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maandag 31 januari 2011

More hairpin lace experiments

I made these samples in November, but forgot all about them! Now I finally finished the thread ends and took some pictures. Both samples are done with a size 12 crochet thread. This circle is 2 inch or 5 cm. The centre of this one is a bit bigger than the first one I made.
This is an experiment with rickrack lace again. I crocheted 10 loops together to make a wavy line. My first try was with a short piece of hairpin lace, so I had to make a piece of hairpin lace with 100 loops at both sides to see the pattern. This lace is 1 inch or 2,5 cm wide. I think it will look very pretty on a crazy block.
I enjoy making this lace, it's a pity I don't have time for more experiments.

zondag 30 januari 2011

PLOS fabric book page 6, 7 & 8

I finished the last pages for my PLOS fabric book. They are all 4 x 6 inch. My blue sampler was the last one for week 4.
This is the first sampler for week 5.
I started this floral sampler in week 5 and finished it with some stitches of week 6. It was difficult to make a page of this sampler, because the horizontal threads of the fabric where not straight.
The cover for this fabric book will have to wait. I still want to finish my TAST-sampler before February 15 and I have another project to finish before the end of February. I'll write about that soon.

donderdag 27 januari 2011

Ixorus & Simplicity

The zentangle challenge at I am the diva for this week was the new tangle Ixorus. I already saw it in the zentangle newsletter, but had no time to give it a try. First I tried it a few times in my sketchbook and then it was time to jump in. The tangle reminded me of a hexagon, so I drew Ixorus inside a hexagon. The border just happened and I like it. For the background I used molecule, which I found in Totally Tangled. A few days ago I already wrote about the zentangle I made to catch up on the challenge for week 2. Now I also made the zentangle for week 1, simplicity. To simplify my zentangle I divide it in two parts with a twisted line. I wanted to use 2 patterns with the same start. At one side I used cadent and at the other side W2, I only shaded W2. My husband told me it reminded him of Escher's birds.

Last week I had no time to visit other blogs and leave comments, but I watched the slide show and I liked it.

woensdag 26 januari 2011

TAST-sampler second update

My TAST-sampler is growing again. First I made a ladder stitch with a perle 5. I started at the bottom. At the right side of the ladder stitch I made a row of diamond stitches with a brown perle 5. In the bigger spaces I stitched a few raised cup stitches. Then I added a fancy hem stitch at the right side of it. I made the wraps with a gold colored metallic thread.
Here I used the shell chain stitch as a filling and added a buttonhole wheel cup and 2 drizzle stitches. The buttonhole wheel cup has 2 rounds of buttonholes.
And this is my sampler today. I wrote about the other details here and here.
To be continued.

maandag 24 januari 2011

Snowmen quiltie

Two weeks ago I wrote about this little quiltie (15 x 15 cm or 6 x 6 inch) and now it's finished! It's on my wall until spring arrives, then it's time for my tulip quiltie. The next quilt top I'm going to sandwich and quilt is Safari (28 x 40 cm or 11 x 16 inch).
I have no idea when I made this one.

zondag 23 januari 2011

Two pencil string

I enjoy the weekly zentangle challenges, but I missed the first 2. So this week I tried the two pencil string for the second week. It was a real challenge!

vrijdag 21 januari 2011

TAST-sampler update

Today I had some time to work on my TAST-sampler. First I stitched a freestyle plaited feather stitch and finished it with some pistil stitches. Then I added 2 half buttonhole wheel cups. My next experiment was with the houndstooth. I made different sizes and a few stretched stitches.
Then I made one big straight stitch (4 cm or 1,5 inch) and made the loops of the houndstooth in alternating directions. I used a variegated Stef Francis perle 5 for this.
At the left side of the big houndstooth I stitched a Vandyke stitch. While I was stitching this, it turned into a centipede and crawled under the houndstooth.
I'm almost halfway on this sampler. To be continued.

donderdag 20 januari 2011

Crossed and plaited feather stitch

. . . are the last stitches of TAST 2010. I added both to the border of my last TAST-sampler with perle 8. This is the crossed feather stitch . . . . . . and the plaited feather stitch. I like them both.
Last Friday I wrote about a variation of the houndstooth. I used it for this card. There was some space left at the border of my sampler, so I added the houndstooth. I used perle 8 for the houndstooth and perle 12 for the upright cross stitch.
The border of my sampler was finished and I could start experimenting with the stitches. This is the magic chain, which I finished with pistil stitches. Then I made a whipped wheel in the swirl.
I stitched a curved picot chain and added a buttonhole wheel cup.
Between the magic chain and the picot chain I made 2 rows of knotted loop stitches.
It's not finished yet. To be continued.

woensdag 19 januari 2011

Orbs

. . . is the zentangle challenge at I am the diva for this week. First I searched for patterns with circles I could use. Then I focused on circles, closed my eyes and drew my string. I forgot to take a picture of it. The result of this week is totally different again, but I enjoyed the ride. It was difficult to decide where to shade it. I do like boing and pods, they are fun tangles! I hope somebody recognizes the atomic tangle. I know I saw it somewhere, but I don't know the name (if it has one!) and it keeps popping up in my zentangles. The other patterns are Jester, Strircles, Printemps, Holey, Boing and Pods. I found the last 3 in Totally Tangled, my new book. I like it!

dinsdag 18 januari 2011

PLOS fabric book page 3, 4 & 5

I finished 3 more pages for my PLOS fabric book. They are all 4 x 6 inch. This is my sampler for week 3. It took me some time to decide if I would frame this or add it to my fabric book. But it's part of my progress in this class, so I added it.
This is my Chevron stitch sampler for week 4. I used aida to stitch Chevron stitches with 17 different threads.
I made this felt sampler for the same week. The felt wasn't 4 x 6 inch anymore after stitching! It took me some time to figure out how to turn this piece into a fabric book page. First I attached it to a piece of unbleached cotton with French knots at the edge. I also turned it upside down. The Ermini stitches on the sampler told me where to put the French knots.
I wrote about the first 2 pages here.

maandag 17 januari 2011

75

Last friday I wrote about the houndstooth and showed you a sneak peek of a birthday card. I made it for my mother. I enjoyed stitching the houndstooth so much, that I already added it to my last TAST-sampler. I'll write about that this week too.

zaterdag 15 januari 2011

Rainbowbag

I found an etui I made years ago. At the time I had no use for it, now it's perfect for my zentangle supplies. It's fun to find something that's not a WISP!

vrijdag 14 januari 2011

Houndstooth

Today I did some embroidery for a birthday and I wanted to try a new stitch to double the fun. I couldn't use one of the last TAST-stitches I still have to try, because I needed a square stitch. I looked in the gallery of stitches in my new embroidery book Stitch Sampler (which I bought after reading this review) and found houndstooth. It's a variation of the cross stitch and that's what I needed. This is the plain houndstooth in perle 5. The book told me to fill the spaces with an upright cross stitch with a finer thread. I made French knots with a perle 8.
These are only sneak peeks, I show you the finished project next week. I liked stitching the houndstooth, but there was no time for more experimenting. Maybe I add this stitch to my last TAST-sampler, it would be fun to play with.

donderdag 13 januari 2011

Friendship Star

The zentangle challenge for this week is Starry Eyed Surprise. I had no idea at first, but then I thought of a quilt block. Why not tangle one! Of course I picked the block called Friendship Star. I started with Cubine in the centre. Then I tangled Corn Rows in the points of the star. For the background I choose Kuginuki. I'm still learning how to do the shading and this time I used a 3B pencil, it worked very well.

woensdag 12 januari 2011

Work In Slow Progress 11

It's the second year I promised myself to finish the Gorse Fairies and this year I'm going to finish it before my birthday. Every Wednesday I'm going to stitch for at least one hour to get this done. This is the second Wednesday of the year and I already made some great progress. Last time I wrote about this embroidery, I started on the wing above the girl's head. Now the wing is finished and I stitched the backstitches at the wing and the girl's hair. The backstitches in her hair were difficult to see, I had to frog it the first time. So I'm glad this part is done.

dinsdag 11 januari 2011

Woven cross

Today I tried the woven cross for week 42 of TAST. I made 2 rows at the border of my last sampler. For my first row I used Stef Francis perle 5. It shows the stitches very well. My second row is done in Stef Francis spun silk with flames. They are half the size of the first row.
This was an easy stitch, it looks like the interwoven cross stitch I tried on this bandage. I'm sure I will use that again when I start to play with these stitches on my last sampler. But first I need to try the last 2 stitches.

maandag 10 januari 2011

Snowmen

Last week I wrote about my goals for 2011. My second goal was to sandwich and quilt another quilt top. Now it's time for an update. I made this applique in 2003 and it was supposed to be part of my Christmas quilt Twinkle Twinkle. The size of this block is 6 x 6 inch (or 15 x 15 cm) and it's a Debbie Mumm pattern. This would make a lovely quiltie. Wednesday I made a quilt sandwich and started with a few quilt stitches. Here's part of the back of it.
Now the quilting part is finished. I found a scrap in my stash that's just big enough for the binding. It would be fun to finish it before spring arrives, so I can put it on the wall until then.

zondag 9 januari 2011

Fabric book

I finally decided to turn my PLOS-samplers into a fabric book. For the backing of my pages I used an unbleached cotton with an ironed fusing to stiffen it. I don't like to use a sewing machine, so I sewed them together by hand. I started with my border sampler for week 1 and the sampler for week 2.
In the background of the photo's you can see a part of the fabric paper I received yesterday. It's for a challenge, not for the cover of my fabric book. I already have some ideas for both!

zaterdag 8 januari 2011

Buttonhole picots

Today I tried the buttonhole picots for week 39 and 40 of TAST. I started with the bullion variation. I used a perle 8 and a milliners needle, but couldn't get it right. Then I tried a perle 5 and made a heap of rubbish!
So I moved on to the chain variation with a perle 5,
a perle 12
amd 3 threads pf stranded DMC color variations.
It's time to try an easy stitch tomorrow!

vrijdag 7 januari 2011

Picot chain & checkered chain

I still need to catch up on the last TAST-stitches. To speed up that process I decided to stitch them all on one bigger sampler (15 x 15 cm or 6 x 6 inch). I started with a border to try the stitches for the first time. This is the picot chain . . . . . . and the checkered or magic chain. I used perle 5 for both of them.