Not much stitching happening here with all the weather effecting us. The most I have been able to work on is a couple of simple stitch patterns.
And that book cover said "Don't stitch on me any more". So I made it up.
But it is my daughter's birthday today. Happy Birthday beautiful.
I have made the biggest mess of this stitching. I am now taking a step back and am going to stitch a series of samples so that I can master some of the techniques. I didn't appreciate just how complex this stitching is, and it is complex, and has a huge range of styles . I started out seeing it as a 'Folk Embroidery'. But it actually encompasses a whole culture which is rich and deep. From my research so far I find that girls were required to first stitch samples, so that is where I will start.
I also found a video from back in the 1990's from Cleveland in the USA. It is a wonderful resource, even if the quality of the film isn't the best. It is about 38 mins but is divided into chapters, so you can take it in stages.
I also found a blog by a Hungarian woman Called "Kezimunkamania" that has some great patterns and they have been drawn in AutoCad so they are of a high quality. They are written in Hungarian but it has a Google translate on the page.
And now I see that Selvedge Magazine is running some workshops And that I have been doing the stitch upside down!
So, I restart learning these techniques.
I have been going through some of my old embroidery designs and have decided to share them on my blog. So, this is the first one. This was all stitched in back stitch. One thread for the hands and two threads for the words. Here is a PDF of the pattern to download. Download 12 peace.pages
(I publish this under Creative Commons so if you republish please attribute it to me.)
I have finished my piece from 'Stitch Camp' and I have to say that I enjoyed this diversion. It took me outside of my comfort zone completely. It was only a simple class and it came in the middle of my bout of Covid, which complicated things a bit.
The painting of the fabric is always a challenge as I am not comfortable with using paints, but I did it. Then I had to cut up the paintings and reassemble them. I found that I have a huge pile of left over pieces. They may end up in the bin but I think I will hold onto them for a while and think about them.
The embroidery just took on a life of it's own. Granted I was a bit spaced out with the virus, that might have been a good thing. I found I didn't think, I just let the shapes dictate the stitching. I used 3 weights of embroidery threads to give depth and texture.
I decided to make this into a book cover and used a batik fabric to frame it. I added a positive affirmation which I printed on fabric and attached to the front inside edge so that I would see it when I opened the book.
I must say that I enjoyed this whole process. Not something I would do everyday, but still very enjoyable.
When I went to start my mark making for 'Stitch Camp' I found that all my acrylic paint tubes were either empty or dried out. Not a good start. Paint and I do not have a good relationship. I had to wait until I could get to the mainland, where I'm trying not to go, to get some more. Then the instructions said "mix till it looks like cream". I added to much water and had to add more paint so now I have two jars of diluted paint. But I have made my marks and am waiting for it to dry.
It is raining cats and dogs here. This might take some time. But, I couldn't wait so I set the paint with the iron. The next step was to deconstruct the two pieces of fabric and then reconstruct them ready for stitching.
I think I will leave this overnight and come back to it.
I have lots of left over painted fabric to use for other things.
I am busy sewing new samples for my Machine Finishing class and have taken an applique I did a while ago and turned it into a piped cushion with a hidden zip.
First I had to unpick the old pillow, unpicking is so boring.
This is always a difficult set of techniques to master so I have been on the look out for another way of doing it, and although not simple, I think I have found a new better way. I'm happy how this has turned out. There are some improvements I think I can make to the process.
And how the zipper worked.
I am also beavering away at my cross stitch and am at the half way mark of stitching the design.
I also have to go back and have another Covid test. I'm not looking forward to standing in that line.
With so many people coming and going from the house things have to be simple. Those simple embroideries are great for stitching whilst you are sitting chatting, so three more finished.
One member of my Patchwork gave me a machine embroidered piece as a Xmas present. I wasn't sure just what to do with it. Then my grand daughters said they thought it would make a nice wall hanging. I have added boarders and now it is all pinned up ready for quilting.
And one of the things I didn't put into the clean up, (which has now been delivered to the Salvos) is these small panels from France. Another gift from a travelling friend. They are about to be made into place mats.
And I made a new 'skirt and binding' for the piece I have in my hoop, this means I can fit smaller pieces of linen in the hoop. I have the next Cross Stitch ready to go.
Although, all this may have to wait until everyone goes home. Even then I might need a couple of days just to catch up on sleep!!
So, time to check if I completed the list I wrote for 2021, and, it didn't happen.
Perhaps I should say, some of it happened at different times. I ditched the Easter gifts and made Xmas ones. So I suppose that happened.
The faces stalled when I got to using colour. I have to face that fear this year.
Didn't do a thing on the Graffitti Quilt or the book. There is only one more applique to put on the quilt so it is do-able.
I got 6 animals knitted, then I stopped, because I couldn't find a charity who wanted them.
I finished the classes for stitch club and the sample for Exploring More Stitches along with two Charity Quilts finished and one that still has to be quilted. and Instead of sewing bags I made pin and needle keepers for the Kogin.
Now that I have written it down I see that I did achieve most of the things I wanted to. I have not looked forward to doing this because I was sure that I had failed but that is not the case. The things that didn't happen were the faces book and the Graffitti Quilt, that doesn't mean that they will not happen. Those ones go on the list for 2022 along with a note to not be so hard on myself.
So my No 1 New Year's Resolution is: to be kinder to myself in all things.
(Only one resolution? There has to be more than one resolution, doesn't there?)
So, I think I will change tack and instead of long term goals for the year I will set goals for each month. This will allow me to change my plans if I need to and set smaller tasks that will suit the prevailing circumstances. I would like to have one or two major projects that I can work on over the whole year but if I don't finish, so what?
This was the 2021 list.
Yes, just like that. I have enough things sewn for presents, I don't need any more for this year. I am just going to use the things I have.
I put my small table out on the front patio, took my book and a cup of coffee and just sat and read. (I did put on mozzie spray first.) Sitting quietly in the corner there I watched the birds as they came in to drink and wash at the bird baths. I am going to have to take a camera out there with me in future. There are some beautiful birds.
Then I took some of that simple embroidery that was in the panel I bought and just stitched for the fun of stitching. No fancy techniques, just simple stitches and the pleasure of stitching them. Nothing that is challenging, nothing that is seen as 'politically correct' by other stitchers. I just took out a box of threads (I have more than one) and selected the colours that were there.
I will worry about what I will do with them later, for now I am going to indulge myself.
So, the experiments with stitching the Kogin patterns with different threads and fabrics continues.
I tried using 4 threads on this one and although I don't mind it I think that 3 threads works better.
I used linen fabrics back some time ago and dismissed them because I found that they shredded the cotton thread I was using. So I tried again with this thread and had no problems. It is a 28count fabric and I used 2 strands of cotton to stitch. Only problem here was with my eyes that found the higher count of thread hard to see.
Then, looking at all those pieces I got from my friend I found that one piece really was not repairable so I have unpicked the stitching and cut out the pieces I can use. I haven't finished the layout of this just yet but it is starting to come together. It is for a book cover.
I found all these little mirrors tucked in amongst the threads. When I get the layout how I want it i will use a Kantha stitch to hold the pieces in place. I am having fun with this piece.