Halloween

I made this ATC for a Halloween swap in 2008. I sent it to Rose, but it never arrived! The fabrics are scraps of a Halloween quilt. I used chevron and cross stitches in black and herringbone and wheatear stitches in yellow. The edge is made of black cotton yarn.

FSM - The making of

Mr X Stitch surprised me again! This time Beefranck wrote about my Flying Spaghetti Monster. That’s why I decided to show some pictures of the making of my FSM. First I drew him on my fabric with a water soluble marker and stitched the lines in backstitches.Then I made satin stitches to create the spaghetti.

I made split stitches around the eyes and whipped them twice.

I made the meatballs with French knots in 2 brown colours. The eyes are 2 black beads. This was the last picture I made before he turned into an ATC. There’s a bigger picture of him on my Flickr-page.

If you never heard about the Flying Spaghetti Monster, you can read more about him here.

Update: Beefranck's post about my flying Spaghetti Monster doesn't excist anymore. 

Strawberry cupcake

Last week I made my second cupcake, the first one was very small. I used the frosting of Teresa’s pattern. For the cupcake liner I altered an old pattern of Priscilla Hewitt. The strawberry is a button and the sprinkles are seed beads. This one was a birthday present.

Gloomy Prospects

Instead of a new crazy Monday block I finally finished block 13 of the civil war diary quilt. I started it in June, but I didn’t work on it any more until yesterday. I made this block on foundation (L11) in 3 parts and I had to draw it myself, because the size in the book was not correct!

Crazy Monday 17

This is block 16 for my crazy Monday quilt, the size is 6 x 6 inch (about 15 x 15 cm). Take a closer look here with info about the stitches I used. I didn’t make a new block, because I want to play with my blocks to see how they fit together.

Laidwork foundation embroidery 2

A week ago I found these couched circles on the Handembroidery Network blog. These can be useful in the Stitch Explorer challenge so I made one in yellow and purple. It worked very easy and I know how to use it in this challenge.But I was already working on a different kind of laidwork foundation inspired by my new book ‘Chinese embroidery’ by Josiane Bertin-Guest. I used a fish from this pattern and reduced the size. First I made split stitches around the body. I made the foundation with 2 strands of DMC in 2 needles, so I could alternate them after each stitch. This way I have no long threads on the back.

I drew the stitches for the second layer on a piece of paper you use for making clothes. I secured it on the fabric with a piece of thread.

I made the stitches through the paper.

Then I had to tear the paper careful and remove it. I used a pair of tweezers for it.

I used long and short stitches for the head, a French knot for the eye and satin stitches for the bubbles. It’s not finished yet, I have to do the fin and the tail of my fish.

Update: you can see the finished fish here.

Pumpkins

Last year I found this lovely pumpkin pattern. I tried to make a pumpkin with cotton yarn, but that didn’t work and I forgot about them. A few weeks ago I found it again and I bought some Nomotta Bravo yarn in orange and green, an acrylic yarn. The brown yarn was already in my stash. My first pumpkin was not so easy, but with the help of Teresa’s video at YouTube it worked. The second pumpkin was finished very quick. I think I’m going to make more of them!

Crazy Monday 16

This is block 15 for my crazy Monday quilt. The size is 6 x 6 inch (about 15 x 15 cm). The button was a birthday present last year and I received the tatting in a swap. Take a closer look here with info about the stitches I used.This morning I made block 16, I still don’t know how many more I’ll make. I just have fun making them!

Totally Useless SAL October

This month I show you my TUSAL-jar in a different angle. The yellow, blue and red threads on top are from the new Stitch Explorer challenge I wrote about yesterday. The pink thread is for a new doodle ATC I started this morning. There is more red (and black) thread underneath. I made 6 ladybugs; 1 for me to practice and 5 for a friend. The light brown is from my flying spaghetti monster ATC. A lot of orts are from my crazy Monday blocks and the long and short stitch triangles. I started with the next element, the circles. This is the first one (½ inch) in ‘textbook’ long and short stitch. I’m not quite happy with the result, but it’s finished.

Laidwork foundation embroidery 1

The new challenge for Stitch Explorer is laidwork foundation embroidery. Sharon mentioned the stitches in my favourite embroidery book ‘Embroidery Stitches’ by Mary Webb, which I always have at hand. So this book is the start of my challenge. In January I made a purple ATC with a trellis filling stitch. Now I started with a squared filling stitch (bottom left) and a plaid filling stitch (bottom right). The stitches at the top row are honeycomb filling stitch (red), Torocko stitch (top middle) and trellis couching (top right). I used 2 strands of DMC for everything, but the last one would be better with a different thread. Maybe I’ll try some cotton broder or perle, because I cannot work with wool.

Crazy Monday 15

This is block 14 for my crazy Monday quilt. The size is 6 x 6 inch (about 15 x 15 cm). The watering-can is a scrap from my first quilt. I received the button and the butterfly in a swap. There’s a larger picture on my Flickr-page with more info about the stitches I used.I started my new block with a cute dog and an autumn leaf.

Quilties

I made my first quiltie for a swap and sent it to Amy. I used an old stained glass pattern of the Spectrum Glass Company. The appliqué, embroidery and quilting are done by hand. I made French knots in the centre of the flower and Portuguese stem stitches on the petals. The bee is a pattern from my embroidery book ‘Doodle-Stitching’ by Aimee Ray. I used satin stitches for the body and sting, backstitches for the wings and a split stitch for the line. The fabric of the background is a scrap from my first stained glass quilt Rosa Plumbi. I decided to give this one a Latin name too: Flosculus plumbeus (little flower made of lead).Ingrid made a beautiful crazy quiltie for me. The picture doesn’t do it justice, the colours are difficult to photograph. She called it ‘The Devil Is In The Details’! The embroidery is very pretty.

Crazy Monday 14

The embroidery on block 13 for my crazy Monday quilt is finished. The size is 6 x 6 inch (about 15 x 15 cm). Just take a look at my Flickr-page to see a larger picture and info about the stitches I used this time.I made a new block this morning, starting with a scrap from my first quilt. When I was looking for fabric for that quilt (in 2001) I just had to buy those watering-cans and now I use it in my first crazy quilt too. This reminds my of the picture of this quilt: I never made one!

Flying Spaghetti Monster

This ATC was a request of a swap-buddy. The spaghetti is made of satin stitches. I used French knots for the meatballs and a whipped split stitch around his eyes. His eyes are 2 black beads. The edge of the ATC is an acrylic yarn in the same colour as the fabric. If you never heard about the Flying Spaghetti Monster, you can read more about him here. There is a larger picture of this ATC on my Flickr-page.

Triangles

The second element of the long and short stitch lessons is finished. I wrote about the first triangle here. The second and third triangle were not so difficult any more. The points are much better now.