Suz: May Musings

Hi everyone! You may remember that I finished the Wedding Piece #2. Then, I realized I had forgotten to sign and date my embroidery!  Arrrrgh.  Mary Anne advised me to not only do that, but also to record the who, what, why, where, and when on a separate paper to include with the stitchery. So I shall include a card with the gift, as well as a card on archival paper, to include all the information. It will be hidden between the frame and the backing paper. Thanks MA for your wonderful advice!

The name is on the bottom right corner of the embroidery. Did you notice that it's all done in Bullion stitch?
Can you find the year?

The gelli print fabric has been embroidered, cut, and stitched with buttonhole stitch.
I'm saving the other pieces for another project.
I created some tatted tassels with the same thread used to embroider the fabric.

Then I added a jewel to each tassel.
This bookmark is on its way to DGD Jewel in Australia.

I hope she likes it.
(the colour is a little off in this photo)




This month brings with it several challenges. I shall be writing a course, teaching two e-courses through StitchMAP, and  taking a new course with Karen Ruane. As well, I hope to finish some work on hand, and do some special stitching that so far is only in the planning stages.  Then there are the gardens to get planted and into shape.
Also, we may be having visitors this spring/summer/autumn coming all the way from Australia. I don't know, yet, but I'm excited at the prospect.
 We are now into the third month of renovations in the house, and I think the noise, dust, and lack of privacy is taking a toll........So, I've decided to go dark for the spring and summer. No blog posts (except here) I'm hoping that this blog break will allow for some spirit refreshing, revitalizing, and rejuvenation!
I hope you've had a creative week.
Hugs from Suz

Suz: April Wanes

As April draws to an end, we're finally getting some nice spring weather, so I've been spending some time out in the gardens.
We had a Guild Workshop to make bowls for our fall window display. I finished three during the day, and have some more in progress.

 This was a gorgeous scarf that was accidently put through the washing machine and dryer, so the knitting became matted. I cut out a piece, shaped it, and gathered the top edge, then added some beads for a bit of bling.

This looks more like a nest. It began with three long, narrow, knitted strips which were tightly braided together, then wound and sewn into a bowl shape. The ends look like tails, so I beaded the longest one and wound it around the shorter ones.

Four chords braided, wound and stitched into a wee Christmas bowl.

On the Wedding Piece, there's been a bit of progress.
Remember this?  I thought the large curlicue in the middle looked too much like the name Lee. Since Lee had no place in this wedding, and looked to heavy beside the delicate roses, it had to go.

I added more leaves, branches and roses. I think it fits much better, don't you?

There's still a bit more stitching to do. I'm hoping it'll be finished by next week!
I hope your week has been a creative one.

Hugs from Suz

Suz- Not Much Stitchin'

Warm temperatures have arrived! Yay! Yesterday it was above 10C, so I've been out in the garden the past few days. There's not much stitchin' going on....but I did add a few things to the Wedding Piece #2. Sorry the photos are a little dark.

leaves, branches, gypsophilia, and roses

 

 seeds and french knots, bullions

progress is slow, but the bottom is almost half-finished

I'd originally thought to add more grape leaves to the bottom section, but now feel that it's too small to support the visual weight of these large leaves. I may add one or two, but most of the leaves added will either be stitched onto the fabric, or woven picot leaves.
I'm excited to be coming to the end of this project.
My one concern was that it might look unbalanced having different elements on each of the four sides, and being stitched without a pattern (well, except for the one in my head)
So far I am pleased.

Suz- End of March

March is ending, and, hopefully, taking the last of the snow with it!
I'm ready for spring.
A wee bit of stitching was done on the Wedding Piece this week, with a few additions:

2 woven picot leaves, a cast-on stitch rose, and a bud.......



On the wrapping cloth piece #12, I added a beaded center to a fancy picot flower. The base is a wrapped ring with rows of buttonhole lace 

 

bullions bridge the design of this lace

this giant bullion is 185 wraps!
Soon it will have a few more friends......

the progress so far

I need to create more wrapping cloth pieces

It was time to actually use my Kumihimo kit.

The large braid on the left was made with the kit material using 8 strands.


The braid on the right used 8 strands of size 20 crochet cotton. I've been playing with patterns.

Tatted bunnies and cabbage edging is a seasonal tat with Easter next Monday. I used size 20 crochet cotton, so this feels quite bulky. Bunny 1 on the left has a major error with the neck join.

Next I'll tat the bunnies without the cabbages, with a longer chain between them, using a finer thread.

Two more gelli painted fabrics join the queue awaiting some hand stitching.

My art room has been re-organized. It's actually a small bedroom.(~9x11)  Here's how it looks now..........( well, before I did the fabric painting!)

north wall

east wall

This table is a very old one with a porcelain top- once probably used for rolling out pastry, but now it's great for cleaning up spilled paint!

west wall

The center unit was fastened to the dining room wall, but didn't work with our furniture. Now it's a great unit for storing some of my supplies.

south wall

There's a bedroom closet to the left of the computer, and there I keep my fabrics in plastic storage tubs.

Here's how that table looks now!
Neat and tidy didn't last long, did it? lol

 Treasure hunting this past week led me to a second-hand shop where I found these blingy buttons, ( up north near the lake house)

(aren't they pretty?!)

two packages of lace,

( rolls of lace!)

4 cut-lace napkins, and 2 lace doilies.

The total came to $5.00! Wow!

I love shopping there! (too bad it's so far away)

Well, that was my week with needle, thread and fabric. Hope you've had a fun and creative week.

Hugs from Suz

 

Suz--- Bowls, Beads, & 'Broidery

I added some beads to the green bowl. They're on the end of drizzle dangles. The same variegated thread I used to stitch the bowl, was used for the drizzles.

Since the bowls are for the Embroidery Guild's library display, I thought they should be decorated with some embroidery. The red one wears buttonhole lace and beads.
I think the blue one will have some beads and bullions.
I've been experimenting with painting fabric, and I've chosen a few of my favourites to show. There's lots more experimenting planned for the near future. The base fabric is a white cotton.

from layered brights

to soft and subtle

to big and bold



Fabric painting is fun!








The Wedding Piece has had a little attention, too, this past week.

a few beads

more woven picot leaves

a few seed beads and small details

and curly branches added to the base has it looking like this.

I'd better get cracking on lots of  leaves! Oh, and grape clusters.....oh, yes, and..............well, you'll just have to wait and see!
I'm so excited that this piece is now 3/4 done!

I hope you've had a fun and creative week.


Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Suz-- Winter Blahs

Right around the middle of February, the winter blahs set in. It's mid-winter here, with another 6 weeks or more of the cold, the grey, and the snow.
So, to add a bit of brightness to last week, I began stitching in colour. At my local Embroidery Guild, we're creating felt works to sell at the annual Fiber Fest, raising funds for a local charity.
Introducing Cora Crow, a large, felt, pin cushion. She certainly has attitude, and I had a lot of fun embroidering and embellishing her.

 I'm late posting because I wanted to have her finished by Wednesday morning's Guild meeting.

Happily, she's already sold.

I discovered, though, that I must be allergic to the wool felt: every time I worked on this lady, I'd get blurry eyes and headaches.








Don't you just love those eyelashes?

Some more additions to the Wedding Piece. Nine more leaves and grape clusters were created, and I'm placing them on the right side.

I extended the main branch with tatted, curly stems.












More of the smaller leaves in subtle colours are needed, along with some tendrils and curlicues.

The top portion is almost finished.













Hope you've had a creative week.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Hugs from Suz