TAST 2012 Week 39 Knotted Buttonhole Stitch and another catch up

I actually did the Take a Stitch Tuesday for this week as well as doing week 34.  If I have time, I will do more "catch up" but my sister is in town and other things need to be done as well.

Here is Week 39:   Knotted Buttonhole Stitch

And here is Week 34:  Linked double chain

I am enjoying doing this on a regular basis again.  I was glad to finish my large project, but I will really consider well next time before I choose to make something that will take so much time.

TAST 2012 Two catch up stitches

I didn't do this week's stitch for TAST 2012, but I did do two from previous weeks: sheaf stitch from week 35 and pistil stitch from week 37.  I will try to do at least two stitch pictures each week until I have caught up.

Tree of Life project is done!

As you can see I haven't been posting any Take a Stitch Tuesday for 6 weeks.  I had to finish my Tree of Life project that was for a crazy quilting contest on Evening Star Designs.  It was to be finished by September 15th.  Well, I did it. But I couldn't have finished it without stopping TAST 2012 for awhile. But I used a number of the stitches from TAST in this quilt.

Here are some pictures of what I did:

This project is 20 inches by 24 inches.  It is mounted on foam core (I used Allison Aller's book as a reference for this).

I used my own design for the four crazy quilt blocks that I put together. The fabric around the blocks was dyed by me.  I also designed the tree that I embroidered on the blocks.

But I pretty much let the rest of the process just come together as I embellished the blocks.  I decided to keep the embellishments mostly the same color as the pieces of fabric that I used because the colors were already so vibrant. I didn't want to cover up the colors of the fabric, but I still wanted to embellish them so that they had a lot of texture.

I used lots of threads for this project (silk, rayon, wool, cotton--flat, perle, ribbon, etc.)

I used some buttons and hundreds of beads, spangles, and crystals.  It really sparkles in the light.  

I also made my own leaves using wool fabric, embroidery, and beads.  Then I attached them with more beads.

I encountered a number of problems.  Some of these I was able to fix.  Some I just have to live with.  Over all it was a great learning experience for me.

Now I can start doing TAST again!!!

TAST 2012 Week 31 Algerian eye stitch

I finished my sampler very early this week.  I thought it wouldn't take long, but it took longer than I expected.  I used lots of different threads and ribbons.  I even put my felt into a hoop for the first time--otherwise it just didn't work out.  Thanks for looking.

TAST 2012 Week 30 Oyster Stitch

I've been busy with babysitting, seeing my mom, household duties, and making a baby quilt for my 8th grandchild who will be born soon. I didn't really want to do this stitch, but once I started, I really liked it. It didn't take long to finish.

Here is my oyster stitch sampler:

TAST 2012 Week 29 Basque Stitch

It's funny how sometimes you just need to start something, and then you really enjoy what you are doing.  That was the case with the basque stitch.  I didn't really feel like doing it, but once I started I really enjoyed myself.  As you can see I really like to do floral motifs.  I used cotton perle mostly, but also some silk ribbon (2mm), wool, cotton floss, and other thread.
I also thought of making something that had to do with gears but decided to do flowers instead.

Remember that you can see other people's work by going here and checking the comments.

TAST 2012 Week 28 Up and Down Buttonhole Stitch

I finished my sample of Up and Down Buttonhole Stitch earlier than usual.  It is a nice looking stitch--but a bit confusing for me--especially the one variation I did where the 2 legs are up and then down.  I need to look at some other stitch dictionaries for instructions for that variation.

I used quite a variety of threads: wool, cotton, silk, and rayon.  I am pleased how it turned out.