Fitzy - Shisha!

I am in the "Crazy Quilting Divas" group on Facebook. I know many of you choose not to participate in fb activities, so I'll risk showing my contributions here. Hope you don't mind.

We created a Round Robin exchange, whereas we made 6 blocks to pass around on a monthly basis. The one shown below is the one I have chose to decorate for Annette. I tried the new-to-me stitch Shisha...and I love it! I used 1/4" mirrors, similar to unpressed sequins. They came from that secondhand crafting store I visited a few months ago.

Now I'm looking for suggestions for something else on the block. I'm totally not into faeries, and have hit a bit of a block regarding what comes next! I was possibly thinking of a large Queen Anne's Lace up the left side, running thru all 3 colors, and perhaps a butterfly or dragonfly on the Lace's stem...dunno, what do you think?

I apologize for being MIA last week. Something about lying on a beautiful sandy beach turned my brain cells into a relaxed mush! I really needed it! It was our annual family reunion that we celebrated in Destin, FL.

Have a wonderful week!

Cy - CQJP update

I think I am finally getting back to some sort of normality here. 

It has definitely been a busy couple of months for me what with work on the farm and the Art Festival work.. 

My projects for the Arts Festival made the deadline

 (see my Rock Pool in a Fish Bowl post here) 

I have caught up with the TAST stitches, but I have not yet completed my August CQJP, but progress on that block is coming along nicely. Just a few more beads to add, and one more seam needs embellishing.

So the end is in sight. Hopefully will have it finished by next weekend.

So here are the photos of my TAST catch-up stitches. All these are on the August CQJP block.

This one is Pistil Stitch around a Shisha mirror.

Pistil Stitch to couch a ribbon embellishment.

And here is the Sheaf Stitch.

The following pics are varying seam treatments on the August CQJP.

I'm looking forward to another stitching busy week ahead.

Happy Stitching

Debra: TAST-Bullion Knot --Shisha

Undorned Shisha button



Bullion Knot Whatevers!

I know, too impressive for words!  *wink*

Cy - Reveal - April CQJP - TAST - Shisha

----April CQJP block----

I am so pleased that I have now finished my April CQJP block.
Clicking the photos will lead to a larger view.

And because I know you all love close up pics of the seam stitching here follows the seam treatment close-up photos each with a note about the stitching.

TAST week 19 - The Half Chevron stitched in two rows with a 'lozenge' shape back stitch in darker blue and a metallic thread Star cross stitch in the middle of each lozenge.

The Basque stitch is a chain stitch variation and was done last week. This week I added the Ribbon Embroidery blue flowers (possibly tulips?), the Fly Stitch 'stalks' and the beaded tops.

Three different techniques combined on this seam.

Bottom black line is back stitch. Lilac middle bit is Raised Buttonhole. Then silver and turquoise beaded semi-circles added to the top.

Mexican Wave stitch and a beaded edge.

The beaded zig-zag added to last weeks couched ribbon seam.

White beads added to last weeks Crossed Buttonhole (Crossed Blanket stitch)

Not sure whether to call these beads or buttons, but whatever they are it is lovely.

They are acrylic and see-thru with a 'glass millefiori' (sp?) look to the flower in the middle.

I added a row of silver metal chain to either side of my wrapped chevron for something a little different and unique.

The sage green braided chain from last week also got some more stitching added to it.

The purple thread is a wrapped back stitch with a pale lilac single back stitch outside of that.

The irregular chunks of turquoise beads are held down with lengths of crystal seed beads.

I love how this Mandala just grew itself here.

The variegated green middle is raised buttonhole on a spider wheel.

Lime green is French Knots.

Pale blue variegated is two rounds offset Half Chevrons (TAST week 19)

Aqua bugle beads and silver seed beads surround the Mandala

I was rather surprised that the outside round of beads fitted the mandala perfectly without having to 'jiggle' the spacing at all. Sometimes things are just meant to be.

And here is my butterfly for this block.

I hope I can carry on inventing "new species" of butterflies to complete my 12 blocks by the end of this year.

I give you an angled shot of the block here so that you can see the textures of the beads and stitches, and also see the crocheted ruffle better.

---Shisha & Half Chevron FUN---

It has been quite a while since I have done any Shisha work (years in fact) so I thought I would join in on this stitching adventure too.

I have a bag or two of the small round real Shisha mirrors that are the usual item to stitch onto fabric, but I know my supply of mirrors is in the shipping container that I call my "Craft Box" which is outside by the 'man-cave'. I was too impatient to go and search for it so I used what I could find on hand in the house.

So this is the Half Chevron TAST stitch addition to a fun 'experimental' Shisha piece.

The 'mirror' is actually a metal, screw bottle top (no, really!!) from a bottle of Martini Bianco that I just happened to polish off the night before. (Again - some things are just meant to be).

I had to get the hammer out and smash the poor bottle top flat so that it could be stitched in place, but hey, "all is fair in love and stitching".

And a slight angle photo to see the texture of the shisha stitches and the height of the hammered bottle top.

Oh yes, all for the sake of my craft.
I had fun.

A great excuse to finish that next bottle off too.

Carol - TAST - Half Chevron Stitch and Shisha Embroidery

"If it's India it has to be Shisha" - who said that?  Speak now or forever hold your peace.   What a week - Half Chevrons pale into insignificance!  After four printouts of differing tutorials, papers strewn everywhere, numerous practice pieces and getting ready to throw in the towel who should come to my rescue but a knight in shining armour with Erica Wilson's tutorial - thanks Debra you saved the day.

                        Debra, you'd certainly snag some cowboys in those embroidered jeans!

                                                        Oh, nearly forgot, my Half Chevrons

Just to say, Shisha was new to me and thanks to our Group of wonderful ladies it really gave me the incentive to give it a try.  Way to go, but feel I've mastered the basics.  Thanks everyone.

After making such a mess of posting earlier today, thought I would make amends and include a photo hot off  the press!

Shisha Embroidery Video with Erica Wilson

It is well worth your time to take a look at this video with the remarkable Erica Wilson. I am going to estimate this circa 1970s. Her explanation is very good with large stitches so you know exactly how to stitch the shisha. Also, notice her alternative suggestions for shisha mirrors!



Good luck stitching the Shisha! 

Judy ~Doin' the Shisha and Half-Chevron Stitch

Tuesday while walking down one of the halls at the UW Medical Center, I glanced up and noticed that one of the "way-finding" art pieces was a very large piece of Indian tapestry with, you guessed it, a bajillion little shishas sparkling up at me! Sadly I didn't have my camera, but then I remembered that our daughter brought me a tiny purse back from one of her trips in 2007 to India when she worked for Unitus. Can't for the life of me remember where I put it, but we did take a photo.

This all happened the day after I did the shisha.... Before I read Debra's suggestion to use a button, I ventured off on a "shisha hunt" to Jo-Ann's where the clerk told me she'd worked there for years and never heard of such a thing. Improvision, here we come..... After finding something that I thought might work, I headed home to give it a try. By then this week's stitch had been posted and the Half Chevron became my first practice...no problem there. But the perfect-shisha-mirror-substitute turned out to be a big curvy clear crystal thing instead of the expected flat silver piece that was really the backside.  Anyone need some? (Note to self: Turn the package over next time!) Anyhow after several  unsuccessful tries at decoding my embroidery book, I read through Debra's links and found the one from Sharon's friend to be the most helpful. Said Shisha is now attached to my sampler and will serve as a weight to keep it from blowing away! It kind of looks like a headlight! No way will Sue be getting one of these for her wardrobe, even if she throws a tantrum.

My suggestions: Practice with something flat and don't use any thread finer than the full 6 strands of floss. The suggestion to remove the hoop after getting started was very helpful as my thumbs were killing me by then.

As for Sue, she's still resting. The Half Chevron stitch worked nicely around the curves on her dress. A few more flowers and lots of french knots later, she was put away till next week. Hope your stitching week was a good one!

Debra: TAST-Half Chevron Stitch

This week's embroidery ideas didn't go as planned but in the end, they worked. I had envisioned the half chevron as a stitch that could anchor the points of my rickrack. Instead it obscured the rickrack so I took it out. I decided to continue the idea from last week's crossed buttonhole stitch and move around the dotted ribbon with the half chevron.

Isn't this middle embroidery fun?  The original poster is from the British government around 1939 as a way to boost morale amongst the citizenry should Britian be invaded.  There are all kinds of spinoffs of it and of course, when I saw this spinoff, I had to include it!
Don't you love the crown as a big pincushion?

Once I finished the weekly band, I started on my Shisha embroidery.  My plan is to use that humongous button in the right corner as my shisha mirror and fill that corner with a varied button cluster.  I started right in with the button and that was not working so I picked it out a few times and went for a practice cloth. 

I had a killer neckache (from non-stop sewing this week) so my work was not going well.  I decided to stop and I'll give it a try later this weekend.  I'm not sure I am getting the right twist to the stitch. 

Lastly, do stop by my blog and see the buttonhole work I did last weekend on my TX Mockingbird Panel.  I'll be working more handwork on it this weekend-adding some half chevron and shisha, if I can get the hang of it.