Chevron Stitch

My ongoing project this year ... TAST = Take a Stitch Tuesday.  The featured stitch from the sixth week (yes, I'm racing to catch up -- at least a little bit ...) is the Chevron Stitch.

The Chevron Stitch is an easy stitch and so very geometric, yet fun to twist into a freeform style too, although I kept to a fairly tame meandering as you can see above.  My favorite version is to stack the stitches (the blue above).  Click here to go directly to SharonB's Stitch Dictionary, Cretan Stitch entry. Click here to see the original challenge post on the Pintangle blog.


Take a Stitch Tuesday (TAST), is an annual challenge hosted by Sharon B from her website Pin Tangle. Click here (for the beginning of the 2012 TAST Challenge).   Join in anytime for a year of fun stitching ....or follow the many participants (found in the comment section of any featured stitch post) to see where our Tuesday Stitchings have taken us

OR   

You can follow me on my blog.

Click TAST to see just my stitching posts.

If you enjoy embroidery, or wish to learn more about many stitches (from the history to a step-by-step how-to) click here for Sharon B's Stitch Dictionary.  

Albert Einstein

When I started stitching my earliest "Take a Stitch Tuesday" pieces, I decided to make a stitchery-roll (my version of SharonB's original "For the Love of Stitching Sampler Band" - click here to see her's in an "on-going project state").  Then I came across this quote by Albert Einstein, and I knew it would be the first 'extra' to be included in my short-but-growing stitchery-roll.

I admit, I was surprised how long it took to stitch this short quote!  But here it is, finished, photographed and ready to be shared with you (and eventually sewn to my growing roll).

Now I must select another 'extra' to add to my stitchery sampler.


P.S.  Click here to see the beginning of my stitchery roll.  Click here to follow my ongoing stitch samplers for this year's TAST challenge.

a new "Call for Artists"

Copper Shade Tree has featured fiber artists and their creations every February since 2007.  I was honored to be included in their first two fiber art shows featuring Beyond the Borders, my art quilt bee.

Time has come to think about entering "The Art in Fiber 2013" , a juried show.  More exciting news:  the juror for the 2013 show is the one and only Karey Bresenhan (one of the founders of the International Quilt Market and Festival, among other accolades).  

Check  http://www.coppershadetree.com/ (Copper Shade Tree's website) for details on submitting artwork.  "A View from my Window" is the theme for this year's show with a deadline of Sunday, October 13, 2012 to submit art by.

Hmmm, I wonder if I have time to create a new and impressive piece to enter this year?  Or rather, I wonder who will be juried into this show?  I can hardly wait to see (especially if it includes me) .....



P.S.  My very first blog entry talks a little about the first show.  Click here to read that long ago story of mine ....

Texas Quilt Museum

An enjoyable day-trip from Houston (or Austin or San Antonio or other locales in-between) is to La Grange, Texas.  Why, you might wonder?

 To visit the best little quilt museum in Texas, of course!

Texas Quilt Museum, La Grange, Texas

This museum opened in 2012 and is located in the heart of La Grange in a beautifully restored 1890s building (originally a furniture store).  It is simply wonderful.  I visited for the first time recently and now am wondering what took me so long. 

The exhibit I saw with my friend is the third installment of "Texas Quilts Today" featuring quilts from Lone Stars III.  I wish now that I had not missed the first two exhibits of the quilts from this book. I may have to go back to see this exhibit again before it closes on September 30, 2012.  For more information, the museum's website is http://www.texasquiltmuseum.org

After soaking up the visual eye candy of these wonderful quilts, you may be hungry for lunch. My favorite lunch spot in La Grange is Weikel's Bakery.   I love their sandwiches and always take home a loaf of fresh bread (or two)!

As you head for home, you may enjoy a stop at All Around the Block Quilt Shop in Giddings (they have a fabulous fabric selection and patterns and notions too) or Copper Shade Tree Gallery in Round Top (they have "a delightful collection of decorative and functional crafts, all handmade by Texas artisans").

I hope you enjoy your day-trip as much as I did.  I'm already planning a return trip .... soon!

Herringbone Stitch

Where does the time fly to?   I finished this piece ages ago, even took the picture some time back, but I am just now getting it uploaded to share with you....

At long last, here is my Herringbone Stitch sampler, part of my ongoing (perpetually behind) Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge.

This stitch was featured in the fifth week of TAST.  I enjoy starting off with a classic simple Herringbone, then test it with a meandering wandering style.  It is fun and will be a nice addition to my growing stitch repertoire.  To learn how to do this stitch, please click here (a direct link to Herringbone in Sharon B's Stitch Dictionary - a wonderful resource for all stitchers!)


Take a Stitch Tuesday (TAST), an annual challenge hosted by Sharon B of Pin Tangle fame.  Join in anytime for a year of fun stitching ....or follow the many participants (found in the comment section of any featured stitch post) to see where our Tuesday Stitchings have taken us.  Of course you can always follow my sporadic work here on my blog -- click my TAST label to cut straight to my posts.

If you enjoy embroidery, or would like to learn more about the many stitches (from their history to a step-by-step how-to) click here for Sharon B's Stitch Dictionary home page.  She has compiled an amazing compendium of information and fabulous photographs!

ready to trade

Tomorrow is the day ...

that I trade my 3" hourglass blocks with the others in my Block Builders Bee.  I'm looking forward to seeing the new blocks that will soon belong to me.  I even have a few tiny ideas of how I plan to piece them together into a quilt.

Question for the mathematicians and quilters out there:  if I made between 250 and 300 blocks (3" finished), how large will the quilt be that I make with these blocks?

Answer:  it really depends on how I plan to piece them together -- will I be adding other blocks or other fabrics, or making a design that uses the hourglass blocks from this trade (and nothing else).

The true answer is that I won't really know until I see the blocks that I receive in this trade -- and also until I start playing with the blocks.  Could be I will finally really need to set up a design wall somewhere .......

Of course, if I don't have enough to make a large quilt, I can always make a table runner or two.

Do you have a favorite way to piece hourglass blocks together into a finished quilt?

Hourglass blocks

These are my hourglass blocks, ready for Wednesday's trade.  I'm thrilled that I have them finished so early (DAYS before the official deadline!)

Have I mentioned that I have rejoined the Block Builders Bee - one of the many bees affiliated with the Quilt Guild of Greater Houston (QGGH).  We make and trade blocks four times a year, have lottery blocks to make (hoping to win the entire batch) in the other months, and enjoy everyone's Show-n-Tell while we stitch and chat together, after sharing a pot-luck lunch.  Oh and there are side trades set up by individuals too.

The quilt blocks above are for a trade that Lynn Brown initiated and I'm glad I was able to join it.  I made over 200 of these hourglass blocks -- can you tell what size they are?  want to make a guess?