Silk Ribbon Embroidery (SRE) .... Practice

Time to learn some Silk Ribbon Embroidery stitches

Practicing my ribbon embroidery on a little pink dress I bought for my granddaughter who just turned 1 year old.  Don't you just hate to throw away your pretty doodle flowers.   Here is a photo of my first attempt at Iris flowers in a rayon/poly washable ribbon with some bead embellishment
for a little bit of bling

Embroidery Completed on CQ Block

Embroidery is completed on my Tan Crazy Quilt Block for the class.

  Have I learned some things from Kathy and classmates! 

A phrase I have read in the class chatter that certainly can apply "this ole dog is learning some things"; sure is fun when we come to class with a teachable spirit :)  Some of us who have been doing CQ (and embroidery) for years are having a good time (and success) learning these techniques from Kathy.

Thanks Kathy and classmates.  Having a wonderful time on this adventure. 

Let the Silk Ribbon Embroidery (SRE) BEGIN ~

Godspeed,

mary

Color ~ CQ Beginner Block

Having a fun time learning as I stitch this Crazy Quilt sampler block on a palette of tan colors.  For this block I am working on one of my rectangle clip hoops.  As you know (if you have been following my blog) I thought it would be fun to challenge myself a bit more and expand what I am learning in the crazy quilting class  to include a little bit of a study on "color" as I stitch along with Kathy and fellow quilters.   The acronym KISS (keep it simple silly) just doesn't fit my personality and is part of the problem that feeds the collection of UFO's (unfinished objects) that fill my design wall.

 

So far I have created 7 monochromatic crazy quilt blocks with hopes of making at least a dozen to do embellishment on.  Maybe one day I will stitch them out with a theme completing one block for each month of the year ~ or one for each member of our family now that we are twelve, or even one for each holiday of the year and include some seasonal embellishments as well.

As I set out to stitch a few lavender flowers on a piece of linen one warm summer morning last week before doing seam embellishment work on my crazy block I looked at my array of skeins of embroidery floss and decided to arrange them by colors, light to dark, the blues, then the greens, yellows, etc... and after I battled with a few of the  off-whites/ tans and browns trying to decide which pile when the thought came in to try to lay the solid colors out like a rainbow.  I then expanded that thought further by trying my hand at sorting them from light to dark to light again as each skein went from one color family and blended into another.  Oh my ~

Here is a photo I took after some time playing with the threads;

eventually I sat down to do seam embellishment.

 

 

Love a day when I get to create and play like a child with a new box of crayons.

 

 

Godspeed,

mary



Let the stitching BEGIN, CQ beginner Class

Let the stitching begin!  Enjoying the beginner crazy quilt class with Kathy Shaw and fellow students.  Kathy is doing a wonderful job teaching us her techniques for crazy quilting and keeping us moving toward the goal of completing our blocks by Septembers end.

Having laminated and cut out my stencils, I began lining up each one on its corresponding seam and marking so I would know where each base stitching was to go.

The seams are all marked with the pattern dots for placement of stitching, and the 's' curve has been penciled in as well.  If you look closely you will see I numbered on the muslin the row numbers that correspond with each stencil pattern.

 

For the seams that are 'landlocked' that do not touch the outside muslin, I have numbered those as well and have drawn in a double pointed arrow in the direction of the seam so I can line it up correctly with the stencil.

 

With my BIG 3 ring binder notebook in my lap, it helps to hold the embroidery frame so one hand can get underneath my work allowing me to use the stick-n-stab method for embroidering these patterns.  You can see I have the binder opened to the class pattern sheet (on the right page) for easy reminders of which pattern I am working on for each seam.

 

CQ Block study of color

Crazy Quilt Block Class

 

I am enjoying this Crazy quilt beginner class with teacher Kathy Shaw.    Although many of the students (like myself)  have been stitching for some time, Kathy has all her students start with this beginner class before taking a more advanced class.  This has been great as I have already learned tips, tricks and techniques not only from Kathy but also from many of the students that write on our classroom blog.

 

I thought I would challenge myself a little further and do a study on color along the way.  We are all working with a neutral palette that can include tones and colors beyond tan and white.  I thought I would do my class block in an all off-white color palette using four different fabrics.  I then would take the challenge a little further and do the identical block pattern in all whites.  I enjoyed the result so much I created a third block using yellows.  Photos for those 3 blocks can be seen in the previous post.

 

Today I am posting blocks four, five, six and seven that I created... the more you do this pattern the more familiar you get with the pieces, the faster it goes.  I also was able to apply different construction techniques as I created each block.  Each of these blocks are also monochromatic (single color) and each block includes a lace, satin and/or texture fabric.  The colors of these final four blocks are blue, gray, brown and green.

 

4 Blue

Hmmm, although each block is the same identical pattern, it has been fun to see how different each block looks when done in a different color palette.  

 

To further my study, I am considering using a different stitch pattern and thread color for each seam on the block, and then repeating that pattern with the same thread color choice on that same seam on all the rest of the blocks to see what effect the same stitch and color thread has on each different fabric color palette.

 

5 Gray

 

I am also utilizing the assorted frames and hoops I have as a test to see when compared to each other on the same size projects which type, style and size hoop I prefer working on over the others.   Once the blocks are in the hoop, they will remain in the hoop until completed.  Those photos will be in a future posting.

 





6 Brown

 

7 Green



 

 

 

Third CQ Block in the series with Kathy Shaw

Third in the series...

This is my third crazy quilt block I have made for the CQ Beginner Class with Kathy Shaw.  We are working with neutral colors, and only using 4 fabrics per 8x10.5 inch block.  I am including one texture fabric in each block.

My first block is done is off-white/tan neutrals.  For a texture fabric I used a cotton eyelet over cotton fabric.

My second block is done in white neutrals.  For a texture fabric I used a white lace over white cotton.  I also included a white satin fabric from my daughters wedding dress.

This, my third block is done in yellow neutrals.  For a texture fabric I used a yellow lace over peach cotton.

Hmmm. wonder what color neutrals my fourth fabric will include. 

Godspeed,
mary

CQ Task #3 ~ Seam Templates

Task #3  Mary F ~ Preparing seam embellishment charts for marking seams

 

My Crazy Quilt Class with Kathy is moving along as we prepare to begin the embellishment of our crazy blocks we created last week.  I am thankful to be able to participate, and have learned much already from Kathy and fellow classmates in preparation for embellishing our blocks.  Kathy is such a good teacher as she wants us to learn her techniques for crazy quilting.  She has provided each of us with step by step instructions along the way, and in our supplies this week they included a handy little chart of her designs for seam embellishment.

 

Step one ~ Laminated my paper sheet of the stitch patterns using to embellish blocks.

 

Step two ~ Gathered supplies, cutting knife, mat, laminated sheet of patterns, and you can see we are still enjoying the pretty roses from our daughters wedding one week ago.

 

Step three ~ Make little rectangular cut outs in the laminations that go from above to below the pattern row of stitches on the page that covers where the seam line will be.   For some rows I put one cut-out at each end.  I then put one in the middle for aiding in seam placement or when using on a short row.  On other rows I just put two cut-outs a little bit in from both ends.  Once I use these patterns, I will soon learn if they are going to aid in placement, or where they will be of better service in a different location.  You can see the small pile of chads (cut-outs) on the side.

 

Step four ~ Gather more supplies for punching holes… I used my pink foam panel for the next step.  I made this from a piece of my husbands leftover insulation from a project he did on our home.  I covered this foam panel with muslin for a project I was working on for our daughters wedding dress.  I needed to make pleated fabric from chiffon, and this covered board allowed for not only a surface I could pin into, but would also be able to take the warmth of the iron as well.  A side benefit is that it was not heavy to hold in my lap as I pinned numerous pieces of fabric for 'the dress', and the granddaughters shoes.

 

I also used a chenille needle, and an awl from the tool shed, for punching the holes.

 

Step five ~ Pin or hold the sheet onto the foam board; with chenille needle you can make the tiny holes for pencil or chalk marking of dots, or for larger holes I used an awl. 

 

Step six ~ Once whole sheet was completed, I then punched a hole in on the end of each strip which here are separated by lines.  These holes are for attaching the strips onto a ring.

 

Step seven ~ Cut out each strip of pattern and put on a ring for handy use as needed.

 

This seems like a lot of work for an embellishment tool, but it is items like this that allow for greater accuracy and aid in creating a more beautiful work of art.

 

Thank you Kathy, you have been so generous with your teaching.  Hope this helps someone else who is doing crazy quilting using paper patterns.

 

If you would like more information about these patterns on this sheet see Kathy Shaw at

http://www.shawkl.com/

 

http://www.shawkl.com/2014/07/color-schemes.html

I also laminated and ringed the color charts to keep in my purse.  That handy tool is on Kathy's website.