Deborah: TAST & CQ

Playing catch up yet again...

Week 18: Crossed Buttonhole. I have to say, this is a stitch I had never encountered. I have the technique down but do I need to practice!

I was a little worried about the wavy line but looking at examples on Sharon B's page, I see others like this. Is it "supposed" to be straight?

Week 19: Half Chevron. Another new stitch for me. Again, I get the technique but will need to work on perfection! ;-)

This is the beginning of my May block, and this one will be my mother's.

I just wanted to get these under my belt & get caught up. Much distraction the last couple of weeks.

More about the April block on my blog

Suz--TAST Times Two and CQJP

Wow, two posts in as many days. Something's going on...........
I've caught up on my stitching! Yay!
I'll just post the pics of my TAST and CQJP: you can read a bit more about it on my blog

Just a peek








what a schnozz, eh?









Hugs from Suz

Barbara's April CQJP block

I finished my April block, only a few days into May.

The green seam is zig-zag chain stitch, and the flowers are straight stitch and French knots.  The yellow seam is plain old cross stitch.

In this photo the blue seam is wheatear stitch, the TAST stitch from two week ago, with orange French knots.  The orange seam is fly stitch with some tiny silver beads.  The pink seam is the TAST crossed buttonhole stitch for this week, accented with some tiny heart buttons and detatched chain stitches.

I used outline stitch, satin stitch, and stem stitch to embellish the center image of the hummingbird.  Tahlia sent me some retro-reflective thread from Textura Trading Co., which I combined with two strands of cotton for the bird wings.  The retro-reflective thread has a sparkle which is hard to see in the photo, but which gives the wings a bit of sheen.

In the right upper corner I put a little black bird like the ones that stand in the grass next to my house.  It guards some silk ribbon fuchsias.

I'm going to put this project on hold for the rest of the month.  I'm wrapping up the school year and then Michael and I will go on vacation.  I may post some other projects on my blog in the meantime, but I'll pick up the next block in June, when I hope to catch up with the rest of the Tuesday Stitchers group.

Cy - Reveal - TAST, CQJP, BJP

A Thousand Teardrops Fall - BJP March

Another Teardrop pendant completed for the Bead Journal Project 2012.

This is pendant #3.

I've called this one "A Thousand Teardrops Fall" in memory of my faithful old Golden Labrador who passed away at Easter aged nearly 15yrs.

The ground fabric is like angel fibre but made of red and purple strawgrass fibres.

The beaded "tears" are made up of about 18 beads each and the overall effect has the "tears" just hanging loose as thought they are ready to drop.

The pendant is threaded onto a black satin ribbon which is tied in a bow at whatever length is required.

TAST Week 18 - Crossed Buttonhole Stitch

First of all I wanted to find out if I could control this stitch going around corners.

Yes, that worked out ok, and I like the different looks you get depending on which way the stitching goes 'around the bend' lol. i.e. the straight edge or the pointy edge.

Then I tried a 'stepped' crossed buttonhole row with the long stitch getting longer and the bottom bit of the stitch going diagonally.

I think I might be able to get this this variation of the stitch neater with a bit more practice, and I actually drew guidelines on my fabric for this one, which is something I haven't had to do before.

And then I stitched two straight rows back to back on my crazy quilt block and I really like this formal look. 

I made sure when stitching the second row that I perfectly (or almost perfectly) mirrored the first row.

I think you can tell I enjoyed this stitch. 

I did have some apprehension about the crossed buttonhole when Sharon B first announced it last Tuesday, but I found that inspiration came quickly once I started talking about it to the Tuesday Stitchers here. (Love you gals)

Actually I rather surprised myself just how fast the inspiration hit me.

Lack of time is the only thing holding me back from experimenting some more, but I shall definitely be using this stitch again.

CQJP - April - WIP

I've had a busy and enjoyable week of stitching.

Here is what I have been up to on my CQJP block.

My April Crazy Quilt Block - the Naked block

And here are some seam treatments close up photos.

Back to back Crossed Buttonhole stitch (TAST stitch week 18) in pale green perle cotton.

A couched blue satin ribbon and green cotton floss detached daisy's forming a 'V'. This seam treatment will have more added to it later. Probably beads.

This next seam started out as a double herringbone using two colours.

It may look alright in the photo, but on the block the colours were all wrong, so I went over it with a wrapping stitch in pale blue.

And this is a chain variation whose name I have forgotten.

As I completely forgot to add a crochet piece on last months block, I thought I had better get one made early on for this block, just in case I forget again.

This time I made a crochet ruffle.

So that is my April block WIP so far.

Happy Stitching

Angela: Crossed Buttonhole

Since this past Tuesday was May Day, May 1, my design is a maypole viewed from below. 

The pole is stem stitch and the ribbons are crossed buttonhole, all done in 2 strands of DMC cotton floss on white aida cloth.
According to Wikipedia:
The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian times, with the festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, and the Walpurgis Night celebrations of the Germanic countries. It is also associated with the Gaelic Beltane. Many pagan celebrations were abandoned or christianized during the process of conversion in Europe. A more secular version of May Day continues to be observed in Europe and America. In this form, May Day may be best known for its tradition of dancing the maypole dance and crowning of the Queen of the May. Various neo-pagan groups celebrate reconstructed (to varying degrees) versions of these customs on May 1st.

Carol - TAST Crossed Buttonhole Stitch

Sarah's travels take her to INDIA - land of  historic sights and culture.

May

Naked block - colours Yellow and Purple

Once I got the hang of it quite liked Crossed Buttonhole

worked in perle 5 and detached chain perle 8

Fingers itching to bead!!

 

Susan: TAST 17 & 18 and May CQJP

Not too much, but a start and a catch up. I also have two more blocks pieced - only one to go. There will be beads, maybe a button in the wheatear circle (which I did correctly this time, but I still prefer the other way of doing it), and probably some more embellishing on that crossed buttonhole thing.

So what else was I doing when I should have been CQing? Admiring the results of my gardening! First tomato blossoms:

Judy ~ Crossed Buttonhole Stitch

Exhausted from working so hard in her garden last month, Sue just collapsed against this stump for a well earned rest. Why she insisted on wearing her tangerine-colored dress today along with her fashionable sandals, just to sit on the ground is beyond me! Sharon was right, though, you can fill an area with the crossed buttonhole stitch. It worked OK on her sleeves as well. Hope the rest of you had a fun stitching week, too.

Debra: TAST-Crossed Buttonhole Stitch

I now have a new "Go To" Stitch--loved the crossed buttonhole. I love all buttonhole stitches so it's nice to have a variation to work.

As you are looking at CQ ideas, if you come across some interesting ideas for embroidering rickrack, I would be interested to see them.  I have a lot of rickrick in future projects and I don't want it all to have the detached chain in the valley.

Carol - Crossed Buttonhole Stitch

First we had a silly week and now it seems a touchy feely one!  Shall we all join in and have a Group hug?

We could apply for Group Membership of  S.A.B.L.E.

TAST: Week 18-Crossed Buttonhole Stitch

The TAST Stitch for the Week of April 30 is the Crossed Buttonhole Stitch.
For more information and examples, check here on Sharon B's blog.

Examples Courtesy of Pin Tangle