Stitching Hands Studio

Wish Upon a Card 2012

It's that time of year again!  The Stitchin' Post will be accepting fabric post cards for Wish Upon A Card right up until July 1.  If you wish to have a card be considered for framing, the deadline is April 15.  Maybe you have time to get one in the mail tomorrow?  I had such fun making my postcards.  I first decided to make the giraffe above with some wool felt.  I was inspired after seeing Salley Mavor's presentation. In order to make the card stiff, I used Fast-2-Fuse for the middle layer.  The backs on all of them are linen.  All the embroidery was done before I fused it to the Fast-2-Fuse.  After fusing to the linen backing, I zig-zagged around the edge.

Next I decided to get back to my beloved linen, but wanted to see if it was possible to do without adding the harem cloth backing the way I do the slow cloth.  That was a mistake, but a good lesson!  The owls were created by fusing the blue linen to a piece of harem cloth with some Steam-A-Seam.  That stuff is nasty for hand sewing, so I had a real pain doing the applique and embroidery on this one.  I finally decided to finish the tree with some machine stitching.  Then it was fused to the Fast-2-Fuse, fused to a linen backing and zig-zagged around the edge.

I went back to my favorite slow cloth techniques with this last one.  The blue linen backing was stitched with an invisible baste to some harem cloth.  Then I added all the applique, some raw edge, some needle turned.  I had lots of fun adding the embroidery stitches, then fused it to the Fast-2-Fuse and the linen backing.  Finally I zig-zagged around the edge.  

I like them a lot and hope they are well received for the fundraiser.  If you would like to give fabric postcards a try and have any questions at all, I'd be happy to answer them in the comments.

The backs are almost as pretty as the fronts.  I used hand dyed linen.  The blue is indigo dyed from a linen thrift store shirt that had that flower motif printed on it.

Studio: April 2012

I decided yesterday it was high time to clean up the studio (just in case anyone comes knocking).  I also had an idea to create a space by the window where I could do hand work.  It means that the iron and board is put away and I'm sure that won't last forever, but I like this layout a lot.

I think I'm going to like this space, at least until the sun gets too intense.  I do have a shade in the window though, so we'll see.

I was also pleased last week to get the second design wall finally up!  Now, I hope I can really get to work.

Lots of stuff going on here.  The coyote piece is the next quilt for my book club, based on Love to Water My Soul by Jane Kirkpatrick.  

10,000!

Wow!  My quilt, "Shhhh..." was the 10,000th quilt registered for the Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative!  I just found out today when I got a call directly from Ami Simms.  What a treat!  When I picked up the phone I was really wondering why AAQI would be calling, even though I knew the 10,000 milestone was approaching.  The quilt is already in the mail to Ami and there are hopes it will be able to get some extra publicity for the charity.  

In fact, some of you will recognize this one as a piece that I made during the Patchwork Beasts class with Jude a couple of years ago.  I finished it last year and put it in my shop, but I hadn't sold.  When April 1 rolled around I realized I had nothing ready for AAQI this month, I decided to remove this one from the shop and registered it right away.  Well, now it's on a whole new adventure!  Ami is keen to see some local and national publicity, so I'll post here if any of that comes about.

A day in the life of SHS

Yesterday was a great day here in Stitching Hands Studio. First of all, I finished the stitching on the Long Necked Beast (aka llama).  I still need to back and quilt it, but it's coming along.  

Second of all, I got out the quilt blocks I won last year in the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show block contest and started work on getting them together.  It turned out I won 21 blocks, plus my own.  Twenty-two blocks isn't quite the right number so I decided to add 2 more blocks to make it a 6 x 4 arrangement.  They had sent me leftover fabric from the block packs so I had plenty to work with.  I also decided to choose the dark green for sashing.  It's actually a lovely two-toned green shot cotton. 

Isn't this a wonderful collection of blocks?  Mine is the third one down in the third column from the left.  The two I designed to make up the difference are the fourth and sixth down in the second column from the left.  I'm still stitching them.  The block arrangement might change before they get sewn together, but so far I'm happy with this.  This is after much rearrangement.  Once I get this all sewn together I'll go look for a good border fabric.  

That little stack of fabric tacked on the board at the right is the block pack for this year's block contest.  Wonder what will become of that?

Today I've been running errands, getting together the guild newsletter, packing, doing laundry, cleaning up. Tomorrow we are off on a little trip to the coast.  I'm sure we'll see rain, but I'm hoping the sun will make an appearance too.  I'll be happy for some time away to clear my head, ramble, take photos, and enjoy my family.  Have a great weekend!

Autumn in New York

My latest slow cloth is finished with a couple of weeks to spare.  Autumn in New York is inspired by Rules of Civility by Amor Towles, as part of the QuiltWorks Novel Idea book club.  This cloth is completely hand stitched with silk applique on a hand dyed indigo vintage linen napkin.  There's a lot of hand stitched embellishment that you can see better in the detail photos below.  I backed the whole thing with a single piece of medium weight grey shot cotton and turned the edges under the edge of the napkin to hand sew down.  The edges peek out and allowed me to square up the napkin.  It's about 22" x 22".  This quilt will be hanging in the QuiltWorks gallery for the month of April along with 35-40 others.  I can't wait to see the whole exhibit.  The few that I've seen so far are really wonderful.

The only building I wanted to be recognizable is the Empire State Building.  To make things easier I decided to stitch the topmost part as you see above.  Lots of little split backstitches make that up.  All of these techniques were learned from Jude Hill.  Please check out her website for all sorts of wonderful online video classes.

Meanwhile I've already started on a couple of other projects, my Undercover Quilter book club project has a great start and my Small Wonder Challenge project is looking really good.  More on those later.  I'm still trying to figure out what book to use as inspiration for my guild Children's Literature challenge.  There are so many wonderful books to choose from!  We are heading out for a little spring break in a few days, I can't wait!

I Believe in Love for AAQI March

I had already decided to finish this little cloth for AAQI when I got the email for the March themes.  One theme was "I believe in ...".  Well, it had to be!  This piece was started in a cloth weaving class with Jude Hill and I hope it does well for AAQI.  

I'm up to $816.29 on my $1000 Promise goal and my latest quilt for sale is A New Vision.   Fine Feathered Friend has not been photographed yet.  However, the March auction is going on now and there are some gorgeous pieces available to bid on!.   I hope you'll check it out and consider contributing to this fabulous organization!

Imperfectly Perfect

All of life is imperfectly perfect, including love.  Today I'm working on this little piece.  It was started in the first cloth weaving class I took with Jude.  I can't even remember how long ago, seems like ages.  It's time it was finished. I added a braided tie that I couched down and am putting in some quilting stitches. It may or may not be done today, but I've got a cold and I'm tired so I won't push it.  Thursday is the hubby's birthday and we'll celebrate then, or this weekend.  Meanwhile, I'm just stitching.

PS- Exciting news to tell- I will be one of the featured quilters at our guild's show this August!  The other honorees are Janelle, a friend and member of my book club, The Undercover Quilters and Joanne one of the guild's greatest resources.  Joanne has been a member since the inception of the guild almost 30 years ago.  I'm am thrilled to share the stage with these amazing artists!

PPS- I changed up the blog a bit and added a subscription button there on the upper right.  I am subscribed myself to be sure it works.  It usually takes a day or more before the email comes out, but if it's convenient for you to keep track of this blog that way, you have one of my readers to thank. Kathleen wrote to ask how to subscribe and I really didn't know the best way to do it.  A little bit of research later and I had this going.  Let me know if you have any problems.

AAQI for January: A New Vision

I finished my 14th quilt for AAQI last night.  It is a departure for me to do something so abstract, but again, that's the beauty of the AAQI quilts.  I can try something in a small format and see how I like it.  I did enjoy stitching the eyes, but I don't think this is really me. I hope someone likes it though!  Luckily, with a nice variety of quilts at AAQI there should be something for everyone. Latest news on the AAQI front is that I have donated 13 quilts and 11 have sold for a total of $551.29.  Little Blue Lamb is still for sale.  It's not up on my private page yet, but I hope it will be soon.  Tulip Fields is awaiting assignment.  Be Yourself doesn't even have a photo up yet, so it will be awhile on that one. Please check out all the wonderful little quilts available there and send your family and friends too. What a wonderful way to contribute and to get a nice little artwork too.

A new vision, a new cloth for AAQI

A new cloth for AAQI, for January.  Inspiration from Jude Hill and the Magic Diaries.

PS-  Little Blue Lamb is now for sale here.

Happy Winter Solstice!

My Solstice cloth is done. I love this one.  I just decided to wing (if you'll pardon the pun) the owl and I like it.  The trees were inspired by Jude's solstice trees last year.  The owl by Janet Bolton.  I had so much fun with this, expect more of these.  Click to see details.

I also like the back.  Iquilted it free hand, just changing direction on a whim.  I did Jude's technique of quilting behind something like the trees, but only going through the back layer. It looks more uniform that way, but doesn't interfere with the shapes on the front.  Signed it in stitch.  This is my new preference.  I am still working on that signature post.  Sometime soon, I promise!

This is our amazing winter view from the kitchen corner of the house.  It's sort of a mysterious view, but with the  leaves gone we can see the river and Mt. Bachelor.  This little lighted tree feels like a special gift just for us.  

I wish you a safe and joyous holiday, whatever you celebrate.  I think I might take a blog break.  Don't expect a whole lot of posting til after the new year, but I may pop in once or twice to share photos.