Certificate Module 5 Chapter 5, part 7

Today, I'm back to have another go at stuffed quilting, once again using the photo of exposed tree roots as inspiration:

5.5.1.  tree root inspiration

5.5.21  Stuffed quilting sample depicting exposed tree roots

The technique works quite well in interpreting the exposed roots but is a bit boring.  Putting in some textural stitching around the smooth padded shapes would make this sample more interesting.  A busy day meant that there wasn't time to do this today but I might add it later and post again another day.

Certificate Module 5, Chapter 5 Quilting, Padding and Stuffing, Part 6

Today, I tackled cord quilting.  In this two parallel lines of stitching are done, holding two layers of fabric together.  After stitching a blunt needle is used to thread  cord or wool through the channels thus formed.

5.5.17  Cord Quilting

It is simple to do and effective and I was pleased with this simple design .

However, the picture that inspired me was 5.5.18 below and what interested me most were the little knobbly bits on the small branches hanging down from the tree.

5.5.18

Once I had converted to greyscale (we were asked to avoid colour in this module) and homed in on the most interesting area, 5.5.19 below was the result.

5.5.19

The back of 5.5.17 was how I interpreted these knobbly bits.  In cord quilting, if a sharp bend is to be negotiated then the needle is brought out of the channel at the back of the work and then re-inserted leaving a small loop.  This makes sure that the shape of the work is not distorted and enables the turn to be negotiated.  (See 5.5.20 below.)

5.5.20 Illustration from Good Housekeeping Complete Step-by-Step Encyclopaedia of Needlecraft 

I used the technique on the back of 5.5.17 above (which was really the main side)  to represent the knobbly bits on the branches.

5.5.21 The completed sample

I have really enjoyed this form of quilting and I think I'll try some more ideas tomorrow.

Certificate Module 5 Chapter 5 Part 5 Another quilting sample

My inspiration for today's sample was a photo I took of a stone wall.

5.5.14  Stone wall

I had used Photoshop to change the mode from coloured to greyscale and to posterise the photograph to simplify it.  What I liked most was the colour variation on the stones and the texture around and between the stones and it seemed to me that trapunto quilting was ideal to portray this.

I chose for backing and top layer a thin, loosely woven cotton that had been a sheer curtain in another life.  I wanted it to be semi transparent so that the stuffing would show through.  I machine stitched around the stone shapes and filled the spaces around and between the stones with free machine embroidery.

Next I considered the filling and I decided on tea.  I opened a few teabags, a mixture of black and green tea, cut a slit in the back of each shape and filled it with tea, then stitched up the slit.

The image below, 5.5.15, shows the result.

5.5.15 after stitching and stuffing

Finally, I tried to get the effect of the variation in colour of the stones by painting over each "stone" with warm water.  Once it had dried I was a bit disappointed as the effect was too subtle and so I then tried dipping the whole sample in water and then letting it dry.  This gave a much more pleasing effect.

5.5.16

I feel that this sample makes much better use of the trapunto technique than my first attempt.  The loosely woven fabric was quite difficult to handle when stitching up the slits in the back and it was a painstakingly slow process to try to spoon the tea (using the handle end of a teaspoon) into the small shapes, but I am pleased with the results.

Certificate Module 5 Chapter 5 part 4

5.5.13 Trapunto or stuffed quilting

I'm not satisfied with today's grubby little nothing of a sample, especially in view of the many hours I spent on it!  I enjoyed the technique, stuffed quilting, otherwise known as trapunto.  Two layers of fabric are laid one on top of the other and the shape to be stuffed is outlined in stitch.  Slits are then cut in the back through which stuffing may be pushed and then the slits stitched  up.  However I think I did it in too small a scale for my large, clumsy hands and it was hard to get the stuffing inside.  One thing that helped was a little tool that used to belong to my late sister-in-law.  I don't know the original purpose of it, but it was helpful in pushing the stuffing into the shapes as well as being a nice reminder of a much loved person and her exquisite sewing.

Mystery tool which helped so much with the trapunto

The image was inspired by an unusual fungus that I saw while out for a walk.  It almost looked quilted.

unusual fungus

While it is frustrating to spend a lot of time on something which hasn't really worked, it has taught me a lot about the technique and that small intricate shapes are not the best to work with.  I think that this particular image might be better suited to a different form of quilting.  I'd like to try this technique again, using simpler, larger shapes and perhaps using machine stitching to outline the shapes since the hand sewing took a great deal of time.

I thought to start with that this sample had achieved nothing, but on reflection, I think I have learned more about the technique than if I had done a sample that worked right first time.  Failures are but learning opportunities after all.

Certificate Module 5 Part 3

Today's sample is an example of shaped quilting.  This is when the shapes used as padding are laid on the base fabric with the top fabric laid on top.  Tacking can hold the shapes in place temporarily and then stitching is done around the shapes to hold them in place.  Conventionally, felt or fleece was used but for a variation, some unconventional padding can be used, such as card,  plastic, buttons, etc.  A transparent top layer lets the padding be seen.

5.5.12  Day 3 sample: shaped quilting

In 5.5.12 above, I have used white pipe cleaners as the padding, twisted into a spiral shape and held in place by chain stitch.  I used cotton calico for the base and polyester organza for the top, so that the spirals could be seen.

More tomorrow . . .

Certificate Module 5, Chapter 5 continued.

So the second day of my challenge to myself to post something (however small) every day during September.

Still on the quilting, another way it was suggested we could vary the quilting was to use unconventional wadding and this I found quite fun.

5.5.7   uncoventional wadding

In the sample on the left, above, I used lightweight calico for the base, see through polyester organza for the top and four ladies mantle leaves for the wadding.  The transparency of the top layer meant that I could see the veins in the leaves and stitched along them with back stitch.  In the sample on the right I used the same backing and top fabric as the sample on the left, but used saved scraps of thread left over from various fringing experiments.  Here I used thick thread and stem stitch to stitch around a simple shape.

5.5.8  more unconventional wadding

In 5.5.8 above, I used fine cotton for the backing and the same polyester organza for the top fabric.  For the wadding I used a monoprint on tissue paper which I had made in chapter 1 but which had been unsatisfactory.  I scrunched it up and laid it between the top and bottom fabrics.  The print, which I'd done in black ink, showed up well and so I used black thread to stitch around the black shapes with back stitch.

5.5.9  yet more unconventional wadding

In 5.5.9 above, I used unconventional fabric for base, top and wadding.  It came from a plastic carrier bag which was translucent with black printing on it.  I used the translucent part for the top and base fabrics and cut up the black printing into random strips for the wadding.  I stitched random intersecting straight lines with black, white and silver thread.

The next type of quilting I sampled was shaped quilting which involves placing the shapes to be used as padding onto the backing fabric, laying the top fabric over this and stitching around the top and bottom layer without stitching through the shapes.

5.5.10  first shaped quilting sample

I used cardboard for the padding in 5.5.10 above, cut to the negative shapes between the branches of a tree.  I used calico for the base fabric and silk for the top,stitching around in running stitch with a fine thread.

5.5.11 second shaped quilting sample

I again used a transparent polyester organza for my second shaped quilting sample, trapping small semi-precious stones between the layers.

I have more ideas which I'd like to try for this technique but haven't had time yet to complete them all.  I have now posted all the backlog that I've been working on in free moments up till now.  I will carry on stitching and try to post one sample each day from now until the end of September.

Certificate Module 5 Chapter 5: Quilting, Padding and Stuffing

I see that it's a very long time since I posted on this blog and am keen to get going again and post regularly.

Caring for my husband while he was waiting for and recovering from a hip replacement operation has taken more out of me than I realised and I found it impossible to do any Distant Stitch work.  Even when Moray was almost fully recovered and much more independent and I at last had the time to do some creative work, I was so tired and dispirited that I had no energy or enthusiasm and all creativity seemed to have deserted me.

Everything changed when I discovered a website and Facebook group called "Kick in the Creatives" a closed group of very friendly, supportive creative people, with the aim of building a creative habit through monthly challenges.  I have managed to do a drawing or painting for each day in August, something I thought I wouldn't be able to do.  Better still, I have all my excitement and enthusiasm back. 

So I thought it was time I picked up the reins again of my Distant Stitch embroidery work.  One of September's challenges in Kick in the Creatives is to post on one's blog every day in September and I thought it might be just the stimulus I needed.  I have been working on some samples from time to time, but haven't been photographing them or posting them, so here goes.

In this Chapter, we are looking first at quilting.  Simple, traditional quilting involves three layers: a backing fabric and a top fabric sandwiching some sort of padding.  Most common nowadays is a polyester wadding purchased by the metre.  I happened to have some alpaca wadding left over from a quilt I made for my great-nephew and so I have used it for my first samples.

I looked again at the photos from Chapter 1 to give me some ideas for shapes to stitch.  I chose a photograph I took on a walk of some exposed tree roots.

5.5.1   Tree root inspiration

I tried two samples below, one outlining the shapes with running stitch and the second using backstitch.  I found that the back stitch gave a much clearer outline.

5.5.2  Two samples of traditional wadded quilting

One suggestion to add variation to this was to use stitching.  I tried it in two ways: to stitch in the positive shapes and to stitch in the background or negative shapes.  I used chain stitch in the first sample (on the left in the photograph below) following the lines of the tree roots.  In the second sample (on the right below) I used one of my favourite stitches, French knots at random within the background.

5.5.3  Stitch variations on wadded quilting

I found that I liked the effect of the French knots so much that I diverted from the samples for my own amusement and started to make a cushion using the technique.

I photocopied sections of the original photograph in 9 squares, arranged 3 by 3 and used them as a pattern.  I kept to white on white as I thought it emphasised the textures which were my main interest.

5.5.4  Cushion pattern

5.5.5  Cushion partly worked

5.5.6  Cushion detail

This I'll work on alongside my Distant Stitch work as it is something I can do while watching TV.
If I am to post every day, I'll keep back a few samples to post tomorrow.