Quilt

Years ago I painted this floral piece starting with white fabric. It's so long ago that I'm not sure what I did, but I must have started with a traced and enlarged photo or a Dover design, because I don't really draw.

The flowers and leaves have the details machine embroidered. After laying my quilt sandwich, I outlined all of them and then quilted the background and border. It was a fun piece to work on.

Stitchery

Since Take a Stitch Tuesday is taking a week off, I decided to show a sampler I work on to try flower ideas. I do love flowers and this makes a good record of which ones work best. I started on counted thread fabric but really prefer to not have to take the weave into consideration and work within that framework. It's a stretch for me-rather be free.

Mixed Media

I had this calendar that had the coolest cover with bugs all over it. I like bugs. They are so diverse and interesting, so I decided to recycle the book by removing the pages and rebinding it with blank paper and painted paper.

 I used a real leaf as a mask and sprayed the page then added the silk leaves. The bugs are from a print fabric that I painted with the medium called glass beads. Once it was dry, I cut out the bugs and glued them to the page.

These pages were done by using stencils to put foil glue through-be sure to wash your stencils right away. Once dry I rubbed the foil over them. The photo doesn't show the glitter very well, but it is an easy, fun technique. Remember to use the foil color side up.

Update on Rooster

He's still with us and tolerated by the other one at least for now. He's showing interest in the hens and crowing, so that might not last. He is bigger and looks so much better than when he arrived.

Gifts

So much fun. So much Fun! It is so much more fun to get things from someone else because it makes me think in a different direction. Did I hit the jackpot this time with the giveaway at Ruth's blog  http://ruthsfiberphotos.blogspot.com  Above is Angelina in one of my favorite colors and all those yummy hand dyed threads-perfect for a stitcher.

She included a hand made card, two white batts and a dyed one in another of my colors. The wool is Merino-the softest feeling stuff.

Three prefelts are next plus the cocoon dangle and cute flower.

Finally, assorted fibers to play with in a nice range of colors. A real treasure trove. Thank you Ruth. Be sure to visit her blog.

SPRING??????????????

This is what we woke up to this morning.

I live in the Pacific NW in an area which is not known for having much snow. What happened this year? Is this the wave of the future?

This is our road out to the main one which is why I'm staying home.

The flowers are trying. I hope we don't lose too many more branches. It's been a hard winter on the Dogwood and Flowering Plum trees.

Take a Stitch Tuesday

This week is the Barred Chain-a stitch I hadn't worked before. It is also called the Twisted Chain. Sharonb at www.pintangle.com hosts the challenge.

The top is a variegated acrylic. The green is perle cotton so it would show how doing it back to back looked. On the orange I alternated the barred part.  The next green is two threads in the needle and worked completely randomly. The yarns were knitted and unravelled for an added kink. The last is an eyelash type yarn.

My goal this time is to explore using unusual threads.

Quilt

One day I wanted to see if I could do those skinny pieces that I'd seen others doing. I was going to just keep making the tiny strips but decided that they would be more effective, it they were in just a few places, so this it the result.

The marbled commercial fabric was the starting point. The machine quilting is curved lines to emphasize the pieced curves.

Thank you to everyone who commented on my yellow green quilt. When marbling fabric in S. California, we found that adding lime to almost every piece really added a punch-thus starting my love of what was a color I didn't use before.

Another color group that became a favorite showed up when I took a color class from Judy Warren at Asilomar. I picked yellow to work with, because it was such an uncomfortable color when you get to the shades. During the painting exercises, I fell in love with the tints and shades of yellow orange. It pays to keep an open mind.

Quilt

 The challenge this time for Fiberactions was a monochromatic color scheme. The challenge is to use one color but still have interest in the piece.  I really wanted to work with yellow green, so I checked through my stash for hand dyes and batiks and found plenty!  I also wanted to try working with circles.

The background is pieced; the circles fused.

The detail shows the edge treatment-a decorative stitch on the inside of all but the largest circle and a braid couched to the outer edge.  The echo quilting reinforces the circular idea.

Be sure to click on the button at the right to see the other quilts in this challenge.

Take a Stitch Tuesday

This week's stitch from Sharon at www.pintangle.com is the Whipped Wheel. I thought I'd try an abstract flower with "leaves" around it.

I'm also trying unusual threads. The pink is a mohair so the blurring is the thread. The yellow has uneven legs to the base in a Perle cotton then wrapped with a bumpy thread. The green was using two threads in the needle at the same time.

I'll be modelling 4 of my Bomber Jackets in the fashion show the Wearable group is putting on for the Columbia Fiberarts guild, so time is short.

Information

I had an email asking for information and decided to answer here.  The trims I use tend to be ones I've had for years. Sometimes I paint them with acrylic paints. If I buy locally, it's at Joanne's or Fabric Depot. Online I use www.joggles.com

Don't overlook thrift and antique shops for unusual things but remember they might not be there if you don't get them when you see them.

I hope that helps.

Bead Journal Project

For March I did a mostly Orange cuff. It is felted to a piece of commercial felt then Machine Embroidered. I'm trying to remember to use the wonderful pearls I keep buying, so some were added next. Seed beads embellish them. I'm finding that regular snaps make a good closure-safe and don't show when the cuff is worn. It is also going along with my idea to use things in my stash.

I'm so pleased that people liked my Running Stitch sampler. To me to work it was relaxing. Thanks for all the comments.

Take a Stitch Tuesday

This week is Running Stitch-a stitch with so many possibilities that you could explore it and never have to use another stitch.

The Challenge is sponsored by Sharon at www.pintangle.com

Purse

Here's another purse I made using the idea I saw from a TV demonstration by Linda McGeehee. This one is lined, but that makes it bulky, so I think a double faced fabric or one with a nice reverse side would have been a better choice.

Quilt

I was playing around and drew a 9 piece block. Four of them look like this together. The machine quilting more or less follows and echoes the main pieces. It's done in batiks which I love and hand dyes from my stash.

The rooster is still around and seems to get along with our rooster--at least so far. Sometimes he'll go in the yard for the night, sometimes not. We close the yard which also has netting over the top because of all the predators around here.

Take a Stitch Tuesday

Couching is this week's stitch from Sharon at www.pintangle.com I often use it to hold down a cord as the basis for a design. It is easy to manipulate into whatever direction necessary.

The top line is held with just a diagonal straight stitch. Next an exotic yarn is held in place using the Herringbone Stitch.

The green thread was so fuzzy that I left it do its own thing and just tacked it with small stitches using Perle Cotton 8.

The blue is a yarn that I crocheted into a chain stitch and tacked with the Perle again.