Barbara's July TAST and CQJP

In between a couple of out of town trips I finished my July CQJP block.

Pink Basque stitch is accented with hearts.  The cardinal's branch has some oyster stitch leaves.

I added some fern stitch and button flowers to my faux ceramic pot.  I wish that green had a higher contrast against the blue background.

I pulled this crochet motif from the goody box circulating among some of the Tuesday Stitchers and added a bouquet of silk ribbon flowers.

There's the up and down buttonhole stitch in red, accented with more buttons.  The button stash got heavy use this month.

Cy - TAST Basque & CQ block

My journey this week took me down memory lane as I used the thread that I had re-found.

...the story starts HERE on my blog

And I turned it from this.............

to this..............

Personally, I think it is beautiful, but I am probably a bit biased about it.

It's like planting a twig that grows into a beautiful tree.

It is such soft thread that I might use it for a special crochet piece later. 

Anyway, that was my TAST Week 29 - Basque Stitch on my stitch journal.

And here it is on my CQJP block for July.

Six strands of cotton floss in pale aqua, and reversed in lilac silk embroidery ribbon.

Not sure if the long and short twisted chain part worked to create a wavy line. I may have ruined it with the beads. I might frog the beads as it was better before I added them.

I also made a crochet trim for this CQ block. It is meant to have a ribbon or cord woven along it, but I haven't done that part yet as I'm undecided what to use, so this is a WIP.

And I've been doodling in the midnight hours again.

A Mandala Clock.

I've had a request from the IFFCG to make two more books for "The Missing Years" of the Freeform Crochet Challenge's that never had books published. Years 2006 & 2007..

I will be starting them in September as I have my current "big project" deadline for the end of August, and that is taking a lot of my time at the moment.

Not a lot of Spring cleaning got done after all this week, lol.
Ah well, back to stitching.

Happy Stitching

Angela ~ Basque Stitch & Russian Saints

This was a pretty easy stitch and although a bit fiddly, I truly liked working it.  It goes fairly quickly and you get a lot of design for your effort.  

click to make the image larger

I used a brown pearl cotton in satin stitch for the Orthodox cross and 3 strands of a variegated brown/gold cotton floss for the stem stitched IC XC and the basque stitch surround.  The lettering was done with a smaller pearl cotton in brown.

I chose my subject because I am Orthodox and I have read several books about the Russian royal family, their life and their sad demise.  They were horrendously assassinated by the Bolsheviks on July 17, 1918, even though Nicholas II had already abdicated as they wished.  They just could not trust that the royals would not win favor and take back their thrones.

There's a little more about their story on my blog if you care to read it and view an icon of the saints.

Carol - TAST, Basque Stitch

Basque Stitch

The flowers were not meant to have button centres, but as the centres were a bit hit and miss in they went.  Couched stems and stem stitch leaves/twiggy bits!

I quite enjoyed Basque Stitch and hope to practice a little more perhaps on my facing page.  Haven't been able to focus much this week on sewing for some reason.

Better get a move on - only 1 stitch remaining for July.

Debra: TAST-U&D Buttonhole, Basque Stitch

Nothing earth-shattering from my needles; but at this point, something is better than nothing from me.  

The Up and Down Buttonhole Stitch along a bit of trim Connie gave me earlier in the summer.

My focal point embroidery came out a tad small so I filled some of the space with the Basque Stitch.

I thoroughly enjoyed both stitches and will be adding them to my Go To Stash immediately.

Suz----Basquing in TAST Stitches

I've discovered that 'my' Basque stitch ( according to Judith Baker Montano's "Embroidery & Crazy Quilt Stitch Tool") is not like everyone else's. So, I'm basquing by myself ........maybe it's a bad basque
Here's what I wrote before I found out about the sitch discrepancy:

 Yes, this week's TAST is the Basque stitch, which I thought quite interesting. I liked the way it stands away from the fabric.

You can see the height and shadow on my happy face circle

here I stitched alternating levels over horizontal lines...makes kind of a grid

a simple fence line

roping some wheat sheaves

5 rows of alternating stitches
this would make an interesting filler

and voila........my sampler

I used the basque stitch to couch down some pretty ribbon with a very fine variegated thread

and then tried a variation of the stitch to create a double vertical line with a thicker thread, also couching ribbon along the seam.







hmmmmm
So, now I'm wondering, if this isn't the basque stitch,  what the heck is it??! Anybody know?
Thanks. Guess I better try the other Basque stitch.
Hugs from Suz

Judy ~ Basque Stitch TAST

This has been another crazy week with not much stitching accomplished, at least by me. I did, however, manage to trim Sue's dress with the Basque Stitch which was a kind of fun one. Since I am now plumb out of edges, sleeves and hatbands that need embellishment, I sure hope the next stitch is something entirely different. Be careful what you wish for, right?

TAST: Wk 29: Basque Stitch

The TAST Stitch for the Week of July16 is the Basque Stitch.
For more information and examples, check here on Sharon B's blog.

Stitch Dictionary     Sarah's Tutorial   Mary Corbet's Video Tutorial

Photo Courtesy of Pin Tangle