Pin Tangle

DMC Thread give away

Sharon B — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:05:52 +0000

Over on the DMC Threads blog there is a great floss thread give away. Emma has been running a series which covers information and tips on fabric, needles and thread. The articles in themselves are worth a visit so make a cuppa, pop over to read them and join the competition. (I wouldn't mind a prize like that myself)

CQ Detail 154

Sharon B — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 19:00:48 +0000

The detail:

This is a detail of lace. I first whipped the edges of the lace using a thread from DMC. It is gold with a black twist of thread spun with it. It comes on a reel and named "antique gold". It is marked Made in Belgium and would have to be one of my all time favourite metallic thread for hand work

With the same thread I stem stitched around the pattern on the lace.

I then added a line of straight stitches and detached chain stitches before topping them with antique sequins. These sequins are tiny just a little bigger than a seed bead and with no shine.

This seam runs down the middle of piece 6 on block 23 of the "I dropped the button box" quilt.

The back story:

This is part of a series documenting the seam embroidery and embellishments in crazy quilt blocks in my quilt. All articles in the series are categorised under Crazy Quilt details

Links to the crazy quilt blocks covered so far are, block 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 , 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 , 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24

Sumptuous Surfaces starts tomorrow!

Sharon B — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:27:40 +0000

Just a reminder Sumptuous Surfaces will start tomorrow! You can by the class here

Sumptuous surfaces explores highly textured free form contemporary hand embroidery while also developing design skills. Students design and make two or three small hand embroidered panels.

If you are hesitant about designing your own projects, you are offered a choice of a pattern to follow, or use as a jumping off point.

Experienced stitchers are actively encouraged to jump in and design their own piece.

This means the course is suitable for beginners to advanced stitchers as you can work at your own skill level.

Throughout the six week course key concepts in design are covered such as, composition, shape, geometrical and organic shape, space, handling positive and negative space, scale, density, weight, line, movement, direction and texture.

All my courses are written to be used long after the course is finished. I understand that sometimes life gets in the way and some students are not able to stitch along in the 6 week period. For anyone who finds themselves in this position the teaching material provided will enable you to work through the ideas in a self paced manner.

This Class will start tomorrow. You can still buy the class here

Mary-Frances Main has a new blog

Sharon B — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 22:57:11 +0000

Mary-Frances Main has a new blog. On I Am Not a Handbag Mary-Frances points to resources online, shares her embroidery, crazy quilting, crafting, illustration, and runs a web ring for stitchers.

I am not a handbag is the new main touch stone site for "bloggers who embellish" too. For new bloggers webs rings are a great way to promote your blog so you may wish to check it out as it may be hard when you first start writing to be noticed.

For the Love of Stitching Sampler - Band 196

Sharon B — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:00:01 +0000

Stitches

This is simple a line of detached chain stitches that are interlaced with a thicker thread.

Thread

A cotton is DMC perle 5 and the interlacing thread is weaving yarn with a metallic thread through it which means it looks better in life.

Fabric:

Linen hand dyed

Dyes:

Procion dyes the fabric

Size:

The sampler is 15 cm (6 inches) wide and all sections are stitched together in one long band sampler.

The sampler is currently 44 ft 5 inches or 533 inches (1353.83 centimetres) or 14.8 yards (13.53 metres) long and still being added to.

Date:

This section of the sampler was worked in January 2006.

The back story:

This series is documenting a long hand embroidered band sampler, which is still growing as I still stitch it. More about the band sampler are in the category For the Love of Stitching band sampler

Other related posts

Introductory Post - how and why this sampler came to be made

A few questions answered about fabric choice and width

Extending and backing the sampler

For the Love of Stitching Sampler Sections 1 and 2, 3 and 4, Section 5 , Section 6 , Section 7 , Section 8, Section 9, Section 10, Section 11, Section 12 and Section 13

TAST 2010 Week 2 Knotted Loop stitch

Sharon B — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:05:29 +0000

I hope everyone enjoyed the first week of TAST 2010 as we are already at the second. Without any fuss I would like to introduce you to a stitch I dicovered in A-Z of Embroidery Stitches: v. 2 It is called knotted loop stitch.

How to stitch Knotted Loop stitch

Traditionally this stitch is worked from right to left between two parallel lines.

Bring the needle to the front of the fabric and make a straight stitch upwards , as illustrated.

Take the thread through the fabric and bring it out slightly to the left on the bottom line as illustrated.

Slide the needle under the first stitch passing it from right to left.

Keep the working thread under the needle

Pull the thread through to create the first loop

Take the thread up to the top line making a little diagonal stitch and insert the needle.

Bring the needle out on the bottom line a little further on to the left.

Slide the needle under the diagonal stitch and pull it through to make another loop. Continue along the line in this manner.

Since it is described as being ideal for borders it means it is also ideal for crazy quilting. The arms could be spaced differently and the arms could be extended or contracted quite easily.

Even though it is is normally worked between to parallel rows it can be stacked or worked free form.

Or floral motifs could be worked easily.

What to do now:

Work an example of the stitch . Experiment a bit and see what you come up with. Photograph it, and put it on your flickr site or write about it on your blog (remember my request to link back to here so others can find the challenge too)

Come here to this post and leave a comment to tell everyone where you have your photograph and don’t forget to leave your blog address. (You can click on the title and it will take you to this post on an individual page if you bookmark it you can find it again)

Visit a few sites of people who have already left a comment. See what they have done. I am sure everyone will enjoy following the links left in the comments. If you have time let other people know that you have seen their work

Other groups and networks

You can also share your explorations with other members on stitchin fingers group and the flickr TAST site

All posts relating to this challenge are in the Take a Stitch Tuesday category and the guidelines and list of participants is here.

Introducing block 24 on the "I dropped the button box" quilt

Sharon B — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 19:00:18 +0000

This morning I would like to introduce block 24! I find this one has always appealed to me perhaps it is hte the little button shaped like a house but I hope readers enjoy it too.

Fabric content:

Piece 1: Vintage cotton
Piece 2: Velvet
Piece 3: Polyester soft furnishing fabric
Piece 4: Cotton
Piece 5: Velvet
Piece 6: Linen
Piece 7: Silk
Piece 8: Cotton

Item Count:

This quilt is a Y2K quilt which is made up of 2001 different elements. By element I mean either a different fabric, lace, braid, charm, buttons or ribbon. This count is an ongoing count of items and pieces in the quilt blocks documented so far.

Fabric: 8
Lace, braid and ribbon: 4
Buttons: 4
Total items on this block: 16

Total tally on Quilt so far 473

The back story:

This article is part of a series documenting the quilt blocks in my crazy quilt called “I dropped the Button box”. Every second day, on this blog I discuss a detail of a block.

Information about this series of articles and the quilt can be found here and all articles in the series are categorised under Crazy Quilt details

Links to the crazy quilt blocks written about so far are, block 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 , 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23

Copyright

This series is licensed under a Creative Commons License I have released the block patterns and stitch ideas for non commercial use. However, you must attribute the work to me, Sharon Boggon and link back here.

You may not take whole articles from this series and reprint them online - that is not in the spirit of sharing.

Sites worth exploring: The Visual Dictionary

Sharon B — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:10:40 +0000

Anyone who enjoys quirky signs and signage will enjoy this site.

The Visual Dictionary is described as

..."a collection of words in the real world. Photographs of signage, graffiti, advertising, tattoos, you name it, we're trying to catalogue it."

With over seven and half thousand images they have got a long way towards their goal. So make a cuppa and browse the site as I think you will enjoy The Visual Dictionary.

For the Love of Stitching Sampler - Band 195

Sharon B — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 19:00:37 +0000

Stitches

This band of stitching consists of 2 rows of chain braid stitch

Thread

A thick cotton with a firm twist that is about the same weight as perle 3

Fabric:

Linen hand dyed

Dyes:

Procion dyes the fabric

Size:

The sampler is 15 cm (6 inches) wide and all sections are stitched together in one long band sampler.

The sampler is currently 44 ft 5 inches or 533 inches (1353.83 centimetres) or 14.8 yards (13.53 metres) long and still being added to.

Date:

This section of the sampler was worked in January 2006.

The back story:

This series is documenting a long hand embroidered band sampler, which is still growing as I still stitch it. More about the band sampler are in the category For the Love of Stitching band sampler

Other related posts

Introductory Post - how and why this sampler came to be made

A few questions answered about fabric choice and width

Extending and backing the sampler

For the Love of Stitching Sampler Sections 1 and 2, 3 and 4, Section 5 , Section 6 , Section 7 , Section 8, Section 9, Section 10, Section 11, Section 12 and Section 13

CQ Detail 153

Sharon B — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 19:00:16 +0000

This detail is a cluster of buttons which sit on the bottom right hand corner on block 23 of the "I dropped the button box" quilt.

The back story:

This is part of a series documenting the seam embroidery and embellishments in crazy quilt blocks in my quilt. All articles in the series are categorised under Crazy Quilt details

Links to the crazy quilt blocks covered so far are, block 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 , 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 , 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23

My Next online class:

Sumptuous Surfaces commences on March 11th

To know when new classes will run sign up for my newsletter Sharon B's Stitching News