First Circle Stitched - Instastitchwithsue

Here's my first circle stitched from Sue Spargo's instastitchwithsue on Instagram. I'm very satisfied with this one. The cream fly stitch, lime pistil stitch and burgundy colonial knots, are embroidered with Valdani threads. The bullion knots, variegated outer edge and center, are from Sue's collection which were purchased at Sew With Vision, Halifax.

I do have number 2 finished but I am thinking of adding another colour to it as I'm not happy with it. I'll post the before and after photos on my next post.

Stay safe, stay home and wash hands! I keep a fragrance free hand lotion on the bathroom sink to help with skin dryness.

A few links to check:

• Stitch Dictionary from Pintangle
• Mary Corbet's Needle 'n Thread stitch videos
• Tutorials from Shawkl Designs (Stitches for Crazy Quilting)
• Kelly Fletcher Needlework Design 
• Pinterest HERE (stitch tutorial from Kelly Fletcher)  

Enjoy

Under the Sea

My latest art piece, Under the Sea, is a combination of free motion stitching and hand embroidery. Valdani Threads were used for the fly stitch and French knots. The background is Bali Batik. The piece is custom framed 5" x 7" with a black metal frame. The mat is a bright white but I couldn't quite get it right in the photo! An unframed version is also included below.

The hardest thing, is coming up with titles for my pieces.

TAST

TAST - Take a Stitch Tuesday, from Pintangle started on Tuesday. I had forgotten all about it. Now I have to scramble to do up some fabric to use for a stitch sampler. For a list of participants in the 2012 TAST with links to their blogs, go here. There's lots to see. Also, check out TAST on Facebook.
The first stitch for 2012 is the fly stitch. Go here for Sharon B's dictionary of stitches. The Art of Threads has a video of making this stitch (scroll down).

Fly Stitch from Stitch Magazine

If you are interested in doing some embroidery, Needlecrafter has a lot of free designs as well as a stitch dictionary, to get you started.
Enjoy!