Somewhat Wordless on Barely-Still Wednesday: TAST Stitching Samples weeks 5-8 {Gail}

Due to some technical issues and the fact that Sam and I had a big day away planned for today, I'm barely sneaking this in on Wednesday!

I got behind stitching due to some travel and some procrastination, so I spent the last couple of days catching up -- you'll notice I switched from icy cold January blues to cheerful pinks, purples, and reds for February warm hearts!

I've been a chain stitch doodler since I was a teen!
This was a no brainer for me, and another way to practice my
papercrafting embellishment doodling.
I skipped the French Knot dots since we haven't been officially introduced.



My doodle cloth for February's 4 weeks of stitches.
I really liked the way that the two-color Herringbone Stitch ended up
looking very very PLAID!
Spacing is a skill to work on.


Happy Stitching!
Gail

TAST Week 4 Cretan Stitch {Gail}

Now I'm starting to feel a little crazy! Like a Crazy Quilter, that is! I enjoyed learning this stitch -- between it and the feather stitch I finally feel like I can begin doing some authentic CQ seam treatments. YAY! Then my daughter's and my blog here can really go "crazy" with everything from soup (to crochet to scrapbooking to costumes) to... well, nuts if I decide to incorporate them in a CQ block. (hopefully someone remembers that saying, from soup to nuts?)

Once I did small samples of both open and closed Cretan Stitch, I was compelled to attempt something organic. Looking at various examples on the internet was so inspiring, and discussions of this stitch always mentioned leaves. So, I sketched then I stitched. Here are my first attempts on my doodle cloth.



I need practice, and/or possibly just different fabric, to do a better job spacing my stitches on the leaf. (click to enlarge) 
I started on the left, can you tell? ;)



Happy Stitching!
Gail

not-so-Wordless Wednesday: TAST Wk 3 Feather Stitch {Gail}

I just can't do it. Wordless isn't me, especially for something that's not as obvious as it seems!

I've never done feather stitch before since it never showed up in any of the kits I did as a kid, and I haven't jumped into CQ until now. I never felt the need to use it in any other creations so I never bothered to learn it.

Feather stitch; geometrically inclined me likes the random, free-form technique a lot!

I started with the basics on the left, then veered the heavy stitching off to the right by making the left-most feather lopsided. After a few more stitches, I abandoned the Aida grid and curved it around and tapered it down. Not so hard!

I wanted to fill in some empty space so the photo didn't look so blank, so I started filling the space in the upper left with sideways stitching. When I got to one end, I stitched back the other way keeping the stitches one square away from previous work. I really liked the fill! The third and fourth rows are offset by 2 squares. I really like my nested feather stitches best! (nest, feather HA!)

Then I speed-stitched the white with no precision, just to see what it would look like. Funnily, I can see myself using this organic style most -- no marking, no worries!

I'm already seeing many ways to get creative with this aside from wide borders or branchy plants.

Happy Stitching! Gail

Wordless Wednesday -- TAST 2012 Week 2 Buttonhole Stitch {Gail}

Buttonhole Stitch Doodles

Wordless Wednesday: TAST 2012 Week 1 Fly Stitch {Gail}



Fly Stitch.   (Second try at the  photo -- I'm learning!)



Gail

We 2 are still being creative. Really. {Gail}

We're being SO creative that we have SO many projects going on that we aren't really... well, finishing stuff! OK, maybe a few things -- Sam got her awesome purple crocheted blanket finished; I did another hat and fixed an old one (knit, crochet baby hats for her prop box).

I made a gift basket for a charity auction and got crafty with a couple of tags and a recipe folder, but it went out of the house unphotographed! Dang!

One of my resolutions for the New Year -- yes, I'm making them already! -- is to participate in TAST: Take A Stitch Tuesday.   TAST 2012 Challenge home page  I am a wanna-be Crazy Quilter and although I already know how to do normal embroidery, doing it on Crazy Quilting involves other considerations. Can't wait to get started!

Another resolution for myself is to master sewing knits. I just avoid it as much as possible now, but that's because I don't know all the secrets to make it easy. Not sure how creative I'll be; sounds like my 2 daughters have huge wardrobe expectations from my knit-sewing-skills-to-be! I'll be a knit clothing factory, no creativity at all. ;)  We'll see.

3 weeks until the New Year! What will YOU be creating in 2012?
Gail