I found another sewing hobby: English Paper Piecing. When I first heard of EPP I thought, “ooohhh, Never!” It sounded so tedious, so boring. basting tiny paper shapes with fabric and sewing an entire quilt by hand did not sound appealing….. Then it happened. Everywhere I looked I started to see EPP examples. Little by little by resistance was chipped away. Then I found Millefiori Quilts – Las Passacaglia, which look like a kaleidoscope in quilt form. The DIY Addict has a site with information, photos, great directions for getting started and supplies to purchase through her Etsy shop.
This holiday season saw a return of the embroidered elephants. Work had fun White Elephant Gift Exchange and so I made a couple of T-Mobile branded white elephants for fun.
Once again the holidays are around the corner and its time to stress craft! We have a family tradition of making ornaments as gifts each year. We try to choose a theme and build the handmade ornaments around that theme.
Take a Stitch Tuesday week 43: Coral Stitch
I used coral stitch for the outline of the Gnome’s boots. I was looking for something simple, but still with texture so Coral stitch was a perfect fit.
Take a Stitch Tuesday week 42: Cloud Filling Stitch
This was a new stitch for me. Week 42 worked out perfectly as I had been hunting for a filling stitch on some Holiday Gnome pillow covers that were sewed last year. The gnome designs are from paper pieced patterns purchased on Craftsy and sold by Quilt Art Designs by Janeen van Niekerk. I want to add some crazy quilt type stitching and beading to the seams for texture and interest.
With two elementary school children in the house Halloween is a big deal for the Chases. Below is a preview of the Halloween Crazy Quilt pillow cover I am currently making. I had unintentionally ended up taking a big, long break from embroidery and from the Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge over the summer. Halloween (coinciding with the Seattle drizzle) seemed like the perfect opportunity to get back on track.
Take a Stitch Tuesday week 40: Woven Detached Chain Stitch
Week 40 was a lot of fun. I rewatched the Breakfast Club and practiced weaving a long row of detached chain stitches.
Feather stitch is one of my favorites, worked below in DMC Cotton Perle #5 variegated 4068. Detached chain stitches in green and mustard yellow, and pistol stitch using DMC Cotton Perle #8. Woven detached chain stitch using Cotton Perle #5 color 921.
Take a Stitch Tuesday week 39: Oyster Stitch
This was my first use of Oyster Stitch so still figuring things out. It was fun to create sunflower petals using something other than the detached chain stitch. I will probably practice with this more and even include some lines of oyster stitch later on in the project.
Stitched using Cotton Perle #8 for oyster stitch flower petals and french knots in the sunflower centers.
Take a Stitch Tuesday week 36: Plaited Feather Stitch
Not my best work, but plaited feather stitch using DMC Cotton Perle #5. One strand DMC 921, the other variegated DMC 4122.
Chase Handcraft 