lots of knitting this week...

I've been knitting doll clothing this week. I'm hoping it turns out the right size as it will be a gift and I'm not absolutely sure about the doll size. Nice that the pieces work up quickly. The jacket is finished. I'm working on the dress and there will also be a hat.

click on the images for close-ups.

doll clothes

I'm also working on making a collar and cuffs for a vintage white blouse that I've had for a while....just to dress it up a bit. Lots of bits and pieces stitched together and then there will be hand embellishing.

stitching a lace collar

Some of you might be familiar with The Tentmaker's of Cairo that have been making the rounds at some of the Quilt shows. They do such beautiful work and it's all needle turn applique. Bonnie McCaffrey made a video several years ago showing their procedure. If you've never seen this before, I think you will be amazed at the beautiful quilts they turn out and how it is done. I've watched this video several times and am still amazed and love hearing the history of how it all started so many years ago.

Here is the link to the video. It is about 15 minutes long.

The grass is still green but it's not looking very lush due to the lack of rain and the high temperatures. Autumn is on it's way here in Texas.
UPDATE: we've had a steady rain this evening for about an hour....wonderful.

 

Have a great weekend.

the Bug pillow is finished...

It now has woven doors and the helicopter has a pilot. I'm terrible at drawing so the pilot you see is the best I could do. He kind of looks like Ken Burns, the producer of all those great PBS documentaries. I finished the pillow with red and black fabric and some thick piping. it measures 18"x18". Can you tell why the Bug is being chased?

click on the images for close-ups.

woven doors

the pilot

chased by a helicopter

pillow back

The only other project I worked on this week was this:

a crocheted band with beads to hold my lace bobbins in place

I did buy some new things to play with...

little rollers that make stitch like marks on paper and some marking pens for dark fabrics

and some new paper to play with. anxious to try that mulberry ribbon paper.

The paper was purchased here:   Etsy Shop---Saaper

Hope you are all having a good weekend.

Chasing a VW Bug....

Spent most of the week on finishing up my bobbin lace VW Bug and creating a scene for a pillow. The fabric was showing through the lace so I did lots of weaving through the spaces. This will be a fun pillow to have around. Looks like the helicopter is chasing the Bug....still more work to do on this one. The helicopter does need a pilot....or something...and there will be embroidery in the background. The car still needs some doors. It measures about 12" x 12" so far but it will get a border.

click on the images for close-ups...

the scene so far. the cut off piano keys fabric made a good roadway.

helicopter appliqued on with lots of black stitching.

used some wrap stitches for the front grid and shisha mirrors for the hubcaps.

I tried doing a patchwork lace piece. I drew a pattern, cut out the pieces and used them as templates to cut out the lace. The lace was then free motioned onto a muslin background and still adding lots of embellishments with hand embroidery. It might wind up on the front of t-shirt if I can make it removable. Don't think I want to throw this in the washing machine. It is 6" in diameter.

drawing a pattern

stitched down with free motion embroidery and auditioning beads and buttons.

hand embroidery in progress

still needs more embellishing down on the bottom half.

....and I did do some meandering between the tomatoes I showed you last time and I think it will work to camouflage all the wrinkles.

meandered between the tomatoes

Our temperatures are still in the 100s almost every day without any sign of rain. Can't wait for the Fall season to arrive.

cows in a magical forest....

That's what I've named this piece made up of leftover pieces of fabric from past projects that were done in black and white....mostly.

click on the images for close-ups.

the back of the magical forest

It all started with that center image of forest trees and a scattering of cows....added in some musical elements and a magical walking path. lots of hand embroidery...eyelets, stars, french knots and 2 shisha mirrors. This was fun to do. It's edged in piping and measures about 6½" x 6½". I did put some cotton batting between the layers to give it some body.

cows in a magical forest

I've had this coverlet pattern that I sent away for in 1974. I had remembered doing a few of the embroidered blocks but thought I had gotten rid of them remembering that I couldn't get all the wrinkles out.....Well, they turned up this week while going through some old projects that hadn't seen the light of day in years.I tried damp stretching the 10" blocks and was fairly successful except for the tomatoes. I'm going to try and do some free motion embroidery on the piece to see if that camouflages the mess I made. It would all make a nice kitchen wall hanging.

a picture of the coverlet as shown in the magazine

the blocks before damp stretching. I had started cutting out some of the elements to use in applique.

on the damp stretching board

And of course, there was some lace work. Experimenting with more snippets of lace on a lace background but this time in ecru and beige.

lace bits free motion embroidered onto a lace background

I can hardly keep up with all the projects I've started in the past few weeks....so I am keeping busy.

Hope you have a great weekend. We are in the over 100 degree temperatures the past few days so I'm staying inside and staying cool.
 

using scraps....

or 'snippets', as Karen Ruane calls them, some interesting pieces have been created.
This first one started out with bits of hand dyed silk and some used Color Catcher Sheets.

click on the images for close-ups.

all stitched down with free motion embroidery

lots of embellishing

 It started developing into a little garden house of sorts...maybe a fairy house....so there needed to be some vines and flowers.

crocheted vines and flowers

 Here it is so far, but it's not finished yet. It measures 8" x 7".

added windows and a door

Then....my favorite....working with vintage lace and embroidery.
This one also measures about 8" x 6".

scraps of vintage lace and linens

tiny prairie points in a lace pocket embellished with stitch

an open window and a shisha mirror.

There is another similar type piece I'm working on called 'cows in a magical forest'. I'll show you that one next time.

Wishing you all a creative week.