TAST 2016 Stitches 46 & 58

TAST Stitch 46: Berry Stitch

The flower above was created with 4 berry stitches.

I used size 5 DMC #48 variegated pink floss.

A hot pink seed bead was added to the center of the flower.

TAST Stitch 58: Slipped Detached Chain Stitch

The flower tops were created with slipped detached chain stitches worked with size 8 DMC #48 variegated pink floss.

Using size 8 Anchor #246 (I think that is what the sticker says) green floss, the stems were created with stem stitches, leaves were added with detached chain stitches, and grass was added with angled straight stitches.

Click on the stitch titles above to follow the links to the tutorials at Pintangle.com.

TAST stands for Take a Stitch Tuesday, a personal stitching challenge offered by Sharon B. at Pintangle.com.

You may learn more about TAST here.

Members of the TAST Facebook group share some incredibly creative uses of the stitches.

You may join the TAST challenge at any time.

Sharon recommends beginning with the first 15 basic stitches.

On an unrelated note:

My day of the Eerie Nights Blog Hop will be tomorrow.

I do hope you will stop by to visit.

I must admit, I was childishly delighted with the items I created with these Timeless Treasures glow-in-the-dark fabrics.

(Please note: I am not affiliated with Timeless Treasures.)

Aren't they spooktacular?!

(I just love glow-in-the dark fabric, don't you?)

Thank you for stopping by!

Renee

CQJP 2014 November Block Completed!

Better late than never? 

In November of 2013, I signed up for the Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2014 (CQJP 2014).

I planned to create a crazy quilted purse each month.

It is 2016 and I am still working toward completing that goal.

The November block is now complete!

I had so much fun embellishing this one.

(I think this spider is one of my favorites.)

For those of you that follow my blog, you may recognize some of the seams from previous Take a Stitch Tuesday (TAST) posts.

This dragonfly (butterfly?) and the seam beneath it were both created with the use of Sharon B.'s Crazy Quilt Template Set 2.

I was more than a little flattered when Sharon asked me if I would like a set in exchange for an honest review. 

Um... Wow. Yes, please!

Then, Pamela Kellogg asked if I would write a review for 

the Crazy Quilt Quarterly Magazine. 

Absolutely!

The above photo is on page 34 of the Summer 2016 edition of the Crazy Quilt Quarterly Magazine. 

(I am not affiliated with the templates, but I do love using them.

I am not affiliated with the magazine, but I love reading it and encouraging crazy quilters to submit their work!)

If you are curious about my other blocks for CQJP 2014, here are links to the completed blocks and the purses/totes completed so far:

January block and purse (this one took a ribbon.)

February block and purse

March block and purse

April block and purse

May block

June block and purse

July block and purse

August block and purse

September block and purse

October block and purse

The December block is pieced and ready for embellishment.

I should finish CQJP 2014 by the end of this year.

Today, I am linking with the Monday Stitchery Link Party #81 

at Super Mom - No Cape!

The free embroidery pattern is Jack-o-Lanterns and Bats!

If you do any hand embroidery, I encourage you to join the party.

Speeking of Jack-o-Lanterns and spooky things, the Eerie Nights Blog Hop continues throughout this week. I encourage you to check it out. I will be sharing my creations on Wednesday, the 26th.

Thanks for stopping by!

Renee

Eerie Nights Blog Hop Begins Today!

Eerie Nights Blog Hop

Begins Today!

Special thanks to:

Marian at Seams to Be Sew for organizing the hop

and

Amy at Sew Incredibly Crazy for hosting us!

There is a giveaway every day

thanks to these sponsors:

Timeless Treasures

The Fat Quarter Shop

Aurifill

Quilters Dream Batting

The Blog Hop Schedule is below!

October 20th

Seams to be Sew

Cloth and Paper Studio

Thrift Shop Commando

Sew Many Yarns

October 21st

Quilting Affection Blog

Life in the Scrapatch

Feather Your Nest

October 24th

Words and Stitches

Just Because Quilts

Sally Quilts

MooseStash Quilting

October 25th

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Jane's Quilting

Just Let Me Quilt

Batts in the Attic

October 26th

Inquiring Quilter

Living My Dream - me

123 Quilt

Craft Traditions 

October 27th

Bumbleberry Stitches

Teatime Creations

Anypattern.com

In the Boon Docks

Seacoast Quilter

October 28th

Pink Doxies

Quilted Delights

Stitches Quilting

MaryMack's Blog

Sew Incredibly Crazy

Twilight Duel Update 14 October 2016

Wow! The 2nd Monday of October is already here. 

Last month I shared this progress picture of Twilight Duel - the Heaven and Earth Designs cross stitch based on artwork by the amazing Ruth Thompson.

I added over 5,000 stitches this month! (I guess there is nothing like a challenge deadline to motivate me...)

As I began the project August 30, 2015, I like to take a photo of my progress on the 30th of each month.

This is how it looked on September 30, 2016.

For those of you that use Q-snap frames, is there a good way to avoid the line the clamps are leaving on my fabric? Any advice is welcome. With the time put into this piece I really do not want to damage it. 

On October 9th, I finished page 8! 

You may remember, I was working on a Parking Challenge for the New Official Heaven and Earth Designs Facebook Group. I met the October 15th deadline. 

Part of the white dragon's mouth appeared, as did a tiny bit of a knee!

32,342 stitches are done, so there are 115,258 stitches to go...

After submitting my photos for the challenge, I worked in the threads I had parked on pages 7 and 9. I still have a few to finish on page 14. Then I plan to finish page 3.









Percent Complete:
Project: 21.91%          (It was 18.34%)
Page 1: 100% - Done
Page 2: 100% - Done
Page 3: 14.14%           (Same)
Page 4: 100% - Done
Page 5: 1.83%             (Same)
Page 7: 7.08%             (It was 2.95%)
Page 8: 100% - Done  (It was 36.75%)
Page 9: 2.73%             (It was 0.22%)
Page 10: 0.25%           (Same)
Page 14: 1.83%           (It was 0%)

Page 8 Milestones (4th page completed): 

• Finished the 1st skein of white.
• Finished the 2nd skein of white. (I am now using the 3rd of the 5 white skeins I purchased for this project.)
• Surpassed 30,000 stitches!
• It is now more than 20% complete!

I am linking up with the Monday Stitchery Link Party #79 at Super Mom - No Cape this week. Please visit to see the free vintage embroidery design shared and to see what others shared.

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

TAST 2016 Stitch 50

TAST Stitch 50: Looped Cretan Stitch

I love using the Looped Cretan Stitch as a base stitch for angels.

To keep my stitches even, I used waste canvas.

The stitches were made with size 12 white perle cotton.

After removing the waste canvas, I added pairs of detached chain stitches to create wings. Then I added a bead for the head.

If you are interested, you may see my first attempts with the Looped Cretan Stitch and with the Beaded Looped Cretan Stitch here, in this TAST post from 2014.

Or, you may try to find them in the two photos below. 

The Looped Cretan Stitch is in the block above. 

(You may see more photos of this block here.)

The Beaded Looped Cretan Stitch is in the block above.

(You may see how I used this block in a project here.)

TAST stands for Take a Stitch Tuesday. It is a personal stitching challenge offered by Sharon B. You may learn more about it on her blog, Pintangle, here. There is also a TAST Facebook group. I love seeing how creative the members there are with the weekly stitches! If you are interested in learning or practicing embroidery, 

I encourage you to join the fun!