Today I needed a color break. I’ve been frantically finishing the Stitch Vocabulary Book for three weeks, and I was terribly tired of computer work. So I sorted out the fabric I intend to bring to sale at Gems of the Prairie in May, That meant I set aside the pieces I wanted to work up.
Of course, that was an immense pile, Somewhere in it, I found this owl.
He really wasn’t lost. I knew he was around. I just wasn’t sure what pile. He was the third of three owls I made for a quilt that simply never worked.
I found several pieces that I thought would be amazing backgrounds. But a very strange thing happened. It wasn’t just that the fabric made the owl feel different. They actually started telling really different stories about him.
So this had a golden open door he’s going through.
Investigating a flower in the garden. Perhaps with small mice or butterflies.
Flying toward a red moon. Or is it a rose?
Is that a fire or a sunset? Is he flying towards it or in flight away from it?
Or somehow a moonlit winter night. Perhaps with snow. Or a flowering tree with moths?
I’m always astonished by hand-dyed fabric. It’s so versatile and offers so much to design. But I hadn’t seen it as a backdrop to a story. And that’s exactly what it did.
Which will I choose? I’m not sure yet. Normally I’m drawn to color. But there’s something fabulous about that winter moon. And while I work on it, perhaps it will tell me its story.
I’ve been rethinking how I usually make my dragonflies for my quilt Great Blue. I picked up some new research books and I was struck how very transparent and translucent their wings were. How could I do that?
Dissolvable stabilizer really is transparent and has that look. But it’s made to dissolve if it gets wet. I can’t promise that won’t ever happen. Humidity itself might dissolve the stabilizer.
I’m pretty sure Saran Wrap would tear. Sure enough not to try it.
I I have used organza or lace. It’s a neat look and I like it. But I wanted a more integrated stitched effect. I wanted them to appear to be see-through.
So I thought about it in terms of thread choices. I love Madeira Supertwist. It’s my go-to metallic thread. There are several color ranges. One range is of solid metallic colors. But one of the color ranges is opalescent and crystal. It’s translucent in itself. So I used it in the transparent part of the wings, and the metallic parts in the exoskeleton of the dragonflies.
It doesn’t look transparent exactly. It looks reflective, like glass or water. Not quite what I had in mind, but I think it does the job.
Here’s the difference. This bug is out of solid metallic thread. It makes a bolder statement, more like an exoskeleton than like see-through wings.
All stitchery is a gigo proposition. Good things in, Good things out. When you use excellent threads and get excellent although sometimes unexpected results. I’m going to try these crystalline threads in other ways where I want a translucent look.
In the next weeks, I intend to preview my new Stitch Vocabulary Book. It’s a classroom book to go with the Stitch Vocabulary Book Class. It’s a series of exercises to help you build up your free-motion skills. It’s also a sewn and bound record of your experimenting. The first page explores straight stitch.
A word about where this book is in production. I’m working on it in a daily way, and I’m sharing that with you. It is a work in process. If you are worried about my spelling, rest assured that I have people who help me with that. But if something doesn’t make sense or isn’t helpful, I really need to know.
I’m having trouble with the photos. But I promised to show you as I’m working. So please be patient. Right now I’m working on content.
This book is to go with a class at Gems of the Prairie Quilt Guild, May 3rd and 4th. They are currently sighing people up for class.
So here are pages from the introduction and the first exercise on Straight Stitch.
Introduction
Straight Stitch
Next week I’ll show you the exercise for Zigzag stitching. I’ve created a page on my site for more information, patterns and handouts for the Stitch Vocabulary Book.
I tend to learn about things when I’m neck-deep in a mess trying to rescue something that has just gone pear-shaped. It becomes a puzzle to solve. Sometimes I get a great solution that I use after that for that issue. Sometimes it’s more of a bandaid and it becomes something I regularly work on remedying, hoping for the right answer. Often there are many answers that vary their results enough to be used periodically.
But it isn’t like I did the piece just to learn something, usually. I get an idea. I create my creature, and then I build his or her world around them. It’s like dancing to a different tune each time. The answers aren’t always the same. But they push you further.
But classroom is different. Classes get divided into process classes and project classes. Most people like a project class. They get to see a lot of techniques, and they get to incorporate them into their piece.
But that’s a lot of pressure to put on one day. Most of my work involves hundreds of processes in one small piece. I am happy to show them all in class. Sometimes that’s what students want. Sometimes they want to create something to take home. Sometimes, sadly, they don’t get as far along as they would like with their project.
So I developed my Stitch Vocabulary Book class. It started with the stitch vocabulary I did in most classes. I’d have students doodle, draw, work with zigzag, stipple, do garnet stitch and sign their name on a 9″ square of cotton. That really includes almost all the techniques I do. After that, they could use that square or another one to practice or try something else.
Straight Stitch
Bobbin Work
The Stitch Vocabulary Book class is 5 squares. It includes Straight Stitch, Zigzag Stitch, Bobbin Work, Soft Edge Applique, Hard Edge Applique, Couching, Beading, and Globbing. Because it’s all small squares of fabric, it can be bound together with bias tape into a reference book for your studio. And you can write your notes on the stabilizer on the back.
Soft Edge Applique
I will be teaching the Stitch Vocabulary Book Class for Gems of the Prairie, May 4th, in Peoria, IL. To honor that, I’m putting together a little classroom booklet on the class to go with it. It will be available in early May for sale.
Classroom booklets are another part of process-learning. Rather than being galleries of work, they are crammed with information, directions, and advice. I much prefer them to handouts, because they’re pretty, they’re concise and they aren’t just white paper.
So if you learn best from learning processes or if you’re more satisfied with a product this booklet should open some amazing new doors for you, for you to explore in your own work.
I will be previewing some of the work on the book on my website. If you’re taking my class in Peoria, it will be a fun sneak peek. But if you’re just hungry to learn new free-motion skills, it’s an easy no-risk way to explore what is possible. I’ll add new sections as I get them done, and some extra resource bits to help.
