TAST-2015- Week 3- Feather Stitch

This may be a small embroidery but it took me the best part of a day to stitch it.  Mainly because I was stitching in  a single strand of silk thread, that does take time.

The inspiration for this piece is the sun, the earth, the sand dunes and the sea that surround my island.  I had never thought of using feather stitch to represent the sea but it kind of works.

I used single feather stitch for the sun, stitching two rows in opposite directions.  This gives a great spiral effect.  (I want to try this with a thicker thread I think it could be very effective.)  

 

 

 

 

The line that represents the land is stitched in closed feather stitch, the thread this time was a Stef Francis silk.

The beach has grass tussocks here and there and this was stitched in feather with different weights of silk thread. I added the odd detached chain on some of the arms.

 Then I threw caution to the wind when it came to the sea.  I mixed differ weights, colours and types of silk and let it flow.

As you can probably see from this close up, I stitched onto a piece of eco dyed wool.

go to PIntangle to see what others are doing.

World Embroiderers Day.

Happy World Embroiderers Day.  Put that into Google and you will get lots of hits.  I like this one from All One Thread's Facebook page.

 

The text with it says:

Here are the latest Peace Doves from the women in Mahila aur Pani Embroidery Club in Bheel Basti, India. They are embroidered by the widows that are in most need of support. The design is made by the artist Pablo Picasso after World war II. About the project; www.mahila.se

Sacrificial ducks

My friend has a beautiful 7 acre property on the island.   Kerlew creek has it's source here and she has deepened it to make a lovely pond.

 

She has also encouraged the wild ducks to shelter here with the motive of keeping the snakes out of the house.   We have seen 4 really big pythons who live in the bush here.

But a few days ago one of the snakes had an accident.  It went 40 feet up a tree after a duck and fell out of the tree stunning itself.  My kind hearted friend called a Vet to come and look at it.  OMG.  There was no damaged and it slithered away into the bush.  Looks like the ducks are fighting back.

WIPW

I have begun work on yet another of my 2016 classes, this time Appliqué.   I am having to make all my samples again as I left my teaching folders with my Appliqué work with a teacher at my last school, never to be seen again.  This time I thought I would do a set of "what will happen if you.." samples to show what can go wrong.   As many students will not have done any appliqué before I am going to stick to the basics.

Starting with Raw edge - using double sided adhesive interfacing (vysofix).  I will demonstrate all the tricks to making the assembley less painful.  I will also have samples of machine appliqué showing straight stitch, zig zag, buttonhole and a fancy stitch appliqué but in the class we will stitch the edges with blanket stitch.  I am using tea towels for the base fabric for some of the samples as lots of people make these as gifts.

This is first of the "what if's."  What if you don't reverse your pattern.  I will do another using the correct method.

I will also cover needle turn, reverse and freezer paper techniques.

Introduction to Kogin Embroidery sample

I am finally finished the sample for the class later this year, a tablet cover.

Actually, the hemp fabric is perfect for this kind of use.  It is tough and will stand up to quite a bit of wear and tear. I used a cotton/ synthetic wadding and then lined it with flannelette to protect the screen and add a bit of contrast.

I have tried to incorporate some of the different types of Kogin Emboirdery.  Hishishashi from the east coast region on the front of the pocket, even count.  A traditional pattern from the Tsugaru region on the back, in an odd count.

The button is stitched using DMC thread on a Lugano fabric.  The patterns stitched up a lot smaller but this suits the scale size of the button.  The whole piece is hand washable but I think it would take a couple of days to dry because of the layers of fabric.

This will be a one-day class at the Queensland Embroiderers' Guild.  The actual Kogin stitching should only take a day to complete and I'm sure that some people will finish it in the class.  I will provide kits that will include all the fabrics and threads for the complete bag.  Details of the class will appear on the Guild's website in early August.

TAST - 2015 week 2 Blanket Stitch

I am feeling very stressed at the moment due to all the travelling that I have to do and as a result my stitching is sitting on my desk waiting for my mind to wind down a bit.  But I know what I want to stitch this week in fact it is very similar to a sample of blanket stitch I have done before.  

This one was stitched on cotton that I had dyed with tannin from bush leaves.  I just used left over bits of threads in the thickness and colours I wanted to achieve the effect I wanted.  My inspiration was the grasses that grow in the sand dunes at the back of Norfolk Beach which is on the eastern side of the island.  I will restitch another version of this in silk for my card collection.

There are many other ways to use this stitch.  Head over to Pintangle and have a look.

No sewing

With the upheaval of my husband being in hospital I just can't settle to sewing but I get home at night and sit and knit.  I have just finished two berets for the girls.  I took an adult pattern in a 12ply yarn and knitted it in 8ply wool on smaller needles.  To begin I found the pattern confusing because there was a stitch new to me in it.  But once I worked out how to do it I enjoyed knitting these berets.  I would like to put a pom pom on each one but I better ask the girls first.

My husband will be coming home this weekend and I will not have to drive up and back to the city.  The weather has made this travel most uncomfortable.    I find that I am out in the weather far more here.  No longer do I walk to the garage and get into the car.  Now I have to rug up, put on my wet weather gear and walk to the ferry and when we arrive at the mainland, walk up to the car.  If it is raining it is normally blowing a gale as well.  Forget about umbrellas, they are just a liablility in that kind of wind.  And as to my shoes, well with unpaved roads they are taking a beating.  It is all the little things that you take for granted that are no longer there that you have to adjust to but I still love living here.

WIPW

A quick update as I rush off to visit my husband again.  (He is doing really well and should come home on Saturday.)

This is going to be a tablet cover and could also be used as a writing set.

The back.

The front, showing the lining.

Still the button closer to come.  This piece will have an example of each type of Kogin embroidery and all the stitching can be finished in a couple of days.

Flinder's Day

The weather was just bad, there was no other word to describe it.  A 35 knot gale blowing out of the SE staight onto the main beach.

 Yet despite this crowds of people turned up.  There were a lot of pirates,

 

Some wanting to look good.

And some were there for the hidden treasure.

We have had Johnny Depp here lately filming "Priates of the Carabeen"  so the blokes were really into the dress ups.

There was a fair with local products on sale,

and the proceedings began with the raising of the flag,

 

with the troupe of Sea Cadets all standing to attention looking very smart.

Then we moved around to Norfolk Beach where Matthew Flinders landed back in the 1790's.  The sea cadets marched along the beach track,

to the beat of the Redlands Ladies Marching Band.

We all stood in the cold wind waiting for Finders to arrive.  There was such a head wind the little rowing boat could make no headway.

So the pirates had to come to the rescue.

Matthew Flinders landed and claimed the land for England even though it belonged to the Quandamooka people.

Then those pesky pirates turned on him but luckily a couple of redcoats were there with their muskets, which made a terrible noise, and saved the day.

I was so cold we all headed for home for a big bowl of potato and leek soup topped with bacon.  And that was Finders day for 2015.  I hope it is warmer next year.

 

TAST 2015 - Fly Stitch

It's on again.  Last time I looked 1,300 people had signed up on facebook this year, that is amazing.

In fact it is just what I have been waiting for.  It gives me direction for the next step with my eco dying project,  inspired by the work of India Flint.  I have a whole bundle of sample fabrics now all eco dyed from native plants from my garden.   I have a variety of silk and wool samples. So far the wool has given the best results.

 But bits of fabric wasn't the end point I was after.  I want to use the place I live, Coochiemudlo Island, as the source of my designs and I wanted to start in my own back yard, literally.  It is winter here but many of the bush flowers are still on the trees.  Some like this bottle brush at the end of the flowering.

 

It becomes my first inspiration.  

 

I  plan to make small embroideries, that I can stitch in a day or so, and mount them to make cards.  I plan to do all my stitching using silk threads.   So here is my first.  The bottlebrush is stitched in two colours of silk in fly stitch then overstitched with straight stitch in an old gold yellow.  I could improve those leaves me thinks.

Now I'm going to head over to Pintangle to see what everyone else is doing.