Chain Stitch, Twisted Chain Stitch, Buttonhole and Blanket Stitches
Raised Chain Band – Start by doing a row of short parallel straight stitches and then use a tapestry needle or the eye end of the needle to work the chain stitch over the straight stitches, for each stitch go over and back under the next straight stitch bar, the next part of the stitch is formed by going under the other end of the bar and through the loop of the thread which is the chain stitch part.
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Burden Stitch, Colonial Knot, Bullion Stitch, Seeding
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Split Stitch
Padded Satin Stitch
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The book “Raised Embroidery – a practical guide to decorative stumpwork” by Barbara and Ray Hirst (1993 ISBN 1-85391-203-4) was my intoduction to Stumpwork…I loved what I found on those pages…Stumpwork is made up of background stitches (most of which are stitches that are used for crazy quilt seams), Needlelace and slips which are embroidered seperatly and then appliqued to the stumpwork background, I decided that a Sampler was the way to start and tonights detail is the first strip of the Sampler which is 4 inch wide x 13 1/2 inches long…I have also added some links to a few sites for those that would like to know more about the history of Stumpwork.
Links to further information on the History of Stumpwork
Rissa’s Pieces stumpwork old and new
Whiteworks stumpwork
JMD Designs “Stumpwork” Embroidery
An example of stumpwork from the 17th century
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This is one of several microminiature quilts that I made to test how small I could go and still have detail in the embellishment…in the top left corner I experimented with using fabric pens to draw the seam treatment, interestingly this does not look good in the photograph but does work when you see the real quilt…for embellishments I used and used seed beads and petit beads, the rose in the bottom left corner is a Colonial Knot done with silk ribbon and I used metallic thread to embroider a butterfly to look like a charm.
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I was a bit short on description last night because I have hurt my back and couldn’t sit for very long…Last night miniature block measured 1 1/2 inches square and is one of the blocks from this miniature quilt which measures 3 1/2 in x 4 1/2 in and is a miniature of
my first quilt Hearts and Flowers.
Miniature crazy quilts do not need to be made to any strict scale, when the fabric patches and stitches are tiny the eye doesn’t see that the lace and beads are oversized.
I piece my miniature blocks on a foundation exactly the same as I piece full sized block…the secret of piecing small blocks is to work down to the size, that is make a 4 inch block, then make a 3inch block, then make a 2 inch block by which time you will be ready to tackle a 1 inch block…A trick for manageing the tiny sized block is to cut the foundation several inches bigger and draw the finished size block in the middle and cut yourself a window template for the finished size and hold it over the block so that you can see the piecing that falls within the the block without being distracted by all the extra fabric in the seam allowance.
The embroidery is mostly single thread and whilst stitches that small might look daunting they really aren’t and can be easier in the sense that as you make each stitch it is worked exactly the same as the full size stitch but instead of making 1/4 inch stitches you pick up just a few threads and the few threads can be easier to measure by eye than the full size stitch.
For the embellishments I use the smallest laces, braids and beads that I have…since making this miniature I have accumulated quite a collection of suitable bits including miniature charms…The tiny basket of flowers I embroidered over a tiny basket that was printed with white on the cream fabric…
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Tonights detail is one of six blocks in a miniature quilt.
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Tonights detail is a detail from detail 84.
Before I call a piece finished I sign and date it…Sometimes it goes on the back of the piece but when I can fit it in around the embellishments I like to sign on the front and on this piece I couldn’t resist signing on a shell, reminiscent of the souvenir shells from my childhood.
Below is the finished piece…When I was making this piece I didn’t know what I do now and I did start to worry a little when I had all the seams embroidered and most of the embellishments done but it was Not working as a united piece…That was when I added the gold ribbon in last nights detail, it helped a bit and did add nice movement…I then added the black ruched ribbon Thing on the left, it did nothing to help unit the piece and I can’t tell you why it doesn’t look awful but somehow it does blend in and it did add more movement…What solved my problem was the silk ribbon seaweed that you have seen in most of the details, The repetition of the seaweed united all the elements and brought the piece together.
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More Shells…This detail has some net at one end and a Seahorse button as a focal feature.
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This detail is a piece of rayon ribbon that has lengths of twisted ribbon between sections that I scrunched and held in place with beads…I had in mind the shapes that seaweed forms when it breaks away and floats free.
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