Working

Happy April! The weather is getting a bit warmer and we are having lots of sunny days. I've been making Shimmer Ornaments for customers in Newfoundland and they are ready to send in the mail.

Yes, that was the temperature on the back deck one day last week. It seems that we have a bit of a micro climate here in Pine Grove with all the trees around our property.


Today has finally been a partial work day. I caught a bad head cold this week and have been doing absolutely nothing since. Card Cases, in various stages of development, have been on my table for awhile.

Ready for free motion stitching with sparkly threads

Close up

Close up! Love the sparkly fabric

 

 

 

 

Ready to be made into card cases

• Art Quilts  (thanks to Magpie's Mumblings for this one)
• Fabric Surface Embellishment Techniques   
• Surface Embellishment on Pinterest HERE & HERE    
• Textile Artists 
• Me on Instagram  

Enjoy!!

Work in Progress - Continued

I finished adding decorative threads, yarns and slivers of fabric to the unfinished piece I showed you yesterday. To keep everything in place, navy tulle was put over the whole thing and then free-motion stitched with Sulky Sliver thread. This thread adds more glitter. Now the fantasy fabric is ready to use in a project.

The bright bits are pieces of bonded Angelina Fibres leftover from stitching out Shimmer Ornaments. Nothing goes to waste!

I also did some stitching to the felted piece. However, that one isn't finished yet.

Felting

I've had some productive time this week. However, the internet has been slow to nonexistent, especially when I want to do a post.

Both machines (embellisher and regular sewing machine) were in use yesterday. I used some of the roving purchased in Wolfville at Gaspereau Valley Fibres. Don't you just love the vibrant colours. I might have to go back for some more of the first colourway.

Stitched with Sulky Sliver thread

image is a bit fuzzy

Stitched with Sulky Sliver thread

Work in Progress

I'm working on some more needle felted sheets for my Fibre Art Pendants. I just finished adding some sparkle with Sulky Sliver threads. Hand embroidery and /or beading will be added before the pieces are inserted into the pendant trays.

Here's the before and after photos!
I'm also linked up to Linky Tuesday, Freemotion by the River. Please check them out!

These first two are the same pieces.

I think I flipped them when the photo was taken.

Almost Finished!

Yesterday I chose the base fabric for my row house pins. The next step was embellishing the fabric and stitching all over it with Sulky Sliver Thread. Then the embroidery machine did its work! I still have to trim the threads from the edges of the houses. Have a look:

Before stitching

Before cutting out and snipping threads!

Ready for the backs. I use recycled leather and suede
for the backs of my wearable art pins.

Needle Felting

Today was rather a snowy one so I stayed inside and completed some needle felting to be used in future work. The photos show my progress for one of the sheets I did. Sulky Sliver Thread was used for the stitching.

Sheet of navy felt : my canvas

Surface covered with roving

To add dimension, I rolled roving between my fingers and needled them on 

Before stitching



Stitching added but I'm still not satisfied with this

Finished - for now!

Stitching With Sulky Sliver Threads

Here's one of my felted sheets before any machine stitching was added. I used different colours of Sulky Sliver Thread to stitch the piece. I find that this really gives texture to the surface. The bobbin has Sulky invisible thread as I find it works best with the Sulky Sliver thread.
It was also interesting to see the light shine through when it was held it up to the light.

This felted piece will be cut into 2" x 3" pieces and put on cards. I have also used smaller pieces for Wearable Art Pins. The pins are usually embellished with beads, hand embroidery and other findings.

Needle Felting before machine stitching

Close-up showing maching stitching with Sulky Sliver Threads

Machine Stitching Complete

Held up to a light, the holes show through

This is the reverse of the above felted piece

Held up to a light, the holes show through

Sweet Little Present!

Don't you just love to receive gifts! Well, I received a sweet little present from one of my stitching friends the other evening. Yes, it's Dress It Up Buttons! And, ones I need for a special Christmas project I'm working on. I couldn't get these here in the city but my friend found them in a little florist shop in Springdale, Newfoundland. My project won't be ready for this Christmas so I can't show much in the way of photos. It will be ready for next year and will be hand delivered next summer. The tiny buttons will be doorknobs. The background is stitched with Sulky Sliver 8040. I love that particular Sliver Metallic Thread as it picks up the colours of the fabric its stitched on. The tree isn't finished yet either. So many things to do!!
I hope you are working on some special projects and getting somewhere with them.
Enjoy!

Student Work

Today I taught my 'Fantastic Fabrics' Workshop. I spent a delightful day with 12 lovely ladies. The morning started out with a show & tell of the various materials used to create the fantastic fabrics. It was hands-on (literally), as bits and pieces of materials were examined. After lunch the real work began. The end results were 'fantastic'! All the top stitching was done with Sulky Sliver threads. I can't wait to see what is created from the pieces below. Take a look.
Enjoy!

Mo'Man

NO, I didn't misspell the title! My little granddaughter can say 'snow' and 'man' but when she puts them together, it turns out mo'man. She is totally into the snow thing so I decided to make one for her.

I sketched out several images and decided on a front facing one. The black hat is cut from a piece of my 'fantastic' fabric. I used a black base and layered it with different yarns and fibres. Then it was stitched with black Sulky Sliver thread. I also used white felt and scraps of batiks.

Enjoy the links to other snowmen!
Free snowmen patterns from With Heart and Hands
Snowman
Seasonal Series
Quilt Inspiration - lots of snowmen
Snowmen Ornaments
Holiday Patterns for Embroidery - some snowmen
Ho Ho Snow

Before stitching

After stitching

Mo'man