Stencil with Thread......kinda

Actually, this post probably should have been titled "Appreciation",  I often think the best way to know if someone appreciates a gift, is to see them making use of it.

In my last post, I wrote about a wonderful gift of stencils and book that I received from Margaret Applin,  I thought you might like to see what I did with one of those stencils this weekend.

I stenciled with thread...well......not exactly, I traced the stencil outline onto black cotton and then proceeded to fill the spaces (spaces you might normally fill with paint) with a simple seed or "kantha" stitch. Another gift I won, some time ago, is a whole box full of fabulous Aurifil thread. (12 large spools of 12wt variegated lusciousness)......Yes...every bit of the gorgeous colour you see came from that one spool........heck.....even those adorable little "rabbit"scissors were a gift, they came to me from Mary over at Quilt Hollow

Aurifil Mako 12/2  Colour #4657  this one flows from white to yellow to orange to fushia....Beautiful!

We all have been given gifts in life.........use and appreciate them

Fabulous Mail!

Recently, I was the lucky, really LUCKY winner of a giveaway on Margaret Applin's blog. Not only did I win this book, Stencil Girl by Mary Beth Shaw but I also got to choose 3 of Margaret's stencils....yup, any 3 I liked. (it was a tough choice) The package arrived in the mail today and WOW! this is absolutely the BEST kind of mail!

These stencils are terrific and I can hardly wait to try some of the many fabulous techniques, this is not your average book about stenciling....not by a long shot. It is a full sized, gorgeous publication, beautifully laid out with outstanding photos, instructions and GREAT inspiration.

There are 20 contributing artists covering such an array of ways to use stencils in your art....it is making my head spin. We are talking stencils and paint....sure, but also wax, bleach, wood, fabric, metal, glitter, paper...even cake decorating......I say it is time to PLAY!!!!!

Give and Take

I am currently playing with a single motif. Using it in many different ways, I will talk more about that in the future. I thought I would show you my results, using a couple of simple techniques.

I started by drawing a feather......I cut a stencil from freezer paper

Used discharge paste (DeColourant)

 Below, is how it appeared once dry and activated with the heat of my iron

and this is what it looks like once it has been rinsed out.....Black fabrics are not truly black, You can never be sure what underlying colours may be lurking there...in this case, it was a very beautiful purple tone.

I cut another stencil, again from freezer paper. This time I used a brush and dye sticks to place colour. I used a combination of blue, black and yellow

 ......got this lovely greyed green. To get a few distinct lines, I used a piece of freezer paper to shield some areas while applying colour along it's edge.

There is LOTS of creative stuff happening, I am linking up to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Fridays, come see what others are up to....you just may find another favourite blogger

Doodles in Thread

My regular readers will know that several of my designs (doodles) were picked up by Janome and digitized for their MC9900. I talked about that here.

Well, I am so excited to tell you that those designs along with an additional (not previously shown one) have been included among the many fabulous built in designs of the newest of the Janome machines, the Horizon MC15000


This is the design I did for Janome (in ink)

and here is how it looks when stitched out....how cool is that?!!!!!

Here are the other designs of mine (in stitches) that are included on the Janome Horizon MC 15000

Linking to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Fridays

A Birthday Card

I wanted to make a special card for a friend who is going to be celebrating her 83rd birthday this week, an avid sewer and quilter, I thought she might like a card using one of my doodle/embroidery designs.

I simply took the embroidered design, backed it with thick, stiff interfacing and did some free motion quilting all around. (it really made the design "pop")

Regular card stock was used as the card "base". I trimmed the quilted embroidery design and then with a zig-zag stitch, I sewed it to the front of the folded cardstock.

A message for the inside of the card was printed on a pretty parchment looking paper and attached  by stitching along the fold on the inside.

This is such a fun and easy way to make cards for family & friends.