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.

a bit of a diversion...

i saw this crocheted pattern for nest dolls here and i couldn't resist. if you go to that link and scroll down, you will see the patterns for the small, medium and large dolls. i will be giving them as a gift. i did mine a bit differently than the pattern. they were supposed to be sisters but that little one looks like a little old lady so maybe she is the grandmother of the other two.

click on the images for close-ups.

 

 

they do fit into each other

i did finish the 6" square patch i showed you last week. now i need to make 3 more that are similar.

all stitched down with embroidery added

and a great find on ebay. i've been looking for a linen smock that i could embellish with some vintage lace and napkins that my grandmother left me and this one is perfect. it's 100% linen as are the vintage linens i have and in the same color family. another project i need to make time for.

the front with 3 pockets and a tab

the back with a pleat down the middle

it's been another productive week with lots of wonderful new information coming from Karen Ruane's Simply Stitch 2 class.

lots of experimenting...

i'm enjoying using the basket i showed you last time to hold bits and pieces of experiments and things i'm working on.

 Karen Ruane's lace class started this week so that is what most of the experimenting and stitching is about right now.  you can see what others in the class are working on over here.

lots more embroidery to be done on this lace piece

a ruffle with a hint of pink

a cross stitched heart hidden beneath

i'm always working on more than one thing at a time so i did spend a bit of evening time with crocheting the edge of an embroidered cloth...

and knitting some more on the felted bag.

on the second ball of yarn...2 more to go

i finally got out into the garden this week and planted mostly flowers but did plant some radishes and lemon cucumbers. never planted the lemon cucumbers before but that's all i could find in the garden center. it's a bit later than usual so i didn't want to do the seeds. another experiment. we had a thunder shower this morning and more promised for this afternoon. saves me from going out and watering the garden.

haven't been getting to as many of your blogs as i usually do and i'm sorry about that. there just aren't enough hours in the day. hope to catch up sometime soon. wishing you all a good weekend.

trying to do it all...

i have not posted here in a while. i've been busy stitching, spinning, knitting, crocheting and trying out some new things. it actually feels good working on so many things at once that i know will get finished. my mood dictates what i pick up to work on. i have to force myself to stop and clean house and straighten up lately because i'm so involved.  and here are some visuals...click on the images for close-up views.

some of my silk hand dyed pieces are finally being stitched into a small throw. it measures 40" x 40". more on this piece as i start to stitch.

another thrift store blouse that was too small got the side strip treatment that i talked about in my last post and is now wearable.

stitching scraps together, one day, wound up as a pocket on a fun shirt i wear around the house on chilly days.

punching holes in cloth and stitching eyelets (as a result of Jude's post in the diaries class). in the background is silk and cotton flannel dyed with RIT dye.

THAT LED TO THIS:

a little pouch 6" x 6" with a needle book stitched to the outside. eyelets stitched on the zipper as well with a crocheted edge. this will be great for carrying scraps to stitch when on the go with pins and needles very handy.

inside of needle book.

i was happy to hear that some of you benefited from watching the video i posted last time. sometimes we can help ourselves by just changing our way of thinking. the full version is no longer available but half of it is available here. this was originally posted by Jude on facebook.

choices...

lots of choices this week on which project to pick up...
just finished a class on craftsy.com with Drucilla Pettibone and i'm getting better each day with my drop spindle. it's an excellent class if you're interested in learning how to spin your own yarn.

learning to spin

still working on my second pair of knitted socks. this time with the afterthought heel.

toe up sock

and dyeing with the purple carrots and the green tops...not much purple but the green tops gave nice markings, the copper pipe gave some green color and there are rose leaves scattered here and there. decided to embellish with some tatted bits and crochet an edge.

tatting and crochet edge

have a great weekend.

embellishing a shirt/jacket...

i've had this shirt for several years and hardly ever wear it. i decided to embellish it and hopefully will wear it as a jacket. all this started as a project in jude's contemporary boro class. i've used a crocheted doily that my grandmother made, some tatting on the placket that was given to me as a gift when i retired 10 years ago and some tatting samples that i made when i was trying to practice my tatting after not having tatted in over 35 years. i also used a vintage doily, that i picked up some place along the way, as a kind of label. the doily appeared to me as a field of trees as they would appear from up above...and as luck would have it is made up of 7 rings which is a number i have hooked onto. click on the images for a closer view.

the jacket front

crochet and tatted embellishments

vintage buttons

hand dyed cloth and some lace

a kind of dramatic label on the inside

i do plan on doing some patchwork embellishing on the back. the problem is to find a way to do it without all the stitching showing on the inside...thinking...thinking... hopefully i'll solve that problem and will be back with more pics sometime soon.

hope you're all having a grand weekend. the weather is just beautiful here in austin.

sorting through old linens...

i'm finding things i forgot that i had. they were all labeled in bags, sitting on a shelf since 2007. i even found some things i had been looking for but were nowhere to be found...until now. that's the problem with having too much stuff. one of the bags had lots of the remainders of cotton pieces, with some embroidery, that i had purchased from ebay...nothing really special there. the other 3 bags were linens and cottons that were stitched by my two grandmothers and one kit given to me by my aunt. these relatives have been gone a very long time. i am taking Jude's contemporary boro class 2 and am embellishing a linen shirt that will become a jacket---hopefully---so i was looking for bits and pieces of things i could use. here are some images of what i sorted through. click for a closer view. my grandmothers were amazing stitchers.

2 tablecloths. 1 whtie cotton. the other beige linen.

a section of the linen cloth

4 matching linen napkins

cotton stitched round tablecloth

the stitched embroideries were done on the machine by 1 of my grandmothers. i bound them with scrim and stitch many years ago. the crochet kit was given to me by my aunt. there are some completed sections that she had already done. haven't found those yet.

and some of grandma's crochet doilies

those beige linen pieces would make such a beautiful easy wear dress or blouse but there are so many stains all over that i'm not sure yet how to go about it. all suggestions welcome.

a crocheted edge...

it started out as a necklace...

a bit of blocking and a light press with the iron

but I think it will get more use as an edging for this pink piece...

hand stitched cotton and lace with crocheted edge

and the garden is starting to show some progress, but the indigo seeds never did sprout...

waiting for the first cucumber on that vine

Crochet, weaving, boro and embroidery

All this was inspired by Jude's Contemporary Woven Boro class. It started out as a crocheted foundation with a ribbon type yarn. I did some weaving on one side with silk ends that I bought at the Houston Quilt Show. For the other side, I stitched together bits and pieces of the silk onto a foundation, basted it to the crocheted piece and then did some embroidery to bring it all together. The lining is a piece of fabric that I had decorated with the Shiva Paintstiks several years ago. It will be a small carry along bag for needles, pins and thread. It measures 6½" x 4½".

it started out this way

silk strips woven through crocheted foundation

bits and pieces of silk done in boro style

lining not yet stitched to foundation

this and that...

first bulbs to bloom

crocheting an open foundation for weaving

next 3 pics are of the wrappings that have been around trees and rocks for the last 6 months. no dramatic changes. the fabric pieces will be washed and used in future dye pots.

Memories of Grandma...

I have lots of things around my house that were made by my grandmother (mother's mother). She taught me to crochet, knit, embroider, cook, etc. She didn't read or write english so she designed all her own patterns. I have used lots of the thread and yarn she left behind on shawls, doilies, tatting, etc. I was going through some dresser drawers the other day and came across this little outfit she knitted when I was close to 3 years old. I went through some photo albums to see if I could find pictures of me wearing it and sure enough, I did. I guess my mom couldn't get me to wear the hat. It is in excellent condition and it was suggested to me that I give it to a museum. It was made in 1944. Thought I would share some photos with you. Click on the photo for a close-up view.

grandma knitting, of course

crochet table runner that I framed and hangs over a narrow window

skirt, sweater and hat

pictures of me wearing the outfit
mom is pregnant with my sister in picture