Friday, May 21, 2010

Shoutout to Sharon B in Pin-tangle

I just wanted to say thank you to Sharon B. for including World Embroideries in her alphabetical list of needlework blogs! I feel like I've made the big time!

Welcome to anyone who stops by from Pin Tangle; I'm sorry for the lack of posts, I'm getting going again after vacation.

Project Progress

This is a laundry basket full to overflowing of washed and dried (preshrunk) cotton fabric. This will hopefully become a rug. The tile you can see at the bottom of the picture is what I want to cover with the new rug.

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The first step is to rip it to shreds. Here are three pieces of fabric ripped into strips; I think I am going to have pretty big muscles (or else be very sore) by the time I'm done. In the class I took the teacher showed how to rip one piece of fabric in about 5 minutes with a special technique. I tried it, but I am going to have to get stronger. I have around 25 pieces of fabric to rip.

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I wanted to hang the strips on hangers instead of leaving them bunched up together. Hopefully this will keep things from getting tangled, and will make it easier to pick colors when I finally get to the fun of stitching.

I am very happy to say that I stitched for several hours last night. I am very pleased with how my bracelet is turning out, and can't wait for it to be finished so I can show you.

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Stashing

Even though I haven't been stitching much, I have been doing some stashing. On Monday I got these silk threads for thimbles from Chloe Patricia. These are the ones I've been saving for.

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They come in this cute box:

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I love all the colors! Now I don't have any more excuses not to make beautiful thimbles.

Yesterday, when I was up in "the city" (Chicago), DD found 2 (count them, 2!) fabric stores for me to check out. The first one was very high-end. They had leathers, and we saw some fabrics for $50 and $100 a yard. I had my Advent stitching along, and I looked for and found a silk fabric to use as linings, backings, and ruffles on the finished piece. This was actually second choice for the color, but first choice for the price. I got 3 & 1/8th yards for the price one yard of the other would have cost. I wanted it to match with the lettering. I got this at Fishman's Fabric store. You can see a picture here.

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Hopefully tomorrow I can show you what else I got.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Art in Illinois

I had the privilege of going to the Lotton Art Glass Studios on Friday for their open house. I've known Charles Lotton for many years, and I admire his work, but on Friday friends and I watched Daniel Lotton make a large bowl. This isn't exactly like the one he made on Friday; it is similar in color and in shape, but the flowers were very different. We were at the studio for over 2 hours watching the bowl take shape, and the time just flew by.

Many years ago Charles offered to give me a piece of glass in exchange for an original piece of needlework. I started working on it, but (at least at the time) designing needlework is not my talent. I will try to find the piece and show you how far I got.

Congratulations on your 40th anniversary, Charles, and I pray that the Lord will continue to bless you and your work!