Fractal White Tiger June 2017

This month I added 612 stitches to the Charting Creations Fractal White Tiger cross-stitch I am working on for my eldest son. The piece is based on artwork by Ricky Barnard.

The top 4 rows of page 6 are now complete. There are only 5 rows to go!

This is how it looked last month. There was still a fair amount of confetti to fill in above the eye. There are some larger blocks of color coming up, which should stitch much faster. So, I may have more visible progress next month. I hope so, as I am eager to work down to his nose!

I began this project 18 months ago, on January 1, 2016, as part of what is now called the 2017 Stitcher's Group. In that time, I have spent 63 days working on this piece. I cannot wait to finish my current focus piece so I can spend more time with this one.

It is so fun to see a piece of fabric and several colors of thread turn into such an amazing image.

Thank you for stopping by!
Renee

A Magical Ride!

Several years ago, I purchased Stoney Creek Collection: Cool Friends Book 211. I loved the snowmen and this darling chart for "Magical Ride" was an instant favorite.

Imagine my delight when I discovered stitching a mirror image of the pattern (and omitting the snowy hills) would allow it to fit perfectly onto a patch of the crazy quilt stocking I am making for my eldest son!

This was my first time using Kreinik Blending Filament (which reminded me of tinsel for the Christmas tree that my mom used to buy every year) and I loved the extra sparkle it added to the metal parts of the sleigh. The fringes of the scarf used the Turkey Stitch, which was another first for me.

(If you are on Instagram, you may find all of my "Magical Ride" update photos here.)

This Christmas stocking is #10 on my list for the All People Quilt UFO Challenge 2017, which was the project selected for June. I will not finish it this month, but am very happy with this darling snowman addition!

My progress on this stocking will also be shared on the 1 X-mas Item a Month blog. (There are some darling creations being shared again this year if you want to check them out here.)

I am also linking with Monday Stitchery Link Party #116 at Super Mom - No Cape! (If you do any hand stitching and have a blog, please join the party!)

New Crazy Quilting Books:

For those of you that Crazy Quilt (or want to learn to Crazy Quilt), you may be interested in knowing Kathy Shaw has published another book. If you order a copy from her Etsy Shop by July 3rd, you may take advantage of a discounted price. You may learn more about it here and there is more info and a few sneak peeks here.

Sharon Boggon also released a great embroidery book. You may find it here. (At the time of this post, Amazon lists it as the #1 New Release in Patchwork.)

Please note: I am not affiliated with either book or shop. Links are added for your convenience.

2020 Challenge

Have you heard about the 2020 Challenge? If you crazy quilt (or want to begin) I encourage you to check it out here at Pintangle. You may also see Sharon B.'s first block for her 2020 Challenge here. 

If you are going to participate, please let me know! I really want to join the fun, but am determined to continue marking UFO's off of my list. So, I would love to follow your progress and cheer you on!

Thanks for stopping by!

Renee

CQI Heart RR "E" Block is Done!

In April of 2014, I participated in a Heart Round Robin with 5 other members of the Crazy Quilting International (CQI) Group. 

This year, I am participating in the All People Quilt UFO Challenge 2017.  In May, project #2 was selected as the UFO for the month. Completeing my "LOVE" wall quilt with blocks from the Heart Round Robin was second on my list. This required embellishing the final block (my "E" block) and assembling the wall quilt.

The feather stitched seam pictured above was created with 2 strands of DMC S5200 snow white rayon floss. Cast on stitches created with a strand of size 8 red perle cotton were added to the tips of some of the feather stitches. Mill Hill Petite Glass Seed Beads #42010 were placed in the center of the cast on stitches to make small flowers. Onyx seed beads and detached chain stitches embellished the rest of the feather stitched seam.

For the next seam, Herringbone Stitches were added with a strand of EdMar Lola #206. Beneath the herringbone stitches, I added Mill Hill Petite Glass Seed Beads. #40161 beads were added to the red fabric and #42014 were added to the black fabric.

A Swarovski Elements 6mm butterfly bead (the color is light siam) was added to the black motif area. A strand of red DMC floss and a running stitch created a flight path with a little heart loop. 

Using white silk ribbon I purchased for the free basic crazy quilting course I took from Kathy Shaw, I made evenly spaced French knots for flower buds. 

A strand of metallic white DMC floss and double detached chain stitches (also called berry stitches), made leaves. I added a small straight stitch in the center of each leaf to fill in the black center. Red seed beads were placed between each flower (where the pins are seen in the photo above.)

My favorite addition to the block is the spider and spiderweb. Each feature a heart to fit the theme of this round robin. The web was created with straight stitches using DMC Fil Argent Silver Thread. The spider has a heart-shaped bead for the body and a bead for the head. Fly stitches added with a strand of white DMC floss created the legs.

Two heart-shaped beads added the final touch to the block.

Now that the "E" block is fully embellished, it is time to pull the basting seams from each block and assemble the wall quilt!

Thank you for stopping by!
Renee

NOTES:
1. Crazy Quilting International (CQI) is a group that focuses on hand embroidered crazy quilts. The group began on Yahoo! However, due to difficulties members had posting photos and updating round robin information through the Yahoo! groups, most of the active CQI members moved to the Facebook Crazy Quilt International Group. You may find the group here.

2. I have begun the daunting task of a bit of blog clean-up. Some of the links I have shared in the past go to websites that no longer exist, so I am deleting those. And, now that I am aware of Blogger's "nofollow" guidelines, I am making sure my links are all in compliance. Although, I always let readers know if I am affiliated with a product/company, I was not aware of adding the "rel=nofollow" attribute to those links. Several have already been changed. And, as I am not into blogging to earn money, I am no longer an Amazon Associate, so I am no longer affiliated with links shared to products on their site. 

I am linking to Monday Stitchery Link Party #115 at Super Mom - No Cape! It looks like this week's free pattern is for a cute potholder.

Related Posts:
1. My Heart Round Robin Bare Blocks - here
2. My Heart Round Robin Blocks are Home - here
3. My 2017 UFO Challenge List - here
4. Beaded Hedebo Stitched Seam - here
5. Ric Rac and Whipped Double Chain Stitch Seams - here
6. Floral Seam with Metallic Threads - here

A Floral Seam & A New Book

Last night, I had a lot of fun playing with one of Sharon B.'s Crazy Quilt Templates. (This template is from Set 1. I am not affiliated with the templates, but did receive them in return for an honest review and I truly love them!)

First, I traced the wavy line along the seam on the foundation side of my fabric using light pencil marks. (I held it up to the light to be sure it was sitting where I wanted it.)

Then, I used a stem stitch and a strand of DMC white metallic thread to embellish the seam.

After that, I stem stitched curved stems shooting off of the top of each "hill" on the wavy seam. 

Detached chain stitches created leaves along the vine and flower stems.

Note: I use shorter strands of metallic threads than cotton. These threads fray easily, particularly if they are going through several layers of fabric (as found along seams). Using shorter strands decreases the likelihood the thread will fray, knot, and/or break while stitching.

Using red DMC metallic thread, I added sets of 3 detached chain stitches for petals at the tip of each stem and topped each of these flowers with a Mill Hill Petite Glass Seed Bead #42010.

Today, I am excited to say, I finished this block. I hope to get better photographs of it to share tomorrow.

(I have shared more progress photos on Instagram. And you may find links to other posts related to this project here.)

Even more exciting! Today I received my copy of Sharon Boggon's new book: The Visual Guide to Crazy Quilting Design: Simple Stitches, Stunning Results. (Please note, although I am not affiliated with the book, if you go to Amazon through my blog and make a purchase, I do earn a small credit. The cover price on the book is $29.95. At the time of this post, it is only $19.33 on Amazon here in the US and for Amazon Prime members, shipping is free. This book may be found here on Amazon.)

I have not read much of the book yet, but I have looked through all of the photographs. Just seeing all of the luscious colors and textures is inspiring me to work on more crazy quilting. So far, I would recommend the book just for the eye candy.

(Confession: I grinned seeing the template I used for the floral seam shared above on page 70 of Sharon's book.)

When I ordered the book (on the 12th), I was delighted to see it was the #1 New Release in Needlework. At the moment I am typing this post, it is listed on Amazon as the #1 Best Seller in Embroidery. Sharon, if you happen to read this post, congratulations!!! I am so excited for you.

Thank you all for stopping by!
Renee

"E" Block Progress

The "E" block from the Crazy Quilting International Heart Round Robin I participated in now has 3 seams embellished.

You may click on any photo for a larger view.

Last week, I shared the first seam. It was worked with TAST Stitch 81, the beaded hedebo stitch. 

If you follow my page on Facebook, you have already seen the next seam.

On Friday, I embellished a second seam, which was inspired by the work of Barbara Nicki Lee Seavey. She used different stitches for her flowers, but I copied the rest of the embellishements from her work.

The ric rac was attached with straight stitches using a strand of DMC metalic red floss. Red seed beads were attached beneath the ric rac. And the top of the ric rac was decorated with alternating clusters of 3 seed beads and flowers created with straight stitched stems, detached chain stitched leaves and a red seed bead flowers.

If you follow me on Instagram, you have already seen the third seam.

TAST Stitch 80: Whipped Double Chain Stitch

This was my first time working the Whipped Double Chain Stitch and I really love the way it turned out. 

I have no doubt I will be using this seam again in the future.

To keep my stitches even, I used waste canvas.

The double rows of chain stitches were created with size 8 white perle cotton.

My only concern when using waste canvas is that I cannot always see how well my stitches are lining up on the fabric. 

There was a slight gap between my chain stitched rows in the center section.

Luckily, the whipped thread covered that up!

I apologize for the photo quality. My cameras have a hard time focusing on the white threads for some reason.

This is how the seam looked after whipping a size 8 red perle cotton through the inside rows of chain stitches. I love how it looks!

TAST stands for Take a Stitch Tuesday. It is a personal stitching challenge to learn a new stitch each week and is hosted by Sharon B. of Pintangle. You may learn more about it here.

To celebrate 10 years of TAST, Sharon will be sharing interviews with TAST participants. The most recent interview was with Barbara B with Spiel mit Textil. You may read it here.

Related posts:

Heart Round Robin Bare Blocks - here

Heart Round Robin My Blocks are Home - here

Project 2 on my APQ 2017 UFO Challenge List - here

"E" Block First Seam - TAST Stitch 81 - here

Thank you for stopping by!

Renee

Twilight Duel Update #19 - June 2017

It has been a while since I shared an update on Twilight Duel.

The chart is from Heaven and Earth Designs and it is based on artwork by Ruth Thompson. 

I follow Ruth Thompson on Facebook and was thrilled when she announced that Evolve Watches was carrying her work. I am not affiliated with any of these shops or products. I do, however, have a son that loves Ruth Thompson's dragons and loves watches. There is also a set of magnets through Fairy Glen that includes the black dragon from Twilight Duel. So, I definitely have some gift ideas for his birthday and Christmas this year! ( I don't think he reads my blog...)

I did not complete the 4th HAED Challenge last spring, so I have not made any further progress on page 13. 

However, in the past 4 days, I have made some decent progress filling in page 7. 1,109 stitches have been added and it passed the 25% complete milestone! Whoo Hoo!

The top photo shows my progress through February 28th. This photo shows how the piece looks now. There is a photo of the complete piece of art on the sidebar to the right. 

I hope to finish page 7 by the beginning of August. On Instagram, I am participating in The Stitching Hour 2017 - a personal challenge hosted by AmbitiousStitches to stitch one hour a day from June 1st - August 1st. That should help me with this goal. You may follow my daily updates on my Instagram account here.

Percent Complete:

Project: 25.44% (It was 24.69%)

Pages 1 & 2: 100%

Page 3: 18.94%

Page 4: 100%

Page 5: 1.83%

Page 6: 0%

Page 7: 28.25% (It was 13.66%)

Page 8: 100%

Page 9: 2.73%

Page 10: 0.25%

Page 11: 0%

Page 12: 0%

Page 13: 40.87% 

Page 14: 3.62%

I am linking with Stitchery Link Party #113 at Super Mom - No Cape! The free pattern this week is an alphabet. I encourage you to check it out and to see what other bloggers have been working on this week!

If you blog and do any hand embroidery, please join the party!

Thank you for stopping by,
Renee

June 2017

Can you believe we are almost midway through 2017 already?

Looking back at my Goals for May, I completed the following:

#6 on my list - I completed a wall quilt using the last 3 blocks from my Crazy Quilting International Under the Sea Round Robin. This was #11 on my APQ 2017 UFO Challenge, which was the April project. You may read more about it and see more photos here.

#8 on my list - I completed blocks 1, 3 & 4 from the Sun, Sand, and Sea BOM hosted by Amy at Sew Incredibly Crazy. You may read about them here and here.

Here is my updated list for the APQ UFO Challenge.

Even if I do not finish them all, this challenge has encouraged 3 finishes so far.

June is going to be another really busy month, especially the first two weeks. However, I hope to make even more progress. We'll see... I do not plan to finish all of the projects below, but do hope to shorten the list!

June Goals:

1. Complete 4 projects for my Etsy Shop. 3 of these are ready to sew.

2. Finish gifts for my friend's daughter.

3. Embellish March CQJP 2017 block and sew it into a tote bag.

4. Piece CQJP 2017 blocks for April, May, and June.

5. Spend 10 minutes a day adding snowflakes to my Winter/Christmas wall quilt. This was #8 on my APQ 2017 UFO Challenge, which was the project selected for February. You may read more about these blocks here.

6. Finish embellishing this block from the CQI Hearts Round Robin I participated in back in 2014. You may read more about these blocks here. This was #2 on my APQ 2017 UFO Challenge, which was the project for May.

7. The June project for the APQ 2017 UFO Challenge is #10, which is embellishing this block and making a Christmas stocking for my son.

8. Finish block 5 for the Sun, Sand, and Sea BOM. It is another fun one! You can find the post about it here and the pattern here.

9. Finish the projects I planned for Mother's Day so they will be finished for Christmas.

Top 5 Viewed Posts in May:

1. TAST Stitches 44 & 77 - here

2. May 2017 - here

3. TAST Stitch 81 - here

4. TAST Stitch 78 - here

5. TAST Stitch 76 - here (The 4th most viewed post in April.)

Thank you for stopping by!

Renee