Not Much New

I haven't done much quilting lately. Between work, family and being sick just haven't had the chance. I have managed to work on some postcards for the exchange I'm doing. I'm hoping to finish those tomorrow. I didn't even get a chance to work on the cretan stitch for Take a Stitch Tuesday
I do have this picture of an unfinished top I made 4 or 5 years ago. Can't believe it's been that long! It was one of my first attempts at curves. I was inspired to try some curved work after looking at Carol Bryer Fallert's work. I always put off curved piecing because I knew I would never get it to lie flat. So I used machine applique. I folded under all the edges and then sewed a straight stitch close to the edge.
I have always liked this piece but never figured out how I wanted to finish it. I put it away in the ufo pile and just "discovered" it a couple of days ago. I have it up on my wall and will start working on it again.
I try to finish 1 or 2 ufo's each year but I don't think I will ever catch up since I seem to add at least that many each year to the pile!!! Sometimes it seems easier to finish them when I pick them back up again.

Take a Stitch Tuesday - Week 3

This is what I've done for Take a Stitch Tuesday this week. This weeks stitch was the detatched chain stitch or lazy daisy stitch. I used the stitch for everything including couching down the yarns I used. I tried different threads from cotton embroidery floss, pearl cotton, silk floss, the big pink flower was made out of one of my specialty yarns. I also used something called glossilla. I picked up this floss in a bag at the secondhand store. It had all sorts of flosses and pearl cottons. It was made in the USA but it looks older.

After looking at the TAST on people's blogs last week, I decided to set a few boundries for myself.

1. I'm going to work on a 4"x6" piece. I think that helped me this week.

2. Try to use what I have on hand.

3. I have a bunch of small pieces of fabric that I painted in a class. They are small enough that I have never used them before. I think this challenge will be a good way to use them. Although it won't stop me from using other things. This weeks fabric was one of these.

4. Try using some unusual fabrics.

5. Have fun.

Postcards and Playtime

These aren't the best pictures I've taken. I'll have to take the time to get the tripod out when I take pictures of small pieces. The first two are also on their sides but I wanted to get them posted. These postcards are for a swap on Art 2 Mail.




This is something I've been playing with. In the book, Collage Unleashed by Traci Bautista, she tells you how to dye paper towels. One night over the holidays, I played and dyed some paper towels. Since then, I've been looking at them wondering what next. The last couple of days, when I had a few minutes, I played some more. I started by putting fusible web on the back of the paper towels and then tearing them into big pieces. then fused the pieces onto a piece of peltex. I loved the way it looked and then hit the stage where I was afraid to do anything because I might ruin it. I finally made myself stamp some lumiere spirals on to it. I then tore tissue paper into petal shapes and glued them down. I'm going to add stitching around the petals and who knows what else.
I don't know what it is, I never seem to be able to play without over thinking things or worrying about ruining something.
What I'll actually do with this. Maybe the cover for a journal.

Take a Stitch Tuesday - Week 2

The stitch for week 2 on Take a Stitch Tuesday is the buttonhole stitch. I'm hoping to experiment some more but this is what I've done so far. On the right I was playing with a leaf shape. On the bottom, I made the buttonhole stitch different lengths and made them crooked. I was thinking of grass or stems. Then I wove a fuzzy yarn around the bottom of the stitches. I added the french knots just to give the idea of flowers there. The top was just an attempt at couching down a piece of yarn with the button hole stitch.
I really need to find my embroidery hoops so I can keep the fabric tight. Or use something like I last week. Last week, I used a brown paper bag which was crumpled, colored and fused to peltex. I also need to start drawing lines so the embroidery stays straight.

Take a Stitch Tuesday

I'm participating in Sharon Boggon's "Take a Stitch Tuesday Challenge". Each Tuesday, she posts what she has done with a stitch and encourages us to experiment with that stitch and post the results to our blogs. I like to use stitching on my projects and have wanted to experiment with different ways to use the stitches. I'm hoping that this challenge will get me moving.
This weeks stitch is the herringbone stitch. Due to the head cold I have ended up with, my results aren't as experimental as I'd like but at least I did something.

I'm thinking of making some sort of book to put these experiments in.

I have come to the conclusion that I need to organise my yarns, floss, threads, etc. I have all this stuff thrown into different baggies and grocery bags, etc. Makes it hard to find things. Now my livingroom is a mess since I pulled all this stuff out and have it strewn all over the floor.

Well, hopefully I will be better prepared and feeling better for the next stitch.