 When I have a mental blank, as to what stitch I can do, I look at work that I have done in the past and pick a stitch that I like, which is what I did this morning when it was to early to think…this stitch is Cretan Stitch was my TAST week 4 Stitch.
Repeating seam treatments can be quite exciting as different threads and even slight changes in stitch length, spacing and angle can alter the look of the finished seam…it is a bit like a kalidascope in that you don’t know what you are going to get next but each pattern is as beautiful as the last.
|
 this morning I was thinking about the different shapes that Fly Stitch can form.
 
which led me to think that Feather stitch can make the same shapes and that I had never tried feather stitch with wide shallow V’s…when I drew it in the visual journal it looked so like Cretan Stitch I lost interest and started doodling other lines in which I saw a different pattern emerge when 2 rows were overlaid with the needle going down at the same point as the first row but coming up slightly above where it came up for the first row and this seam treatment is the result…
I think that I really like this one because I did it on a second seam. Done with a thicker thread and different spaceing this one looks more like my drawing…
and then I did it on a third seam, for this one I used a stranded thread and trimmed it with beads.
|
When I started working again on mum’s memory quilt after it had lay dormant for more than 12 years I found I had a couple of problems, the first was that I had to change technique for transfering images to the fabric, as it turned out the T shirt transfers blend quite well with the old technique.
 The other problem is that the original plan was for a 20 block quilt but since then with births and marriages the family has grown and I now need 31 blocks, not a number that divides into a quilt layout.
This morning, when I was showing my sister the progress I had made, we discussed the pros and cons of the different alternatives I had thought of to reduce the images to 30 blocks, I also told her my plans to border it with a frame shaped border…As she was leaving she asked me when I wanted to have it finished by…my answer was that I want it to remain a WIP and get it finished this year but it can’t be before the birth of the next grandchild, expected in a couple of months, then jokeingly said that if I finished it before the birth I wouldn’t need the 31st block…or maybe I wasn’t joking because with thoughts of the frame finish fresh in my mind the light bulb went on…I could make just the 30 blocks and then add the new babys image as a photo poked into the corner of the frame…Problem solved…and if it works as I think it will, it means that I can include photos of the family home and the mango tree in the same way, as well as enabling future additions of great grand kids…
and the next block is ready for embroidery
|
 I started this seam with a row of Up and Down Buttonhole Stitch. I trimmed the seam with beads stitched in place with fly stitch the TAST week 8 stitch, it is not readly recognizable but worked wel, I threaded a bead onto each stitch and then the tye down stitch held it at one end and at the same time bent the stem of the bead so that it looks more interesting then straight stems would have been.
And this was the last seam on the 10th block for my mum’s memory quilt, the image is one of mum’s grandkids, my nephew.
|
Fly Stitch another very versatile stitch and once again I started by playing in my visual journal….I have used fly stitch in so many different ways it was hard to think of a way I haven’t used it before so while I was thinking I drew the different shapes that fly stitch can form and some of the ways I have used it, which includes decorating around shi shas, one large and 2 small fly stitches make a lovely heart shape and the legs of my spiders are fly stitch…
…The shi sha thoughts inspired a bit of doodling with the circle shape but it was the fish that gave me a seam cover, when I drew the single fly stitch tailed fish (which I have stitched before) I looked at it and thought a second fly stitch would give it a solid tail and when I looked at that drawing I liked the tail shape and repeated it end to end which gave me the seam treatment below.
|
This stitch is a combination of herringbone and twisted detached chain similar to detail 143.
|
 Feather Stitch, an all time favourite stitch, it is delicate and pretty and ever so versatile…On tuesday I showed you the Visual Journal Page where I played around with ideas, it was the sketch at the bottom right of the page that I chose to stitch. The seam to the left is my second attempt, for my first attempt I used a pearl twist thread and I overlapped the stitches a bit differently and the resulting seam looked rather messy (unfortunaly I had unpicked it before thinking to take a photo)…for my second attempt I used stranded embroidery thread which is softer so the overlapping stitch has blended with the stitch under it instead of sitting up on top looking bodgy. Once I had the right thread for the job the seam came together nicely…To complete the seam I added green Detached Chain Stitches and red beads arranged to look like flowers.
 I have done this weeks TAST challlenge stitch on a newly pieced block for my mum’s memory quilt which has made the transition from UFO to WIP…
I have been scanning old photos, printing them onto T shirt transfer paper and ironing them onto fabric ready to make more blocks…I am delighted with how well the newer technology for putting images onto fabric has blended with the older method that I was using when I started this project.
Now that this project is a WIP again I have pinned the UFO blocks, the new block and the new images onto my pinboard and have started pulling possible fabrics from my stash.
|
This is a combination stitch with Herringbone on the top and Creton stitch on the bottom and I have added Detached Chain and beads to finish it.
Partial Herringbone stitch….start on the seam, do three herringbone stitches and finish on the seam, repeat…for added effect do a small straight stitch over each cross.
Flower Trail…the little flowers in this trail are cut from lace, I coloured them with fabric paint and added beads and Colonial Knots
This block, with my Nana and Grandfather on it, is the ninth block for my mum’s memory quilt and the last of the UFO (UnFinished Object since 1994) component of this project…stay tuned as it mutates into a WIP (work in progress).
|
Wheat Stitch variation with beads…Wheat stitch is 3 straight stitches of the same length pulled together at the center, I saw it in a book and went home and stitched it from memory….when I saw the stitch again I was amused by how bad my memory was as I had stitched it with 4 straight stitches of different lengths….I liked the variation and have continued to do it this way, looks good running end to end along the seam too.
Cretan stitch with straight stitch stars on one side and detached chain on the other….you will notice that the stars are only in every second space, I like the secondary pattern formed by doing this.
Herringbone stitch done in a lovely (it was very expensive) gold and black metallic thread and trimmed with beads.
Feather stitch done in a silk buttonhole twist thread and simply trimmed with groups of 3 Colonial Knots.
The image on this block is my youngest brother.
|
Closed herringbone stitch worked with one side forming a straight line and the other side forming a curved line, the curve is then echoed with a row of stem stitch and again with a row of buttonhole stitch.
I was taught this stitch as a variation of Cretan stitch but it is easier to describe as a herringbone stitch variation…when working the stitch instead of taking the little stitch parallel to the seam angle it back towards where it has come from…for this seam I have trimmed it with seed beads and straight stitches.
Herringbone stitch whipped with buttonhole stitch…when you do the buttonhole stitch you will find that it twists, you can either go with it and let it twist or you can anchor it with a stitch to the back at the top and bottom of the herringbone stitch.
Ruched ribbon stitched on with beads.
Revealing a secret….when you peek under the ruched ribbon you can see the original yellow colour of the fabric patch, I think that I must have been trying to pick up the yellow tint in the photograph but it didn’t work and the yellow clashed with everything else….solution: Bronze coloured fabric paint applied with a paint brush…
This seventh block for my mothers memory quilt is an old block and white school photo of my second oldest brother.
|
