TAST Couching

I've been needing to do some regular stitching lately, despite wanting to make more dragonflies! I wasn't sure what to start on. I have so many blocks sewn up and of course, I want to sew more blocks. I love the foundation piecing process!

I decided to just open the drawer in my Hoosier cabinet where I store my "ready to stitch" blocks and there, right on top was another intended seascape piece:



This is simply a painted dryer sheet fused to the foundation with Heat & Bond. I do this on the seascape pouches because they're so small, any crazy piecing will most likely be lost due to my embellishments. Instead, I focus on the stitching and the do-dads. The painted dryer sheets are perfect for this type of design.

The next thing I did was to add some Angelina Fibers. If you've never heard of these, I will discuss them in more detail at a later date and on a larger project. They are basically, loose fibers which bond to themselves with the application of heat creating a sheer and shimmery fabric which I then pressed onto my block.

Once that was done, I did some couching. What a wonderful technique this is! I use it quite often, esp. on these seascapes. I took some fancy yarn, and kind of just dropped it onto the block. I couched it down where it landed. For the pink yarn, I gave it some movement and couched that down. Basically, I just tacked it in place with sewing thread:



The aqua blue threads to the left is DMC metallic floss. I had planned to use some on here but wasn't sure what to do with it. I find it terribly challenging to work it. When I cut a piece from the skein, I saw that the strands separated on the cut end. It looked kind of whispy to me, like tree branches or sea things (you can laugh, it's ok) so again, I started couching pieces on, deliberately getting those strands to separate even more. This would be perfect if you ever want to do a tree!

Once I had that on, I added the Feather stitch with the detached chain stitch, beaded that and then added a bit of vintage tatting, added beads to that and then the seashells went on and so forth. This is how it looks at the moment:



I expect to complete this later today. I have some orders to package up this morning and then I plan to sponge the wall in my living room where my DVD cupboard goes. Then I can put the cupboard back in place and put my DVD's back in there. I can't however, find my giant sea sponge so it appears as if I might have to run to either Michaels or the hardware store. Since I have no control whatsoever in Michaels, it may be best if I go to the hardware store instead!