What's in your Super [Stitching] Bowl today?

It's Super Bowl Sunday. 

Whether you're a football fan, have a team in the game that you're pulling for [or against!], or are a football widow(er)... if you're also a maker, chances are you'll be stitching something while you're watching/listening to/avoiding today's broadcast. 

So, what kind of stitching will you be doing today?

Wool appliqué, yarn-dyed wovens [Diamond Textiles],
quilting cottons [Art Gallery Fabrics].

Decorative hand stitching on wool appliqué (above). Hand stitching a purse frame to an eyeglass case (below).

"Try it Out" eyeglass case kit from The Textile Pantry.

Creating a ruched embellishment.

Ruched embellishment [The Textile Pantry].

Adding the buttons to a jacket.

Jacket detail: button loops, yarn-dyed brushed cotton and ikat [Diamond Textiles].

Hemming and finishing a sleeve lining.

Sleeve lining. Enclosing the seam allowances.

Free-motion embroidery by machine.

Free-motion embroidery. WonderFil Threads. Adornit ArtPlay embroidery.
Fabric from Diamond Textiles and Art Gallery Fabrics.

 Hand embroidery and kantha stitching.

"Sunshine Girl" ArtPlay embroidery [Adornit].
Yarn dyed cotton fabric for background from Diamond Textiles.

Serging a knit garment.

Knit top from self-drafted pattern. Knit from Art Gallery Fabrics.

Or, perhaps you'll be doing a bit of "un-stitching." This is a vintage quilt top I'm using as inspiration for a Guild Challenge.

Vintage quilt top. ChattMQG "Cut it Up" Guild Challenge.

Whatever your stitching mojo involves, fill up a Bowl with Super, colorful threads and sumptuous stitching goodies and have a Super Stitching Super Bowl Sunday!

A bowl of Super Stitching goodness.

Hand stitching: it's not as Ghastly as some may think

Hand stitched and hand embroidered "Patriotic Girl."
From ArtPlay Stitchery from Adornit.

It's taken me just about a year to get this piece to this stage.
---------

The running kantha stitch is by hand.

The embroidery is by hand (except her hair).

I work on it in small increments of time—between 10 minutes to an hour (if watching a TV program).

It's a portable project and it has no due date.

----------
Yesterday, my quilt guild had its annual brainstorming session to generate ideas for next year's programs. Among the quilting techniques that people were interested in exploring next year were: big stitch, hand embroidery, and sashiko. Traditionally, these are HAND stitching techniques. Although some may feel that "HAND" is a 4-letter word, quilting or stitching by hand can be relaxing, rhythmic and enjoyable... and, yes, it will take a bit more time.

Hand stitching, embroidery and embellishing with heavier weight, decorative threads have made a resurgence in the quilting world the past few years. Its popularity continues to grow. This is thanks to the stitchery artists, pattern designers, authors and instructors [Pepper Cory and Sue Spargo, to name just two] that expose, dazzle and teach us about the artistic potential of these techniques, and the thread and needle manufacturers that bring high-quality products to the marketplace to help us achieve our creative visions.

Here are detail photos of the kantha stitching on my patriotic girl.

Kantha stitching detail.

The top layer is a yarn-dyed fabric from Diamond Textiles, [Primitive collection, PRF-569]. The back layer is a piece of white muslin.

Using up bits of leftover embroidery floss.

There is no pattern marked in the background for the kantha stitching. The needle creates its own path. A new thread is fed into the needle when the previous piece is used up.

Kantha running stitch. No plan, just stitching.

A view of the back. The embroidery [the girl and flag] is embroidered just on the top layer. The kantha stitching is through both layers. 

Back view.

I'm not sure if this will turn into a pillow or a wall hanging. Suggestions? I do like the texture of the background stitching in contrast with the non-quilted, embroidered girl. 

From "Calendar Girls" collection of ArtPlay Stitcheries from Adornit.

Another hand stitching WIP [work in progress] I have going is one of the characters from Alexander Henry's ever popular fabric line called, "The Ghastlies." I picked up "A Ghastlie Project" panel at Bless My Stitches in Murphy, NC.

"A Ghastlie Project"
She might show up on a future artwear jacket.

When choosing a fabric for hand stitching—big stitch quilting, kantha or boro stitching, hand embroidery—I recommend a yarn-dyed woven fabric [see Diamond Textiles] as the needle will glide through with ease.

I hope you consider giving hand stitching a try. It's not as "ghastly" as some may think! 

Kantha embroidery | slow stitching

Kantha Embroidery. 

Running stitches. Colored threads. And two pieces of cloth.

Kantha embroidery.

This is one of the stitching exercies from Dorothy Caldwell's workshop.

Kantha embroidery on bleach discharged cotton.

The fabrics were discharged with bleach. The mark-making tool was a chunk of a pool noodle.

Kantha embroidery. Back side.

A buttonhole stitch finishes the edges.

Kantha embroidery piece, 15" x 4.5".

To me, the discharged images look like moons... or planets... out in space. Maybe this can be my piece to commemorate the 2017 solar eclipse.

-----
My current kantha piece is this Adornit ArtPlay Stitchery from the Calendar Girls collection. The traditional and kantha embroidery is done on a yarn-dyed cotton from Diamond Textiles (PRF-569). My plan is to fill the background with the Kantha stitching.

Kantha stitching surrounds a basic embroidery.

I so love the magic of slow stitching.

Prepping Projects for Spring Quilt Market

Free-motion quilting on Betula from Westrade Textiles.

If you follow me on Instagram [veronica.fiberantics], you may have seen progress of these pieces as I was preparing for Spring Quilt Market in St. Louis. So not to neglect my blog and its readers, I'll post photos of the projects I've been working on for the last month or two.

Westrade Textiles sent me a few lengths of their wide backings and asked if I would make a sample for their booth at Market. Westrade offers 110" wide quilt backings in a variety of designs and colors in cotton and brushed cottons.

This sample is from the Betula collection. I used a quilting stencil as a springboard for the free-motion quilting feathers and fillers. WonderFil Threads were used and it was free-motion quilted on a Janome 6500 domestic sewing machine.

Using a quilting stencil as a guide for free-motion quilting.

A second sample was with a brushed cotton from the Betula line. It was wonderfully lush to quilt with a brushed cotton... the stitches sink into the fabric... revealing a lovely, soft quilted texture. I practiced my rulerwork on this sample as well.

Westrade Textiles 110" wide quilt backings.

A contrasting color thread defines the rectangles.

Betula brushed cotton wide backing with free-motion quilting.

Another free-motion quilting sample went into the ADORNit booth for display. This piece incorporates one of their ArtPlay Stitchery embroidery patterns. These are cute, happy stitching designs that temporarily adhere to any background fabric—a yarn-dyed woven from Diamond Textiles was used here—and then wash away with water after the hand or machine embroidery is complete. I used this stitchery for free-motion quilting. 

ArtPlay Stitchery pattern with free-motion quilting.

I made two knit tops using Art Gallery Fabrics [AGF] knit fabrics. These cotton pullovers are becoming a staple in my wardrobe—in short and long sleeves! The first top was color blocked and had a fabric accent on one sleeve.

Color blocked T-shirt made with Art Gallery cotton knits.

 This second top used one of the AGF florals.

Cotton knit top.

I'm glad I brought a jacket to wear over my short sleeve tops. As expected, the conference center had the air conditioning set to "cool." Details about the process for making this vintage-inspired jacket using Diamond Textiles yarn-dyed wovens and vintage orphan quilt pieces can be found at these two posts: Part 1 and Part 2.

Yarn-dyed wovens and vintage textiles combined.

To carry a notebook and my business cards, and to stash any handouts, marketing brochures, etc. that I picked up at Market, I made this totebag/briefcase. It combines Art Gallery's canvas and quilting cottons from Patrick Lose's Poppies in Bloom fabric line. This is yet another variation of the Cargo Duffle that I've made from this Noodlehead pattern. Here is the post about the first version I made using Alexander Henry's canvas fabric.

Canvas briefcase/totebag. Variation of the Cargo Duffle by Noodleheadd.

These projects are made from fabrics of the fabric companies I currently represent. If you are interested in any of these fabrics, please ask your local quilt shop to carry them. Support YLQS [your local quilt shop], keep your needles threaded and may your fabric stash be plentiful!