Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 84: Star Darn Stitch

We are now in the middle of winter and it is soon time for a break from school.

There will be no lessons for two weeks over Christmas and New Year, but before that, we have one last lesson in 2018, and as Christmas is approaching, how about a Star?

So the last stitch of the year will be Star Darn Stitch, which I found in Mary Thomas's Dictionary of Embroider Stitches.

It is a five-pointed star and is also known as Woven Star.

Work it like this:

Set the five points of the star.

Come out at 1

In at 2

Out at 3

 In at 1
Out at 4

Weave the working thread over and under like the picture below

In at 5

Out at 2

Weave the thread and go in at 4

Out at 3

 Weave the thread and go in at 5

You now have a beautiful star.

Homework for Friday:
Sprinkle stars on these three projects.
Hand in your last homework of the year by Friday 21st December.

Friday Homework for Lesson 83: Mennonite Tack Stitch

This stitch is easy and you will soon stitch 'fluently'.

Aida Sampler

 Sunday Stitch School Reference Chart

Teal Wool Tailoring Scribble Cloth

For this I used a lovely thread. It is a 'knitted' thread, in Japan called 'Bunka', but I got it as a gift from a friend in Australia,  and I have no idea what it is called there.
The thread is variegated and has metal fibers added. I LOVE this look!

WIPW - 14 x Turquoise

For my Work In Progress Wednesday this week, I can show a finish and some good progress.

Crazy for Crazy
Of the eight Crazy for Crazy cq blocks I have made, the one I call 'Sweet Potato and Roast Chestnuts' was by far the hardest and least enjoyable. The wine red fabric (sweet potato) and the grayish brown fabric (roast chestnut) did not offer any contrast. The brown and beige thread I started out with disappeared on the fabric. The emerald-ish teal thread looked too stark... Whatever I did felt disappointing.
Before giving up I had to do something. Finally I decided to add a few sequins and whip the Portuguese Stem Stitch with some light teal thread.

I will now call it quits and start with a new block that hopefully will be more enjoyable.

Cathedral Windows

I added 14 turquoise pieces of 'glass'. These will be on the edge/corner of the bag.

Furthermore I cut out thirteen raspberry pink pieces of marbled fabric and patterned batik, and these will be added to the empty squares. Once the bag is fully assembled these will be on the sides and the bottom of the bag.

When that is done, I can start on the back of the bag. I will make those squares and insets by machine, to try out another method.

Sunday Stitch School - Lesson 83: Mennonite Tack Stitch

There are so many things happening in December as the year comes to a close. So let's have an easy stitch this Sunday here at Sunday Stitch School.

Let's take a stitch out of Elizabeth Healey's excellent book Stitch, Fabric & Thread  -  the Mennonite Stitch.
This stitch is often used in Utility Quilting, i.e. a simple and fast way of keeping the three layers of a quilt, top, back and wadding together by stitching individual stitches on the surface and letting the thread travel inside the wadding to the next stitch.
It is a 'rough' form of quilting, but the Mennonite Tack Stitch can be used for embroidery, too.

This is how to work it:

Homework:

Add Mennonite Tacks to these three pieces.