Breaking the Silence

My blog has been silent for much too long, but it has been silent because I've had to choose between stitching and writing time, and I chose to stitch. Unfortunately, some of my stitching time was interrupted by sore shoulders and other minor illnesses, but I have been making progress on many fronts.

At home in Rhode Island with my sewing machine, I made my husband a padded envelope for his new (bigger) iPad. Unfortunately, it took two tries to get one to fit correctly and then I accidentally stitched a seam twice, making it rather lopsided. As a result, I am not showing a photo. But even if it isn't perfect, my husband is using it. It makes me happy to know his tablet is safe from accidental drops and scratches, even if I need to practice more to perfect the art of sewing what should be an easy little project.

But all is not lost. I can sew a straight line, because I also sewed new curtains for our newly painted guest room, using some commercial valences in another room as a pattern. I wanted a light airy feel, so the toppers are cream colored and airy and the sheer is a silk/linen panel. I was told over and over that I should not use it for a curtain because silk rots in the light, but it is just what I wanted, and the guest room blinds are lowered unless we have guests, so I think they will be ok. Additionally, the linen will help hold it together.

The reason I wanted a nice fabric is because I want to stitch shadow work butterflies on the sheers. I saw the pattern in Inspirations, and have been dying to work it ever since. I have only experimented with shadow work once and in a much cruder format that will be needed on these sheers, so I worked up a practice piece to see how best to manipulate curves in the pattern and to determine which colors to use. I tried two variegated threads and white. I think I will use all of them in the curtains. I learned a lot in my practice piece, but it took several nights of work. In the end, I liked it so much, that I added a floral garland and framed it against a piece of tie dyed blue fabric. It is a nice little addition to the guest room while I stitch the sheers, which will, I think, take quite awhile to finish!

This is not all that I've been working on, but I'll save more for later blogs so I don't go silent for such a long time again.

New valences and sheers in our guest room.

Here is the sheer with my practice piece pinned to it to see how it will look when I begin embroidering the sheers.

A close up of the practice piece.

My practice piece framed as an accent for our antique dresser. It is nice to find a use for the hours that it too to stitch the piece! And doesn't it go well with the antique dresser scarf I found that was already embroidered with butterflies?!

 

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