TAST Week 17

I have some catching up to do. I will start with week 17 and try to go b ack and catch all of the stitches I have missed. This is my stitching and embellishment on Beth's block for our CQ block RR. We have 2 groups of 8 that made CQ blocks, our own choice of size, theme, colors, etc. We are sending our blocks around in a RR and each person will do at least one seam or area on each block depending on the size of the block. If this RR is a success we will continue to start a new RR each time one is finished. I used two rows of running stitches and then wove a piece of red ribbon through the rows of stitches. I used a piece of lace trim for the short seam. Can't wait for the next block to arrive in the mail!

TAST Week 7 & 8

I will be out of town most of the week so I decided I better add the fly stitch to my block before I left. I had trouble getting the fly stitch even. Other than that I like it but I want to practice it a lot more. The feather stitch is right above it. That one was a little harder for me to get going on. It took several practice rows before I realized that if I just made use of those "imaginary lines" I kept reading about that it is a really simple stitch. I am starting a new CQ block next week for a class and I am going to do a lot more with the feather and fly stitch. I will probably go back and add something to the feather stitch on this block.

TAST Week 6

I added a row of Eyelet stitches with a French Knot in the center and Cretan stitches to my CQ block this week. I had planned to add French Knots between the stitches as well but they were just too close together. They were both worked with perle cotton. I am really looking forward to adding the Feather stitch to this block. I am taking an online crazy quilt block class for the next several weeks so a lot more stitching to be done!

TAST Week 5

These are my samples of the Chevron stitch for TAST, week 5 already. I have already taken one of Sharon's classes but am now convinced that I need to sign up for the Personal Library of Stitches. The more I do the more I like what I am doing. I had a little trouble with the mechanics of this stitch in the beginning but once I got going I really enjoyed it. I started out with the Aida cloth using Watercolours by Caron and a DMC thread. The bottom row is Anchor Metallic Pearl Cotton. And it was on clearance and my favorite metallic thread so far so I guess I better get some more before they run out. The crazy quilt square, which is my first also has the Chevron stitch with the same threads. I need to go back and add the second row of stitching on the CQ block like I did on the bottom row of the Aida cloth. I had some fabric that I really wanted to use for a crazy quilt block and did not realize that I just had too much in the way of prints and not enough in the way of solids. I will have to use some bright colors in my threads to make them stand out. I will continue with this block for several more stitches. The next one will have more solid colors.

TAST Week 4

A few weeks ago when I was working on the white Aida I decided that the next time I would add some color to it. I got some new fabric dye and played with it just a little. The color was supposed to be burgundy so I didn't add too much hoping for a raspberry type color. When I added the dye to the water it was PURPLE and I mean purple. I may have rinsed a little too much because as you can see in the scan it almost looks gray. I had some trouble with the Cretan stitch. I think I am getting a little better at it now. The bottom row I stitched rather large with rayon thread, then added some detached chains which got cut off in the scan and some french knots on the other side. I liked it much better after adding the french knots. The yellow didn't go quite so well. I tried to make smaller stitches and they ended up all over the place. The top row I stitched larger again. I had a plan. First I stitched a row of orange cotton perle. Then I went back and stitched a second row in rayon between the spaces in the orange row, so really one row over the other. I think it is my favorite. On to the chevron stitch!

TAST Week 3

This is as far as I got with my embroidery this week. I must say I like the bright pink and orange stitches much better than the white. They hide my mistakes much better!...lol Actually, even though a few of my lines look pretty crooked I followed the lines in the fabric which is why I chose this fabric to practice on. The Aida cloth I had just wasn't helping me much. I want to start a crazy quilt block for this next week and wanted to get a little practice in on some fabric vs the Aida cloth or Linen piece that I have. The scan really shows me how much I need to practice getting my stitches even but at least I accomplished 2x the amount of stitches in less than half the time of last week. I know, I know. Practice makes perfect and speed is not the way to go. I didn't rush, just accomplished more. I will practice much more this week.

TAST Week 2

Here is my meager attempt at the buttonhole stitch. I had a limited amount of time since I had too many deadlines at a very busy time of the month. The bottom row was done with a metallic thread. I love the look but what a pain to work with. There must be something I am missing on that one. I will have to give it another go later but it was just too time consuming. The next row up was with DMC variegated thread. Much easier but the counting was slowing me down. The next row up was fun. I worked a bead onto the bottom of the stitch. The top row was the easiest. It was done with #5 Perle. I had a limited choice of thread and fabric to get started with but new stuff is on the way! After a few more weeks I am going to do most of my stitching on the projects I am working on. Just need a little more practice first.