Tuesday 7 December 2021

Through The Lens - Nov 2021

 We have taken some time to explore around our local area with several day drives for a picnic lunch. We are so lucky to have amazing views to see. Here are some photos of the sights seen on our travels. I have cropped some of these and used a little post photo editing. I loved trying to get shots of the black cockatoos as they flew past.









What do you like to take photos of? Do you have a favourite place to go and enjoy the view? Does that view change depending on the time of day and the weather? Please leave a comment sharing your thoughts.

Saturday 4 December 2021

Creating LED tealight holders

 More experimentation has been happening with two different types of washaway stabiliser. I was able to watch a video tutorial created by the very talented Meredith Woolnough who creates amazing artworks using washaway stabiliser and free motion stitching. Her video tutorial was part of an online retreat called Making Zen. I chose not to pay for unlimited access to all the videos so had to make sure I logged in at the right time to watch Meredith create a thread bowl from her ORT collection. ORT stands for old raggedy threads and is the accumulated ends cut from our stitching works. The thread bowl is created over a mould and I have successfully used both a polystyrene ball and a small plastic bowl as my moulds.

ORT bowl by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 
The above photo is my first attempt at the process. For this one I used free motion stitching to hold all the scrap threads together and was pleased with how it turned out. On the video Meredith also did one with hand stitching as this fitted very well with the slow stitching theme of the retreat and so I started experimenting with a few different ideas...

I combined what I had been doing earlier in the year with what I was now learning to explore creating silk fibre LED tea light holders.
Tea light bowl creation by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 
I start by teasing out some silk lap fibres into a thin layer and add this to the top of one piece of stabiliser. Add a top layer of stabiliser and hoop this before drawing on a design ready for stitching. Free motion machine stitching or hand stitch are able to work but give quite a different end result. Three or four experiments in and I started to perfect my process. I couldn't stop at one as each little bowl can be such a unique creation of colours from both the silk lap and the threads used to stitch it together. I bought my silk lap fibres from the Thread Studio and just love the different colour combinations that Dale sells.
Tea light bowls - daylight view by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 
Hand stitched bowl by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 

Machine Stitched bowl by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 

Pinks by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 

Ocean Blues by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 
The night time view was totally different as each bowl showed the light shining through the stitching lines and the thin layers of silk fibres while the colours disappeared.
Alight by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 

Bush Colours by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 

Night Lights by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 
A very addictive pastime indeed. I am still creating a few at a time. I will need to stock up on some more LED tealights to add them to each little creation as it is made.

Would you use free motion machine stitching or hand stitching to create a little bowl? Which colours would you use? Please leave a comment sharing your thoughts.


Thursday 2 December 2021

52 Tags Challenge - Tags 42, 43, 44, 45, 46 & 47

Here are the next tags and I am still determined to complete all the challenges. I have found it a little more challenging to keep up each week and have had a few days of working on catching up.

Tag 42 - Tag on a Tag by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 
The prompt for Tag 42 was Tag on a Tag where Anne challenged us to create a series of tags decreasing in size. I chose to use up some satin fabric that has languished in the stash for quite a while. I also had some scraps of lace that had been used at about the same time as the satin. I added a few embellishments and stitches along with some buttons. I like how this tag matches very well with Tag 1 from the beginning of the year.
Fringing - Tag 43 by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 
Moving on to Tag 43 and the challenge was to add some fringing to one of the stitches we had explored earlier on. On this tag I stitched some very large blanket stitches and added a multi-coloured fringe to each section of the stitching. A smaller line of blanket stitch along one of the parts of the first line of blanket stitch and a few bullion knots just to balance the tag a little. The background fabric was a piece of dyed cotton scrim purchased from Colour Streams. They produce the most amazing hand dyed threads that are so tempting to purchase.
Cross Stitch by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 
Tag 44 which meant a week to explore an embroidery stitch. Anne chose to explore cross stitch. A very versatile stitch that is usually asscociated with aida fabric and charts in my mind. I like how Anne used this stitch in a very free form way to add texture to a tag. Background fabric this week included a piece of denim off some very well worn jeans and a piece of quilting cotton. Threads of different thicknesses add to the mix. 
Stitched Fireworks by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 
Tag 45 and the challenge was Fireworks. This one really had me flummoxed for quite a while. There was much procrastination before I even had a go. I did enjoy exploring more fabric painting to create my background using Inktense colours. I added sequins as per the challenge video and used some sparkling thread that was very difficult to photograph successfully. This was the very first tag where I undid all my stitching and tried a second time to stitch the fireworks. 
Wrapping with thread by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 
Tag 46 and the challenge was related to Anne's birthday. She challenged tag participants to wrap something. In the video she wrapped thread around some driftwood. /when watching the video I had no idea what I would use but fortunately a walk to a beach led to the finding of the perfect piece of wood to add to a tag. I used one piece of Cottage Garden variegated thread for most of my wraps and added some smaller sections of gold silk in between when attaching the stick to my background. I stitched a running stitch all over a piece of osnaburg fabric backed with wadding to form a very neutral background. After struggling with Tag 45 I found this tag great fun to complete.
Tag 47 - Birdy by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 
Tag 47 and the prompt was Little Birdy. Oh, was this one such fun to complete. I had the drawing of a little bird in one of my sketchbooks and was very pleased to have a go at translating it into an applique on a tag. I needed to reduce the size and work out how to add the edging with some stitching. In the end I improvised with Pekinese stitch attached to the blanket stitch that was around the edge of the appliqued piece of fabric. I gave my bird a name as Anne did in her video. Please may I introduce to you - Paislee. I plaited three strands of Perle 8 together to create the legs and added pony beads at the bottom. A little brad for the eye and she was all complete. The hardest part was the Pekinese stitch which needed some couching for it to sit near the edge of the paisley body shape.
Paislee by MrsSOnline is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 

I am now all caught up with sharing my tags for the moment. Tag 48 is a stitching week and I need to watch the video to learn all about a new stitch.

Some of the other participants of the challenge have created great tags with birds of all shapes and sizes. What kind of bird would you applique? Please leave a comment sharing your thoughts.