Sampler 5 -The Next Part

For the lack of other content, I’m showing the next part of the last strip sampler I finished, the 5th one in my collection. You have seen this part before, I think, when I talked about those TAST stitches. The first pattern strip is beaded feathered chain stitch, in this case the chain part was beaded. The last band is also beaded feathered chain stitch with the chain part beaded, only worked closer together. In between, there is beaded buttonhole stitch.

The thick lines are a form of interlaced chain stitch, which will be featured in stitch sunday soonish.

Usually I am not big on beading, but there were a few TAST stitches that left me no choice, and I have to say I did enjoy it and will probably use beads some more on the next samplers.

For all the previous sections of this sampler, click here.

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Sampler, Part 3

OK, I guess the text of these posts gets boring, but I have no idea how to make that un-boring (is this even a word?)

So here we go. This section shows some more TAST stitches, buttonhole wheel cup, and some other buttonhole wheel variant, namely whipped and woven buttonhole wheels.

The last row is my take on beaded feathered chain stitch.

My Latest Sampler

I miss embroidery of late, so I dug out one of my unfinished samplers. I found it needs some serious finishing work. I was made from a commercial linen band that is supposed to be ready to use. But…. the drawn thread seams are already coming loose. So, I have no choice but sew around it again in drawn thread stitch. And believe me, these days I do have other passtimes than endless hours of mindless sewing. So, chances are I’ll use some fabric from my stash again next time, when I have to do this anyway I can as well save some money. Since TAST, the old one stitch a week challenge by Sharon Bogon, is on hold now and has been so for some time I’ll have to decide how to proceed, until I’m done with the drawn thread work I will just document what I already have done last year. So this is what the seam of this band looked like after embroidering the band normally. and this is how it looks after working ordinary drawn thread stitch over it. By the way, here I have shown how to do this. And now there is the first part of the sampler, after finishing work was done at this part. I know, this is one of the parts of the sampler you have seen before, but I want to show it from beginning to end this time.

My Sampler Project

Some time 2008 I started my first band sampler, after failed grandiose plans of one big sampler for each TAST stitch 2007. It didn’t get finished because another TAST started for which I made a new sampler. This one got lost at some point. 2011 I started another band sampler. by that time Sharon bogon’s big sampler was already online to inspire me. I very much loved the concept of life-long sampling, but always working in the same format, on more or less compatible materials? I could not bring myself to do that.

Now, my idea was to create a lot of band samplers of approximately the same length, and just hang them together. I even tried to kind of coordinate the color shemes of the new samplers to make this feasible.

Another idea was to include samplers of other fiber crafts, like knitting, but I’m not quite sure about that.

Another thing I’m not sure of is weather I should makes them all the same length or have some variation. I guess time will tell.

Now here are the samplers, side by side.

And these are their upper ends, together with standard a match box for sizing.

I have shown parts of them because of TAST, but nor always in the right order. one fine day I will start documenting them as whole, maybe when the first one gets finally finished.

Below the fold there are some more pics. By the way, I started 2 more bands since I took the pics for this posting. But they are for another day..

Colours of Hawthorn

So here it is, my finished piece for Sharon’s sumptuous surfaces class.
It is a study of the colours of a hawthorn flower, see
The inspiration photograph
the design process

TAST – Barred Chain Stitch

This week’s TAST stitch is barred chain stitch and alternating barred chain stitch.
got to know this stitch during the first TAST and use it a lot for ragged lines.

This week I mostly spent gardening. Spring is slowly arriving here, the bushes are still bare, and I spent a lot of the time cutting the bushes in my garden to shape. So I stidtche some bushes. I’m not sure if I’m leaving this section as is or add some more, but I wanted to post something in time this time round.

TAST 12 – Cretan Stitch

So this week’s TAST stitch is cretan stitch.
Since my sold sampler is full, I started a new one on the next band-like thing I found that doesn’t need prep work before I can begin. I’m not sure about it at all. I added some browns to the color scheme to coordinate it with the first one and keep it from looking saccharine.

This was my cretan stitch sampler for the first TAST challenge. I can’t decide if I’m calling it done or add some more.

Some more Buttonhole Stitch and Feather Stitch

Oh my, it’s only the 4th week of TAST and I’m already behind. Well, here is some more buttonhole stitch, and my efforts on feather stitch.

Also, those are almost the last sections of my band sampler. I only have a little space left to add a date.

 

The heart is detatched buttonhole filling.

Fly Stitch 2 – TAST 1

So this is the second posting for Take a Stitch Tuesday 2012 Challenge Information page– It is still about fly stitch.

I called in sick because of the tummy bug, so lots of stitching time. I continued with my sampler and the fly stitches.

The little bell in tis section was attached to some sweets I got from a patient at the hospital where I work. I added it to comemmorate the festive seasons and all the niceties from random people I recieved. The band was couched down using fly stitches, of course. The section also shows stray little fly stitches used as filling, on one side regular, on one side random. There are few things you can’t do with fly stitch.

This section shows fly stitch threaded with another thread and fly stitch used to couch down thick wool to fill a larger area. Both variants are from Jaqueline Enthoven’s book. The last row are big herringbone stitches tied down with fly stitches. That one is from Sharon Bs original posting.

The first part of this section shows freeform leaves and ferns. Some of them have wipped stems. You just do fly stitches with legs next to each other and then wip or lace the stitches like you would with back stitches.
The next two rows are combunations of fly stitches and cross stitches/ straight stitches (the latter ones in violet in each row)
The next row is fly and two ties stitch from Jaqueline Enthoven, together with little cross stitches. The last row is twisted fly and two ties, again from Enthoven’s book. Both are nice stitches I will want to explore further one day.

For those who didn’t read it: before i knew that TAST will run again I set myself two challenges:
a) work a sampler or two in order to learn all the stitches in Jaqueline Enthoven’s ” The Stitches of Creative Embroidery”
b) make a dent in my UFO pile
I try to combine those with TAST

This section shows some patterns done from fly stitches. It taught me that such patterns should be planned on paper and be done on easiely countable evenweave to be effective.
The last rows show zig zag fly stitch from Enthoven’s book. I did not really like this one because it pulls out of shape easiely. In the last row, I tied down the loops with little straight stitches, this version might have potential as a decorative border stitch.

The last row is the first row of buttonhole stitch. just couldn’t resist last night.

Take a Stitch Tuesday Challenge 1 – Fly Stitch

So it’s this time of the year again – new beginnings, good intentions, new challenges starting…. I didn’t do any great posting on this because I was first busy celebrating christmass with family drama and the new year with lots of booze and then I was down with a tummy bug big time. Well, I still am, but the show must go on.

So, happy, healthy new year to you all.

And yes, there’s an exciting new challenge on Sharon B’s blog. She’s running Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge again, see Take a Stitch Tuesday 2012 Challenge Information page. Which means, she’ll propose a stitch every tuesday and participants try them out. I answered to the original posting that I’m looking forward to seeing participants work, but won’t take part due to my notorious inabillity to follow up with challenges as required. Obviously, she did not really read those gazillions of replies and added me to the particpants list. So I’ll take this as a good omen and take part. I do love challenges.

So, Take a Stitch Tuesday Week 1 is fly stitch, one of those stitches you cannot really do justice in one week imho. Anyway, I added it to my current sampler, drawing inspirations from the appropriate chapter of Eindhoven’s book. I’ll probably try to do more later this weekend.

The two leaves in this section were knitted for a holiday knit along on ravelry. Beside them, there’s some free form fly stitch.

The next row shows a few ways to combine fly stitches to patterns. The possibilities there are truly endless. The last two variants are from the book, the green ones are tied down with detached chain stitches, this is also called tete de boef stitch, or when connected “pulled-through cable stitch. I’m showing this one here. I did some more with tete de boef stitch on that other sampler, but I just realized I haven’t really photographed that. Maybe I should. the lilac stitches are tied down with bullion stitches.