WIPW - One Bookmark Finished

Work In Progress Wednesday. 

Hexablooms

These are the ten hexagon flowers I made in the last 7 days. The total is now 260.

Bookmarks

I have completed the stitching of the bookmark, but will only show you the reverse. Once the gift has been handed over I will show the front.

I am stitching on a long and narrow length of canvas and have divided the 'ribbon' into six sections, meaning I will make six bookmarks. 

To be able to place and stretch the stitching area in a hoop, I needed to add support fabric on both sides. As the stitching on the first bookmark is completed, I will move the support fabric further down the 'ribbon' and start on the second bookmark.

There will hopefully be more progress to show you next week.

Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 313: Darning Stitch

Darning Stitch is another basic stitch I have not introduced yet. It IS a form of Running Stitch, which is one of the simplest and most common stitches there is. However,  the latter is usually even in length, whereas the Darning Stitch is longer on the surface and shorter on the reverse. It is often used as a filling stitch, and each row is staggered, like the pattern on a brick wall.

I found a clear and easy-to-follow tutorial in RSN's Stitch Bank.

Here are my photo instructions.

The traditional Running Stitch

Here is the Darning Stitch.

Compare them.

Here is the Darning Stitch in staggered form.

As you can see, these stitches are easy and should have been included much earlier, but it is never too late, eh?

Homework:

Fill in here.

Friday Homework for Lesson 312: Closed Buttonhole Stitch

The Closed Buttonhole Stitch is such an attractive stitch, don't you agree?

Aida Sampler

Sunday Stitch School Reference Chart

Mottled Wool Scribble Cloth

It looks good in variegated thread. It looks good in different sizes. It looks good when stitched over an edge. It looks good when mirrored.

Wouldn't it look good if whipped? Wouldn't it look great with a bead or knot in the void of the triangle?

This is a great stitch for crazy quilting, 

WIPW - +10=250

 Work In Progress Wednesday can report another set of ten 

Hexablooms

which brings the total to 250.

New! Bookmarks

I have started on a series of bookmarks. This is the reverse...

Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 312: Closed Buttonhole Stitch

Here is another stitch that I have overlooked - it should have been added long ago! Never mind, here is my photo tutorial, following Reader's Digest Complete Book of Embroidery:

Make a closed triangle.

Then add another...

Anchor at the end of the line.

Homework:

Add to the three usual samplers.

Friday Homework for Lesson 311: Seed Stitch

 It is an easy stitch, but it can be tricky to scatter the stitches evenly over the area you want to cover.

Aida Sampler

Sunday Stitch School Reference Chart

Mottled Wool Scribble Cloth

WIPW - At Last, a New Set of Hexablooms

I am sorry not to have made much to report for Work In Progress Wednesday this year. In the last week, though,  I managed to make another set of ten 

Hexablooms

for the hexagon scrap quilt. In total, I now have 240 blocks.

In three hexablooms, I used remnants from clothing. The pink and brown print is a leftover from a sundress Mum made for herself in the early 1960s. She was so beautiful in it.

The white with grey and turquoise flowers is a print from the same era. Mum had made me a blouse to wear in nursery school. It holds a traumatic memory - I was chased by some nasty boys, fell on my face, and the nosebleed that followed was spectacular. I still remember the beautiful turquoise flowers being drenched in scarlet red, and the nightmare of the event still haunts me. Luckily, the fabric I used was a piece of leftover, as the blood-stained blouse itself was discarded long ago, of course.

Finally, the withe and blue striped fabric is from pyjamas my husband's aunt made for a member of our family. 

It is emotional to look at the fabric in these three blocks and remember the clothes and the person who wore them. There will be so many things to remember when looking at the completed quilt.

Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 311: Seed Stitch

2025 got off to a bad start with fatigue and one setback after another. Finally, I am ready to re-open Sunday Stitch School again.

While resting and gaining my strength back, I reviewed my stitch collection. Several of the basic stitches had not yet been included. 

Back in July 2021, I introduced stitch #177 Double Seed Stitch. However, I should have started with the single version, so let's do that today.

Therefore, this week's stitch is Seed Stitch, also known as Seeding Stitch and Speckling Stitch, according to Reader's Digest Complete Book of Embroidery. 

In Mary Thomas's Dictionary of Embroidery Stitches, its other names are Seed Filling Stitch and Isolated Back Stitch.

It's an easy stitch, you simply scatter a number of short Straight Stitches, 

in various directions over an area to be filled.

Homework: Add here

Sunday Stitch School - Still Closed

 I'm sorry, but I need another week of sick leave and rest.

Sunday Stitch School - Sick Leave

Sorry, but there is no new stitch for Sunday Stitch School today. The teacher is on sick leave. Hope to be well and back by next Sunday.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2025

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2025 is the Year Of The Snake according to the Chinese zodiac, which is also followed in Japan.

This snake was made in May 2012, when I had just learned 17 new stitches in Sharon Boggon's TAST (Take A Stitch Tuesday). The orange markings of the snake are made with TAST #17 Crossed Buttonhole Stitch.

The snake is a symbol of prosperity and in these times of high inflation and endless price hikes, let's hope for a more stable economic situation in 2025. 

I also wish that peace, stability and health will prosper all over the world. 

My final wish is that Queenie's Needlework will be prosperous and that my quilting and embroidery will flourish.

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my readers.

For more about the Snake year, go to Hokkaido Kudasai