New Monthly project

My Mom did a lot of embroidery when I was young and even though I don't remember her teaching me how to embroider, I'm sure she did. I feel like I have always known how to embroider and until the late 1970's I did quite a bit of it. Now after a thirty year layoff you've probably noticed that I'm back at it. I have a box of my Mom's old linens that are embroidered and/or crocheted. Most of the ones I have left are either very worn or stained, but I've kept them. Recently I decided to use them in combination with some of my old jeans. My Mom never wore jeans and I almost always wear jeans, so my plan was to combine the two; her linens and my jeans. This was to be my monthly project for the year. I have spent most of the month struggling with how to combine the two, finally I realized that it just was not working.

Yesterday it finally hit me that my embroidery looks nothing like her embroidery. She always followed patterns or iron on designs and was very neat and precise. I on the other hand make it up as I go, generally with not so perfect stitches. So I've given up on including my jeans and I'm just using parts of her pieces, some plain cotton and my stitching, then mounting it all on an eight inch square canvas.

January, Mom and Me

I'm not sure if I'll do a whole years worth or just a few and then move on to something else. I'll just see how it goes. So far I like how my big chunky stitches contrast with her very fine delicate ones.

Weekly Leaf
This week I used a rubbing of a large (10"long) leaf tjap.

I did the rubbing when I first got the tjap using a black paintstik on silk broadcloth. Then recently while dyeing some threads I also dyed the rubbing.

I use a viewfinder to pick the area to use.

Fused flannel to the back and then added lots of stitching
Week #4

Line Dance #21 - #27

Indigo and Rust #314 - #320

Linked to "Off the Wall Friday"

Vintage blocks all together

The vintage blocks that I thought would be a long term project are ready to quilt, I've finished the appliqué and have them pieced together. Once I got started working on them I just couldn't stop.

It's not a great picture because it's 75" square and I can't get a picture in the studio without a corner of the table.

Week three of the weekly leaf is done. For this one I used a hand carved stamp and two of the three screens I made from different sizes of the outline of the stamped image.

I've had these around for several years and haven't used them very much.
Week #3

Line Dance #15 - #20

Indigo and Rust #308 - #313

Linked to "Off the Wall Friday".

Project updates

I'm starting to settle into the routine of my new daily and weekly projects and I'm now getting everything together for my new monthly project. I'm still trying to figure out a few details of the monthly one but hopefully by my next post I'll have it started and will talk about it then.

I was feeling a bit of panic with my "Weekly Leaf" because I didn't have the whole thing figured out and ready to go, but I spent some time this weekend in Studio B going thru the screens and stamps I already have with leaf images. I played a bit and now have some starting points for some stitching.
Week #2 was done with some fabric I had printed last fall with a gelli plate and some leaves. In the past I've made my own gelatin printing plate, I even have the institutional size container of gelatin. Having a gelli plate makes gelatin printing much more spontaneous. I used the second print or ghost print, this is what the first print looked like.

 The leaf is the resist in this print. The leaf is removed from the plate for the second print and most of the background ink is gone. Here's the second one with stitches, I forgot to take a picture before.

Weekly Leaf #2

stitching detail week #2

Line Dance #9 - #14

Indigo and Rust #303 - #307

I've also been quilting the stenciled leaf quilt and only have five more blocks  of the vintage quilt to 

appliqué.

Outside of the studio I've started something totally different, I'm taking classes to get my Idaho Master Gardeners certification. My second class is tomorrow afternoon, so I should get some reading done tonight.

Linked to "Off the Wall Friday"

New Weekly Project

This year for my weekly project, notice I said project not stitching, I'm doing the Weekly Leaf. My intent is to use some of the skills, knowledge and stuff that I have. Surface design was basically my life from the early 90's until about four years ago, I sold my dyed and printed fabrics and taught a wide variety of surface design classes. I have a wealth of  knowledge about many surface design techniques and all the tools and materials needed to implement them. I rarely do any of them anymore. I also have stuff that I've collected to use in my artwork, again something I rarely use. So the plan with the Weekly Leaf is to use some of that knowledge, equipment and stuff that I've accumulated. So far I'm struggling. I just want to stitch. I gave in and for week #1 that's what I did.

The Weekly Leaf #1

I drew the leaf on hand dyed fabric, stitched with pearl cotton in stem stitch and used floss for the straight stitches surrounding it. The right side of the leaf is shaded a bit with a pastel pencil.

I'm sticking to the 6" size and that may be part of my problem. Most of the screens, stencils and stamps I've created are a bit large for a six inch block. I do know how to create more and I could make them smaller. There will also be lots of hand stitching.

I've created a list that has over thirty different ways of me to create an image, so I would really like to use a few of them. Next week I'm stitching on a leaf done with a gelli print.

Daily stitching updates

Line Dance #7 -#9

Indigo and Rust #300 - #302

Linked to "Off the Wall Friday"

New daily stitching

A new year calls for a new daily stitching project and this year it will be "Line Dance". I have a large selection of vintage silk drapery samples that were given to me at least fifteen years ago. I have used some of them over the years but there are still quite a few left, even after cutting out enough squares to get me through the next year. Each piece was labeled and had a stock number printed on one edge.

The labels came off first and everything was tossed into the washer and drier before cutting. Then I cut lots of four inch squares and put them in their container for the year.

I've already edited my thread selection down to one ball.

It's from Valdani and is a hand dyed #12 weight pearl cotton. I will need at least one more ball before the year is through.

This year I'm going to be stitching a line on each block that will connect to it's neighboring block.  I'm not planning anything out, I just want to see what happens. Here are the first six.

Line Dance #1 - #6

This is how they look sewn together.

Indigo and Rust #294 - # 299

Next post I will be about my new weekly project.