I'm Going to Learn This if it Kills Me...

The needle was so rusty that it had become one with the fabric, but I'm current on my tetanus shot and got it free without puncturing myself...and then found a newer, safer needle to start the project with. 

The stitching is going quickly. I don't know if that looped stem stitch in the flowers is right, but it covers the space and doesn't look too bad. The straight stitch on the cattails is right, but I'll do it differently if there's a next time.

Embroidered Faces

Look what my mommy stitched for me when I was a baby...

If my mother hadn't made this, I'd be a little less restrained when I asked WHAT IS UP WITH THOSE EYES?!  That has got to be the poster child for creepy embroidered babies.

I'm not good with faces myself. 

Sublime Stitching has a tutorial on how to stitch small facial features with lots of tips on which stitches and how many threads to use. It's the only one I've found that's for flat embroidery and not dolls.  Now I'm thinking I should just trace some faces and play around with the details instead of letting them make or break an entire block. 

Do you have trouble with faces? Or some good tips for me?

{Throwback Thursday} This is How it Started...

Before the kids were born, I spent quite a few years working night shifts in a call center. Late at night, there were long stretches of time to fill between emergencies. I worked a lot of solo graveyard shifts and read enough books to finally discover that, even for a lifelong bookaholic, there are limits. 

Some of the operators knitted. One did needlepoint on gorgeous, impossibly expensive (for my budget at least) hand pained canvases. And at some point shortly before I quit working there, I stumbled across the kit for this embroidered angel doll.   

I can't remember where I bought it or why I bought it, but I do remember the number of hours I put in trying to get her done before Christmas (probably of  2000 or 2001.)  Now I'm trying to figure out how I managed that project, which includes stitches that I probably couldn't do today.

For Christmas that year, I asked for a needlepoint kit. Hubby bought me a counted cross-stitch kit with a gorgeous desert scene. I started it, made a complete mess of things, and gave up. But that's what led me to cross stitching... and then to knitting... and then to quilting.

{Thrift Shop Temptations} The Rest of the Embroidery

While I was writing last week's post about that delicately embroidered pillowcase, I realized something -- maybe I should have gone through the rest of the linen section to see if there was anything else by the same stitcher...

That thrift shop isn't far from home, but their parking is tricky. I left early for my pre-op appointment and was lucky enough to find a spot with enough space for the van. (Have I told you how much I hate parallel parking that thing? And how many places around here make me do it?)

These definitely weren't by my gal. I could tell that from ten feet away.

These looked right, and they had crocheted edgings. The colors looked brighter, though, and I didn't think the stitching was quite as delicate.

Then I checked the back and decided that they had to be by my gal. Except for the travelling floss between the flower centers. There is none of that on the bird pillowcase, even when she was only doing a stitch or two at a time of one color.

I still can't decide if these go together or not. Maybe the pillowcase with the bird was used and laundered more. That would explain the difference in fabric color and maybe why the colors are lighter. Maybe they were done by the same hand at different times so that explains the differences, including why the edgings are different colors. Did she start out with the perfect backs and then get a little sloppier...or did she improve with time?

Any theories?

{Thrift Shop Temptations} Vintage Embroidery

On the way back from picking up some antibiotics on Tuesday, I stopped at a thrift shop I rarely visit. Parallel parking isn't my favorite thing and there's rarely a spot unless I want to park on a side street and walk a couple of blocks. I didn't find the book I was looking for, but I did find this adorable pillow case. 

I don't buy a lot of vintage embroidery, usually because I'm too cheap and would rather spend the money on supplies to do my own stitching. But it was only fifty cents and it's got that cute embroidered edging and just look at how delicate that stitching is! I had to look twice to be sure that it really was stitching and not somehow drawn on. Most of the embroidery I see is kind of clunky.

I don't know how anyone does anything this exquisite. Look at the back!  I'm in complete and total awe of this gal's sewing skills.

The fabric is discolored, but the stains are more obvious in the pictures than they are in real life.  I'm not sure if I want to use it on my pillow or cut out the birds and incorporate them into a quilt.  For the moment, it's a nice dilemma to have.

I Hope She's Being Careful!

Looks like Thursday is the "try not to set your dress on fire" day of the weekly chore schedule. (If it makes you feel better, I found an article that says death by setting her dress on fire wasn't actually the number two cause of  death for Colonial women and another that  says women didn't dip their hems in water to keep them from igniting.)  

What I didn't find, probably because I didn't look, was a foolproof method for coming embroidery and applique. The vintage pattern I found online didn't have any instructions and the method I did use wasn't a success, probably because the details of her hat and sleeve are small. 

See the interfacing that's visible along the edges of her hat? And the way her hat looks like a sleeve but her arm is coming out of her waist? I've seen some weird quirks in vintage embroidery patterns, but I managed this problem on my own. The pattern wasn't like that. 

That's probably the best thing about projects that are destined to be used up and worn out. It doesn't matter if my results aren't perfect. It'll dry the dishes and make me smile just the same.

Another Towel That Can't Run Away

Having a kitchen towel that's stuck to the stove makes life in the kitchen much easier, especially now that I've learned the trick to making one that doesn't rely on velcro or buttons. 

The other night, I went through eight towels while making dinner. I can't explain how that happened, but it did.  Every time I reached for it, my towel was gone. I need more towels with big buttonholes in them. They're not a fool-proof system, but at least it's a bit of a hint that I AM STILL USING THIS AND DO NOT WANT YOU TO WALK OFF WITH IT...

After a trip to Hobby Lobby and a trip to Joann's, I used a coupon and bought myself a flour sack towel. Then I found another one at MECCA  for fifty cents.  When I got home and unrolled that one from its tightly taped little bundle I  found someone else's partially finished embroidery on one corner. Dang!

It was a free-hand embroidered circle with flowers. Definitely not my style and I couldn't have finished it if I wanted to, so I lopped off the stitched corner and did my own embroidery on the opposite end.

The iron-on transfer slipped and gave the spoon double lines. It doesn't show up as badly now that it's finished, but it sure was hard on my eyes while I doing the stitching.

Now I'm eyeballing my other store-bought towel and wondering if I'd rather gamble that my hand will stay steady while I trace a design or that my vintage iron-ons will do what they should.

Edited to add -- in a Facebook discussion that had nothing at all to do with embroidery, someone said that Target sold flour sack towels for a buck a piece. I got this four-pack for $3.57. They're not as huge as the ones I've bought in the past, but they're big enough to do the job. I'll let you know how they hold up.

And what I decide to stitch on them.

My Little Striped Tiger

I worried about the color choices for this one. Tigers have to have black stripes, and a pink tongue, and white-ish whiskers....but I fussed about the orange. He had to be orange enough to look like a tiger, but not like a construction cone. While I was looking for scraps to use  for his whiskers and tongue, I pulled out a skein that looked like it might work.  The picture makes it look darker than it is. In real life, it's a more of a  peachy shade.

Another Sweet Little Couple

I love these two! I think it's the way they're turned to face each other that makes me like this little block so much. There are lots of images with two smiling pieces of fruit side by side, or one chasing the other....but these little  cherries are just so sweet looking the way they're looking into each other's eyes and smiling.

It's a small image, which should help fill in space between the larger ones, and it's got more color than the endless black pieces I've been stitching. Did I mention that I love these two?

This post is linked to Vintage Embroidery Monday.

One Body Part Left

As soon as I stitch the  ribs, I'll be able to put the top together. But before I tackle that, I think I'll stitch something with some color!

The Foot

This is the only one of the anatomy books that makes me a bit squeamish. I don't want to think about those bones, especially the little toe, too much or about that spot behind the ankle. Even though I don't know what Hubby's injuries felt like, I can imagine them a little bit too vividly.

Nothing left to stitch now but the lungs and ribs...

Embroidered Anatomy

One more block stitched and three left to go.

As much as I love the way the embroidery looks on my recycled linen skirt, I can't get excited about tracing the designs. My pen skips over the rough threads and with the light box shining through it, the variations of the fabric make it tough to see what I'm doing.

I know I want to embroider on linen again in the future, but maybe next time I can find something with a smoother weave.

It's Probably Time to Come Up With a Plan

I thought I'd seen some vintage anatomy charts with decorative borders, but after searching online and coming up with nothing, I guess those were just in my imagination. I'm going to have to translate those fuzzy memories into an actual sketch on a piece of graph paper. I've still got the ribs, a foot, and the lungs to stitch, so I can keep procrastinating for a while longer.

Someone asked where I'd found the pattern for this project. It's the Anatomy Design Pack from Urban Threads, which comes in two versions, one for hand stitching and one for embroidery. There's no pattern for assembling them into a quilt, just the embroidery patterns. I usually wind up doing my own thing, so that works for me. The pattern is cheap -- $4.00 for the entire set -- and it's on sale until Tuesday night. (No affiliation, I'm just a happy customer who bought my own patterns and is trying to resist the urge to buy more before I get some of my other projects done.)

This post is linked to Patchwork Times.

Stitchy Thoughts

Honestly, I'm running out of titles for these anatomy embroidery posts and things to say about them. I still love that I'm using linen salvaged from a thrift store skirt and the way the single strand of embroidery floss looks.

Still Slowly Stitching

Hands and spines have lots of tiny little bones -- and after this, I've still got a foot and rib cage to stitch my way through.

If the finished quilt looks like what I'm picturing in my head, it'll all be worth it.

The Spine and The Brain

When I finally get that skeletal hand done, I've got more blocks ready to stitch. I love the way the finished embroidery looks on the linen, but the lines are hard to mark and harder to see.

Slow Stitching

I'm moving slowly this weekend,  hoping that if I take it easy whatever nasty bug had laid hubby low won't hit me quite as hard. Whatever it is, I've got the first stages.

Another Evening of Stitching

The embroidery has been slow lately, which is fine. I'm not in a big hurry and these pieces are interesting to stitch with all of those lines that go nowhere and the squiggles that aren't words.

It's the first time I've stitched on linen (except for cross-stitch which isn't the same thing) and the texture is making me happy. I'm using a single strand of floss to try to keep the lines delicate, also a first.

The hand is the last image I traced, so I'm going to have to pull out my light box soon.

In Love With Another New Project

This is one evening's worth of embroidery and I'm thoroughly hooked on this project. Isn't it amazing what you can do with a favorite thrift shop skirt that's got holes after too many wearings? And to make it better, I'm sure that even after doing the rest of the quilt I'll have enough linen left over for the tote bag I was originally planning.  

These are from the Anatomy design pack by Urban Threads.  I was sure my next pattern purchase would  be one of their nursery rhyme patterns, then I went to order it and saw this one. There are eight different old-timey medical illustrations and I think I've got the perfect plan for a wall hanging.

A Little More Stitching

Two more embroidered blocks to go and it's time to start piecing. I've read through the pattern and it looks like those prairie points are going to be the least of my worries.