Friday Homework for Lesson 115: Chained Sheaf Stitch

This is a delightful stitch, easy to do and perfect for crazy quilting.

Aida Sampler

Sunday Stitch School Reference Chart

Teal Wool Tailoring Scribble Cloth

WIPW - Reinforcing Embroidery

It is time for another Work In Progress Wednesday report.

Tvistsöm Cushion
Last week I had made four columns of Vertical  Tvistsöm. Since then I have made four more, so eight  columns in total.

Circles Challenge

The twenty blocks have been assembled with Ladder Stitch,

and the seams have been reinforced with Herringbone Stitch.

Next step will be to indicate the circles with embroidery.

Freeform Embroidery
I added some individual stitches and combination of stitches with round features:
Algerian Eye, Raised Cross Stitch Flower, Detached Chain Flower, Whipped Wheel and Woven Wheel.

Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 115: Chained Sheaf Stitch

Today we have an evening class here at Sunday Stitch School and will focus on a combination stitch from Totsuka Embroidery Stitch Book 8 (Arrangements with Lazy Daisy Stitch).

The books in this series are filled with variations of basic embroidery stitches. In this volume of Detached Chain Stitch, also known as Lazy Daisy Stitch, there are many interesting ways to vary the basic stitch.

Very few of these combinations have been given a name, I will nickname today's stitch Chained Sheaf Stitch as it is made up of three Straight stitches tied together with a Detached Chain Stitch, in a way similar to the bundled up Sheaf Stitch.

Updated: Mattia gives me the French name: point de gerbe enchainé

Have you seen this stitch before? Do you know if it has an official name? Please let me know if you do, and I will change to the correct name. Until then, here is the instructions for Chained Sheaf Stitch:

Make horisontal Straight Stitch x 3,

then come out at the middle of the top stitch.

Make a Detached Chain Stitch

right over the three stitches.

Anchor the stitch at the bottom.

You can use this stitch to make a little butterfly or winged bug.

Vary the length of the horisontal stitches, 

and take the needle out in the middle of the stitch.

Pull the tread until you have gathered the stitches.

Add a pair of feelers.

Or a French Knot for a head...

Homework:

Infest these samplers with winged creatures, or simple Chained Sheafs.

Friday Homework for Lesson 114: Ship's Ladder Stitch

This is an easy, yet difficult stitch.
It is easily made up of a line of Running stitches, long on top with a very small bite on the back. The difficulty is in making the slanted Straight stitches equally long and at even angle.
It is easier on Aida or counted weave, very hard on plain weave, where I confess to using a ruler.

Aida Sampler

Sunday Stitch School Reference Chart

Teal Wool Tailoring Scribble Cloth

WIPW - Getting on Well

I think I have got on well this week as the following Work In Progress Wednesday report shows.

Tvistsöm Cushion (ex-Glowing Stars)
After having ripped out all the stitches on the Glowing Stars project I started stitching a design of blocks of colour.

There will even be a bit of gold in it!

Hopefully this cushion will go well with the quilt I made a couple of years ago - Trinity Green.

Circles Challenge

I have now joined the blocks into rows with ladder stitch.

 Next I will join the rows together and start on the embroidery.

Freeform Embroidery
Three more X-type stitches have been added:
Moss Stitch
Gate Stitch and
Zig-zag Stitch

Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival 2020

Are you planning to visit the Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival 2020 in January next year?
Here is information
Enjoy!

Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 114: Ship's Ladder Stitch

Welcome. Let's go on a Stitch Cruise with today's Ship's Ladder Stitch.

I came across this stitch at Kimberley Quimet, where Kim says it comes from Mary Webb's book 'Embroidery Stitches'.

It's a simple combination of a line of vertical straight stitches, crossed by diagonal ones at each gap.

I began by marking the plain weave fabric with some lines.

Start stitching by making a line of Straight Stitch.
Take as small a bite of the fabric as possible at each intersection.

Place a diagonal Straight Stitch across the line

so you cover the little bit of fabric at each intersection.

Worked on counted fabric, the spacing would be easier.

Homework:

Add Ship's Ladder on each of these samplers.

Friday Homework for Lesson 113: Knotted Chain Stitch

Addictive, that is the best way to describe this stitch!

Aida Sampler

Teal Wool Tailoring Scribble Cloth

Sunday Stitch School Reference Chart

WIPW - Rip and R.I.P.

The report on progress this Wednesday is one of backward rather than forward.

Rip, rip, rip.... I have been ripping up the woollen yarn of my Tvistsöm embroidery cushion and the
Glowing Stars
project can now R.I.P. (Rest In Peace)

I could for my life not make the pattern fit, the triangles and the stars did not meet where they were supposed to.
Furthermore I noticed some flaws;  I had worked some of the crosses with the long arm from left to right and the others from right to left.

When I first learned the Tvistsöm stitches, it was such a delight to work the Sunday Stitch lessons and the samplers and I got inspired to start on the cushion.

Work on the cushion was OK until I started to add a few stitches here and there in different colours. It slowed down the process and I just got lost in the pattern.

Tvistsöm is SO different from ordinary Cross Stitch. There one stitch is a square, in Tvistsöm one stitch is a parallelogram (like an italic rectangle). Keeping track of the stitches on the graph pattern was difficult.

So I ripped up every stitch and fumed at the waste of yarn and time as I laid the Glowing Stars to R.I.P.

I will start all over again but with a pattern of blocks of colour. Hopefully I will enjoy it better and the result will be acceptable.


Circles Challenge
I have finished the three last blocks.
The next step will be to assemble the blocks before I can add the embroidery.

Freeform Embroidery
Because I spent so much time on ripping up the cushion embroidery, I have not had time to add more than two stitches on the Freeform Embroidery: Woven Cross and Chinese Cross.

Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 113: Knotted Chain Stitch

It's Sunday again, and today we have a morning lesson here at Sunday Stitch School.

The stitch today is a member of the Chain Family, who like so many others has married into the Knot Family.

It is easy to confuse the Knotted Chain Stitch with French Knotted Chain Stitch, (Sunday Stitch School #63),  which is a true combination of a French Knot and a Chain Stitch.

Neither is today's stitch to be confused with Knotted Cable Chain Stitch, which was one of the TAST stitches on Sharon Boggon's Pintangle. Both the working and the  result are different, though.

Mattia has supplied me with the French name: point de chainette noué.
Thanks Mattia.

I found the Knotted Chain Stitch on Mary Corbet's Needle 'n Thread. Her instructions are as always clear and well worth checking out.

However, I have made my own:

The important thing is to make this loop.

either by wrapping the thread around your finger, which is Mary Corbet's way,

or around the needle, a method I like better.

Place the needle on top of the thread, 

then twist the thread so it goes underneath, like you can see in the picture.

Anchor the needle next to where the thread came out.

Tighten the thread into a knot around the needle.

Pivot the needle to make the first Knot and the first Chain Stitch.

Make sure to keep the thread to the right of the needle.

Pull through.

Make a new loop, 

tighten it into a knot,

Then make the second Chain Stitch

Continue until you have a nice line of Knotted Chain stitches.

Homework:

Work Knotted Chain Stitch on these three samplers