TAST 17: Wheatear Field of Wheat

 Wheatear or as I like to call it Weetabix- stitch, is a quick stitch to do. I had this sampler done in less than an hour which I liked very much, considering how many I still have to do before I’m caught up.

 

There’s something very national romantic in this stitch. A reminder of simpler times when every summer was warm and sunny.

 I’ll be using this stitch in the future for sure. My grandparents would appreciate anything stitched with wheatear, they used to be farmers after all.

 Next stitch: Crossed Buttonhole! And if you are interested, my other samplers are here.

 

 

 

TAST 7: Lazy Daisy Blues

I can’t believe it’s over two weeks since I last did a sampler for Take a Stitch. Well, I’ve been busy with selling, thrifting and I even managed a trip to abroad! But more about those in another post. I was very excited about lazy daisy but I fell short with the execution. I just jumped into it without any plan and I used the wrong needle and instead of the usual linen, my fabric was a random blend which made the stitching not so pleasurable. However,  this stitch is one of my favourites and I made few observations while doing this sampler:

A. My stitches came out better when I stitched anti-clockwise.

B. Variegated thread somehow kept throwing me off.

C. Drawing the flowers before stitching is better than improvising on the spot.

I used the stamping technique again. Me likes.

The photos too are nothing to proud of. I took them just after 17.00 and even though it was still light outside, there just weren’t enough light. I might take more picture tomorrow. Next I’m going to find the linen I used in other samplers and start my sampler number 8, which is chain stitch.

TAST 4: Valentine Forest Cretan Stitch

My, oh my had I trouble with this one. I wasn’t too keen with the stitch in the first place but I ran into trouble when I created a design in a scale that wasn’t suitable for the characteristics of cretan stitch. So what is a girl to do in this kind of situation? First I attempted to salvage my original design by undoing parts of it but that’s when I thought about the scale. I threw the first sampler into my scrap bin and reached for a smaller hoop and sketched this:

If the stitch is suitable for covering areas and naturally forms a leafy shape, working with it, is the way to go. Since small means cute and Valentine’s Day is round the corner, pink thread seemed the only appropriate way to go.

Okay, okay one of the leaves is Chartreuse but it too seemed suitable for the design which I think, has a hint of mid-century going on. Anyhow, this was a quick project (not counting the first disaster), less than an hour from start to finish. You could actually do bunch of these as a Valentine’s Day gift. Here’s my finished hoop for Take a Stitch Tuesday:

 Next week: Herringbone Stitch!

Getting Back to Embroidery. Maybe.

I’ve been hitting the Follow-button on various WordPress-blogs and then promptly forgotten about them. Today I finally remembered that, hey, I have some blogs I haven’t read for a while/ever and immediately found some stitchy deliciousness.

             See what I mean? I want to lick that. Seriously, I do. Anyhow, this piece was made by Nat, an Australian craft blogger (whose talents I wish I possessed) for a Take A Stitch Challenge-Week 3. It’s a thought child of another Australian, Sharon B. of Pin Tangle and every week she posts a new stitch to learn (for beginners) and push the boundaries of embroidery (for experienced stitchers).

My repertoire of stitches include blanket, back, satin, split and running stitches plus the nightmare of french knot, which I finally learned from an illustration on a pre-printed embroidery package sleeve. By Tilda if anyone’s interested. Those 6 are probably the most common but it wouldn’t hurt to know some fancier stitches and this stitch challenge thingy could be the perfect way to learn them. The weekly deadlines and peer support/pressure are good motivators to finish things/projects and I’m one of those people who need LOTS of motivation to do anything on timely manner. Like that is a surprise to anyone who knows me.

The challenge is now on week three and apparently one can join in anytime. Should I do all three or start on the latest one? Choices, choices. The links to the weekly challenges if you are interested in this:

• Week 1: Fly Stitch
• Week 2: Buttonhole Stitch
• Week 3: Feather Stitch

Latest piece of embroidery I’ve done was for Craftster-swap over a year ago. I named it “Z is for Zombies”.

Yes, I most def. need to get back on the embroidery horse.

Over and out. Thrifty Finn.

Mojo Monday convinced me…

…that challenges with sketches are so not my thing. Especially this detailed lay-out. It totally sucked all the fun out of making cards. Well, now I know what kind of challenges I like to do. Bingo. Check. Themes. Check. Very, VERY simple sketches. Check. Anything else? Blaaaarrgh.

Here’s my card for Mojo Monday 198:

I solemnly swear that I will return to my regular blogging subjects very, very soon. I just have to get this challenge thing out of my system.

P.S. I’ve made new ATCs too!