The End Is Near

At least that’s my hope for Torii Traces, which has taken entirely too long. Without a deadline, I keep tweaking my design as new ideas occur to me.

After I sewed together the top band and the main section I thought the piece needed a bottom strip to give it weight. I tried several fabrics but settled on a hand dyed turquoise I won in a giveaway by PG Fiber2Art. I thought a water related color was appropriate as many of the photos I found showed the torii set in water.

Then, I spent at least a month figuring out how to stitch it. I wanted a sashiko inspired design that suggested waves. Some of the patterns I considered were too fussy or wouldn’t work in a narrow band. In the end I developed my own, based on the lower left section of The Collection Quilt by Carolyn Friedlander.

To prove I was totally justified in keeping ancient sewing notions, I dug out some decades old tracing paper and a tracing wheel to transfer my design onto the fabric. It’s faint but enough that I can see to stitch.

There was further delay as I debated which perle cotton to use for the stitching. I’ve begun to stitch with a dusty purple and hope that by April I’ll be done with everything. Maybe a self-imposed deadline will spur me to completion. One good thing about my construction method is once I sew the bottom piece on I’ll be done (except for the pesky hanging sleeve and a label.)

The Big Stitch

Since I’m on vacation someplace I hope is warm, I’m revisiting past posts that were popular. I’ve continued to use hand stitching on my work since I wrote this post on big stitching. Thanks to Felice Troutman,  I even learned the pekinese (or pekingnese) stitch. It’s the bright blue stitch below.

Original Post:

Recently I talked up big stitches for quilting and embellishment to my MQG. I am on record as a resolute embroidery avoider, so I realize this this an about face for me.  In my defense I’ll say that big stitch embroidery isn’t dainty and doesn’t use those blue stamped patterns.

What are big stitches?  In my definition, they are quilting and embroidery stitches on steroids, done with multiple strands of embroidery floss, perl cotton, crochet cord, or 12 or 30 weight thread.  And the stitching is often improvisational, made up on the spot, rather than pattern specific.

The photos below show parts of a pillow I made with techniques from Craftsy’s Stupendous Stitching class.  I used french knots, lazy daisies, fern stitch, and lots of running stitch combinations. These are nestled between decorative machine stitches and couched trims.

So, what about big stitch quilting?  I can tell you it goes a lot faster that “regular” hand quilting.  I use it as an adjunct to machine quilting to add texture and color, as on Neutrality and My February Fantasy below.  Here’s a short video made by Tim Latimer that shows how he does big stitch quilting.

I’ve been hesitant to use it as the only quilting for fear the perl cotton wouldn’t be strong enough to hold the layers together for the years I hope my pieces last. Also, even though big stitches take less time than conventional hand quilting, the technique still takes more time than machine quilting.

Here’s the way a friend used big stitches to add an intriguing border to her work.  It’s just weaving another color of thread through the existing stitches but it provides a great contrast.

I shared a few embroidery books with my guild that show all the cool effects you can get outside the world of traditional embroidery.

Jenny Hart shows how flowers and leaves can be enhanced with some quick stitching. I can see using this to embellish a quilt.

I’m in love with the leaves and cherries Aneela Hooey conjures up with lazy daisy and french knot stitches.  And the grass is done with a fern stitch.

Have you found ways to use big stitches on your quilted stuff, or some great thread/floss, etc.?

I Think It’s Done

For over a year I’ve been adding hand stitches to a 17 by 21 inch bit of cloth I had dyed and then stamped with leaves. This piece began with sprayed on “failed” dyes that were too pale for my taste.  A play session with fabric paint resulted in the leaf impressions.

It’s taken so long because I worked on this project only when I had time to kill on a volunteer job.  Two weeks ago I chain stitched a line on a leaf and decided the piece was done.

I’ve added a few machine stitching lines to hold the batting and top together.  Next I plan to wrap this around a stretcher frame and staple it on.

  The blog And Then We Set It On Fire has been featuring hand stitching lately, and the examples that show the expressiveness of the humble running stitch have been real eye openers for me.

My previous post about big stitches focused on big stitch quilting.  Now I’m considering how the softer lines of hand stitching can add subtlety and depth to a design. Yes, I hear laughter in some quarters as subtlety and I are barely acquainted.

The Big Stitch

Recently I talked up big stitches for quilting and embellishment to my MQG. I am on record as a resolute embroidery avoider, so I realize this this an about face for me.  In my defense I’ll say that big stitch embroidery isn’t dainty and doesn’t use those blue stamped patterns.

What are big stitches?  In my definition, they are quilting and embroidery stitches on steroids, done with multiple strands of embroidery floss, perl cotton, crochet cord, or 12 or 30 weight thread.  And the stitching is often improvisational, made up on the spot, rather than pattern specific.

The photos below show parts of a pillow I made with techniques from Craftsy’s Stupendous Stitching class.  I used french knots, lazy daisies, fern stitch, and lots of running stitch combinations. These are nestled between decorative machine stitches and couched trims.

So, what about big stitch quilting?  I can tell you it goes a lot faster that “regular” hand quilting.  I use it as an adjunct to machine quilting to add texture and color.  Here’s a short video made by Tim Latimer that shows how he does big stitch quilting.

I’ve been hesitant to use it as the only quilting for fear the perl cotton wouldn’t be strong enough to hold the layers together for the years I hope my pieces last. Also, even though big stitches take less time than conventional hand quilting, the technique still takes more time than machine quilting.

Here’s the way a friend used big stitches to add an intriguing border to her work.  It’s just weaving another color of thread through the existing stitches but it provides a great contrast.

I shared a few embroidery books with my guild that show all the cool effects you can get outside the world of traditional embroidery.

Jenny Hart shows how flowers and leaves can be enhanced with some quick stitching. I can see using this to embellish a quilt.

I’m in love with the leaves and cherries Aneela Hooey conjures up with lazy daisy and french knot stitches.  And the grass is done with a fern stitch.

Have you found ways to use big stitches on your quilted stuff, or some great thread/floss, etc.?