Daily Fiber

Sparking Creativity with Embroidery

Posted on June 23, 2019 by Laura Kate

While studying embroidery in books and on-line classes, I learned about a method for practicing stitches by working on printed fabric. The concept is to use the design found in the print as a template for your design, then embroider it with your choice of stitch and thread. This is well illustrated by the designs found in damask napkins. These are often woven with clearly delineated fruits or flowers.

That’s not what I chose to do. I started with some quilting fabrics that had more abstract, textural designs. Here they are:

Settling on the third one, I started to analyze it. Hm. The terra cotta color reminded me of clay, and the geometric print suggested faceted jewels to me. I came up with the concept of jewels in the clay.

Have you ever had the misfortune of losing a beloved piece of jewelry? One minute the necklace was securely fastened around your neck. The next time you checked, it was gone. This has happened to me more than once. The most notable incident was while visiting Paris, where I lost a necklace the very day I was given it. But that’s a tale for another day.

Have you ever had the great fortune of Finding a piece of jewelry? You’ve just locked your car in the parking lot at Lowe’s , glanced down, and there at your feet is a silver bracelet in perfect condition.

This little fiber object will look as if someone dumped her jewelry box into the red dirt. I started out by making some gemstones in colors of amethyst, topaz, ruby, emerald and turquoise. Using the faceted squares on the fabric, I stitched outlines in split stitch and then worked satin stitch over top. The centers of the jewels were made with French knots and sequins.

**Turquoise finished. Showing the split stitch base for the amethyst. I simply sew along the lines of the pattern.**

And here are all the jewels. I added some diamond looking stones made with more sequins and connected the jewels with a silver “chainstitch” chain. The chain follows the lines of the print, which give it a crumpled look.

It took me two days to finish the embroidery. I like the dimensional quality of the work. One feels as if she could just reach down and pick it this lovely lost treasure.

quilting

Jubilee Quilters Show

Posted on June 22, 2019 by Laura Kate

Yesterday I attended a show hosted by our local quilt group. To say it was inspirational is an understatement. Who knew that in our little county of 50,000 residents there were so many superb fiber artists? Because the organizers permitted photography, I took a number of images. It was hard to narrow it down to favorites, but I am pleased to share the following:

Hexagon shapes
Created in technique called “Stack and Whack”

**Technically superb. How did the maker create all those perfectly round circles?**

**Created using a jellyroll group of fabrics. Name of quilt is “Ocean Deep.”**

**My favorite wall hanging quilt. The giraffe is created with dozens of flower shapes sewn atop one another. The birds and vines are fussy cut applique.**

**My favorite large quilt. It is a log cabin style, using batik fabrics.**

**I chose this one because the maker used hand-dyed fabrics for her squares.**

I admired the quilt below for its irregular and artfully placed strips, as well as for the cute applique ladybugs. The maker created it while recovering from a lung transplant. She finished the squares before passing away in 2008. Her grandmother sewed the top together.

I hope you enjoyed these quilts, and found them as inspiring as I did.

drawing, hand embroidery, painting, sewing

Welcome to Summer, Farewell to Gloria

Posted on June 20, 2019 by Laura Kate

It’s my desire to note each season as it arrives with a fiber project that celebrates the specialness of the season. When I learned of the passing of Gloria Vanderbilt, I decided to include a small tribute to her in today’s celebration of summer.

I remember Gloria Vanderbilt best from her television adverts, promoting her line of jeans. She promised to make jeans designed to fit women’s curves. That promise was fulfilled – those jeans did fit us! She branded her product by signing her name on the hip pocket. Soon, all the designers were catering to women’s shape and placing their logos on the pockets.

So, thank you, Gloria. You made us feel good about our bodies, at a time in our lives when we needed a boost to our self image.

Today’s fiber object shows a woman contemplating the sun while lying on a beach. In tribute to Ms. Vanderbilt, my lady is dressed in a pair of cut-off jeans. Here is the sketch I made with the design’s basic elements.

I toyed with the idea of inserting the Gloria Vanderbilt logo somewhere in the design, but ultimately decided not to. Here is the finished object.

I’m happy with all the elements of this piece. First of all, my ability to draw is getting better. It only took me two tries to sketch this slightly stylized female body. I am also getting better control of the fabric paint while using the wash technique. And finally, both my hand and machine embroidery are improved.

embellishing

Easy Peasy Tassel Necklace

Posted on June 19, 2019September 28, 2020 by Laura Kate

I’m back to the Daily Fiber blog, after a pretty long vacation trip. The fatigue of the trip has sapped my creative energy. So I thought it would be best to make an easy fiber object on my first day back.

This little necklace showed up in a women’s clothing catalog I paged through recently. It’s very fetching, but to me, not a good value at $70.00. I’d like to try my hand at my own version.

To make the tassels, you will need one skein of embroidery floss for each tassel, some jewelry jump rings, a few beads, lobster claw fasteners, thread cutters, tapestry needle, and glue.

**Here are the first six tassels completed.**

With the paper sleeves still on the floss skein, slip a jump ring to the skein’s center, or tie the skein tightly in the middle with a piece of floss. Slip off the paper sleeves.
Fold the skein in half, holding the ring or floss tie at the top. With another piece of floss about 12 inches long (matching or contrasting,) make wraps around the top of the tassel, working down the tassel about an inch or as desired. Tie the two ends together with double overhand knot.
You can hide the knot by threading the ends on a tapestry needle, then push the needle up through the wraps coming out of the top of the tassel. Do this one end at a time.

At this point, you can finish off the tassel by attaching a lobster claw clasp to the ring, or if you used a floss tie instead tie the ends to the clasp. A drop of glue on the knot will keep it from coming loose. Cut the excess thread away. If you want to add beads, they can be threaded on the ties before you attach the clasp.