Give Away

First, I thought you would enjoy seeing an update on the Sunflower Purse:



I finished beading all of the seam treatments which I mentioned last week are from my upcoming E-Book, "Elegant Crazy Quilt Seam Treatments" Volume One.

The daisy trim was just too bright for my tastes so I dyed it. And it came out a bit darker than I had wanted it to. There are no mistakes in crazyquilting though. For everything that doesn't come out quite right, there is a way to fix it. As you can see, I added bright flower sequins to the daisy centers and now, it works perfectly with the rest of the block.

The big sunflower in the center will go on next. That didn't work out quite the way I had planned either but again, I think I have that problem solved. I'll explain more once I get it sewn onto the block.

In the meantime, I have another cross stitch magazine that I would like to give away. It's the February, 2008 issue of The Cross Stitcher:



I will send this off to the first person who leaves a message for me in the comment section requesting it. US Residents only please!

For today, I'll be running my sewing machine. I want to sew up the couple of little Valentine gifts that I made so I expect to have a few finishes to share with you soon.

Sunflower Purse Continued.....

A quick little update on the Sunflower purse:



I started beading the seam treatments yesterday and will continue on with it again later today. Several of my readers commented that these colors are a bit out of my norm. Yes, that is quite true, although I really do like these colors! This is a custom ordered purse so the colors were chosen by it's future owner. This will be my last custom order for quite awhile. I have a stack of things that I want to make for myself and I want to get back to making some more Comfort Cats to send to Pat.

For now, my mom is coming over and we're going to treadle again! I just love that old sewing machine!

Tomorrow, I will reveal the Valentine Mystery design.

What Is Waste Canvas?

I received several emails yesterday, from stitcher's who weren't familiar with waste canvas. I was asked if I would go into a more detailed description of what it is and how I use it to stitch on crazy quilts. First, here is an excerpt from my book:

Waste Canvas is a loosely woven mesh, coated with starch. Originally created for stitching charted designs on non-cross stitch fabric such as tee-shirts, the mesh is gridded with a blue thread every 5 stitches.





The purpose for using Waste Canvas in crazy quilting is to create perfectly sized and spaced stitches. With Waste Canvas, the stitches are counted out rather than free-handed.

Waste Canvas offers endless possibilities for borders using basic stitches:



The Waste Canvas is pinned or basted into position and working from the charted pattern, the stitches are counted out and duplicated on the block:



Once the border is complete, the Waste Canvas threads are pulled out one by one, from under the stitches:



And I must tell you, pulling those Waste Canvas threads out is way more fun than it should be! I mean honestly, I love that part!!!!

So that's what Waste Canvas is all about. It's available in 3 sizes, 14 count, 10 count and 8.5 count. For a beginner, I recommend 10 count or 8.5 count. I use all three sizes depending on my project.

I hope this basic explanation helps. If anyone has any questions, please don't hesitate to email me.

I was also asked about available payment methods. For US Residents only, I can accept US Money Orders. For international payments, I accept PayPal. Payment can be made with a credit card through PayPal. Ordering and payment can be made through my Etsy shop. Again, the book will be available somewhere between February 7th and February 10th.

To Knot Or Not To Knot

Do you knot or not knot? I thought I'd clear up the mystery as to when knots are appropriate and when they're not. Ha, ha, ha! Okay, enough of the not, knot stuff!

With counted cross stitch, it's generally recommended that the thread tails be woven in behind the stitches on the back. Cross stitch fabric, esp. evenweaves and linens are thin so knots would show through on the front, giving the finished stitched piece a lumpy appearance.

With crazy quilting, I would say that it's a matter of personal choice. For the most part, I knot my threads. With the foundation fabric and all the various surface fabrics, any knots on the back will not show through on the front:



There is one exception to that in crazy quilting. With Silk Ribbon Embroidery, I weave the tails under stitches in the back. I used to knot them. But too many times, while working in other areas of the block, I'd catch that knot and end up pulling the Silk Ribbon, messing up my stitches on the front. It's best to weave those tails under other stitches.

With redwork and outline embroidery, lumps from knots can show through on the front. The choice however, is really up to the stitcher. Most of the vintage embroidered pieces that I've seen at flea markets and antique shops have knots on the back. My own grandmother taught me to knot my threads so I will openly admit, that I knot when I do redwork and outline embroidery:



I hope you find this post helpful. Instead of just posting photos of my stitching, I've been trying to offer you helpful hints along the way.

If you like my Redwork Cat and would like to stitch him, you can find the patterns for him and his friends here.

To Hoop Or Not To Hoop

That is the question that was posed to me last week. I thought for today, I would discuss the pro's and con's of hooping.

The purpose of using a hoop is to keep your fabric tight while you stitch. This prevents bunching and buckling around your stitching.

Be it cross stitch, embroidery or crazy quilting, I always use a hoop, with only one exception in my almost 40 years of stitching. Yes, I am older than I look. Older than I behave too!



My Lucky Crazy Quilt is a 29 inch square whole cloth quilt meaning, it was pieced on one very large piece of fabric. I worked this quilt entirely in-hand and by the time the stitching and embellishing was complete, I was just as crazy as my stitching!

Now you're probably wondering why I didn't just hoop the area I was working on and then move the hoop. The reason for this is that certain fabrics will not recover from the tension of a hoop. Plush fabric such as velvet will be crushed by the hoop and it won't bounce back. Silk and satin will retain the hoop-mark as well. And certainly, once the beads, sequins and buttons start going on, well I'm sure you can imagine that moving a small hoop around on a large quilt would be impossible.



With cross stitch and embroidery, moving the hoop the around is certainly feasible although when possible, I do try to use a hoop that's large enough for the entire design. This isn't always possible but when it is, I see it as a time saver!

With crazy quilting, you most definitely want to use a hoop that your entire block will fit into:



My favorite hoop is a 12 inch Quilter's hoop. Nine inch blocks fit perfectly in this hoop. I've also found that the wooden Quilter's hoops are a better quality hoop than the wooden embroidery hoops.

For my cellphone pouches and ornaments I use a 7 inch round screw type plastic hoop. The one that you see in the photo of my redwork cat.

For projects larger than 9 inch blocks, I have some custom frames that my husband made for me. I think he used a good quality pine which a soft wood. When I attach my block to those, I simply use thumb tacks to hold the block in place. Blocks can be laced on to frames as well but in my opinion, that's a waste of perfectly good stitching time.

If custom needlework frames aren't an option, Michael's Craft Stores carry wooden snap together frames in sets of two and in a variety of sizes. You can mix and match them to create whatever size frame you need for your piece. I have several of these as well and my husband actually glued them together with wood glue which makes them quite sturdy.

Another way of supporting your stitched piece is a style of hoop called Q-Snaps. I have some of these and honestly, I don't care for them. They are so heavy to hold and I've found that they slide around a lot. Whenever I've used them, I was constantly taking my piece out and readjusting it. I don't recommend them but I know there are stitcher's out there who swear by them!

So, in answer to the question I mentioned at the beginning of this post, yes, I do recommend using a hoop. There are times when it isn't an option, as in the case with a large whole cloth quilt. When possible though, you'll be much happier with your final stitched piece if you use one.