inverted feather stitch tast 2013 50

I am on the ball today and have done the latest tast stitch.  I thought it might work well as a change from 4 sided stitch in a hardanger piece so decided to make a small sample.  If I am honest I did not enjoy doing the stitch and I do not think it works so will not use it again for hardanger. I am interested to see what other people do with it as I am struggling to think of when I could use it again

january CQJP entry

I think I have finished the block now,  the stump work bee did not materialise       could not find the book where I did it from in the past so added a bullion bee, some baby bees in french knots, and one charm bee.. Feel it still looks a bit bare in the top left hand corner but have submitted it as it is now.

CQJP and tast 2013

Today I have done a bit more on the january block.  The tatting is now tacked in place above my initials, think it looks okay here, I did not like it where it was before, only tacked on as waiting for your opinions. Have also put some green ribbon through the red stem stitch seam and added some beads. In the bottom left hand corner have added more stitching and think this area does not need any more work.  A second row of knotted cretan stitch and above the flower centre block I have sat a watering can,   do you think this looks okay, will stitch on if I get the go ahead, thought I could do some running stitches in a silvery thread from the can onto the flower to make it look like water.  The ochre block still empty as not come up with anything for this yet any ideas? and not sure what I can do above the cretan stitch.

  Been very busy today,  was watching the semi final tennis between Federer and Murray so managed to do my knotted feather stitch piece too for the tast 2013 challenge.
Have included along with the knotted feather stitch  stem,french knots straight stitch and the pot is long straight stitches that I have then weaved through.

crazy quilting

I have started on the embellishing of the january block, it is going slowly and thought I would share a couple of photos with you all.

  As you can see I have embroidered a flower in the centre block,  might do a flower  each month in the centre to link them together

 a few more bits added here, herringbone with detached chain,  my initials in stem stitch and the red/orange diamonds also stem stitch

The hollyhock I have added today, worked with the same thread as the diamonds.  The tatting I am not sure about, it might well be removed in the next few days or I might wait and see how the block grows. I do not want to do too much on it but there again I do not want to do too little.Another seam has also been stitched in knotted cretan stitch

Any advice you can give me will be greatly appreciated.

Today I liquidised some leek and potato soup in the kenwood,   hurray I have finally conquered it,  have decided the liquidiser needed to be attached even if using the mixing bowl   well it seemed to work that way, lets hope next time it is as successful.  I have only had it about 18 years so it is about time I worked out what to do. Thank you for all your tips and advice.

patchwork blocks from C & C

 I have today complete the blocks that Jennie Rayment has been doing on the create and craft show,   I think there are going to be 2 more at the beginning of february.  Like the ones for hands on tv I have used poly cotton for these as they are only a learning lesson. I have cheated on the rail fence and used the same one for both projects.

 

                                           rail fence, 2 log cabins and squares.

                       single Irish chain, Amish friendship star, dutchman`s puzzle and pieced star

 

                                  54/40 or flight, dresden plate and grandmothers fan

I have now a bit more confidence but still need practise both with the rotary cutter and matching points.  I have throughly enjoyed doing these though some took time to understand how to do, kept having to re read the instructions till they finally sunk into my brain!

patchwork blocks

I have finally got round to making or attempting is more like it some patchwork blocks. I am a follower of justhands-ontv which is a great site for seeing videos etc. It is run by Jennie Rayment and Valerie Nesbitt both excellent quilters. They also feature other well known quilters and stitchers and also go the shows and make DVDs of what they see then post them on the site You do not have to be a full member it is free unless you want to have access to all that happens there. I pay £6 a month and they have been making a sampler quilt for a while now, I kept looking but that is as far as I would get but on tuesday I made up my mind to have a go.   I am working with poly cotton as it is so much cheaper to buy for my samples and I have completed 10 blocks.

The first 4 are rail fence, 2 varieties, a 9 patch and a friendship star.

next 4 are shoo fly, monkey wrench, prairie queen ( I have to redo this as it is put together wrong but did not notice till I took the photo) and Jacob`s ladder.

The final 2 are Ohio star and card trick.

well there they are.   points not too good but I am still learning how to use the rotary cutter etc. but I feel I have got somewhere.

When I refer to patchwork books I see different writers give the blocks different names I am just using the names Varlerie Nesbitt uses.


Whilst doing this blog I have some parsnip soup cooking and will attempt to put it in the Kenwood which believe it or not I managed to get to work on new year`s day, whether it will work this time is another matter!

CQJP project

Toady I am posting the photos of my 12 blocks for the CQJP 2013 challenge.   I have made all 12 not sure if this was the right thing to do but have more fabric so can replace some if I do not like them. I was surprised how much fabric I had in my stash,  both bought fat quarters and fabric I had coloured myself with silk paints sponged onto the fabric, some were also sprinkled with rock salt to make the colours run.  I had bought some Egyptian cotton at the K & S show in 2011 and it coloured beautifully so the other day when I got the news email from Empress Mills and they had the cotton reduced from £12.50 to £8.50 a metre thought it was too good an offer to refuse and now waiting for a metre to pop through the letter box, it really is lovely quality.

The blocks have all been made with an assortment of greens and I plan to introduce other colours in the embellishment,   originally thought yellow and orange, maybe a bit of purple and red,   not sure will ponder some more.All suggestions greatly received.  Suppose I should start embellishing ,    maybe after the weekend.

The one below is the first one I am going to use.

 now I look at it again not so sure I like the colours, will have a go embellishing and see what happens,   maybe practise will make perfect.

Thought I would post a photo of my mahonia in flower, it is lovely to see a bit of colour in the garden at this time of year.

tast catch up

Today I have made an effort to complete the tast for 2012.   I am posting 4 stitches. week 48 arrowhead stitch I did a few weeks ago but neglected to post and have now done week 49 buttonhole eyelet flower    a very mean offering, I usually love bullion stitches but struggled here, now think it was because the fabric I had dyed was too stiff and thick   well that is my excuse anyway! The the needle and thread was very difficult to pull through the cloth. Week 50  berry stitch, two flowers here and the brown piece is meant to be a dog, maybe if you screw up your eyes a bit a dog might emerge! Week 51 knotted cable chain stitch, this I have done with 4 different threads,the wool one is cascade yarns,  green perle cotton and two troublesome rayon type threads,   have not mastered the technique with these they are so slippery, the perle is my favourite thread followed closely by flower thread which I am loath to use as it is no longer available so saving for special projects!!

 arrowhead stitch,   sorry photo not central or straight.

knotted cable chain,  berry stitch and buttonhole eyelet stitch.
I hope to more stitches when the tast starts again and take the stitches further than I have done before, very much a rushed job at times apologies for not doing them justice.