WIPW - The Swedish Cushion Completed!

If you click here and read the information on Pintangle you will learn all about Work In Progress Wednesday.

How quickly Wednesdays come around! It is time for another WIPW report.

Kafferepet
I have completed the Woven Crosses that anchor the lace. That means that the top of the quilt is finished. Yes!  A picture will be shown next week.

Here I have collected the material for the hanging sleeve and the label that I hope to start work on soon.

Pile 'em On
More orts and stray thread have been worked into the 'mess'. The latest addition were the purls I made.

TASTy Beads Galore
I was most impressed by some stunning flowers Chitra, of Jizee6687's Weblog, made on her sampler with TAST #139 Beaded Barb Stitch. I wanted to make something similar. Alas, my colours are dull and the spacing not so impressive; I'll have to try again.

TAST Reference Chart
I stitched down the labels for the latest ten stitches.

Then I prepared another sheet for future TAST stitches. There are 81 squares! Sharon, I hope you don't feel this as any pressure, but I'd love to have them all filled with TAST stitches eventually!!!

Chicken Scratch
Out of the blue I had to make another train trip. I let the Chicken loose and she Scratched hard and actually completed the design.

Before I turn this into a cushion I will work another pattern of thread in some areas to add a bit of pizzaz.

The Swedish Cushion
A cushion that is completed, however, is the Swedish one.
The full panel looks like this:

and contains 124 different TAST stitches (the 16 beaded TAST stitches are not included). 

In addition I have used Cross stitch for the initials and Anundsjö Stitch for the small blue and yellow emblems.

If you look closely you can see that in many areas I have used a mirror image and tried to use stitches that were as similar on either side. In the end that gave me a headache; I had added TAST #132 Kiko's Flower in one of the paisley designs:

and got no TAST stitch that would balance the act in the other paisley. It felt as if I had painted myself into a corner and could not get out... What to do? Well, I had seen Kiko's Flower in the Totsuka Embrodery Stitch Book #8 and the same author has a similar stitch in another of her books, Basic Stitch, that looked about the same. So I added that, the Triangular Bullion Stitch:

So there are in total 127 different stitches.

The made up cushion looks like this on one side,

and this, on the other side.

Work on the cushion was started in the middle of August last year, and it has taken a year and a half to complete it.
The fabric is cotton and easy to work on, but hard to photograph. The threads are mainly perle 8, stranded floss and coton a broder. In each corner there is a tassel of red ribbon, and by opening the zipper on one side you can remove the inner cushion.
It will be a delight to have this cushion on display and I am sure it will give me a lot of inspiration for future projects.

Thank you for all the support and encouragement you have given me.

WIPW - Weaving Crosses

Work In Progress Wednesday was initiated by Sharon at Pintangle and is a support program to help us work towards finishing various needlework projects. More information here.

My progress since last week Wednesday:

Kafferepet
I have started anchoring the lower edge of the lace with TAST stitch #77 Woven Cross Stitch.

Swedish Cushion
What better stitch to add to the Cable Chain stitches I added in December last year, than the latest one: TAST #140 Threaded Cable Chain?

Pile 'em On
Some more stray thread ends ended up on this pile. Some are curled, made as shown here. The circle is taking on more of a clear form.

TASTy Beads Galore
I worked a leaf in TAST #102 Beaded Triangular Stitch.

TAST Reference Chart
The last TAST stitch of the year, #140 Threaded Cable Chain, was added. It looks good on a curve, especially when you adjust the size of the loops, don't you agree?

WIPW - Sorry its Blurred

Work In Progress Wednesday helps you work towards completing needlework projects. Check it out at Pintangle.

 I have taken most of the photos with my mobile phone, so the pictures are blurred. Sorry!

Kafferepet
I have almost come full circle on the embroidery quilting of the inner part of the lace.

Next step is to embroider the other edge of the lace.

Pile 'em On
More rough embroidery has been piled on, and you can see a circle beginning to emerge...

TASTy Beads Galore
I tried to use TAST #116 Beaded Vandyke Stitch for the yellow flower. Not easy, not well made, not looking good... I can not put the blame on the blurred photo!

Chicken Scratch
I had the opportunity to make another train journey and continued working on this piece. Although I have not much left, I begin to feel the pattern is rather boring and will see if I should add some more designs, maybe in a heavier thread...

Swedish Cushion

Yesterday we got a new TAST stitch, #140 Threaded Cable Chain, and this will be added to the cushion and shown next week.

There are still a few blank areas on my fabric which could benefit from a cluster of stitches, but with #140 I will have added all the non-beaded TAST stitches we have learned. I don't want to repeat the same stitches again, so what should I do? I am calling this the Swedish Cushion so why not add a true Swedish stitch, although it is not, and might never become a TAST stitch? 

May I introduce you to the Anundsjö stitch:

It starts like a split stitch, either splitting one thread or dividing two threads.

The anchoring stitch goes into the fabric outside the split stitch.

Then you add another stitch, either as a detached one or following a line.

I think the charm of the stitch is its irregularity and scratchy look. 

The story has it that it was 'invented' by Brita-Kajsa Karlsdotter who took up embroidery when she was elderly and her vision had become slightly impaired, explaining the uneven look. 

I used it on the cushion to make small emblems like these:

The centre is worked in Chain Stitch and Laid Filling Stitch often found in Halland Embroidery, another traditional Swedish style from the west coast county of Halland.

WIPW - The Chicken Scratches Again

Read about Work In Progress Wednesday, check the links, and why not join in. Click here.

Kafferepet

I have turned a corner with the embroidery on this quilt.

Swedish Cushion

To even out a blank area I added a cluster of TAST #30 Cast On stitches, although I already had inserted four Cast On stitches in another spot on the cushion in June.

 

TASTy Beads Galore

I worked three leaves in TAST #139 Beaded Bard Stitch. Sorry for the blurred picture.

The stem of the #135 Beaded Fern Stitch plant was extended and there is now a flower made with the same stitch as well.

Pile 'em On

More stray ends of orts ended up on this 'rough' free form embroidery.

TAST Reference Chart

TAST #138 Barb Stitch and #139 Beaded Barb Stitch found their way to the right boxes on the reference chart.

EXTRA! WIPW Chicken Scratch goes travelling again

On my Chicken Scratch cushion,  that I started two years ago, and haven't work on since last November,  I worked as far as I could on a recent train journey. Will I not progress on this again until next year November? Then I wonder how many years it will take to complete?!

WIPW - Cramming It In

It has been a busy week and I have tried to cram in as much needlework as possible to have something to report on in WIPW. Most of you already know that that abbreviation stands for Work In Progress Wednesday and that it is a great way to nudge oneself towards completing an embroidery project.
Read more on Sharon B's blog, Pintangle.


Kafferepet
Cramming in stitches.
The lace I basted last week is now being anchored to the blue edge of the quilt. I am using TAST #68 Slipped Detached Chain Stitches in perle #8 in yellow, light and medium green.

Swedish Cushion
Cramming in design.
Here I have been quick off the mark and added the TAST stitch that was introduced to us yesterday! #138 Barb Stitch. I used Sharon's crazy quilting templates to draw the paisley.

TASTy Beads Galore
Cramming in beads.
The stitch that came out out to play was #118 Beaded Buttonhole Stitch. I used bugle beads as well as seed beads. A few unbeaded Straight stitches were also crammed in.

Pile 'em On
Cramming in orts.
Going to the quilt show in Yokohama was great fun, but the visit and writing up three blog posts 'robbed' me of quality stitching time, so I let off some frustration by digging up orts from my crammed jar of short thread ends and cramming them into this rough stitch bed.

TAST Reference Chart
Cramming in another TAST stitch.
#137 Beaded Knotted Buttonhole Band was a bit of a struggle but is now recorded on this chart.

It is not an easy stitch to bead, but then the beads are crammed in!

WIPW - Orts to mental rescue

WIPW? What does it mean?  If you don't understand the jargon get it explained at Pintangle.

Kafferepet
This quilt has now got a blue edge topped with handmade lace from my mother's stash.

The lace will be stitched down using some of the TAST stitches. Here the TAST Reference Chart has come in very handy. I have found two stitches that I think will look great.

TASTy Beads Galore
I worked the stem in TAST #96 Beaded Linked Chain and the base of the flower in #90 Twisted Satin Stitch with a Bead.

Swedish Cushion
On a bare spot I added a double loop of TAST #136 Knotted Buttonhole Band.

How can a dark blue fabric look so grey? Digital cameras and blogging, eh!

 TAST Reference Chart
Stitch #136, Knotted Buttonhole Band was added to the chart, but not very neatly!

New! Pile 'em On
I have a new project here. Do you remember my collection of orts, the stray ends of embroidery thread, too short to work a long seam with, too long to throw away? I wrote about it here.

I received several pieces of disturbing news this week, things that I can't do anything about or indeed should not meddle in. Nevertheless, I needed to do something to keep my emotions in check. So my orts came to mental rescue.

On a stray piece of linen I added whatever stitch came to my mind using the short lengths of thread from my orts jar. I am just adding stitches in a 'pile 'em on' manner.

How often 'Pile 'em On' will feature in my WIPW reports will depend on how ragged my nerves are and how full the orts jar is.

WIPW - Completed x 3

Work In Progress Wednesday is a way to help you finish your needlework projects. Read about it here at Pintangle.
WIPW really works; I don't know if any of my progress this week would have happened if it hadn't been for the weekly routine, and the supportive and kind comments and suggestions by WIPW participants.

Kafferepet
Completed #1.
The quilting is done!

I have also bought some fabric for the next stage, the edge.

Swedish Cushion
The Swedish cushion has been sleeping all week, and is patiently waiting for a new TAST stitch to fill in some stray empty spaces. (A hint to Sharon, I am hoping for a triangular stitch... ; ) )

New WIPW - TASTy Beads Galore
As there are no beaded TAST stitches on the Swedish cushion, I have started on a new project where I want to add the TAST stitches with beads.

The first stitch is TAST #135 Beaded Fern Stitch.

Swedish Wool Embroidery Collar
Completed #2.
Here is the completed collar shown with the two wrist warmers I made last year.

We are ready for the cold!

Extra WIPW - Felted Bluebells
Completed #3.
Do you remember the felted bluebells I had intended to use as ornaments on the strings of the collar? As they were too large, I dressed them up with some embroidery and beads, and turned them into Christmas decorations. Who's heard of Winter Bluebells?

TAST Reference Chart
#135 Beaded Fern Stitch has been added.

I hope you are working towards completing a project, too. Keep up the good work!

WIPW - Next week Wednesday

Work In Progress Wednesday helps you work towards completing needlework projects. Read and learn from Pintangle, then join in, if you want to share the fun.

Kafferepet
I have added another row of quilting.

Swedish Cushion
The recently learned Fern stitch, TAST #134, quickly found its way onto the cushion. Pink Perle #8.

TAST Reference Chart
The Fern stitch grew here, too, and in a circle!

I need to remove the blue marker lines!

Swedish Wool Embroidery Collar

Last week I showed a photo of wool fleece. I took it while attending a workshop in felting on the island of Koster near the Swedish West Coast in July.
There I made two 'bluebells' to use as ornaments for the cords of the collar.

I was very pleased with them until I saw that they were too large.
New ornaments had to be made. I had some wool in my stash in Tokyo, and remembered the technique. The result was two smaller ornaments, however they are not bluebells.

Instead their plainness make them perfect for TAST embroidery, and as you can see the Fern Stitch came out to play again.

A few stitches here and there and the Swedish Wool Embroidery Collar will be complete. It will be on display next Wednesday!

Where do you think the two bluebells are destined for? The bin? The cupboard? Or the ...? Also on display next Wednesday. Until then have a happy stitchy time!