TAST Week 26 - Up and Down Buttonhole

Well folks, as you have no doubt noticed, I am waaaay behind on the Take A Stitch Tuesday challenge. I knew it would happen once gardening season hit.. but I am not abandoning ship! No sirree! I'm slowly plugging away..I do have this week's stitch done and one previous... Week 20- Butterfly Chain and this week's is Up and Down Buttonhole. I will do my best to do several a week until I am caught up again. They may be out of order, but they'll get done. (For fellow TAST participants - my "numbering" is "off" from Sharon's as I am numbering the stitches, I am not counting the Catch-Up weeks. Just FYI...)

So here we go - Week 26  is Up and Down Buttonhole- a fun variation of Buttonhole stitch. Once again I am doing a "sampler" format, not being as creative as some of the talented participants!
From the top, I have done "straight" Up and Down Buttonhole, then varied the length of the arms, angled the arms with even and uneven lengths, added a detached chain between the arms, stacked two rows unevenly and evenly with beads added, and finally at the very bottom an alternating row. I enjoy doing this stitch and have used it many times, often with a detached chain or straight stitches added in the center.
Have a look at the following post to see Week 20 - Butterfly Chain Stitch....

Peace,
Linda

"Man must search for what is right, and let happiness come on its own." ~  Johann Pestalozzi

TAST Week 20 - Butterfly Chain Stitch

Here is Week 20's stitch, Butterfly Chain. Not a whole lot to say about this one. It was quite easy, and although I probably would not count it in my favourites, I can see it might have some applications.. might make great seaweed.... or perhaps Bee Balm (can you guess I was just in the garden?)
So here it is - I just played around a bit with several different weights of thread and the positioning of the straight stitches before "tying" them...
I hope to get at least 2 if not 3 stitches done this week... If it stays this hot, I'll be stitching indoors where it is cool... God Bless the creator of the heat pump...
Click here to see some of the "highlights" from this week's stitching.

Peace
Linda

"Everything looks impossible for the people who never try anything." ~ Jean-Louis Etienne

TAST Week 19 - Half Chevron Stitch

Here is my Take A Stitch Tuesday work for this week - Half Chevron Stitch. I enjoyed working this stitch, it is not difficult and it works up fairly quickly. To me it is a marriage of the Chevron and the Cretan stitches - half of each. I explored several different weights of thread and reversed,  layered,  and stacked the stitch. I've used Perle 8's and 12's and once again one of my most favourite threads - Stef Francis hand-dyeds. I think if I did more of this stitch, I'd explore more beading - lots of possibilities here!

Wishing all the Mothers out there a very Happy Mother's Day.  Take some time today to put up your feet and read, stitch or whatever makes you happy.


Peace,
Linda

"Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life." ~ Sophocles

TAST Week 18 - Crossed Buttonhole Stitch

Another week has flown by and here is my TAST piece - this week we were to do Crossed Buttonhole. It is a simple modification of the regular Buttonhole stitch, with the upward "arms"  crossed. Once again I have done a small sampler, with a few variations. The first two rows have evenly crossed "arms", the second row being a narrow cross with an elongated detached chain stitch added. The other three rows have angled uneven arms. In the fourth row I have stacked the stitch, and the fifth row is a back to back repeat. I tried to do a mirror image, but just couldn't get my head around it; I think I'd have to do a left-handed version from right to left and after several stabs at it (ok, sorry, that was a bad pun!) I gave up. I found this an easy stitch to do, and I
can see great possibilities for it along a CQ seam with some beading added.  Thanks Sharon for another great week. Can't wait to see what you have up your sleeve for us next!
Thought I might pass this along for what it's worth: I have been saving my leftover ends and bits of threads and putting them in this clear Christmas ornament (below). I won it at our Embroiderers' Guild Christmas meeting, and the suggestion was made to fill it with bits of threads from a project. At the time I wasn't quite sure if I would do that... but once I got going on the TAST Challenge, I thought it might be fun to look back and see each week's threads, built up in layers. It's looking rather full already!

Peace,
Linda

"The greatest accomplishment is to make work seem simply like play." ~ Linda LaTourelle

TAST Week 17 - Wheatear stitch

Here I am again with another
Take A Stitch Tuesday sampler. This week's "assignment" was Wheatear stitch, which is new to me. Not difficult at all, but I have to admit I was not terribly inspired or creative. Just too much else going on in my life this week I guess.
 Because the stitch can look very much like shafts of wheat, and because my daughter is off to Alberta today, I chose "wheat-y" colors to work with. My stitching is fairly simplistic, I just did the basic stitch, then stacked, wove and did a sort of mirror image of the stitch. I think my last row is my favourite- the palest peach color- simple wheatear with an extra straight stitch added on each side, and then beaded. I think this has great potential for use along a CQ seam. Done in the right colors with perhaps a few more straight stitches added, it could almost look like Cleome - an annual I plant each year to fill in spots in my perennial beds...

Peace,
Linda

"Act the way you'd like to be, and soon you'll be the way you act." ~ Leonard Cohen

TAST Week 16 - French Knots

It's time to share some stitching with you again - this past week's assigned stitch was French Knots. I have done many French Knots over the years and there really is not much you can do to vary the stitch other than to use a different number of wraps, and try different weights of threads... So I have
experimented a bit with various threads- from perle cottons to silk buttonhole twist: I have used Finca and Valdani Perles, SassaLynn perles, Caron Wildflowers and Japanese Silk Buttonhole Twist by YLI. So here is my sampler, nothing fancy, just an exploration of French Knots in some seam treatments and a few "snowflakes" and flowers.... The smaller knots are one wrap, the larger two wraps... I'm not overly thrilled with this sampler, but it will do, "done is good", time to move on to this week's challenge...
I've also included a few photos of French Knots on past projects. Some in silk ribbon, some in thread... Click here to see others' work for last week - click on the comment links, and here for the highlights of the week.

Peace,
Linda

"Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

TAST Week 12- Barred Chain stitch

It's week 12 - time again to show you another stitch, and I am caught up once again. The stitch Sharon assigned this week, Barred Chain Stitch, was pretty easy. Some people seemed to have trouble with it, I'm not sure why. It is basically just a combination of a regular  chain stitch with a twisted chain. She also suggested we try Alternating Barred Chain, which just means you alternate sides when doing the spike. I kept my work simple this week, just playing with several different weights of thread and length/size of stitches. You can see I have added some French knots, and beads and sequins as well for  a bit of "bling"...
What I am enjoying most about this Challenge, as well as the actual stitching, is seeing what others around the world are doing. It is so interesting to see the cultural influences on some people's work. I hope the other participants are enjoying this Challenge as much as I am. And Sharon, you must be having great fun looking at everyone's efforts! Kudos to Sharon for doing another TAST Challenge.

Highlights of the week can be seen by clicking here.

Peace,
Linda

The work of the hands brings forth the spirit of the heart.

TAST Week 11 - Whipped Wheels

 Yes I'm a bit behind with my TAST Challenge, but here finally is last week's stitch - Whipped Wheels. Each week when I look at what others around the world are doing in this Challenge, I feel I am not being terribly creative. I guess it depends on "where you're coming from".. I am using this challenge to learn new stitches or variations for Crazy Quilting- i.e. I will be using them along seams. So I am taking the sampler "route" rather than the creative approach some are taking with pictorial pieces, etc. I LOVE looking at what others are doing, and am sooo enjoying seeing the wonderful variety. But I feel I have not been very creative in my work so far. So this week I thought I'd do something a little different (although it didn't work out quite the way I had planned). I have collected so much "stuff" over the years- fabrics for quilting, threads, beads, etc... and I continue to take classes to learn new techniques.. which often leads to buying more "stuff", and leaves me with samples of techniques I have tried. (Tell me I'm not alone in this...)

 So this week I decided to  use a piece of silk "paper" which is a "leftover" from a Silk Fusion class taken at Quilt Canada 2006 in Ottawa. This "paper" was made by layering dyed silk fiber between screening, soaking it with a textile medium, then letting it dry. I made four different pieces in the class and have used only one of them. (You can see it in my Crazy Quilts Gallery on my sidebar- the piece is called What Lies Beneath, with the silk "paper" representing a landscape.)
  So.... I had planned to use this as my "background" this week. However stitching my wheels through it did not give me the effect I wanted, and as well it was too "flimsy", so again I have used Aida cloth for my base but have mounted my aida pieces on the silk fusion paper. It gives a little color, if nothing else... If you look closely you can see several skeletal leaves embedded in the paper.
  I just had fun with the wheels, doing them in various sizes, with a variety of threads. I did a bit of beading as well and did one wheel over a washer to give it some thickness. As with most pieces I've done in the challenge, I get more and more ideas as I go along and just have to make myself stop or I'd never finish!
 These whipped wheels are not hard to do. You simply make as many "wheel spokes" as you want, then starting from the center, wrap your thread around each spoke as you circle the wheel until it is filled up. Simple as that. I have left several not quite "full" to get more of a "star" effect.
You can see the Highlights of the Week by clicking here. Do have a look to see the creative work being done by others in this TAST Challenge.

Peace,
Linda

"Your own self-realization is the greatest service you can render the world." ~ Ramana Maharshi

TAST Week 10 - Runningstitch

Once again I'm a little behind. It's a good thing we're not in a "real" class or Sharon would be making me stay after school for my tardiness!! But life is busy and my motto is "done is good". So better done and a little late, than not done at all...
This past week's stitch was Running stitch. A very basic stitch. I must admit, at first I was not too excited, but as always, once you get going, the ideas start to come.. You can do so much with just simple straight stitches and a little imagination!
Here is a my sampler for this stitch. In the second to fifth rows I experimented with some lacing as I have not done much of this... All my "base" stitches are perle cotton, mostly perle 5. I have laced with YLI Candlelight, a handdyed cotton, Pearl Crown Rayon and Caron Watercolors. The first and sixth to ninth rows are just simply playing around with a simple pattern in perle 5...
You can see other's work with runningstitch by clicking here and looking at the comments (at the top of post). Sharon's picks for "Highlights of the Week" can be seen by clicking here.

Peace,
Linda

"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were.
But without it we go nowhere." ~ Carl Sagan

TAST Week 9 - Couching

So it's time again for Take A Stitch Tuesday - this week's challenge was to do some couching. Couching is simply stitching which holds down a heavy thread or metallic thread which is too heavy to pass through the foundation fabric. One can also couch ribbon, yarn, fine cord, or what have you. It can be placed straight along a seam, or be curvy or free-form. You can use just a simple stitch which passes over the thread or ribbon, anchoring it to the fabric, or use an embroidery stitch. I have chosen to use several stitches from previous weeks- the cretan, chevron, fly and featherstitch, to couch down silk and velvet ribbons and yarns. With the soft pink silk ribbon couched with fly stitch, I ruched it into small rosettes every so often.  At the bottom, I have couched several textured yarns.




We're now into the month of March, with it's typical messy weather. Yesterday we saw snow, ice pellets, freezing rain and finally rain. I was glad that my class yesterday was not cancelled because of the weather, and although it was a miserable drive home, it was a great day- thanks KRQ gals! One down, three to go...

Peace,
Linda

Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine.

TAST Weeks 7 and 8 - Detached Chain and Chain Stitch

I fell behind on my TAST Challenge - (tsk tsk  bad girl!) but am all caught up again. Because these two stitches are so closely related I am posting them together. Week 7's stitch was the Detached Chain- often referred to as the Lazy Daisy. There really aren't a lot of ways to vary this stitch other than pulling it tight so it looks skinny, or leaving it a bit looser for a fuller "petal"; and you can vary the length of the catch stitch which anchors it. That's about it. So I just added it to some other stitches - Herringbone, Up and Down Buttonhole, Buttonhole and Chevron. Then I played around a bit with flower petals and "snowflakes"... and a few beads. I chose pinks to work with for Valentines week...





Last week, Week 8, was Chain Stitch week. Again, a pretty basic stitch, but easier to vary with lots of possibilities. So here's what I have done- from top to bottom: 1. Chain Stitch, 2. Chain stitch varying the size of stitch, 3. Zigzag Chain stitch, 4. Twisted Chain stitch, 5. Open Chain stitch, 6. "Spiked" Chain- my own name for it - just simply chain stitch with straight stitches added in another color, 7. Braided Chain or Heavy Chain stitch, 8. Cable Chain stitch, 9. Alternating Barred Chain and 10. Stacked Chain stitch. Whew! Now to get going on this week's challenge- couching.

Sharon's highlights for these two weeks can be viewed here and here.




Peace,
Linda




"Think big thoughts, but relish small pleasures." ~ H. Jackson Brown Jr.

TAST Week 6 - Chevron

The TAST challenge for this week is the Chevron stitch. Here is my Chevron sampler. I have stitched, stacked, layered, "tied" with fly stitch, laced with ribbonfloss, "married" chevron with cretan, and used it to couch down a length of velvet ribbon. I do like the chevron stitch, but I find it's a bit harder than some to "vary"because of how it is formed.































 I have used it before- at right is a close-up shot of it along a seam on a WIP (Work In Progress). Click here to see "Sharon's Picks" - the "highlights" of the week. Or click here and click on comments at the top of the post to view all the participant's links to their stitching. There's some great stuff happening in this Challenge!!

Peace,
Linda

"Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

TAST Week 5 - Herringbone

I'm late posting my week's stitching as I have been away for 4 days (more about that tomorrow). But here it is - better late than not at all! Again, I am familiar with this week's challenge stitch - the Herringbone. I have previously done several samplers and I must admit, I struggled a little, trying to come up with something new to do this time around... First, here are my three samplers which I had completed before. The first shows just basic Herringbone, varying the spacing, the size of the stitch, tieing the stitch, stacking the stitch and breaking it.











The second sampler shows a number of Stitch Combinations with a Herringbone "base". 1st row - layered with straight stitch and french knots added. 2nd row - tied with detached chain stitch added. 3rd row - straight stitch and french knots added. 4th row - layered and vertically tied with detached chain stitch. 5th row - Herringbone (top) "married" to Chevron (bottom) , straight stitch and detached chain added. 6th row - Herringbone base with chevron layered on top, beading and detached chain added. 7th row - Tied Herringbone with straight stitch, detached chain and french knots. 8th row - Tied Herringbone and detached chain. Threads used on this sampler include perle cottons, silk Buttonhole Twist, Pearl Crown Rayon, Stef Francis fine perle and Judith Montano hand dyed silk Buttonhole Twist.






The third sampler shows more stitch combo's: Herringbone bases with additions of french knots, straight stitches, detached chain, stacking, layering, and on the last row, lacing with silk ribbon. Again I've used a variety of cotton threads, silk buttonhole twist, Pearl Crown Rayon and 4mm. silk ribbon. Sorry the lighting on this one is not great- the whole thing has a bluish cast...

The sampler I did this week reflects my limited time. I started with a "four row stack" in a variegated fine thread. I had planned to add beading in the middle of each row but ran out of time- maybe it will be added later...  In the second row I played with the height of the stitch... not so sure I like that row, but not taking it out now! The third row shows five rows stacked/layered very closely together- in hind sight, I wish I had spaced them a bit more, as they have "pulled in" the fabric a bit. I added a bit of sparkle with some turquoise "Candlelight" thread (by YLI). The fourth row is two layered rows with ties at all the "intersections". And the last row is done in a Sassa Lynne perle 5 (called Blue Lagoon) with straight and detached chain stitches added in an 80 tatting thread.

That's it for Week 5! Can't wait to have  a look at what everyone else has done. It's been a busy week, and with being away, I have not had time to look yet at all. Sharon has already posted the Highlights of the Week, you can see them here.

Peace,
Linda

"My mother drew a distinction between achievement and success. She said that achievement is the knowledge that you have studied and worked hard and done the best that is in you. Success is being praised by others. That is nice but not as important or satisfying. Always aim for achievement and forget about success." ~ Helen Hayes

Take A Stitch Tuesday Week 4...Cretan stitch

Our world is white today here in Freddy Beach! Yesterday's storm has left us with a clean fresh white blanket.. I don't mind the snow, I just don't like the cold that accompanies it! Hope you enjoyed those summer blossoms I posted last night- at least they remind us that summer is on its way...
Here is this week's stitching - I finished up last night as the freezing rain beat on the window behind me. Sharon challenged us with Cretan stitch this week. It is another of my favourites. I had done a simple sampler before (right) with the basic variations - changing the length, spacing, and slant of the stitch, also layering and stacking. And this week I did another sampler (below). I can't seem to get away from the sampler idea. Guess I'm more focused on "seam treatments" than the wonderful creative things some participants are doing.. Hope you like my efforts...





 In this sampler, the first two rows are "layered" Cretan - the first , two layers with the same Stef Francis hand-dyed fine perle with French knots added; the second row is done with a heavier Stef Francis hand-dyed thread on the bottom and a second layer "woven " on top with a DMC perle 8. The third row is just a very small fine Cretan done with a variegated brown Valdani, with straight stitches added in  a DMC perle 8. The next row shows the Cretan done with a DMC perle 8, and straight stitches added with a variegated fine perle and a DMC perle 12. The fifth row is four rows of stacked Cretan, the top two in perle 8, the bottom two in perle 5. In the last row I have "married" Cretan first with Herringbone and then with Chevron stitch - doing "half a stitch" of each. This thread is a beautiful Sassa Lynne perle 5 hand-dyed called "Summer Forest".



And a closer view...

Click here and go to comments (at top of post) to see what others around the world have done this week with the Cretan stitch.

Peace,
Linda

"If you deny yourself commitment, what can you do with your life?" ~Harvey Fierstein

Take A Stitch Tuesday Week 3... Featherstitch

This week's stitch in the TAST challenge is the featherstitch. It has long been my favourite stitch. Once again I have some previous work to share with you- two stitch samplers plus some feather stitch on a work in progress and on a completed project.  I am posting my pics today, as I was very late last week and I don't think many TAST participants had a look... If you missed last week's TAST post (Buttonhole stitch) you can see it here. So here are my featherstitch photos for this week.
At right is my first Featherstitch Sampler, showing (top to bottom) 1. Featherstitch, 2. Double featherstitch, 3. Triple featherstitch, 4. "Freeform" featherstitch, 5. "Branched" featherstitch, 6. Maidenhair featherstitch,
7. Single featherstitch, 8. Closed featherstitch.








The second sampler (at left) shows some variations, including straight featherstitch, knotted featherstitch, a variation incorporating chain stitch and several rows of "mirror-image" straight featherstich... I love them all!












Photos of past work showing featherstitch follow - some are beaded or have French knots added, some is used to secure tatting (I love doing that - just love the look of it!), and another fav use of this stitch is to add it to floral sprays to represent greenery, fern or whatever...

 My latest sampler at right, shows a "border " (top and right side) of layered featherstitch, the first (under) layer done with a heavier thread -Koigu - a hand-dyed 100% Merino wool and the second row on top is a Finca Perle 8. The next row is featherstitch chained, followed by a row of featherstitch with French knots added in a rayon thread.Then I tried my hand at a leaf - remember, in nature, not every leaf is perfect...wink...  Then we have Maidenhair featherstitch with french knot "blossoms" added, and below it the same stitch with detached chain "blossoms". Then a row of straight featherstitch with straight stitch  added and lastly a wide row of featherstitch with a rayon thread woven through. At the bottom, some "freeform" featherstitch...
 I guess you can probably tell from the above, I love featherstitch. I wonder what stitch Sharon will choose next ?
I made brown bread and a fav soup this afternoon, (great "comfort food" on a cold January day), we have friends coming over for supper so I'd better get movin' and make a salad...
Later, peeps!

(Sunday Edit: See Sharon's Week 3 Highlights here)

Peace,
Linda

"I am prepared to go anywhere, provided it be forward." ~David Livingstone

Take A Stitch Tuesday Week 2... Buttonhole stitch

This week's TAST stitch was the Buttonhole stitch, sometimes called Blanket stitch. It's one I'm familiar with, as it is a basic stitch I have used many times. So I am showing you two samplers- one that I had done several years ago to use in teaching Crazy Quilt classes, the other I have completed this week. Again I have enjoyed trying some new ways to "push" the stitch and have done a few variations that are new to me.   My previous sampler at right, shows (from top to bottom):
1. Basic buttonhole
2. Buttonhole, short and tall
3. Varying the heights, up and down, and varying the spacing
4. The same, up only
5. Alternating Buttonhole, on either side of "seam"
6. Two rows of Buttonhole, stacked
7. Closed Buttonhole
8. Up and Down Buttonhole, straight and angled
9. Buttonhole Bars
10. Rosette of Thorns Buttonhole

This week's sampler, at left, shows (top to bottom):
1. Basic Buttonhole, slanted
2. Up and Down Buttonhole, slanted and uneven, with addition of straight stitches and Detached           Chain stitch
3. Up and Down Buttonhole, even and uneven
4. Closed buttonhole, and with single buttonhole stitch between
5. Alternating buttonhole, up and down, varying widths
6. Crossed buttonhole and knotted buttonhole
7. Buttonhole "fans" or curved buttonhole
8. Buttonhole wheels, and a rather sad attempt at a stalk of "unknown" flowers, with buttonhole bar leaves and curved buttonhole blossoms. (These definitely need more practice, but I was running short of time and wanted to finish so I could get the photos on here to show before Week 3 begins!)
9. Vertical row of buttonhole half wheels
(Following are several photos of buttonhole variations on a current WIVSP - that's a "Work In Very Slow Progress".... )
I am late getting this week's work posted, Sharon has already posted the Week 2 Highlights, which you can see here. If you want to look at more stitching from this past week, go here and click on the word "Comments" at the top of the post. Then click on the links given by the participants/commenters.
I know as this Challenge goes on, there will be weeks when I do not

have the time to do this much stitching, but right now, I'm enjoying doing these samplers as I know they will be useful  tools in future classes. Students enjoy looking at actual stitching rather than (or maybe in addition to) photos in a book, and variations encourage them to go beyond just the basic stitch.
Now I'm off to get the borders on my scrap quilt. I promise a photo soon... Oh for a few more hours in each day...





Peace,
Linda

When creative juices flow, catch them on a needle...

Take A Stitch Tuesday Week 1... Fly stitch

Here is my first TAST effort: Week One- Fly Stitch. Sharon Boggon's Take A Stitch Tuesday challenge to explore various embroidery stitches looks like it's going to be lots of fun. There are over 500 participants from all around the world (wow!) ranging from beginners to very experienced. If you'd  like to see what types of things people are stitching, just visit here and click on "Comments" at the top of the post. Then as you scroll down through the comments, you can click on participant's links to see their work. I was amazed at how creative some people can be with one simple stitch. This week I have chosen to do a "stitch sampler", exploring variations of the Fly Stitch. Depending on the stitch each week, I may try other things...we'll see. The stitch samplers I do in this challenge will be added to my Stitch Sampler binder, with each row of stitch and variations noted, and threads used listed for future reference.

I had fun this week trying to see how many ways I could do the Fly stitch - by changing up the length of the tie stitch, making the stitches wider or narrower, stacking, layering, reversing, etc. Even just a change of thread weight can give a different look...
It's too late to "officially register" for this challenge, but if you are interested in improving your embroidery skills and learning some new stitches, you could do your own stitching and still follow along to see what others are doing. Sharon gives excellent instructions and step by step photos for learning each stitch. Her online stitch dictionary here is truly a gift to the stitching world! Why not pick up that needle?

Peace,
Linda

The embroidery needle- a good needle to be addicted to...