WIPW - 2 x Completed!

For the Work In Progress Wednesday today I have TWO completed projects!!!!

Crazy for Crazy
The navy blue and pink crazy quilt block is now completed.
I added Fly and Thorn Stitch and some Ribbon Roses.

Cathedral Windows

Finally, and just in time for the Show 'n Tell at the quilt show in Tokyo Dome, I have completed the Cathedral Windows bag.

Front (or back):

Back (or front):

After the show, where I used it as a tote bag, it was happy to return home and take a rest on the daybed stuffed with a cushion.

It will be fun and refreshing to start a new project, or do I have a UFO lurking somewhere?

One new project will be the new challenge for next year's Show 'n Tell with Julie and Tanya.

WIPW - Construction

Work In Progress Wednesday.

Crazy for Crazy
I have just added some beads and couching stitches to this piece of Australian pink lace.

Cathedral Windows

All the 'glass' inserts have been added, all bosses set, but only some of them have been couched with black thread.

I have constructed the bag.

What remains is the lining and handles.

WIPW - Cathedral Bosses

Work In Progress Wednesday today shows a new feature of church architecture.

In a high vaulted cathedral ceiling the spot where the arches joins, there is often an ornamental 'button' - a boss.

On my bag made out of

Cathedral Windows
the joints are covered with 'bosses' to hide the frayed and raw edges that peeked out of the joints.
I used small plastic cupped discs, covered them with blue batik and then couched some black thread around them.
Now the joints are secure.



Furthermore I have joined the back of the bag to the front + side sections,  and started adding turquoise 'glass' inserts.

I have added two, twelve to go.

Crazy for Crazy

Not much has happened here but, I added beads to the Stem stitched stems and a row of floral shaped sequins.

WIPW - The Need to Cover Up

Work In Progress Wednesday.

Crazy for Crazy
I added two seams, one of them a beaded version.

Cathedral Windows
I am very pleased with the colourful look created by the background fabric.

On the other hand, I was not satisfied with the machine top-stitching for the turned over curves that I tried last week, so did them all by hand.
It took some time, but was not frustrating to stitch.


However, what WAS frustrating was to see that some of the inserted background pieces did not cover the joints properly.

Compare this reasonably good joint


with this horrible one!

The frayed parts must be covered up.
I will use either buttons or small plastic cups, covered with fabric to hide the flaws.

Here are the two parts of the bag, front + sides, and back.

WIPW - Adjustments

A Happy New Year 2019 with best wishes for a productive and creative year with needle and thread.

During the year end and the new year holiday I have been somewhat productive. I also found I had to make some adjustments to my principle and plan.

Here is the first Work In Progress Wednesday report of 2019.

Crazy for Crazy
I used Stem Stitch to make the base for a spray of flowers, which I will add later.
I stitched an undulating ribbon of Puncetto Valsesiano lace.
I made some Granitos flowers.

Cathedral Windows

I wanted to follow the machine method I found on the internet for these windows, but I sometimes found it trickier than I had expected to do the tips. 

Have a look:

Here the tips are thin (two layers of fabric)  and I managed to stitch neatly, but

when the tips have a seam and fold of four layers of fabric, the tips are difficult to stitch neatly. 

By hand you can wrestle and manipulate, but by machine you simply don't SEE under the presser foot. Also approaching the tip, the presser foot might slip and the needle jump a stitch. NOT a good result!

I will therefor make some adjustments and HAND STITCH the tips and do the rest of the seams by machine. I'll see it that works out well or not. If not, I will do all the turned-over seams by hand.

Do you remember that I added a piece of fabric inside the folded square?

These can now be seen as 'glass' behind the 'lead' that is turned over the inserted 'glass'.

 

This machine method will have more 'glass' and thinner lines of 'lead'. The back of this bag will be more colorful than the front.

WIPW - Windows by Machine

Christmas turned out to be a good time to work on projects. Here is my Work In Progress Wednesday report on Boxing Day 2018.

Cathedral Windows
I wanted to try a machine piecing method I had found somewhere on the internet.

First make the squares like this:

Stitch the two sides.


Pin them together

Stitch as indicated by the red line.

Turn right sides out and adjust then opening.

Press

Press the points to the centre.

All this has been shown before.

Now comes the new part:

Cut out a square that fits the iron pressed square.

Place it in the middle and give the 'envelope' a new press.

Make a few stitches in the centre to hold down the points.

Zig-zag the blocks together.

 When all blocks have been joined together you have the whole back of the bag constructed.

Next step is to insert the 'glass'.

Crazy for Crazy

I have started embroidery on the navy/pink block.

I wish you all the very best for the few days that remain of 2018. Happy Stitching.

WIPW - A New Crazy Block

It is Wednesday again, and time to leave a report of Work In Progress.

Crazy for Crazy
After being so frustrated with the latest block, Sweet Potatoes and Roast Chestnuts I thought I would shelf this crazy quilt project. However, I pulled myself together and picked out a bunch of navy blue fabric, and pink threads, lace and ribbons.

I don't know if these are Aussie colours, but a lot of the thread and embellishment are from Down Under.

I then pulled myself together even more and pieced the naked block.

I must be back on track again, anyway I hope so!

Cathedral Windows
I added eleven raspberry pink pieces of 'glass' along the edge. These pieces will form the sides of the bag once it is constructed.

I am ready to start on the back, which will be done by machine.

WIPW - 14 x Turquoise

For my Work In Progress Wednesday this week, I can show a finish and some good progress.

Crazy for Crazy
Of the eight Crazy for Crazy cq blocks I have made, the one I call 'Sweet Potato and Roast Chestnuts' was by far the hardest and least enjoyable. The wine red fabric (sweet potato) and the grayish brown fabric (roast chestnut) did not offer any contrast. The brown and beige thread I started out with disappeared on the fabric. The emerald-ish teal thread looked too stark... Whatever I did felt disappointing.
Before giving up I had to do something. Finally I decided to add a few sequins and whip the Portuguese Stem Stitch with some light teal thread.

I will now call it quits and start with a new block that hopefully will be more enjoyable.

Cathedral Windows

I added 14 turquoise pieces of 'glass'. These will be on the edge/corner of the bag.

Furthermore I cut out thirteen raspberry pink pieces of marbled fabric and patterned batik, and these will be added to the empty squares. Once the bag is fully assembled these will be on the sides and the bottom of the bag.

When that is done, I can start on the back of the bag. I will make those squares and insets by machine, to try out another method.

WIPW - Bottom and Sides

For Work In Progress Wednesday this time there is little to report.

Cathedral Windows
I have stitched on the bottom and the sides (well, a bit is still to do) by hand. That's all I have had time for.
No 'glass' inserts yet.

WIPW - Sidetracked

Oh, how quickly Wednesday turns up again!
Since last week I have been busy and my projects were sidetracked by other things. Then before I had time to publish this blog post, someone got ill, and now it is already Thursday.
Not so much to show for Work In Progress (Wednesday) Thursday.

Crazy for Crazy
I just added a few beads.

Cathedral Windows

I inserted six more pieces and now have a total of 18 completed.

Stumpwork Portrait

I have been working on a new stumpwork portrait. Here is a peek view.

While I made the labels, with numbers and names, for the Sunday Stitch Schools Reference Chart last week, I also made a set of new labels to iron onto my projects. This is now on the back of my stumpwork portrait.

WIPW - Reference Charts Updated

I have made a lot of progress this week, but not all is craft-related.

The sewing machine has been hard at it, making small covers for medical equipment, a boring conveyor-belt type of job.

Anyway,  while the sewing machine was set up I decided to update the

TAST and Sunday Stitch School Reference Charts
with text.
I had worked all the stitches, but not put on labels.
With a word-processing software I typed the numbers and names, then printed that information onto iron-on fabric, and pressed fusable web onto the back.
I cut the labels up and ironed them into each cell on the chart.
From experience I know that the glue of the fusable web does not withstand constant use of the chart, so I stitched the numbers and names down with nylon thread.

Both the TAST and Sunday Stitch School Reference Charts are now updated.

Crazy for Crazy
I have started on the beading but only added a handful so far.

Cathedral Windows

I counted the 'panes' on the leaded grid I completed last week, and found I needed 31 pieces of 'glass'.

I cut out squares of batik and arranged them on the grid.

 Each square is pinned down and the black 'lead' edges are turned over.

This naturally forms the arch that makes the Cathedral Windows pattern so beautiful.

So far I have stitched down 12 out of the 31 pieces of glass.

I hope to have all done by next WIPW so that I can start exploring the second method of making cathedral Windows.