If you've been keeping up with the silk work sampler I'm ever-so-slowly working on, you might want to see my latest addition, which I don't like, and which is coming out at the next opportunity!

I finished the leaf worked in split stitch (it's the one on the right) and decided to launch into the third flower.

One drawback was that the stitches were supposed to run horizontal in each petal, towards the center line down the petal to create a "voided" meeting area. Well, I figured to get the full effect of the void, if the stitches met anywhere else, you really wouldn't notice the voided line down the middle - or it would end up looking too sectioned off.

So I thought I'd just change the tones of red as I worked down the petal, creating horizontal layers of color, and forgetting about the "shape" of the color (rounded arches of color in each petal.)

And so I set about to do that, and this is the result:



I don't like it one tiny bit. If the color change were more gradual, it probably wouldn't be that bad. But in order to get a gradual color change, I'd have to split the Japanese silk and work in a few strands of the lighter shade as I worked down. Um... I've done that before, with the sky in my Agnus Dei.... it takes a bit o' time, if nothing else. I don't want this project to be frustrating, because I'm afraid if it reaches a high frustration level, no one will finish it!

The other problem is that the straight horizontal lines, when worked around the circle of the flower, would really look angular, which wouldn't really match with the rest of the sampler.

So I'm going to pick that silly looking petal out and go back to the arched color changes.

You may wonder why it's a big deal to go horizontal on this flower, when we worked the other one vertical. Well, it's a matter of seeing how the light catches on the stitches, depending on the type of stitch and the direction of stitch.

For example, you can see a difference between the two leaves - yes, they're the same colors, but they look slightly different, because the light plays off of them differently. The one on the right is worked in small split stitches while the one on the left is worked in longer long-and-short stitch.

Well, when I get around to picking the thing out and re-attempting it, I'll let you know how the alternative works. In the meantime, I seem to have contracted the Creepy Crawly Crud (sinus / bronchial stuff), so embroidery's not on my list of priorities - actually, the only thing on my list is BED!

Labels: guild, pictures, silk, silkwork sampler

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Monday, September 10, 2007
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The silk work sampler that our embroidery group is working on is coming along. After spending a lot of time on set-up, we're finally stitching! Here are some photos of progress on the embroidery sampler so far.

We started with the middle flower, working it in long and short stitch. This was an adventure! I chose to do my flowers in reds, and first, the plan was to work from light on the outside to dark on the inside. I worked the first petal that way and didn't like it at all, so I picked it out and worked from dark on the outside to light on the inside. I liked it much better!



So, the center flower and the top left leaf are worked in long and short stitch. The idea is to work towards the "growth point" on flower petals, leaves, etc., when working with long and short stitch. Down below, I'll show you some close ups where I messed up!



This is the center of the flower. The image is a bit fuzzy (!) This is how I stitched it: I began with a light gold Soie d'Alger, and backstitched around the circle. Then, inside the backstitch (so, on the inside of the circle), I stitched one layer of loose satin stitch in the Soie d'Alger. Then, I satin stitched the whole circle (going outside over the edge of the backstitch) in a flat silk, in gold. Then, I worked a square lattice in the dark red, and couched the intersections with the lightest coral in the flower. Then I worked a stem stitch around the circle, using two strands of Soie d'Alger in the medium red.



Here's an odd angle on the flower, so you can see the "dimension."



The leaf is worked in long and short stitch in three shades of green, light on the outside, and darkest by the central vein. The whole leaf was first outlined in the light green in a backstitch. The long and short stitches should be directed towards the central vein, and slanting downwards (to the growth point of the leaf). If you look closely, you can see where I messed up! But if you can't see it here, you can here:



The central vein is worked in a stem stitch, in the darkest green. The problem in the leaf is in the lower left-hand corner of this photo. I marked the difficulties in red in the photo below:



The three middle red lines show how the stitches angle too far up. I should have taken that out and restitched it.... but I had too many layers in before I realized how far off it would go. In the scheme of things, it's not "too" noticeable, but it still bugs me! Live and learn!

So that's the progress so far... Next, we'll be working the flower on the left, which is worked in satin stitch, in flat silk. The shades change according to the lines in the pattern, and there's a "voided" line between each shade. The satin stitching will be vertical, without any radiation, so it will be a completely stylized flower. I'll let you know how it goes!

Labels: guild, Hand embroidery stitches, pictures, silkwork sampler

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, July 17, 2007
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For our summer project, our embroidery guild is learning to work with silk. We'll be using different types of stitches in our silk work sampler, many of which will be some sort of "shading" technique. If you want to see the pattern we'll be working with, I posted the silk work sampler pattern some time back.

During each embroidery guild meeting so far this summer, we've gone one step at a time in setting up the sampler, and we will all be working one step at a time in stitching it, so that everyone has time to get the different techniques down.

We haven't started stitching yet! We aren't taking any "short cuts" - we each framed up our pieces, then we traced our designs, pricked them, pounced them, and finally, using a fine paintbrush and watercolor paints, we painted in the design.

So here's my pattern, transferred to the fabric and ready to go:



The sampler itself is about 7.5 x 10 inches. We're using Legacy linen (Alba Maxima), and we purchased 18" x 18" squares, to mount up on 16 x 16 frames. We're using stretcher bars, with the fabric tacked all the way around. The linen was pre-shrunk and ironed before mounting. I like using the larger frame for this kind of project (a 14 x 14 or even a 10 x 12 would have sufficed), but it's good to have the extra space to practice a bit on the side lines if necessary.

Here are the threads we'll be using:



The top row of tubes is flat silk from the Japanese Embroidery Center. We're working with 5 shades of green, 3 shades of red or of coral, 3 shades of blue, and gold. We'll also be using a little bit of reddish-brown, for different stems. The silk in skeins is Soie d'Alger.

I picked out the colors from the thread sample binder of the Soie d'Alger. Then I matched my colors of Soie d'Alger to the thread palette of flat silk from the Japanese Embroidery Center. I was so happy to find a practically perfect match for all colors! Of course, the colors will still look slightly different, because the light will play on the flat and twisted silk differently. The stitches used will also change the look of the threads a bit, because of the way the light plays off different stitches.

We're starting with the middle flower at the top, which will be worked in long and short stitch in the twisted silk. The center of the flower will be a lattice work filling, in the gold and either red or blue, depending on the color of the flower. The side flowers will each be worked in different stitches, but they will be worked in flat silk.

I'll keep you posted as we progress - right now, I'm going to work up a sample section for Monday's class!

I'll be posting updates and explaining the stitches we're using as we go. If you want to stitch along from a distance, feel free!

Labels: guild, needlepainting, pictures, silk, silkwork sampler

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Saturday, June 30, 2007
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Our embroidery guild worked together to embroidery 24 quilt squares to make into two baby quilts - one for a girl and one for a boy. Then, our talented quilt lady Marlene took the squares and worked them into two darling flannel baby quilts which we will be raffling as a fund-raiser. Here are some photos of the finished products!

I've already featured the baby boy's quilt, which was completed a while ago. Now you can take a look at the baby girl's quilt!



I took this photo at a bad angle! But don't you love the border? I love the purple dotted "ribbon" in the corners! Here's a close up of the corner fabric:



The resolution is pretty poor in that photo, for the fabric is certainly not that "fuzzy" looking! I forgot to take an image of the back of the quilt. It's backed with a pink and white gingham checked flannel. Both quilts are entirely done in flannel - they're soft, but not fuzzy, fuzzy, and the quilting gives them a good "stiffness" or body so that they aren't heavy. They're just perfect for a baby crib! Here's a closer view of the bottom half of the quilt:



And here's the top half:



Isn't it cute? I love the variety of colors, and the soft sweetness of the whole thing! Just to put them both on the same page, here's the complete boy's quilt:



Our next whole group project for the guild is actually a class in silk work. We'll be working a silk sampler this summer, so I hope to have photos of that as we progress.

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, May 25, 2007
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Our second embroidered baby quilt is coming along! The squares are connected and the front is put together. This is the quilt for a little girl, made out of a variety of colored flannel, predominantly pink. The boy's quilt has been finished for a while, and we will be raffling both soon pretty soon! I thought I'd share some photos of the front of the pink quilt as it goes together.

The green may seem a little odd, but the border of the quilt will be made from a yellow flannel with little green, purple, and pink dots in it. In two corners of the border, the squares will be arranged to form a kind of "bow" motif, with the "ribbons" trailing up the edges. The "bow" parts of the border squares will be a purple flannel with tiny white polka dots. So in all, the quilt will end up rather colorful! I can't wait to see the finished project!

In the meantime, here's the front so far:



When the quilt is completed, I'll have to take photos in good lighting - outside, probably!

I've already posted a couple photos of the completed Sunbonnet Garden Girl, along with a few close-ups of her, so here are a few others that are used in the quilt, for your perusal.



This little white lamb with the blue butterfly is embroidered mostly with perle cotton #5.



Here's a little embroidered kitten, frustrated by a frog!



This embroidered bird sitting on an embroidered water fountain is really darling! I love the flowers and the colors!



The mouse under the flower umbrella is cute, too. It's stitched entirely in stem stitch, using two strands of DMC cotton.



This little "fishing angel" is so sweet! The original design has two facing angels in it, but to fit in the square, we cut the design in half, to good effect, I think!



I've already mentioned the embroidered butterfly once, when talking about seed stitch, but here's a shot of the completed square.



I love this little teddy bear - the eyes crack me up for some reason!

So there you have some close ups on the baby girl quilt. Marlene is doing a great job putting it together, and I'll let you see the finished project soon!

By the way, all the stitching was done by members of the Assumption Embroidery Guild. Most of the gals are beginners, and I think they did a marvelous job!

Labels: beginner embroidery, guild, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Friday, May 11, 2007
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This embroidered quilt square of an old-fashioned Sunbonnet Sue was worked in simple embroidery stitches on flannel, using stranded cotton. I've already displayed the complete Sunbonnet Garden square, but I thought you might want to see some close-ups with some embroidery stitch explanations.

This embroidered quilt square is an 8-inch square, in soft pink flannel. I transferred the design by tracing it with a Macro art marker in two stages: first, I traced the Sunbonnet girl, which I had saved on my computer. I sized the pattern in Photoshop, then traced it using my monitor as a "light box." I don't necessarily suggest this practice - but it worked for me!

After I finished the girl, I wanted to add a garden, so I flipped through my copies of Inspiration Magazine, looking for a little inspiration. I found a great pattern for a needlecase in issue #53, and I drew my garden from that. I loved the fact that the needlecase had bees on it - so I had to have a bee, too!



This little bee is worked in the following order: first, a bullion stitch in yellow forms the body; second, using black, I added some stripes and a head by just couching over the bullion; last, a couple lazy daisy stitches make the wings. The flight trail was originally going to be worked in a dashed black line using running stitch, but instead, I decided to use white so the contrast was not so obvious. Unfortunately, the write in running stitch didn't show up too well, so I decided to use a whipped running stitch instead.



The flowers in Sue's apron are a combination of lazy daisy (petals and leaves), straight stitches, and French knots.



The daisies in the flower bed are the same - on some of them, I filled in the centers of the lazy daisy stitch with straight stitches in a contrasting color. The centers of the flowers, for the most part, are French knots.



The hollyhocks are made out of buttonhole wheels, and the centers are satin stitched in yellow. I've posted before about hollyhocks - I think they make great flowers in embroidered flower gardens! The leaves are worked in fishbone stitch.



Sunbonnet Sue's dress was a lot of fun! It is outlined in a medium purple, in stem stitch, using two strands of DMC. Then, I added a horizontal fly stitch border in green. The little flowers that make up the print of the fabric are just straight stitches, worked in one strand of DMC. Then I speckled the background of the fabric with light green straight stitches, randomly scattered all over.



Now, her little sleeve was troublesome. Originally, I planned to work it in white, so I stem stitched a white outline around the whole thing, and then added white seed stitches in the middle. I embroidered the cuff of the sleeve in white, in a padded satin stitch. But the whole thing looked awful, primarily because it didn't show up well. So I decided to go with green, but I couldn't pick all those stitches out, or I would have ruined the fabric. Instead, I whipped the stem stitch with the green, covering up the white completely. Then I added green seed stitches, intermingling them with the white. On the cuff, I worked a series of horizontal fly stitches so that it would look a bit lacy.



The apron is worked in two strands of medium pink DMC, the outline in a whipped stem stitch, then the whole thing filled in with seed stitch. I wanted a contrast between the front of the apron and the turned up hem, so I just worked the seed stitches closer together on the turned up part of the apron.



I was somewhat pleased with the way the bonnet turned out, especially considering that, when I started it, I didn't like it! The blue on the outline was a little too dark. I worked the outline in backstitch, so I was able to whip the backstitch with a lighter blue to lighten the whole thing up. I was going to leave the inside of the bonnet blank, but it looked "too" blank, so I worked double straight stitches of light blue in a semi-pattern over the whole thing. The flowers on the band are straight stitches (two for each petal, worked in the same hole) and French knots.

So there's my little Sunbonnet Garden Girl. I like her! I think the quilt will be darling - and I can't wait to see it, either!

I think this square is a good example of what you can do with random mixed simple stitches. There's nothing difficult about any of the stitches in this particular square. If you want to learn them, please check out my video library of hand embroidery stitches.

Have fun stitching!

Labels: beginner embroidery, guild, Hand embroidery stitches, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, May 08, 2007
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Finally! I've finished my second square for our guild baby quilt: an embroidered "Sunbonnet Sue" type pattern (an old-fashioned Sunbonnet girl), in a garden. I had great fun with this square, but got a little carried away!

The pattern for this Sunbonnet girl was online somewhere, at some point, but I can't locate it again. In the original pattern, she's holding chicken eggs in her apron, but I thought the flowers would be a nice "girly" touch for this girl's quilt. Of course, if she's holding flowers, she has to be in a flower garden! And every flower garden has a bee, right?



This is the square still in the hoop right after I finished it up. I'll put up some close-ups later, and some images of the completed quilt when it's assembled!

The fun thing about this square is that it's all really simple stitches! More on this later... too many thunderstorms rolling through lately to get much done here!

Labels: guild, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, May 06, 2007
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Our embroidery guild is producing some embroidered baby quilts to raffle for fundraising. I didn't have time to contribute to the production of the embroidered squares for the boy's quilt, because I was working on a huge project with a looming deadline. We found we were two squares short, somehow, for the girl's quilt, so, thinking it would be nice to have a relaxing and "fun" embroidery project (that wouldn't really take too much time), I set up the two squares. This particular square I'm working on right now has plenty of seed stitching in it.

I found this butterfly embroidery pattern on Needlecrafter, I believe. There are some excellent free embroidery patterns available on that website.

So I started out with this little butterfly, and as I was working on it, I realized I wanted more color. The design is stitched on a pink quilter's flannel. I wanted to go with the pastels that are in the rest of the quilt fabric, but the whole design didn't seem to stand out too well if only outlined. So seed stitch seemed like the perfect option for a light filling.

Here's a photo of the square so far:



One of the little lines in the top wing is squiggling a bit: a good lesson - remember, when you transfer your design, if you draw it inaccurately and don't correct it, it WILL show up in your stitching! So I may take that out and correct it... or not. We'll see how noticeable it is when all is done.

Speaking of transferring designs, being pressed for time, I cheated on this one! I opened the design up in my photo editing program, reduced it to fit within a 6-inch hoop, and, holding the fabric on my monitor, traced it onto the fabric! Now, a word of advice: if you have an LCD monitor, be very, very careful if doing something like this!! You could damage it. I didn't, but I realized I easily could have!

Here's some of the seed stitching up close:



That's the inside of the wing. The lines are stitched in a whipped backstitch, using two strands of purple DMC for the base line in backstitch, and one strand of the green for the whipped running stitch. The whole butterfly wing is outlined in stem stitch.



You can see the medium purple seed stitching here - it's the same color on the head of the butterfly's body, which is worked in satin stitch.



I like using seed stitch for filling this kind of an area - it adds a "light" filling that almost looks as if it's dry-brushed in. Granted, the yellow reminds me a bit too much of cornmeal. But overall, I like the effect! Fun stuff with simple stitches!

Labels: beginner embroidery, guild, Hand embroidery stitches, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Thursday, April 12, 2007
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Earlier, I mentioned the flannel baby quilt that our embroidery guild is raffling, and showed you some up close photos of some of the squares. Here are a few more squares up close, and some pattern and embroidery stitch information.

As far as hand embroidery goes, these quilt squares are as simple to make as they are cute. We found our patterns all over the internet. If you're looking for free hand embroidery patterns, you can check out this list of free hand embroidery patterns online. The stitches used in the squares are simple hand embroidery stitches - perfect for beginners. If you're new to hand embroidery and want to learn the basic stitches necessary for simple designs, check out my hand embroidery video tutorials. They'll get you started with basic stitches so you can see how easy hand embroidery really is!



This pattern of little ducks on a pond is really cute! It's worked in stem stitch and backstitch.



The Three Bears is a great story to tell to kids - they love the "Someone's been eating my porridge" in a gruff, daddy bear voice. It's a favorite with the toddlers in my family! So here's a square to illustrate it. The square is worked in stem stitch, back stitch, split stitch, straight stitches, and seed stitch (for the filled areas on the yellow jacket and green overalls).



Here's a chipper little Jack-in-the-Box fellow. He's worked in stem stitch, backstitch, fly stitch, split stitch, and straight stitch.



And, finally, this square is worked in perle cotton, in stem stitch and lazy daisy. I love the bright colors on this one!

So there you have it - a few more squares for your perusal. The quilt is really darling in person! The pictures don't do it justice, I don't think! And it's well-made, thanks to Marlene, the quilt expert in the guild.

Check out the complete flannel baby quilt if you want a full shot of the quilt!

The baby girl quilt is almost ready for assembly. The nice thing about working such a project is that, with everyone stitching a square or two in such basic designs with easy stitches, the embroidery part goes very fast! Even if you're not working with a group, if you've got a child or a grandchild on the way, or you know someone who does, working up a small quilt like this isn't so difficult, and, especially for the beginning embroiderer, it's accessible and personal. Try it! You might like making one yourself!

Labels: beginner embroidery, guild, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Tuesday, April 10, 2007
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Our embroidery guild recently shared the task of embroidering some simple squares for a baby quilt, which we plan to raffle later this spring as a fundraiser. The quilt turned out really cute! I can't take any credit for the squares - I got the project going, but left the embroidery pattern choices and colors to the individuals. A kind lady of the guild took the squares home and assembled the quilt. I like the results!

The quilt is quite darling - and we'll have a girl's quilt to match soon - slightly different design in the border of the quilt, but overall, the same effect. In the meantime, here are a few photos of the boy's quilt, with some close ups of some squares.



The entire quilt is flannel. The quilting is done "in the ditch" up and down the sashing and around all the embroidered squares, as well as along the border.



Here, you can see the flannel used for the backing - really cute stuff!



The dark flannel posed a problem in design transfer, so the ladies used Solvy to transfer the designs. The patterns were gleaned from all over the place, the thread is DMC stranded and #5 perle in most cases.



Simple stitches, such as stem stitch and backstitch, were used on most of the squares.



Some of the gals modified their embroidery designs - like these ducks who got dressed up for cold weather.



I'll add some more close-ups on the squares later on! Hope you enjoy looking!

Labels: beginner embroidery, guild, pictures

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, April 08, 2007
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The members of our embroidery guild are embroidering baby quilts as a fund-raising project. The quilts are made out of flannel in baby colors and designs. Right now, the guild ladies are finishing up their blocks so that the quilts can be assembled. When they're finished, I think they're going to be really cute! So I thought I'd share a couple photos of one of the blocks for now and tell you a little bit of how we're going about it, and I'll show the completed quilts and other blocks when they're turned in.

The first quilt block is an embroidered Little Dutch Girl, done in pinks rather than blues. The embroidered squares for the baby girl quilt are pink quilter's flannel (with the nap of the flannel on one side, smooth on the other). Most of the ladies used Solvy to transfer the designs, which is better, I think, than using the blue transfer pens, although some did use those, too. I've heard a lot of horror stories lately about blue transfer pens!



The stitching is all done in simple stitches. Here, the majority of the stitching is stem stitch, with a few straight stitches thrown in here and there. You can see a version of Algerian Eye on the skirt (six-pointed). You can see the Solvy in the photo. It'll be removed before squaring up the blocks.



Here's a close-up on her little embroidered cape, which is worked in two strands of DMC in stem stitch. She did a really nice, precise job with her stem stitch!



The skirt is detailed with these little six-pointed Algerian Eyes. You can see the permanent marker on the Solvy behind the stitches. This will rinse out when the Solvy is dissolved.



Here's the waste-line of the little dress, worked in stem stitch. I like the selection of colors - the light pinks and dark pinks for the dress. It's just so... girly!



What embroidered Little Dutch Girl would be complete without embroidered tulips? Here's her little face, with pointed nose, and little purple tulips.



And some blonde hair in a little pony tale to top it off, with a little pink bow.

The ladies are doing a great job on their squares - most of the members of our little group are beginners, but they're starting to "branch out" and take on challenging projects, which is great to see! We're lucky to have a great group of talented and devoted ladies! It's such fun!

We're going to be raffling a boy's quilt and a girl's quilt to raise funds for future projects. I'll let you know how it goes and I'll post some pictures as the quilts go together.

Labels: beginner embroidery, guild, Hand embroidery stitches, pictures, wip

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Posted By: Mary Corbet on Sunday, March 11, 2007
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