Year of the Stitch: A Fast Finish?

When we last saw our Whimsy Lane quilt the tree bark was barely on the tree. The next step? Dress up the tree top with lots of leaves. I thought this would be a quick task and decided to time myself. And can you guess how long it took me to stitch the tree top leaves? It took 3.5 hours of stitching time.

In timing the next steps, the sidewalk and land stitching, it took another 3 to 4 hours. Lucky I enjoy stitching! Whimsy Lane #11 is finished and it’s time to move on to the next Year of the Stitch project.

And I think you’ll like my next Year of the Stitch project. This time I’m stitching for Spain!

What’s Stitching? Landscape Shapes

windycity18bHere is the next embroidery stage for my little Windy City quilt. Stitching on the focal point is complete and it is time to move on to the landscape areas around the house. I’ll start with the orange spikes in the foreground. They look like plant life to me.

windycity18cUsing a size 12 variegated pearl cotton thread, I stitch fern stitches down each orange leaf. Why use variegated thread? The shifting of the variegation adds movement to the piece and the green variegation repeats the various green colors in the fabric shapes.

A size 12 thread is also used for the green field. This thread is close in color to the field so it doesn’t draw too much attention from the house. I use it to make scattered seed stitches across the filed creating an active texture. See the pinked edges of the field? Those are outlined with a fly stitch as is the base of the orange spikes. It’s true, the fly stitch and pinked edge were made for each other.

My next challenge is how to stitch those looming purple shapes on the horizon line. Yikes! What have I done! Any ideas?

What’s Stitching? A Windy City Quilt

windycity17

Windy City #17 by Laura Wasilowski

Today I’m teaching my favorite class, Tiny Homes, at the International Quilt Festival in Houston. Why is it a favorite?

windycity17detail

About one hour into the class I see my students inventing fun and whimsical designs. These art pieces are unique to each maker and delightful to behold. I can’t wait to see what they make this year!