Mid-retreat check in

So my stitching "stay"treat began on Thursday, and even though I started a few things early, it has been incredibly productive so far. I've finished the set of wine-themed dish towels for my sister, a portrait of my husband's grandchild for his son, and a panel for a pillow for my brother-in-law. I also sewed a purse for our soon-to-be daughter-in-law, but I am disappointed with my sewing and will make another today. I will show you all of these things and whatever I finish on Sunday and Monday over the next weeks.

 

Today, I want to show you what I produced in the silk fusion class that I took at Golden Fiber Arts in Golden, Colorado on Friday. Prior to the class, I didn't even know what silk fusion was. Now I am contemplating making my experimental piece into art!

The whole piece is approximately 16" square.

 

For those of you who don't know what silk fusion is, I wish I had taken photos during class. It is a relatively simple process. You take dyed silk roving (it looks very much like wool roving) and gently tease out fibers to lay on a screen. I found it to be a relatively fast process to lay and gently pull the fibers out. Three to four layers are needed so that the screen is no longer visible. During the process, you must remember that the first layer or two really won't be seen, so you want to concentrate on getting your final layers looking the way you want them too. In addition to the roving, we had silk sari fibers and "hankies" available to layer on our works. The hankies are gauzy squares that are layered like filo dough. Each layer is a single silk cacoon drawn out and formed into a square. They are really lovely little things and can be layered on to cover large areas or pulled and crinkled in different ways to form shapes. The flowers on my piece are done with hankies.

You can see the rim of the hanky on the flower edge.

 

Once enough silk is layered, a second screen is placed on top and the whole thing is wetted and brushed until every fiber is soaked. Then a textile medium is applied to stick the fibers together before the screens are hung to dry. I let mine dry over night before peeling the screens away. The final step is to iron the piece on the silk setting to set the medium.

The silk strands leave a beautiful wavy edge and the screen provides texture to the fabric. In the lower left corner, you can see a piece of silk sari thread layered within the silk fibers.

 

I was thrilled with my piece when I saw it Saturday morning and am thinking of ways to embellish it. It will be a fun project and a great way to start off my resolution to learn new techniques!

 

One surprise was that when I walked into the class, I saw two women who I often stitch with on weekends. None of us were expecting the others to be there, which made it even more fun.

 

I am really happy that I decided to do this. With two more days of creativity to go, I am well on my way to having many of the birthday and Christmas presents I want to make this year done--and it is only January!

 

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I got ahead of myself

Over the weekend I did cleaning and cooking, and embroidery prepping, just as I had planned to get ready for my stitching retreat. But at some point on Sunday, I started getting lazy, and with so many projects prepped to work on, I started stitching.

 

One of my projects is a set of kitchen towels for my sister's birthday (next November). I had three washed and had applied the iron on transfers (Aunt Martha's Wine Country set 3998). They were even colored and the crayon set. So this is what I started stitching, and I even finished one!

 

I'm excited to get more done over the long weekend as well as the other projects I've prepped. I have all sorts of ideas for Christmas and birthday presents this year, and if I spend the first few months of the year working on them, I should be able to get a lot done without really killing myself.

The retreat starts tomorrow, and stitching this towel has really wet my appetite!

 

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Crazy quilt block 1 progress and retreat planning

I had a very productive stitching weekend. Despite some snow, or maybe because of it, I have made major progress on my very first crazy quilt block.

 

The last time I featured it, I was still working on the crab, but since then, I've not only finished the crab, but embroidered a sailboat, embellished one of the fabrics, made my first ever ribbon roses, and tried my hand at 3-D beading. This is a good start on my New Year Resolution to try new stitching techniques!

 

I am still planning to stitch a dragonfly in the upper left and to embellish the remaining seams. I like how the piece is progressing, but I hope that it doesn't get too crazy. Or at least too crazy to look good.

 

I've got the fabric for my next block, which will be mostly green--another summer block. I may sew the block up during my retreat so it is ready for stitching later.

 

And speaking of my retreat, I have made more planning progress. I chose photos for my portraits and printed them out and bought fabric and floss. Later this week I will try my hand at tracing them so that they can be transferred to fabric. I am a little apprehensive about which lines to trace to make the portraits come alive, but that's part of the magic. I am using a tutorial from the Habit of Art blog to help me through this, although I think I will frame the finished works a little differently than they suggest.

Floss or pearl cotton--that's the question!

 

I've also bought some flour sack towels to prep for embroidery and downloaded the pillow patterns I want to work on.

 

There's more to do, but since I only conceived of this idea last Friday, I think I am making good progress. Too bad the house isn't getting itself cleaned up as quickly!

 

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