines, and both Margaret of Margiestitcher and Annet of Fat-Quarter reminded me that it is just the stitch for Redwork.

Cross Stitch
It seems to be the most common of embroidery stitches, one of the first taught in childhood and extremely popular even in Old People's Homes workshops. It is mainly stitched on even weave or Aida or with the help of waste canvas on plain weave.
I learned to keep the threads flat and untwisted on the front and travel neatly on the back. I also learned the Pinhead Stitch for making single Cross Stitches without long threads on the back.

Renee at Living My Dream has a fantastic way of mixing Cross Stitch with statistics.

Danish Knot
This little charming stitch is sometimes called German Stitch. In Ms Totsuka's stitch collection there are 71 versions!; I will learn some of them. As it is basically a detached Palestrina Stitch, they could be used together for a nice knotted embroidery.

Check out the interesting way Chitra of Jizee6687's Weblog has grouped the stitches here.

Ermine Stitch
Named after the ermine's tail, which it resembles, this is an easy, fast and fun stitch. Although it can of course be used on even weave it is lovely as a free form stitch. You can built other stitches on it to make flowers or snowflakes or use it on its own for stars.

You just HAVE to visit Chitra's Jizee6687's Weblog to see her 15 ways of working the Ermine Stitch.

Revision homework:
Use the five stitches on this design of Sunbonnet Sue.

Friday Homework for Lesson 5: Ermine Stitch

Here is the homework for Lesson 5 of Sunday Stitch School - Ermine Stitch.

I made two cards that I will insert into two window cards and send as  Season's Greetings. The cards can be pulled out and hung in the tree.

The Ermine Stitch was easy, fun and fast to make. I highly recommend you to try it.

WIPW - Trinity Green on Hold

Hi! My name is Florence Queenie Nightingale-Patch. It is influenza season in Tokyo and I have been working double shifts caring for family members and tending to their needs.

Work on the Trinity Green quilt has been put on hold. Hopefully I will have some Work In Progress Wednesday report in a week's time.

Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 5: Ermine Stitch

Hello and welcome to today's lesson at Sunday Stitch School.

Here is a stitch from the Cross Stitch family - the Ermine Stitch. Apparently it got its name because it resembles the tail of the ermine.

Swedish name: Hermelinstygn
French name: Point d'hermine
Do you know any other name in English or in your language? If so, please leave a comment below.

It is worked like this:

On Aida:

Homework
Use the Ermine Stitch in a creative way!
(I can already see it blossoming together with Lazy Daisy Stitches, turning into snowflakes or stars in the sky....)

Friday Homework for Lesson 4: Danish Knot Stitch

Homework for Sunday Stitch School.

I found that Danish Knot Stitch is easy to work, and fast. A thicker thread with a good twist, e.g. DMC Pearl 8, is easier to work and gives a better look, than stranded floss.

 

Here I used Danish Knot Stitch for a small Christmas ornament. Some stitches are worked in thin metallic thread. Hm, OK for an experiment, but the stitches with pearl thread show off better. The length of the 'legs' and the tension will determine the shape of the knot. You can get a knotty Fly Stitch or a fat triangle.

Do go and check out how Chitra has 'twisted and turned' the Danish Knot Stitch. She in a great inventor of stitch variations.