Loopy lace Pg 3 -

Page 3 was made by "Vonraj", who used an image as a source of inspiration in her digitizing software. The image was digitized a number of different ways including fill stitches, lined stitches & patterned lines. All the pieces were then pieced together into a crazy patchworked effect of a mini quilt.

Loopy Lace Page 2

Pg 2 of my book was made by Marj Long. Clip art icons were played with in a drawing program so they overlapped. The image was then digitized & stitched onto tulle, which was then applied to black felt. The background was scrunched paper that had been printed with a scanned lace image. Other lace motifs were stitched onto felt & cut out with a soldering iron, then placed around the edge of the background.

Scanned images printed onto coloured paper as well as playing with a soldering iron are two textile encounters I have yet to try.

Loopy Lace Page 1

Page one of my book "Loopy Lace" was my first attempt at creating a piece of digitized lace. I'd wanted to create a hexagon background but everything I tried ended up with massive amounts of jump stitches that were too small & tedious to remove. Then there was the problem of the lace actually holding together once the water soluble fabric was dissolved. I ended up with just rectangles that were copied, pasted, & rotated. Not what I wanted but it worked.

The coloured sections were me having fun in my drawing program again, playing with circles & what I could do with them, elongating, rotating etc. Once the basic "petal" shape was achieved, it was imported into my digitizing program where I used a kaleidoscope tool to create the 7 petals. The fun part was making the machine stop stitching so I could change the colours. This had to be done in my program or I would end up with a single coloured piece of lace. Something else I had to work out.

The lace itself is mounted into a piece of painted card (not seen here) so that it could be added as a page to my book.

I might also add here that I am closer now to achieving my digitized hexagon background. What wonderful help the internet can be.

A Fabric Book Cover

Over the last few days I have been having a discussion with one of my on-line stitching friends in England. Mandy is making book pages & I promised I would show her the pages I received in a past RR. When I went looking, I realized that this RR happened way back in 2005, before I even started blogging, so I thought I could reminisce a little & show you all the lovely book pages I received .

OK, the back story is I was encouraged to join my first on-line group by a real life stitching aquaintance. This group ( sadly no more) was about using computers to create textile work & sounded interesting. I had dabbled a little & could definately learn more. I had also just recently begun to play with my digitizing program, so I was hoping to use this to the max & learn as much as I could about it. When I joined the group, they were just about to start the book RR. We were to decide on a title of our book, the layout, page sizes etc, then make the cover & the first page. This was then sent to the next person on the list who would make & add in a page to suit the book, then send it on to the next person. So the process would go on until my book arrived home.

The pic above is the cover I made for my book. I used a drawing program that was compatible with my digitizing program, drew up the basic loopy lines & added lettering. I remember this was a learning curve about how to get the lettering to follow the curve of the line. Once drawn, it was then digitised & stitched onto fabric. The little dots of colour were just glued on, but the FME lace at the sides was sticthed onto water soluble fabric, dissolved & layered over another base fabric. It was one of my first attempts at FME.

Looking back, I would definatly do a better job now, but at the time I was very proud of what I had done & had learnt more about my drawing program.

A New Aquisition

Check out this new aquisition to my library. I have borrowed this book many times from the library, then last weekend a very special friend gave me my own copy. Although it's been pre-loved, the book is in excellent condition, and will now take pride & place on my own library shelf. Thank you, thank you thank you Miss R.

A Fishy Tale

My little bobbin lace fish is finally finished. He is worked in cloth stitch, with a giant spider in the center. I have used three different threads including a variegated, a plain & a metallic. He is double sided & padded with pellon & felt, covered with crystal organza. I gave him a bead for an eye so he could see when he goes travelling to Japan for exhibition later this year. If anyone is interested he can be seen unpadded here. I think he looks much more dashing with his yellow undergarments.

A Drawn Thread Challenge

Ive been playing with some more drawn thread work. This is just a snippet of a current piece. It started as a personal holiday challenge and is growing slowly. As I was packing to go away last December, I found the bag with this piece of hand dyed linen & threads inside so threw it into my sewing tin as well. The challenge to myself was to see what I could create with no reference books. So it is another work in progress, and now that I am back home with access to my own library, as well as others, it will be interesting to see how this piece grows. It has already taken on a life of it's own.

Crochet Flowers

I've been crocheting flowers for my local lace group, for "goodie" bags somewhere in the future. These are only a few of what I have done, all out of donated crochet thread, so all they have cost is my time. It's been a long time since I have done any crochet work & they were enjoyable to do, as they are so simple to make. I could manage two in a sitting, & if my hands cramped up I could change to some stitching & still feel like I had accomplished something.

Seafood Anyone?

My local lace group are busy making fish, ready for a display somewhere. (Japan I think) This is part of my effort, as there is another side to this fish yet to happen, then he is to be padded. This little fish was certainly something different for me. I had tight curves to deal with, sharp corners with sewings, adding in pairs, & brushing up on how to work a spider ( yes , it has been a while!) The thread was also a bit of a challenge. I used a variagated green crochet thread combined with a green metallic for the passives, and as always, the metallic did not want to play nice. I persevered though & this little fellow is the result.

An Award

Mandy over at Crazy Daisy has given me an award which has been a humbling experience. It is the Sunshine Award for "for bloggers whose positivity and creativity inspires others in the blogging world." There are rules of course, as with all these blog games, & I am supposed to pass it on to 12 other bloggers & leave a comment on their blog. How can I name 12? All the bloggers who inspire me are listed on my side bar under "places to visit" & there are way more than 12 over there. So, if you are reading this, & your blog is listed over on the side here, then consider yourself awarded the "Sunshine Award"

A Fabric Challenge

Back before Christmas, I was packing my stitching bag to go away on holiday. I had already packed some stitching , but thought it might be fun to add in a piece of fabric & threads to see what I could create without planning. So I went searching for a piece I knew I already had sorted complete with threads. I didn't find the piece I was looking for, but instead found the above piece of mauve linen, & yes there were threads packed in that little bag as well. OK, maybe not quite what I had in mind but the purpose was still the same, create something with given threads, no reference books & use only the knowledge I had in my head. The above pic is just a snippet of what came about. The interesting part was the discovery of what the fabric could do, the fact that it was very open & would suit Pulled Work beautifully. My knowledge of Pulled Work is very limited ( something that I intend to change in the near future), so I had to settle with my knowledge of Drawn Thread Work. Now I am back home, my Pulled Work books have come out & now I have a definate idea of what this fabric piece will end up like.

A Heart For PassionART

My first project for 2010.

The call has come out for hearts, any technique, no larger than 20cm x 20cm, embroidered on one or both sides, lightly padded for dimension & with a loop so that they can be strung.

So the above heart is my contribution. Pieced with three different fabrics, I then machine embroidered rows of hearts in red & white, layered with batting & backing, cut the heart shape, finished the edges & attached the ribbon loop.

All the completed hearts will be displayed at the PassionART Outdoor Twilight Festival on Valentines Day.

Goodies

Happy New Year to everyone. What a better way to start the year than with some goodies.

The bottom two lace bobbins are commemorative bobbins, beautifully hand painted, from an Australian lace internet group that I belong to. I've had them since before Christmas & have only just now had time to show them off. They still need spangling, something I must do soon as I am bursting at the seams to use them.

The top bobbin & the lapel pin are gifts from a visitor the we had from the USA to our small local lace group. L--- put the call out towards the end of last year to Australian lace-makers, made e-mail contact, & armed with directions, braved the public transport system to visit our small group. Shows how keen us lace makers are. We spent a wonderful afternoon with show & tell. & L---, if you are reading this, thank you so much for taking the time to visit.

Christmas, 2009 In Review & 2010 challenges

Well, this will probably be my last post until January, so I will take the time to sit back now & see what I have achieved over 2009. It really is a bit early I know, but Christmas is comming & there is much to do. I set my 2009 challenges here, whether I achieved them or not is another story.

1. The quilt - still hasn't happened, still a pile of fabric in a container under the bed. Maybe 2010.

2. The reticella - still happening. It has reached a point that it has to go in a frame. I have pulled out the frame, then promptly put it away again. At this point in time it can wait until 2010.

3. The Bedfordshire lace - has definately been happening & what a learning curve! All my samples can be viewed in amongst all my other lace here. Hopefully there will be more to come.

OK, so I may not have achieved all of my goals for 2009, but I still achieved a lot. 42 items started for the year, 33 finished, and if I put my mind to it another 6 could be finished today. That would leave only 3 left to finish. Not too bad I guess, but those three items will go on my WISP file.

So what have I got planned for 2010? The list goes like this:-

1. To cut down my WISP file of course, it grows every year. I am ashamed to say I have a list that is over 50 projects long, (that's the ones that I have actually started, not just have planned) and something needs to be done drastically. So, my goal for 2010 is to finish at least 10 of them. Besides, there is an exhibition comming up & I need something finished .

2. The quilt. I know, I know, sounding like a cracked record, but 2010 is my year for WISPs remember.

3. The Reticella, I know, another cracked record, but when you see it finished you will understand why it would take so long.

4. To pull my sewing machine out of mothballs. The poor girl has sat there most of the year just crying to be used. A good clean & oil at the beginning of the year & she will be ready to hum. I have curtains to make, safety vests to digitally embroider, boxer shorts on order, & a whole cupboard of fabrics aquired over time to make into stunning clothes for me. The latest piece (aquired yesterday on a trip to the City) is a stunning silk/linen mix in a self stripe, just beautiful.

So that is it from me for this year. I wish everyone that has taken the time to read this far a very Merry Christmas, & Happy New Year. Stay safe over the holidays, & return here next year to see what I get up to in this wonderful world of textiles.

Teneriffe Trial 3

My latest trial of Teneriffe Lace. This time I used a different set-up method using discs & pins, as well as a different thread & different pattern.

OK, my samples still need work, but in general I am getting better. This sample sits flat, which means my set-up method is stable. Yippee! It is also firm, so my thread choice is good. Yippee! What I need to work on now is pin placement & design. Precise pin placement will give a more even design, especially the picots around the edge, & design, well that is just practice isn't it?

So watch this space to see what improvements happen next.

Teneriffe Lace Sample 2

My second sample of Teneriffe lace has just been cut from it's backing. I used a different thread this time, a cotton one, which was a little better to handle than the synthetic of last time. The final product is really a bit soft & floppy, so there will be more trials with a different thread again.
I have other cotton threads that have more body than this one, so I will give them a try

I played with a different design too, only because I miscalculated with the count of my spokes, so I improvised & came up with this one. I'll have to study my design better next time & count properly.

I also took care as to how I set up my spokes this time too, making sure they were even, but the end result still ended up a little lopsided.

So the only thing to change for the next time is the set-up. I still used the hoop method that I used last time, so for my next trial I will choose something else. I am thinking about lacing the backing into a frame of some kind to help keep it tight. I'll let you all know how that works out.

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OK, forget lacing in a frame, I tried it & all I ended up with was knots. Well, maybe not forget this method all together, I just think it didn't work for me with the pattern I am trying. I have lots of spokes, therefore needed lots of thread to set them up, hence the knots. So now I am back to the drawing board with the set-up.

I've thought of pins in a lace pillow, but my lace pillow is quite large & heavy & I want this for travelling. Then I thought of a piece of polystyrene with pins & thought that the pins would drive me crazy. After all, this is a wheel shape & I would be working on the center of the wheel & I figure the pins would catch the thread constantly.

So now I am going to try something that I saw at embroidery earlier this week. A disc set up in such a way that the pins go around the edge. This looks promising, so there will be more experiments to come. Stay tuned.

Teneriffe Trials

Teneriffe lace has been one of those things that "I must do one day". This is my first attempt, and I must say not bad for a first time, though I know there is room for improvement. I have read various sources as how to set it all up, and chose a method similar to needle-lace, pattern under contact, on top of two layers of calico, all set into a hoop. I wonder if I need to re-think that. This little motif is a little lopsided, and I have put that down to a few different reasons:-

1. Fabric not taught enough in the hoop. I did notice it getting slack over time and will need to watch that in the future.

2. My tensioning is too tight, always a problem with me & needleweaving.

3. Base spokes not set up correctly, something I have to watch.

4. Type of thread could make a difference. Why did I start with such a difficult one? A nice cotton would have been much better than this synthetic.

Well, the Teneriffe Bug has well & truely bitten, so watch this space for more trials.

A New Scarf

About a month ago I was playing with a daisy wheel, one of those little wheels with spikes. Since then I have been joining them together with some crochet. It took some playing to find just the right thread to use & in the end I settled on a blue perle 8. The next problem I had was how to finish the ends. I knew I didn't want a fringe, I was sure it would not suit, so I ended up with this croched edge.

Something a little different, & something I have wanted to do one for a while. I have made the daisies many times before, but they were always white & always went into baby shawls. Then last year I spotted a shawl done with these daisies, all multi coloured, and joined together with black. I had seen the shawl from a distance, as the new proud owner showed it too her lunch friends, and immediately thought to myself " I could do.....................". Now my mind is still racing with ideas of how to use these cute little daisies.

A Quick Challenge

One of the groups I belong to decided to have a challenge. We were asked to bring along a bag with some fabric, any fabric, around fat quarter size, and more than one piece if desired, complete with our name. The challenge was then to swap the bags, and we would then have to make something usefull with the bag contents we had swapped, to give back to the person who originally gave the bag. We didn't have to use it all, and we could add anything else that we wanted.

The above covered coathanger is what I made with the fabric in my swap bag. There were three pieces of fabric, one purple & two green. As the purple was the largest piece, I used it as the main fabric. Then I used one of the greens to add a piped edge. In my calculation, purple & green need to have a third colour to make it all "sing", so I added a digitized embroidery motif in green, purple & yellow to give decoration to the front.

The motif is one that I put together with parts of a couple of different designs, so making it my own. Although I was happy with how the finished motif looked, there were lots of jump stitches and the flower section was really thick with stitches. I have made notes that if I want to stitch this design again, I would be better re-digitizing it to avoid these problems.

Overall am happy with the final product, I hope the recipient is too.

My First Bedfordshire Bookmark

One of my personal challenges this year was to start learning Bedfordshire Lace. Anyone who wants to see my progress so far can check out my bobbin lace pages.

The bookmark above is my latest attempt, and my first attempt at designing this type of lace. That is if you call it designing. It is just an edge pattern that has been mirrored with some extra tallies & plaits down the center. I also experimented with some different picots, and some DMC stranded thread. It will be a while before I use either of these elements again. I found the stranded thread a little too soft for bobbin lace, though I would not rule it out altogether as there are some great colours available. As for the picots, these were just simple ones, and I like the twisted ones I did before much better as they hold their shape better.

Anyway, the book mark is finished, and now I can move onto the next piece