Sweating the small stuff....



I had a really busy weekend! Got a lot done (though none of it a "finish"), but am happy with it, starting with this little needle case I made.







I had just purchased a bunch of embroidery needles (up until now, I've been using ordinary sewing needles *le gasp!*) and thought "How the heck am I going to keep them separate?" and then of course was all "Duh, separate needlecase!"

SHINY!



Then I first did some messy hand-painting on a "failed" dyed piece, and then quilted it up as  background for a piece I have in mind. 

You may remember the photo I posted of the man feeding squirrels in the park? That one. It's smallish, 31 x 48 inches - finished, it'll probably be more like 30 x 46.  So, not very big.




A little detail of the quilting... that quilted circle is a reminder to myself of where I intend to move the bird feeder.  

You know, I often wonder why I bother quilting in such detail when I'm going to be covering almost all of it with leaves and sqiurrels and birds and bees and spiders and benches (and a bird feeder!) I should take a leaf out of Susan Shie's book and just quilt a simple 2 x 2 inch grid! Maybe I'll try that for the next one.  :)



And speaking of grids, I finally put together all those little squares I cut back in the summer (okay, not all of them - but a third of them), for the first piece in the "Three Views of A Secret" triptych, the resulting background being 58 x 44 inches. Don't expect to see this one for awhile, as I intend to quilt it by hand. (Gulp!)



I also started a "Learn how to freaking letter already!" project using Mary Corbett's tutorials.

What I've done so far are back stitch, stem stitch, whipped back stitch and buttonhole stitch - none of which are very good.

Aside: two friends of mine were talking several months ago marvelling at the fact that someone had watched a video to learn how to straight stitch and wondering who needs such a video. You know who does? This girl! lol I didn't know how to backstitch, let alone do any of those other ones).

Anyway - this isn't supposed to be pretty, at least not yet, and though I have a long way to go before I'm truly happy with my work in this respect, I am pleased that I've begun the learning process.


 

So I promptly used it on Week No. 8 of the lunchtime project (you'll remember I hadn't finished it on Friday.) So when I *did* finish it, I used a little stem stitch in this week's lettering. *meh* Not great, but a great improvement on my previous lettering.

And of course, my "learning how to letter project" is in service of "My Daddy's Shirt".  That was the project I started nearly two years ago after both my father and mother passed away within months of each other in the spring of 2012 and which I said I didn't think I was ready to make. I think I am now - or at least, I'm ready to learn how to properly letter for it. ;)

And last but not least, I was inspired to do some sketches of a new piece in what's shaping up to be a new "Little Kit" series. I'm so excited for that one, I may just drop everything else and get on it. :)

See you on Wednesday with...? I dunno! Let's see, shall we?

And what have *you* been up to? Show and tell in the comments!

Kit 120

Kit Lang

5 comments:

  1. kit, I love that you have so many things brewing at once. i work the same way and it just makes sense to me. I am especially excited to see what becomes of the squirrell man.

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  2. Geez, you are really hitting your stride! And I love that you work on several things at once. It's how I work best, but some find it weird.

    and, umm, your disco needlebook is neato! :o)

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  3. Lovely to have company on the "I'm so full of wonderful ideas I have to start them all!" ride (grin). And yes, stem stitch can be tricky around curves and in tight corners (like lettering). You're doing it very well!

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  4. IMHO, I like all the quilting on the green although it is a time and thread user!! (but it looks so nice). Looking forward to all these projects and to tell you the truth, I think the stitched lettering on your Friday piece looks really neat and well done. Isn't it wonderful having so much in "production " or at least in line for production!!!

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  5. I love the movement created by your current quilting style. Shenanigans?

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