Finally getting some stitching done!

Hello! It has been too long!!

Well, with my new job/ career blooming I am finding less and less time to make things for myself... I decided a stop needed to be put to that! I also have a bunch of projects in progress. So, as I am planning on moving into my own place over the summer I need some artiness to make it my own. Add all of this together and I have decided I need to finish my Feminist Statement quilt. I'm going to make it a wall hanging and I began by finishing my Frida Kahlo square. What do you think?

Hand embroidery on cotton. Frida Kahol painting on printable cotton.
It needs a good iron mind!!

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Women of Influence

Goodness! It has been a while since I posted but I have had so many projects, crafty and otherwise, on the go that I've got a bit behind. I've been working on family tree research, which has taken up quite a bit of my time and is very interesting. At some point I will have to share some of the best bits here. I have also been doing a little bit of stitching, the first piece of which I will share with you now.

My Women of Influence quilt square will be part of my Feminist Statement quilt.... when I finish it! It's one of those WIPs that goes on forever.... but I digress. Looking back at my childhood I have noticed many things that had shaped who I am today. Two of these things are She-Ra and Jem from Jem and the Holograms. Though both of these women are only cartoon characters I think they influenced my a lot - strong women who know what they want. She-Ra helps those in need and Jem has a fabulous wardrobe haha! So they both had to feature on my quilt. I wanted them to be on the same square as they are from the same era and the same media.

I've had the image of this square in my head and sketched out in my sketchbook for a while but finally got the chance to realise it now. I used a simple back stitch so the colours and the image itself were the main focus.

I used only three strands of thread at the most for the main outlines then striped down to one or two strands for the details and features. I'm always concerned about how facial features come out in my stitching but I think these came out ok.

This was a pretty simple embroidery piece but I think it will be one of my favourites in the quilt when it is completed!

More Jem embroidery to come!!!

God Save The Queen

I just finished another quilt square for my Feminist Statement quilt.

I wanted to include famous women on the quilt who have influenced me, the first being Elizabeth I. She was one of Britain's most successful monarchs and she always followed her own mind.

For this square I used printable fabric to include the very famous portrait of Elizabeth I by Marcus Gheeraerts. I then added a blackwork border in keeping with the period. I used a traditional blackwork pattern but had to work out how to turn the corner, which was interesting as I haven't done counted embroidery in quite some time!

I attached the border around the portrait with gold machine embroidery and then added hand embroidered tudor roses on the corners. I embroidered the roses on stitch and tear so they are slightly raised yet still part of the piece.

I'm quite proud of this square as it uses some techniques that I haven't used in quite a while and stretched my skills. I really enjoyed doing the blackwork and might have to do some more in the future.

Feminism Has Fought No Wars

I can't remember where I first saw the inspiration for this quilt square - it was either on Mr X Stitch or during a search on Flickr. Anyway, a while ago I saw this piece of embroidery based on a quote by Dale Spender from her book For The Record: The Making And Meaning of Feminist Knowledge. The Quote reads thus:

Feminism has fought no wars.
It has killed no opponents. It has set up no concentration camps, starved no enemies, practiced no cruelties.
It's battles have been for education, for the vote, for better working conditions, for safety on the streets, for childcare, for social welfare, for rape crisis centres, women's refuges, reforms in the law.

I thought the piece was beautifully executed, but most of all the quote was poignant. I decided to use it in my own way on my Feminist Statement Quilt.

Second attempt at layout

As I have mentioned before, I have read The Subversive Stitch by Rozsika Parker and was interested in the way samplers were used to 'train' women in the feminine ways. I decided to create my own sampler around the quote. I wanted to use shades of pink for the colour scheme to keep within the stereotypical feminine frame.

Work in Progress - text finished

The amount of text I was using posed a problem. I had not stitched this amount of text before and started off having trouble getting the size right. I wanted to fit the text in the space of the square, but not have it too small that when stitched it would be illegible. The piece you see here is actually my second attempt - the first having smaller text. After I had already stitched up half the text I decided it was too small to read properly. I threw it in a drawer for a few days until I could bring myself to start again. I want to do the piece right after all!

Top banner in progress

I drew out the top and bottom banners by hand, using a pattern that I felt would be thought of as 'feminine'. However, I wanted to use a few different decorative stitches on this piece. It seemed like a good opportunity to play with some new ones! I left straight lines in the design of the piece to be filled in with decorative stitches later.

Detail showing the variety of stitches

I found a couple of interesting stitches in The Embroidery Stitch Bible by Betty Barnden. I used Portugese border stitch with a backstitch through the centre and coral stitch along with my usual backstitch for the text and split stitch, whipped split stitch and satin stitch for the main borders top and bottom.

The finished piece

After a false start I like the way this piece came out. In a way it is my own training sampler. I spent time on it and forced myself to try something new instead of staying in the safe confines of the stitches I use regularly. It may not have instilled a sense of the feminine in me, but it has allowed me to explore new knowledge and skills.

Finally, my Phat Quarter Movie Swap piece was shown in this Mr X Stitch blog post... go check it out!!

I Don't Wanna Be Friends... (Free Embroidery Pattern!)

Another quilt square finished! This one is based on a doodle I did during rehearsal one day. I thought it would work well with a Lady Gaga quote so added it in. I had to add Lady Gaga to my quilt as she is the representation of personal style and theatrical fashion... plus she's a woman who doesn't give a damn what you think!

I sketched out the pattern and added the wording in Photoshop. I wanted to use a variety of stitches on this piece. Backstitch would highlight the wording and outline of the flames nicely, but I needed something feathery for the wings and something stronger for the heart.

I decided to limit the colour palette to purple black and silver to harmonise with the background fabric. I used a whipped chain stitch for the heart and long and short stitch for the wing feathers. It was my first time doing long and short stitch and it was a little difficult within the shapes of the feathers, but I think it came out pretty well!!

To fill the flames I used seed stitch in purple metallic thread. I found Thread Heaven very useful with the metallic threads! My only deviation from the colour scheme was on the crown, which needed to be gold :-)

This piece came out exactly as I pictured it in my head. I had a little accident with it when my room steward (that's a ship thing!) managed to bleach some bits of it with cleaner.... luckily the fine pink speckles are only visible to me....

Gaga is going to make a great edition to my quilt - why don't you give it a go? I've turned to doodle into an embroidery pattern which you can find in my Flickr photostream here - enjoy!

Any Which Way You Can

I finished another embroidered square for my quilt! This one is based on a lyric from the Scissor Sisters song 'Any Which Way' off of their new album 'Night Work':

"I'm gonna find that man the right shade of bottle tan, who smells like cocoa butter and cash"

I really liked the statement, a woman can go find whatever man she wants, be it a millionaire or a nuclear physicist :-)

I decided that I wanted the bronzed torso of a man in sunglasses to be the image to go with this lyric. I used orange cotton for the background to emphasise the image of a 'bottle tan'. I embroidered the lyric in complimentary metallic blue thread.

I stayed quite simple with my stitches to emphasise the lines of the body. I used an off-kilter font for the lyric to add some personality to the speaker. Satin stitching the sunglasses was the most difficult part as I needed the thread to be thin enough that it didn't overwhelm the shape, but thick enough that it filled it. I think it came out pretty well! Let me know what you think...

On another embroidery note, my Phat Quarter swap piece from Vegkat came in the mail today!! It's a quote from Pee Wee's Big Adventure and I love it!! Thanks Vegkat!!!

Ooh, That's Sublime!

Jenny Hart’s website, Sublime Stitching is having a contest called the Combo Contest. The object is to combine three of her patterns in an interesting way and produce an embroidered piece.

I have always liked Jenny’s designs and have both of her books, but have not had an opportunity to use them. This was the perfect time! Now, my embroidered piece may not be the most innovative, but it will be the springboard for something much bigger.

I chose to use the patterns Country Cool, Pinups by Gil Elvgrin and the book Embroidered Effects. I chose a cowgirl, a sailor pinup and the feather girl from the book (which I have wanted to stitch for a long time). I put them together on a 20" by 20" square with the quote ‘Well-behaved women rarely make history’. Each woman represents an aspect of myself.

The sailor pinup represents my love of nature and water and that I have been working on the sea for almost 4 years.

The feather girl represents my showgirl side, the entertainment industry that I work in and love, and the extrovert in me.

Finally, the cowgirl represents my hardworking side and my confidence.

I have decided to use this piece as the central square of an embroidered quilt that I plan to make. I need to create 20 more 10” by 10” squares all around the theme ‘Feminist Statement’. I want it to show the women and words that have influenced me throughout my life… so keep an eye out for the squares as I make them!