Catch up complete

At last I have caught up with my TAST samplers. Enjoyed the satin stitch and long & short stitches as I used variegated thread and they came to life very quickly.Long and Short stitch. Ideal for blocking but also good isolated in small groups.

I enhanced these blocks with back stitch

This random design just evolved on the fabric and is made more effective I feelin the variegated thread. Second sample of satin stitch again done in a variegated thread and edged with stem stitch.


POSTCARD

After the wedding it was good to get back to playing and therefore my embellisher has been busy. I particularly liked this one as everything has been coming up sunshine hence the yellow. Not the weather at present in the UK, I hasten to add, but the beginning of the month with the family wedding and all the family getting together which doesn't happen too often.

After creating the base fabric with yellow wool rovings I added the maroon and green circles. I like the way you can't control the finished shape as the wool shrinks immediately it goes under the needles. To join the circles and add more movement I FME randomly over the top. This was completed for 6x4 lives ring June entry.

And finally one I completed earlier! This embroidery entitled 'Allium' has a centre encrusted with french knots and beads so ideal as my TAST sample for french knots.

Tast latest

Soooooooo behind with TAST so here are four samples to almost get me up to date, just satin and french knots to go.




Wheatear Stitch. Tried something different by making it into a filling stitch. By varying the size and thickness of stitch interest is gained.
The isolated stitches also work well.

B
Butterfly Chain Stitch completed on a piece of painted calico. The range of effects are, movement, symmetrical patterns, isolated, bunched. Variation in thickness gives interest.



Crossed Buttonhole Stitch.
Very linear this design on a piece of painted calico. Interest added by overlapping the stitches


Basque Stitch. Great for both formal and more random designs.

My stitch book is starting to look very colourful now!

WEDDING - FABRIC MEMORY BOOK

It's been a while since my last post due to ill health and family commitments ie my eldest daughter's wedding on the 1st June. I spent most of the 3 weeks before the wedding completing a fabric memory book for Joanne and Mike. It had been in the planning stage for many months, designs, collecting fabric and trims and it wasn't until I had finished the alterations to the dress (two weeks before the big day) that I could get my hands on some of the fabric, lace and beads to complete the book.

I knew that I wanted a soft book and the style of book had to reflect their personalities, so not too many frills or heavy on the embellishments. The content was to be paramount rather than a work of textile genius!

Fat quarters from the local quilting shop and exhibitions proved to be invaluable. I had originally wanted to complete it in silk but soon realised that cotton was going to be more practical to work on. The book contains a lot of quotes about love and marriage and I found one suitable for the front that wasn't too soppy. The wedding itself was very informal and there were only 20 guests at the ceremony.

Machine whipped cords were couched around the appliqued words.

Material and thread from the wedding dress were incorporated throughout.

These two pages show photographs of the happy couple in the years before they met. At 5 years old, at 7 years old and finally at 11 years old.

Although soft the book can stand up, each page was padded with wadding.

They got engaged in the mountains of Morocco last year. The mosaic style heart reflects the art and culture of the area.

This photograph was taken at a family meal shortly after their engagement and the hearts are in a variety of media, stamping, collage and embroidery.

There were so many quotes on the internet that I had to include the most relevant, both deep and meaningful and humous.

This was the venue for the ceremony, the Tudor Grange Hotel in Bourenmouth, on the south coast of England. It is a friendly, family run hotel that went out of their way to make sure we had a relaxed, informal day. Joanne had small cala lilies for her bouquet hence the appliqued lilies. The two small sections of embroidery came from her dress.

The back page. A crazy quilt square that again is not to over the top but contains bits from her dress and appropriate wording.

I thoroughly enjoyed completing this project and I hope that my daughter and new son-law will appreciate the relevance and content over many years to come. I had a box made especially for the book so that they can save other mementos from the day.