Here’s photos of the four finished cards – like all my work posted here, these are copyrighted & cannot be copied for sale or donation without my express written permission.

I used watercolor paper to make the cards, but you can also use commercially available blank card sets too.  I think my favorite is the blue & brown card with the ribbon

Don’t backstitch to finish off the ends, just pull the threads through to the wrong side & tie them off.  Remember to change your needle after this – think about what paper does to good scissors!

I eyeballed all the measurements for the silk & where I placed it on the card.   I’d recommend using a gridded quilting ruler to get everything square., if you prefer.

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monogrammed stationary part 2

I decided that they would be perfect to use as my background for the embroidered cards. I ironed on a heavy-weight fusible interfacing (not necessary, but it’s sooo much easier this way!) and trimmed them down into little rectagles using my pinking shears:

I’m using brown, green & blue for my wedding colors

I decided to play around and used a few different ways of machine stitching to make the monograms. I started off with doing free-motion embroidery, using plain sewing machine thread on two of them. I then switched to using a normal zig-zag stitch. I highly recommend making a few swatches to make sure you have the stitch length & density right before you start on the silk!

Tomorrow, we’ll stitch them on to cards.

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making your own monogrammed stationary

image: © C Findlay-Harder

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machine fusion fabric part 7

image: © C Findlay-Harder

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machine fusion fabric part 2

image: © C Findlay-Harder

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machine fusion fabric – step 1

This is a series of cards I’ve been working on, using felt, embroidery floss & buttons:

I wanted to play with a quilted look so I used long running stitches to embroidery two of the cards.  I liked the look of the pinked edges (even though felt doesn’t fray – pinking is still a great decorative elements)  For the middle card I decided to get a little ambitious… I pulled out my silk embroidery ribbon and started making french knots.

I made french knots…

And more french knots…

But, I like the look of the little knots!  I think next time I would mark out an even border all the way around instead of going free-hand.

After I was happy with the embroidery, I used a good quality white glue to attach the felt hearts & motifs to plain, blank cards (available from most craft stores)  I would personally recommend using a glue like goop to attach buttons to the card…

Just a reminder, all of my projects are original designs and cannot be reproduced for sale or otherwise without my express written permission

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playing with felt

In past years it did not occur to me to look through people’s junk for needlework Stuff (patterns, floss, kits, tools..) Yesterday, in a fun “garage sale-ing” expedition, I made a point of looking for additions to my Stash. I didn’t really have the patience to sort through the discarded jewelry or holiday decorations for useful bits & bobs; but I did find a kit stuffed in with some books. For a dollar!

My find? A stamped embroidery kit, unopened, by Sunset Designs. It was made in 1975, and is a design of a Coleus plant. There were other kits published by Sunset according to the paper in the kit, seemingly a whole series of houseplants. (Grape Ivy, Asparagus Fern, and Schefflera) The yarn included with the kit is a “three-ply Persian” wool; and the cloth is a 50%polyester/50%rayon blend. The stitching chart reminds me of “paint-by-number” kits, but is easy to understand. I haven’t stitched with wools, and I like coleus, which means eventually I’ll stitch this. It looks like a fun quick project.

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Treasure Hunting

This issue has several smallish motifs to stitch, as well as some Springy pieces. There are Faberge-style eggs, some bunnies, etc. In addition, there is a set of kitchen cloths with Southwest themes (chili peppers, clay pots..) and a set of Christmas ornaments done in pastel pinks and greens. ah, and the issue includes a larger piece – ’spring quilts’, which has 5 cute quilts on a line. (largest stitched area sizing is just under 21″x6″)

The large article of interest in this issue is “The Embroideries of Maní, Mexico” by Leann Bemis Roberts. I found it to be highly informative, and richly illustrated with many color photographs. There is a complimentary motif to stitch as well.

All in all, I enjoyed the issue, and am debating whether or not I want to subscribe to the magazine. I like it, but it only comes out six times per year.

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Cross-Stitch & Needlework

One book in my library is What Life Was Like In the Realm of Elizabeth, a Time Life publication. It has a lot of nice overviews covering many aspects of life in England from AD 1533-1603. What is fun about this book from a needlework point-of-view, is that it contains many color images of clothing and sundry, heavily decorated with needlework. Embroidery, beading, blackwork, some lace, and probably more that I’m forgetting.

I’ve put together a list of web sites devoted to stitchery from the Middle Ages, so if you are interested in deeper exploration and some quality scholarly work, be sure to check them out.
katherine kerr of the Hermitage
In Prayse of the Needle
ANG – Blackwork, an introduction
Patterns for Needlework, embroidery, 1859-1913

And if you just want to read about the life of Queen Elizabeth I, then the book below might be of interest.

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Elizabethan Needlework

My plan is to re-stitch all the appliques onto their blocks, whether they have come loose or not. Well, “stitch over existing embroidery” would be the more correct phrase. I don’t want to take out my mother’s stitching, just add my own on top of it. This way I will know that all of the floss holding the petals and leaves onto the blocks is new, and should last many more decades (because once I’ve completed this repair project, the quilt is going to be treated with much more care than I gave it in the past).

Once the embroidery has been completed, I will acquire a new piece of fabric for the back of the quilt and the edging, so all of that will be new as well. I may add a thin quilt bat to make it warmer. Then comes the fun of quilting the whole thing together. I will probably just follow her original quilting lines, but maybe jazz it up a bit with some fancy embroidery stitches here & there, or use a contrasting thread instead of white. I won’t have to decide for quite some time.

A shot of the quilt:

A close-up of some of the damage:

A close-up of one re-stitched area worked on last summer:

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Iris applique quilt