Tuesday 31 March 2020

WIPW - A Pile of Logs

It is time for this week's Work In Progress Wednesday report.

Freeform Embroidery
Indian Edging, Needle Weaving Bar and Triple Palestrina are crowding the Freeform Embroidery.

Crazy for Crazy
The paisley got a grid and some sprigs.

After I showed the two buttonholed rings last Wednesday, I got a lot of questions about how I managed to interlock them. That was an easy trick! I simply joined two of these spring key rings, and stitched the Buttonhole Stitch around each of them.
As you can see I couched them down with the same Perle thread, but will redo that with something wider - maybe ribbon embroidery ribbon - to cover the joints.

Log Cabin Challenge
I have cut the fabric into strips and now have a pile of logs.
There are also a few sheets of gold fabric, fused to interfacing. That gold will be used only for the centre piece,  golden fire in the hearth!

The job of hand piecing will start later today.
Do you think I will ever be able to stitch as fast as Yoko Saito?

Saturday 28 March 2020

Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 127: Amadeus Stitch

A warm welcome to Sunday Stitch School. We are keeping classes open - thanks to our online classroom.

How about a canvas stitch for this week? Amadeus Stitch is not difficult, but you still need to pay attention to where you put your needle - good when you don't want your mind to keep wandering up 'Corona Lane'.

I found the Amadeus Stitch at badasscrossstich where you can see an excellent photo tutorial.
However I have made my own here.

My recommendations are to chose a fabric with a clear grid, I used Aida, or use waste canvas if you plan to work on plain weave, and stretch it in a hoop.
You need to use an odd number of holes in the grid. The higher the number the more complex the stitch will look.

In your mind keep these two lines,
the red one starts at the red dot and goes straight up. 
The blue goes down diagonally, one hole at a time.

So lets get started:
Insert the needle, (in my case)
in the 11th hole.

Come out one hole above the first, (the 2nd hole)
and to the left of the thread.

Insert the needle one diagonal hole down to the right.
You can see how your working thread is crossing the base stitch.

Continue in the same way


Your last stitch should go straight out to the right.

This is your basic stitch.

You now make a new set of stitches,
starting again at the red dot,
to the right.

If you make the version mirrored,
the fans will meet in the middle.




Make a mirrored version of those two:


Finally you have the complete
Amadeus Stitch.

..........
Or you can continue to make the fan spread out to the right.
When you have made four arms,
this will result in a windmill.

With various combinations you can get
all these looks,
and more, of course.

Green thread 5 holes, blue 7, orange 9 and purple 11.
As you see, the larger the design, the more impressive it will look.
The reds are all spreading the fans outwards, windmills or crosses.

Have fun!

Homework:
Aida Sampler
Sunday Stitch School Reference Chart
Canvas Sampler
















Friday 27 March 2020

Friday Homework for Lesson 126: Sydd Tofs

So different from traditional embroidery stitches, the Sydd Tofs was really fun to work with.

Aida Sampler

Sunday Stitch School Reference Chart

Teal Wool Tailoring Scribble Cloth
 The orange tassel is made with DMC stranded floss and has a lot of shine in the fibres. Perfect for some flowers, wouldn't you say?
The others are all wool, and as you can see are more compact and 'solid'.

Wednesday 25 March 2020

WIPW - Log Cabin Challenge

The steady flow of news and information about the Corona virus outbreak is overshadowing everything else, but I have tried to Keep Calm and Carry On Stitching.

Freeform Embroidery
I added three stitches: Indian Edging,

Fly Stitch Filling and Parma Stitch.



Crazy for Crazy
Here I covered two rings with Buttonhole Stitch and stitched them down. I also worked a row of Buttonholed Lazy Daisy Stitch. These will later house a bead each.

New! Log Cabin Challenge
Every year in January, at Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival, my friends Julie and Tanya, and self, set ourselves a quilting challenge. Our projects have to be ready in time for next year's quilt show. We will take a rest from looking at the show and sit in the stands of the gigantic baseball stadium called Tokyo Dome and 'show and tell'.

We did Mola (2018), Cathedral Windows (2019) and Circles (2020).
For 2021 the theme is Log Cabin, and we are happy to be joined by Cynthia, and maybe some others of our friends.

I have very limited experience of making something with the Log Cabin quilt block, so am happy to challenge myself.
Here is my collection of fabric, so far, anyway. You might recognise most of them from the Circles challenge. My aim is to use up my stash, but I might have to add some new pieces. We will have to see how the project grows.

Sunday 22 March 2020

Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 126: Sydd Tofs

Welcome to the world of wool embroidery. Today we have another stitch from Carina Olsson's book Bottensömmar. The Swedish name Sydd Tofs translates into English: Stitched Tassel, but rather than a dangling tassel it looks like a little mossy hill.

To make it you need:
plain weave 
OR Aida/counted weave, with a backing of plain weave
a hoop
a needle
wool yarn
small scissors
a comb
a lint roller with sticky tape

Thread the needle with double yarn.

Insert the needle from the top 
and leave the last 1 cm of the yarn
on the surface.

Come up and down near the first
stitch, leaving a 1 cm loop. 

Repeat until you have a nice tuft.

On the back you should have a little 
knob of yarn.

Remove the fabric from the hoop,
and expose the tuft.

Pinch the tuft and trim it
with your scissors.

Make a rounded shape.

Comb the fibers.

Use the sticky tape roller to remove
lint and fluff up the tassel.
 .........

You can of course use a pen to make even loops.

Cut open the longer loops,
then trim in the way
described above.

Small, tight, perfectly round,
larger, fluffier
or wild and untidy,
there are no rules in free form embroidery.
Have fun!

Homework:
Experiment with stranded floss to see if it can replace the wool yarn.
Then add Sydd Tofs to these samplers.











Thursday 19 March 2020

Friday Revision Homework - Stitches 121 - 125

These are times of global distress. We urgently need help to fight the Corona virus.
Sunbonnet Sue works in a laboratory and has developed both the cure (green bottle) and the vaccine (orange bottle). Isn't she worth the Nobel Prize for Physiology and Medicine 2020?


For the other stitches I used Stem Stitch.

Wednesday 18 March 2020

WIPW - Keep Calm and Carry On Stitching

My idea is that if in these times of the Corona virus outbreak you Keep Calm and Carry On Stitching, then you will have some Work In Progress Wednesday results to report.

Freeform Embroidery
The additions were:
Point a la Minute,

Tvistsöm
Chequered Chain Band


Crazy for Crazy
A paisley shape was stitched with Alternating Magic Split Stitch
and a seam was worked with Indian Edging Stitch.

Sunday Stitch School Reference Chart
Last week I printed out the names for stitches 80 - 127 on fabric.
These labels were then cut out and fused onto the chart, and finally stitched down with invisible nylon thread.

The new area is marked in red.
Please note I have already added the names of the next two stitches, but not done the actual embroidery yet.
The next question is if I can find enough new stitches to fill in the entire chart...


Keep Calm and Carry On Stitching, and Stay Safe!