Bi-weekly challenge #1

Do you like to be challenged?? I do. I like to do it better today than I did yesterday. Whatever it is, I like to do it better. I'm my own challenger. I compete against myself all the time. So, I peraonally believe, to get better at something, you should challenge yourself to do it the best you can.

So every other week I thought I'd throw out a design for you to practice. You can either make it into a motif in the center of a patch, or turn it into a stitchery for a seam treatment. Whatever strikes your fancy. I'd also like to see what you do with the disigns I throw out there, so please e-mail me at kssemail@frazmtn.com and share your pictures. This is the bi-weekly design challenge #1!! Have fun!! Happy stitching to you!! I got this design form the journal I write in. It's a little doo-dad I saw in the corner of the paper.

Fairy started

She doesn't have wings yet, but I'll get them on later. Her body is made of tafeta. Her hair is done in one strand of varigated silk thread, stem stitched. I still need to embroider a lot more vines and maybe sone fire flies. And her body needs more embroidered detail. Then I can't forget the SRE and beading. Or whatever else makes me happy to sew on there. Happy stitching.

Fairy sketch

Here's a sketch I'm going to follow for a woodsy fairy/fantesy wall hanging I'm bent on doing just for the heck of it. I love her cute butt. Wish I had a butt like that. LOL!! Her body will either be applequed with the tiniest of stitches or embroidered with small stitches, too. I'm thinking I'll find a really cool fleshy-pink fabric and appleque it for her body, and then use a blue silk thread to make her hair. I always thought blue hair would be really cool. I want blue hair, but maybe I'm too old for that. Anyhow, I just wanted to share my ideas. A lot of the fulliage will be SRE and appleque, and of course, you have tohave fire flies, bugs, bunnies, and all knds of woodsy creatures. This will be a fun art project.

Related to CQ but not CQ

Some of us like to dabble here and there with other forms of textiel art. Not just CQ. And sometimes our other dabbling helps us to grow in our CQ form of art, too. Some of us do art dolls or beaded jewelery and love to appleque or tat. My favorite is folding fabric and rousching. At least, for now it is!! LOL!! This, too, can be applied to CQ

I have two two wall hangings I"m wrokingon that migh tnot be considered CQ. One is using a whipped stitch on a curved line. It's fun to whip a blanket stitch, too. Makes it look striped and twisted. I also like to whip with yard as you can see on these curved seams that I've also beaded. Very fun. Just get that yarn through the eye of a blunt headed tapestry needle and whippaway. Whip away happy stitchers!! The lumpier the better, because then you produce some nice nooks to snuggle a bead down into. Very very fun.

Another picture I've posted is of some copper etching I sewed onto some fancy fabric embellished, and then put wors on it. This piece, though small, is rather heavy and I"ll be throwing on an even heavier beaded fringe on the bottom. It should hang nicely.