TAST Week 21 Butterfly Chain Stitch

The Butterfly Chain Stitch seemed perfect to me for a kite tails.  So… here are my Red, White and Blue Memorial Day Kites, one of my simpler elements on the sampler.

TAST Week 20 Bullion Stitch

This week’s bullion stitch immediately said  “cattails” to me.  I love to see a patch of cattails in a pond.  And a few dragonflies just completes the scene.  Both the cattail tops and the dragonfly bodies are created with bullion stitches.

Some have asked to see the sampler as it is at this point.  Beginning at the upper left, each section represents 1 week of TAST.   There will be a second row of sections inside the first to enable all 52 weeks of 2012 TAST.  I’m still contemplating what should go in the center.   At this point, I’m thinking perhaps a crazy quilt design of 12 blocks, with each blocks filler stitches being the TAST stitches for a given month.  What do you think?

This Week’s TAST Half Chevron

We are currently in Kerrville, TX and were thrilled to have a visit from our granddaughter, Cassandra, who is a photographer from Austin, TX.  During the visit, we went on a short road trip.  Cassandra loved all the thistles blooming along the roadside.

She took these photos:

     

When I saw this week’s TAST stich, the half chevron, I first stitched a straight line of the stitches on this month’s crazy quilt block (more on that later in the month).  Then I began playing with the stitches on graph paper, rotating them in various ways.

I eventually came up with what I thought could be stitched as a thistle.

My sampler is stitched on hardanger fabric, which I have found does not lend itself to some of the stitches I’d like to use.

Hardanger fabric is evenly woven squares, but unlike Aida fabric, the corners are not interlocking.  Some stitches taken on the hardanger tend to slide under the weave.  I will not use it for this type sampler again!

              

Because of the limitations of the fabric, the final stitching is slightly different from my graphed drawing.

I started with the center of the design, and worked my way outward, working with the aid of a magnifying glass.

           

     

The finished square, a little over 1” in size,  looks like this:

This Week with TAST

Week 17 Crossed Buttonhole Stitch

The stitch this week reminded me of crossed rail fences …  you can tell I’m a country girl by my stitching, right?  You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl.

You don’t see a lot of crossed rail fences anymore, but I did find a photo on the web:

In my stitching, the fence runs down the hill in front of the old barn.

The stitching is part of a sampler.  Each week occupies a little more than an inch of the sampler.

April’s TAST and CQJP

April is a month of change for us as each year we leave our winter home in Yuma AZ and head eastward.  As I thought about what to do with my CQJP April Crazy Quilt Block, I decided to create “Twilight in the Desert” for just as the day comes to an end in the desert, so does our time in the desert end each April.

The TAST project decided to take a week off for Week 13, so this chronicle begins with 

TAST Week 14

I’ve used Satin Stitch before, and always had trouble keeping the stitches even and getting good coverage.  My sampler fabric helped with it’s evenweave.  I created a saguaro in the desert sunlight.

For my CQJP Block, I created another saguaro with the satin stitch.  This time, I  first cut a saguaro shape from dark green fabric, and attached it to the block with Wonder Under.  I then drew a line down the center as  a stitching guideline.  The completed saguaro looks like this.  The green fabric underneath really helped to hide any minor “cracks” in the stitching.  I’ve grown to like the satin stitch a lot more as I worked with it this week.

  

Although the stitched saguaro is depicted at twilight, we have photographed the saguaro at sunset, which is a beautiful time of day!

Tast Week 15

Stem Stitch has probably been my most used embroidery stitch over the years, although I usually thought of it as outline stitch. 

 

Sharon, of Pintangle and coordinator of TAST,  says there is a difference between stem and outline, although I have a hard time seeing it.  I think I probably switch back and forth between the two, depending on the curve I’m creating.

I used it to create Pampas Grass, an ornamental grass, on my sampler.

           

For the Crazy Quilt Block, I created an Ocotillo in bloom, using the stem stitch and the detached chain stitch covered a few weeks ago.

        

week 16 tast french knot

French Knots have always been hard for me, so I decided to make several on the  sampler.  By the time I finished my depiction of Snow in the Pines, my french knots were becoming a little more uniform, although they will never be a favorite stitch of mine.  I did like the way the bottom row of knots turned out.

        

I love the snow, especially when a new wet snow of huge flakes is falling.  I love to walk in a falling snow… once, when I had a big decision to make I took a long walk by myself.  The snow was drifting down, snowflakes as large as silver half dollars.  I remember removing my gloves and can still feel the wet flakes as they fell on my palm.  It was during that walk that I decided to marry my husband.  We celebrated 33 wonderful years together this week… perhaps that’s one reason I like a snowfall so much!

From Snowflakes to Stones…. My Twilight in the Desert called for something far removed from snowflakes.  When you follow a blazed trail through the desert, often the only way to mark the trail is with rocks.  They can be piled as cairns, or  laid on the sand in the shape of an arrow pointing the way.

     

Week 17 Tast Wheatear stitch

I’d never seen the wheatear stitch before, but I love it.  It’s such a pretty stitch, and I can imagine lots of future applications for it.

With a name like wheatear, it had to become Amber Waves of Grain on the sampler.

      

In the background, you can see the grain elevator.  

For the CQJP block, I used the wheatear stitch to create a transition between sections of the sky.

I’ve decided to symbolize our travels throughout the summer with a highway running through my blocks.  To accomplish this, I used a bias cut black strip, with a running stitch down the middle.

We left Arizona to travel through New Mexico and then into Texas, where we are currently for a month.  I used printable fabric to make the boards for a road sign.

To complete the scene, the  Harvest moon appears large on the horizon.  We’ve never gotten a photo of the occurrence, but we have observed the moon over the desert when it looked as large as it does in this photo from the NASA website.

    

 

    

As twilight deepens, the animals that found shady refuges during the day begin to come out.  A small newt (Netty the Newt – pattern by Anne Bruvold) is spotted near the road, and in the distance there appears to be movement.  Is it really a group of animals, or perhaps mythical creatures created from the dying heat mirages of the day?  Twilight in the Desert can truly be magical!

March’s TAST and CQJP

TAST Week 9

Week 9 of the TAST (Take A Stitch Tuesday) Challenge was the Couching stitch. 

For my sampler, I made a shamrock using Pearl Cotton and “invisible sewing thread”.

Making the shamrock got me thinking about 4 leaf clovers.  Indiana has an excellent environment for growing clover.  I used to look for 4 leaf clovers, which were supposed to bring good luck to the finder.  Wondering where that legend started, I googled 4 leaf clovers, and came up with this tidbit from Wilkipedia:

“According to tradition, such leaves bring good luck to their finders, especially if found accidentally.  According to legend, each leaf represents something: the first is for faith, the second is for hope, the third is for love, and the fourth is for luck  (the three-leaf shamrock had been used by St. Patrick as a metaphor for the Christian Trinity).”     It went on to say there are about 1 four leaf clovers for every 10,000.  Guess I was pretty lucky to find the few that I did (still have one pressed in my Bible from those days).

My CQJP (Crazy Quilt Journal Project) block this month is titled “March in Yuma”.  It embodies some of the more memorable events of the month.

We live full time in an RV and spend 6 months of the year as “snowbirds”  in Cactus Gardens RV Resort in Yuma, AZ.   The 400+ site park has become our winter home with friends.  The exodus toward the north begins in March, and there are always many “end of season” parties,  each one a “last chance to get together with friends” before heading our separate ways.

I appliquéd a 4 leaf clover to symbolize the 4 end of season parties we attended.  Each one was separate, but the friends involved are interlocking and combined, just as the leaves on the  clover.  I used the same pearl cotton to couch around the leaves and create the stem.  Later in the month, I used the couching on several more elements of the block.  I found I liked the way it defines the seams.

Tast Week 10

Week 10 brought the Running Stitch. 

I had just used the detatched chain stitch a few weeks ago to depict raindrops, but the running stitch also whispered “rain” to me.  This time, I created a bed of   Texas Bluebonnets at the bottom of the square.  Have you ever seen the Texas Bluebonnets in the spring?   There’s nothing like it!  To see more of Texas’ famous wildflowers, see my blog posts here.

They cover entire fields, hillsides and valleys with their beauty.  They don’t come every year, only on the years when there’s been enough early spring rain.  Why are they called bluebonnets?  Here’s why…they look just like a minature lady’s bonnet.

In my sampler, they’re lifting their faces in gratitude toward the life-giving rain.

For the Crazy Quilt block, I appliquéd a miniature quilt block and used the Running Stitch as quilt stitches.  The little block symbolizes our park’s annual Quilt and Art Show.  (There’s another line of couching between the peach and green section.)

         

(That’s Bernice and I demonstrating tatting at the show….I’m on the left.)     

Tast Week 11

Week 11’s stitch was the Whipped Wheel. 

I’ve used teneriffe embroidery on shirts before… in fact, in the above picture, I have on a shirt I embellished with tatted circles containing teneriffe centers.  The teneriffe starts with base of spokes, then the embroidery is woven on top, as in the center of this tatting:

The Whipped Wheel is similar, except for the raised effect.  Instead of an over and under weaving, the weaving is under two, around one.

We used to own property that included a wooded area on a hillside.  One spring, walking through the still mostly bare woods, I was delighted to find a cascade of tiny star-shaped blooms flowing down the hillside.  Doing some research, I discovered they were “Star of Bethlehem”.  The tiny bulbs must have washed down from the home site above over the years, and lodged in the woodland soil.  I transplanted some to my flower/herb garden and enjoyed them each spring thereafter.  The small whipped wheel was a little difficult to accomplish on my sampler (with each week’s area barely more than an inch square), but I tried to illustrate the Star of Bethlehem.

My husband is the Shuffleboard Leader for our park.  4 mornings a week find him on the courts at 7:30 am with his cleaning crew, ready to play by 9.  He also heads up the Yuma Encore Shuffleboard (Y.E.S.), a league of 6 teams.  In March they had a full day of tournaments to end the season.  I had to include a shuffleboard reminder on the quilt, and the whipped wheel made perfect pucks

Court details were stitched with the Running Stitch.

Tast Week 12

Week 12 brought March’s last stitch, the Barred Chain. 

This stitch took quite a bit of practice to master.

After a “thorny” start, I created this long stemmed ribbon rosebud for the sampler.  I love roses, and discovered this one on a walk just this week.

The stitch also outlines some of the seams on my quilt block.

Two more elements make up the quilt block.

We were invited to a Dinner Theatre.  The play was Green Misconduct, and the tables were strewn with shamrocks.  My tatting for this month’s block is a Celtic Shamrock (pattern by Yarnplayer).

I mounted it on the white on white fabric, the one fabric common to all my blocks.

I have a bit of Native American blood in my veins, and perhaps that’s one reason I’m drawn to the sound of Powwow drums.  Each year, the Strong Hearts Powwow is held in nearby Bard, CA.  To symbolize the Powwow, I created a Dreamcatcher, with a couple of my beaded feathers hanging from the bottom.

          

All of these elements combined make up “March in Yuma”.

February’s TAST and CQJP

Finally, I have completed February’s Challenges for both TAST and CQJP!…  well, I’m only 2 weeks late! 

TAST Week 5

Week 5 of the TAST (Take A Stitch Tuesday) brought the Herringbone Stitch.

I had used this stitch before (without knowing the proper name), so it came easy.  For my sampler, I created a Windmill with Tulips.

I loved how the stitch worked for the base of the windmill.

The stitch also worked well on my Crazy Quilt Block for several of the seams.

My February Block for the CQJP (Crazy Quilt Journal Project) is titled “A Birthday and a Birth Day”.

I used a metallic Copper thread to embroider the seams.

 

 

 

 

 

Tast Week 6

The Chevron Stitch was the Week 6 Stitch.

This has become one of my favorite stitches!  I love how this looks!

For my Sampler, I created a Christmas Tree….ok, so that’s not really in keeping with my nature theme, but I couldn’t help myself…that’s just what the stitch became for me!  Perhaps it’s a Living Christmas Tree.  

It also worked well on the quilt block.

            

 

I found it a bit difficult to use the metallic thread at first, but after running it through Thread Heaven thread conditioner, it became much easier to handle. 

TAST Week 7

Next came the Detached Chain stitch.  I’ve used this stitch often over the years as a “Lazy Daisy” stitch.

But I had never really put it to any other use.  Now, it kept whispering Raindrops,  Raindrops! … so the lazy daisy got watered!

It was a little more hard to decide where to use it on the Crazy Quilt.  I finally decided to add a few hearts to the heart patch.   It’s a little hard to pick out the stitched hearts in the photo.

A little later in the month, I added a Desert Scene patch to the quilt, and decided to use  the Detached Chain to embellish the corners.

tast week 8

The last stitch of the week for March was the regular Chain Stitch.

The Chain Stitch worked well to create a common desert’s occupant, the prickly pear cactus.  Prickly pears are known for their colorful edible fruit.

     

                                     

      I also used the stitch to embellish a seam on the quilt.

 

The theme of the quilt block itself is special.   It commemorates the Centennial of the state of Arizona , February 14, (my home state during the winter) and the Birth of our second Great –Grandchild, February 28.  

“A Birthday and a Birth Day”

In honor of Arizona’s Southwest Heritage, I used several fabrics in earthtones, with a couple featuring kokopelli, the Native legendary icon.

I am a square and round dancer.  Each year we have an annual Square and Round Dance Festival in Yuma, AZ, my winter home.  This year, we were the only Square Dance group in Arizona to receive endorsement from the state of Arizona to help promote its centennial.  We were very proud to display the state logo on our Festival Ribbon.  The ribbon had to become part of my block.

Throughout January and into February, I was feverishly working on a baby quilt.  I chose Winnie the Pooh fabric for the quilt, and finished it just in time to mail it.  The post on it can be found here.  The colors were spring green and blues.

I wondered how to incorporate a memory of the quilt into the crazy quilt block of earthtones.  Finally, with the help of Photoshop, I pictured Winnie landing on an earthen Native pot, with a sign heralding the birth.

Then came the big day, February 28, when Molly Ann joined our family.  Her big sister is so proud of her.  I had to include photographs of both.  I printed them in a sepia tone.  I tried using Tailor Computer Printer Fabric to print Winnie and the photos, but when I ran them through cool water, they bled miserably, so that was not an option for a quilt I expect to wash.  Evidently, there is a colorfast version, but I did not find it at the local fabric shop.    I then printed them on Tailor Print ‘n Press, an iron on transfer sheet.  While not real satisfied with the resulting texture, it did a good job transferring to white fabric, and was colorfast when tested.  Each of my blocks includes tatting.  I outlined Winnie’s announcement with a simple ring and chain design (my pattern).  The photos are framed with tiny rick rack.

And finally, my February block, A Birthday and A Birth Day were finished!