Embroidery

Sky / Sand / Sea – Finished

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Sky / Sand / Sea

Finished, except for hand stitching the hidden binding to the back. It’s hard to tell from the image how much quilting I did. I decided to leave the narrow strip unquilted to act as a separation between the two pieced strips. That meant I had to free motion quilt the light elements stopping precisely at the separator and make sure I did a tie off at the back. The darker elements required a different technique – I created embroideries to fit the size of each of the dark elements and stitched them in the hoop as I would any embroidery. You can see the detail below:

Quilting Detail

I wanted a “wave” like flow to the “sea” elements so I set up a couple of different embroideries for each section. I used a “stippling” stitching in the embroidery on the hibiscus fabric. I created “grass” for the green/blue fabric, etc. I made sure each embroidery fit the dimensions of the bit of fabric I was quilting. In the end I was pleased with the outcome.

I added the gulls once I’d stitched the “sky” portion of the hanging – they are cut from black raw silk, fussy cut, fused, then edge stitched in place. My initial idea had been to print images of gulls on fabric but when I did that with the paper cutouts they didn’t show up well. In the end I thought silhouettes of the gulls worked better against the “Sky” background.

This evening I’ll do the hand stitching to finish off the piece.

Moth Sculptures Hand-Crafted by Yumi Okita

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Artist Yumi Okita layers hand-painted fabric, embroidery thread, feathers, and faux fur to create large sculptures of insects. Each handmade moth and butterfly is one-of-a-kind, with coloration and patterning often inspired by existing species.

Moth Sculptures Hand-Crafted by Yumi Okita

Check out her work – it’s quite wonderful.

Possibilities #7

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Finally finished this convergence quilt yesterday. Got the binding done and label sewn on. Two sets of mistakes that went together – totally unexpected and unplanned. It definitely worked out quite well.

Finished Quilt Top

I’m happy I took out the narrow vertical turquoise stripe – it disrupted the left-right movement of the convergence flow. Replacing it with the narrow turquoise border was a good decision. I didn’t have enough grey crackle fabric to complete the binding so I incorporated a turquoise piece I trimmed from the backing after I’d finished quilting. I ran out of binding as I was coming to the join and inserted another small piece of turquoise to complete it. I like where that insert landed.

Fiished Quilt Back

To create the quilt back I set up a “jellyroll race” using leftover bits of fabric from the top, with a narrow strip inserted and two unequal sashing strips. Using the turquoise for the backing sets up an interesting flow from top of quilt to the back. There’s enough turquoise in the top that when you flip the quilt over you retain the connection between top and bottom.

The ombre fabric I ordered online arrived Friday so I will now work on completing the double conversion quilt featuring the ombre fabric.

But before I can get to that, I’m have to work on the thread painting wall hanging.

Detail – Thread Painting Floral Wall Art

I started the thread painting last Tuesday as part of a class I’m teaching (I stitched the dark green parts of this and another leaf although you can’t really see what I’ve done in the photo). We meet again coming Tuesday and I have made no progress on the stitching work. Nevertheless I need to move on to framing the piece so I’ve trimmed it, I’m in the process of adding a bit more batting to the edges to allow enough background to balance the floral arrangement and provide support for the borders. Then I have to set up the marking (using Friction heat erasable pens) so I can apply the borders – have to get that process well underway before Tuesday – not completed, but started so I can demonstrate how I add borders. The framing of the piece won’t hinder the massive amount of thread painting I will still have to do.

Cayce Zavaglia – Artist

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My sister Donna has returned from a two week visit to NYC and she just sent me photos of some astounding embroidered portraits done by the artist Cayce Zavaglia.

Embroidered Portrait

Step back and you see the portrait. In the gallery, step close and you see the craft – a gazillion stitches using silk, cotton, yarn threads to create tone, depth, texture. I can’t imagine how long it takes to complete one of these portraits – perhaps months?

In any case, if you’re interested in learning more take a few moments to watch her at work:

Spectacular.

Moth Holes

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Embroidery to hide moth holes

Friday afternoon Joyce showed me the wool sweater she was wearing – a couple of moth holes in the front. She wondered whether they could be repaired. I assured her they could (there were two smaller holes near the first one as well) with a well placed machine embroidery.

I spent some time locating an embroidery design that would sit over the holes, not be too dense, and I could set up to curve toward the shoulder. I turned the sweater inside out, used “Whisper Web” interfacing (a light, cut away), hooped the right front side, chose mauve/rose rayon embroidery thread, then stitched out the design. I added two small sections of close zigzag to obscure the larger hole further, and stitched out a single leaf over a second small hole nearby.

The completed embroidery is subtle but it does the job.

PS: I just returned the sweater to Joyce, she tried it on, and she’s thrilled with it! I’m happy she’s happy.