Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 138: Waved Chain Stitch

I search high and low for new stitches to add to the Sunday Stitch School. However, sometimes I find the best stitches where it all began, at Pintangle. Sharon Boggon has built up a fantastic collection of stitches in her Stitch Dictionary. 

Many of them are included in her TAST (Take A Stitch Tuesday) online stitch tutorial, which was where I started learning new and unusual stitches.Today's stitch, Waved Chain Stitch, however, only appeared as a TAST stitch in 2010, (as far as I know). This was before I joined the tutorial, so I missed this charming stitch.  Basically it is a variation, extension rather, of Shell Chain Stitch. 

Waved Chain Stitch is surprisingly easy and leaves an attractive zig-zag line.

Originally the stitch comes from one of Edith John's books.

Instructions:
Make a straight Chain Stitch.

Make a second Chain Stitch.

Insert the needle in the same hole

as the first stitch, but come out

slightly below and to the right of 

the first Chain.

Make a third Chain Stitch,

in the same way, below and to the 

right.

You now have three Chain Stitches

each one gradually larger than the 

previous one.

Start the next set of three 

Chain stitches with a small 

vertical straight Chain Stitch.

Make the second stitch slightly

below, but to the left.

and then the third one...

Continue zig-zagging in the same way
until you have as many as you like.

Aren't they attractive?! Imagine this in metallic thread - you'd have a lovely chain for a necklace.

For anyone who compares the Waved Chain Stitch in the stitch dictionary on Pintangle and my version will notice that I have made a slight change - I use the same starting hole for all the three stitches. This results in a 'rougher sea', my waves are higher, the zig-zag line is more obvious.

Homework:

Don't get seasick as you stir up some waves on these samplers:

Friday Homework for Lesson 137: Brick Stitch

This is best as a canvas stitch, I think.

Canvas Sampler

Sunday Stitch School Reference Chart

Teal Wool Tailoring Scribble Cloth

Frihand and uneven!

 Aida Sampler

WIPW - Simple Progress

WIPW, it's Wednesday, here we go again! Simple progress, nothing extra.

Freeform Embroidery
Wrapped Coral, Woven Detached Chain and Knotted Feather Stitch.

Crazy for Crazy
I love working with these colours!

The stem is Portuguese Stem Stitch, the flower and the lace were coloured with soy wax crayons.

Log Cabin Challenge
These stitches were added:
Crossed Feather, Heavy Chain, (not in the photo).
Double Herringbone, Looped Cretan and Mille Fleur are pictured below.

These newcomers are indicated by the yellow lines.
Red = previously decorated seams.

10 new blocks were stitched so there are now a total of 110 blocks.

Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 137: Brick Stitch

Today's stitch is called Brick Stitch and is a classic stitch, basically the same as the Long and Short Stitch. 

Famous for the use in Needlepainting, a single Long and Short Stitch is well blended in with the neighbouring stitches, like shades of watercolour bleed into each other. 

The idea with the Brick Stitch, however, is that the shape of each stitch should be seen as an individual unit - it should resemble a brick in a brick wall. This will make it a beautiful Canvas stitch.

In total this stitch goes under the names of: 

Brick Stitch

Long and Short Stitch

Algerian Filling Stitch

Kensington Stitch

Plumage Stitch

Shading Stitch

Good instructions can be found at Sarah's Hand Embroidery Tutorials. 

Or have a look at my pictorial instructions on Aida:

Take a horisontal straight stitch over two blocks on the Aida weave.

Make a new stitch above it, this time over three blocks.

Continue alternating between two or three blocks in the same way.

From the second column, and further on, however, 

each stitch should always be over two blocks.

The end of each line will therefore be uneven.

When you reach the end of the shape you are filling in,

 work over two or three holes respectively

to get an even edge.

Completed Brick Stitch wall!

If you are working on plain weave, or use an uneven shape,  

like a leaf, draw lines to guide you.

Homework:

Play around with bricks and mortar and build patterns on these samplers.

While you're at it, why not build a brick wall on the Canvas sampler as well.

As Blogger say they will be switching over to the New Blogger system at the end of June, I have made this blog post on that New Blogger system. It has taken more than double the time, the pictures were very hard to upload and the text could not be indented easily. Does anyone else have problems with the New Blogger?

Friday Homework for Lesson 136: Tied Windmill Stitch

This is an easy and neat stitch. Use two different threads or vary the length of the stitches for a nice look.

Aida Sampler

Sunday Stitch School Reference Chart

Teal Wool Tailoring Scribble Cloth

Canvas Sampler

WIPW - The Hot Wax Treatment

WIPW, as usual, shows progress in three projects.

Freeform Embroidery
Today we have: Triple Palestrina, Thorn and Bosnian Stitch.

Crazy for Crazy
The pieces have been stitched, so here is the naked block.

Of the embellishments selected were these small flowers,

but the colour was wrong, so what did I do? I filled in the buds with purple crayon and set the soybean wax with a hot iron.
Next job will be to put on the support fabric, so the block can be placed in a hoop and ready for fancy stitching and embellishing.

Log Cabin Challenge
Knotted Cretan, Cable Chain, Basque, Closed Herringbone, Barb and Alternating Double Chain.
These are all stitches from the TAST selection.

These six stitches have been added to the seams indicated with yellow lines.

A further 10 new blocks were stitched. Total number is now 100 blocks. Of those, 25 are in the cushion flimsy above, which means I have 75 for the quilt.
I will be making blocks until there are no strips of fabric left, and the size of the quilt/wallhanging is still unknown. This project will go on for a long time. It must be boring for you to see, but I love stitching the Log Cabins while listening to the news or some music.

Wow! I have been using the green Christmas fabric in the outer pieces on a lot of these blocks!

Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 136: Tied Windmill Stitch

Hello, and welcome to yet another set of five stitches here at Sunday Stitch School. The first one, #136, is a canvas stitch called Tied Windmill Stitch. I found it on this beautiful sampler of Carole's at A Slight Obsession with Books.

Work it like this:

Make a cross out of three vertical, 

and three horisontal straight

stitches.

Then make an X-cross to tie
the six straight stitches
together.

You can also make the rays with
different length of stitches, which
I think is very attractive.

Also, why not make the X-cross with a different colour, or thread?

Homework:

Add to these three samplers, and if there is time to the canvas sampler.

Friday Revision Homework - Stitches 131 - 135

Here is my homework for the five latest stitches learned at Sunday Stitch School, summarised in a Sunbonnet Sue sampler.

What do you associate with the month of June? Rain (rainy season in Japan)? Summer break starts (Swedish schools)? Midsummer festival? Masses of wild flowers? Or June brides?

Well, Sue wanted to be a June bride. She made her dress and veil, she took her bath and picked her flowers (read here about these traditions), and here she is... waiting... but where is Overall Sam?

So what happened? Did she get married? If so, whom did she wed? Did they live happily ever after? Or did she change her mind and run away? Or was she left at the altar? What do you think?

The outline of her dress is in Stem Stitch and the shoes in Satin Stitch.

WIPW - Next is Midnight Purple

I guess I am boring you with the usual projects, but I do have a new crazy quilt block among the Work In Progress Wednesday this week.

First let's look at the

Freeform Embroidery
I added Twisted Shell Chain, Detached Up and Down Buttonhole Stitch and a larger Chemanthy circle.

Crazy for Crazy
Well, I haven't started stitching, but decided on Midnight Purple for the next octagon block.

Log Cabin Challenge

Seven seams (indicated in yellow in the picture below) were embellished with Buttonhole Picot Bullion, Zig-zag Coral, Lace, Open Chain, Detached Twisted Chain, Fishbone and Knotted Sheaf stitches.

9 new blocks were made so the total is now 90.