The First of Many Exciting Things to Come for 2016

2016 has started with a lot of excitement for my family and I.  We just welcomed a little girl into our family! A few weeks ago, I started a quilt for our Eliza in the same style as I did for our son (which you can see in process here and finished here).  I'm using the same organic cotton jersey from Alabama Chanin and using the same double-layer jersey reverse applique with backstitch outline Alabama Chanin technique.   

For Zay's, I used our backyard as inspiration incorporating backyard animals and plants for the motifs and chose fairly bold color combinations.  For our Eliza's quilt, I am actually using the colors that I had leftover from the fabric packs I had purchased from Alabama Chanin for Zay's quilt.  They are a mix of pale pink, magenta, beige, buttercream, lemon chiffon yellow, soft gray and a mint green.  I've also chosen to do the backstitching with variegated Valdani pearl cotton thread.  I thought the variegated thread was a nice difference and also gave a bit more of a feminine touch or detail to it with the soft color transitions.  I liked the contrast between the two quilts with Zay's using much bolder colors and Eliza's using more pastels. 

For the motifs on Eliza's quilt, I am drawing inspiration from the Victorian language of flowers and flowers that have a personal meaning to me or her.  I've included carnations and snow drops as they are the birth flowers for January.  Dogwood blossoms as they are the state flower for North Carolina and one of my favorite signs of spring.  Many of the flowers were chosen for their meanings from the Victorian language of flowers.  Some of the ones I have included are:

Carnations for "beauty, health and energy"
Chamomile for "energy in adversity"
Clematis for "mental beauty and art"
Crocous for "youthful gladness"
Forget-me-not for "true love"
Hibiscus for "delicate beauty"
 Honeysuckle for "bonds of love" and "devoted affection"
Jasmine for "you are cheerful and graceful"
Oak leaves for "bravery"
Strawberry blossoms for "perfect goodness"

As you can see below, I have a lot more squares to finish and I have not figured out the final arrangement or piecing layout either.  Basically, I have a good bit to go on this one.  The technique goes rather quickly though and it is a project that I can pick up and set down easily.  Also, I have not washed any of these pieces so the trimmed edges have not yet curled which will help open some of the areas like the stems and leaflets revealing more of the back color. Since I took these photos, I have finished 3-4 more blocks as I took this with me to the hospital!

Leslie's Wedding Belt: Packed up and Shipped Out . . .

now I just hope she loves it!  

I'm not going to post photos of the entire completed belt until after her wedding at the end of the month, but here's a bit of it!

Happy Valentine's Miss Hazel!

Zay's Valentine to his cousin and my beautiful niece, Hazel.  I stitched it after he helped me design it.  I stitched Winnie-the-Pooh in crewel long and short, detached flowers with beaded centers, turkey stitch grass, and goldwork "H" on a silk dupioni ground. 

I also used this piece to practice the mounting process that I need to do for my RSN Certificate pieces.  After attempting it I have a few thoughts:

- the amazing ladies I stitch with in the UK make this look way too easy 

(it is not for the faint of heart)

- I do not have finger prints on at least 4 of my fingers

- so glad I practiced on a different piece before attempting to mount my RSN crewelwork piece

- in the mounting process, some of my couched smooth passing shifted.  I think I must have not been able to get it tight enough (any thoughts?).  It was beautifully smooth prior to mounting it and then I realized that it shifted in a couple places.  Or maybe I didn't plung enough of the ends?

I know a few things I need to work with on this piece.  I need to watch my tension at the crewel long and short.  I think they may actually be due to using a silk dupioni ground not twill.  I still have a couple puckers around Winnie that I cannot get out.  I also need to practice my herringbone stitch for the back.  I'm fairly certain my stitching was too wide and more closely represented the "no" sketch than the "yes" sketch that Tracy did for me to follow.  Also, I need to work on my corners.  They weren't terrible, but they could be a lot better.  I think I'm going to practice one more time before mounting my RSN crewel piece.  I have a set of crewel samples already to mount.

Progress on Leslie's Wedding Belt

Getting pretty excited to see my wonderful friend walk down the aisle!  I'm getting close to being finished with the embroidery and then I'm going to mount it on a silk satin belt.  Trying to figure out the closure right now.  I have some really beautiful Swarovski crystal buttons that would match and I think look nice.  Alternatively, I've also thought about (and am leaning towards) having the belt closure hidden under the lace on one side.  

Leslie's Wedding Belt

Ah, goldwork how I love you, especially mixed with glass beads and Swarovski crystals!  It's interesting as I switch back and forth from working on my RSN crewel work and this.  I enjoy both techniques and how they grow up from the surface but in completely different ways.  Crewelwork seems like an adventure- which I love!  Goldwork seems like the calm- which I need!  

Gold Progress . . .

As the weathermen tell us that snow is supposed to be falling, I'm stitching!  We seemed to be in the hole on the radar screen where it was snowing everywhere around us but not in our yard.  We finally got just a bit of a dusting!

I'm reworking the layout.  As you can see, the left side is bit edited and more linear.  The right side needs reworking.  It seems a bit cluttered to me right now.  It is so interesting how you can see so much more when you take a photo and then look at the photo then in real life.  An example of this is the leaf sprig on the right side that I've couched with smooth passing.  It was supposed to be pointing down and not up- oops!  I don't dislike it.  Right now it just seems a bit odd to me, but I'll work it out.  I'm quite excited about the progress so far!  Cannot wait to see Leslie wearing it!  I hope she likes it.  I'm not going to lie, I'm a bit nervous as she has really left this up to me other than requesting gold and floral.

Back to Gold ! ! !

I have an amazing friend, Leslie, who is getting married in March.  Her wedding is ivory and gold, so she's asked me to embroider a belt for her to wear with her wedding dress.  Very excited to be back to gold for just a bit!

To start, I decided to use lace as the base as she preferred a floral design to a geometric one.  I also had some amazing French Chantilly lace that I had bought on Berwick Street 3-4 years ago in London.  It is some of the most beautiful Chantilly lace that I've seen and I've been waiting for a special project to use it for!  I cut the individual motifs out and then laid them out in the pattern I wanted on silk organza.  

Next, I decided on materials.  I've decided to mix the gold threads and wires with Japanese glass beads (the nice Aiko gilt ones) and Swarovski crystals in clear and champagne tones.  I wanted to play with the light that reflects off the belt and I also wanted to lighten the gold up a bit.  I didn't want it to feel too heavy and stiff.  With this in mind, my plan is to do each flower with a gold outline and a slightly different filling of beads, crystals, and chipping.  

 

A Christmas Stocking for Zay

I wanted to create a Christmas stocking for Zay that was in the same colors and similar style as the blanket I made for him.  On the stocking, I'm experimenting with more applique and leaving the thread ends exposed.  I hide the ends on the blanket for safety reasons (I didn't want him eating them!).  On the stocking though, I didn't want the ends to get caught on things inside the stocking, so I'm leaving them on the outside.  I've tried to incorporate them into the design as much as possible.  We'll see!  There are 4 sections:  his name, Christmas lights, Christmas tree, and a red wagon filled with presents. 

Silk Shading: last blossom!

Pushing ahead with the silk shading!  I'm about halfway finished with the last blossom.  Still a bit to finish, but at least I'll be able to say, "The blossoms are done!".

A Wee Bit of Fun Stitching!

So lots of my friends and family are having babies, so I took a bit of time and am making a few baby dresses, bibs, and receiving blankets.

Silk Shading: Another Bit Done

So, I have accepted that I will be redoing this module.  As I finished this bit, I kept trying to think of all the positives of needing to do the module twice.  The main one I came up with was practice.  I will be thankful for it in the end I'm sure.  The thing that makes me the most nervous about this silk shading is that you are looking at the same bit for so long that I start to really to see all the weirdnesses and I really start to second guess myself.  It kind of all starts to look the same and blend together and I start freaking out that it's just not right.  

Anyways, I thought it might be good to just talk about the struggles I've had with this bit.  The first struggle I had was getting the curvature on the tip right.  I know this sounds easy, but it is a very small sized area and getting it just right was difficult to me.  After a few tries though, I think it did improve.  Next, I'm not sure if maybe my stitches were too long, but I had trouble keeping the smoothness as I moved around the bend towards the bottom.  What I cannot figure out is if the stitching towards the base is stringy looking and overworked or if it's just the stripy quality of the colors.  I needed a darker green, but I feel that the darker green that I used (which was the best of the bunch of my DMC's) is too dark and is too much contrast. 

I am trying though and learning.  I think my biggest struggle is actually working by myself on this.  There is something comforting when you work with a group of ladies that are all learning together.  Thinking of all the fun times over the past few years with the many different women that I've had the opportunity to stitch with . . . 

Zay's Blanket is Finished!

And, I think he likes it!  

Blanket for Zay is ALMOST done!!!!

So close!  I have run out of the red thread for the blanket stitch, so off to the store tomorrow to buy more to finish it up!  This is the blanket I made for my beautiful little boy, Zay.  

I wanted to do a fun blanket for his room that was my version of something for a child.  All the motifs are backyard motifs--dandelions, beetles, lizards, birds, clovers, owls, dogwood trees, etc.  I bought all my fabric from Alabama Chanin.  It is all organic jersey knit, and I stitch the blanket in an "Alabama Chanin" style.  

The front of the blanket is created with a double layer of the cotton jersey.   The motifs are created with using large backstitched outlines and reverse applique. The back of the blanket is a single layer of jersey with a layer of 1/4" cotton batting (wading) with the leaves quilted with a running stitch and Zay's name and birthday backstitched.  The back wraps to the front and is attached with a blanket stitch edging. 

Silk Shading Progress. . . I think

So silk shading has me quoting one of my favorite books as a child, "The Little Engine That Could"- "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can".  Well,  I am going to give it my best try, but I have this distinct feeling I may be redoing this module.  So I keep trying and keep pushing forward (and taking stitches out and redoing).  It's very much a one step forward and a few back feeling.  I will be so excited when I finish it though, even if I have to redo it!  And, I cannot wait to get back to my crewelwork!