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| Blossoming Spring - Japanese Crab Apple - Sheila Hudson |
The top right cluster of blossoms was the one I had to rip out last time as it was in the wrong position, so I was delighted to get that re-stitched correctly and moved on to the other two sections of blossoms to the right. There is now one more row of flowers at the top to do, as well as some sections down the right side of the tree. You can find my previous progress post here, if you want to see the difference.
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| Blossoming Spring - Close Up |
This has now out grown the hoop I was using and the fabric is too small a piece for any of my other frames to use comfortably. Therefore I will be finishing the rest of the stitching in hand. This isn't ideal as the fabric is hand dyed and can't be cleaned, as the dye isn't colour fast. I will have to be very careful not to get this dirty, she says as she remembers she left it sitting out on the bedside last night and it's still there uncovered!
Some of my readers will know that I am not a fan of putting frame clamps or hoops over stitching as I find it can mark or distort the stitches. Other than using a piece of felt under the Q-snaps clamps I have never found a solution for this problem, other than working as much of a chart as I can in hoop then finish off what's left in hand. Does anyone else have this problem or is it just me? I would love to know, so leave a comment below!
That's all for now guys, talk to you all soon.
I read somewhere that that person tacked additional fabric on and it was thus large enough for a larger frame.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment and suggestion. That is a good idea, don't know if I would do it for a small project but would be worth it for a larger one.
DeleteI use a Q snap but I place the qsnap on top of the fabric and clamp from behind. Its a little hard to describe, but the clamps rest on the back of the stitching.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment and suggestion, that's a really interesting solution. I think I will be trying that out to see what happens.
DeleteThe best way to fix squashed stitches is to wash the piece which I know you obviously can't do with this piece but for another project.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment and suggestion. I have noticed that helps with a few projects I have done. I'm just super nervous about it because when I stitched Nantucket Rose I put the clamp over some stitches at the bottom of the piece and it stretched & distorted them. Washing it didn't help but it was my own fault really as I left t in the frame way too long but now I'm paranoid about it.
DeleteBeautiful stitching and lovely colors!!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment. I'm really enjoying stitching this.
DeleteNice progress. I have always stitched in hand.
ReplyDeleteLinda
Thanks so much for your comment. I admire you for always being able to get great results stitching in hand!
DeleteGreat progress and glad it's moving along well for you! I have the same issue. Especially if there are any beads it makes it very tricky in Qsnaps. Felt is my imperfect solution as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment. Oh yeah beads make the whole thing even more difficult. I think the only way around that is using a scroll frame, which I'm not a huge fan of as I find them very awkward to hold.
DeleteLooks beautiful. How big is this gonna get, looks like a finished piece already👍
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment, It is very close to the finish now so won't get much bigger, thankfully or it wouldn't fit on the fabric I chose :D
DeleteBeautiful progress! I use the felt over my fabric on my qsnap... gentle wash or ironing on the reverse helps!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment & tips Mii. I do find that a gentle steam iron gets rid of most of the creases etc in stitching especially fold and hoop lines.
DeleteIt looks so pretty, great job on the stitching. Hope you find a way to stitch it comfortably for you.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment. I think I will just manage this one in hand and maybe try experimenting with a few techniques.
DeleteAnother lovely update
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Lesley. I'm hoping to have another update on this soon and hopefully the finish isn't too far off.
Deleteit's looking lovely! You could have stitched a border of fabric to each side so that the fabric was big enough for a frame or to use a Q snap holding only the borders, not the actual stitching piece.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment and your suggestion. That's definitely something to try out.
DeleteWith my q-snaps I use some pieces of towelling between the fabric and the plastic - the uneven texture seems to protect any stitches.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment Lesley and your suggestion. That sounds interesting, I have never used towelling with my q-snaps, only felt.
DeleteI use felt too...but tend to stitch in hand anyway. It's the way I taught myself to stitch and I have always been quicker this way.
ReplyDeleteYour tree is looking beautiful...not long now until it's finished!
Thanks so much for your comment Justine. I too learned to stitch in hand but once I started using frames I found it easier for larger projects.
DeleteHello
ReplyDeleteBeautiful stitching - very pretty x
Thanks so much for your comment. I really enjoy this project and hopefully will get some more time to work on it as I'm pretty close to finishing it.
DeleteI like how you're stitching the tree "row" by row. I'm one who bastes fabric on the edges too; whatever gets it to work in a frame/hoop/stand! I cannot stitch anything in hand unless it's verrry tiny. Could you pick up a pair of thin cotton work gloves? They'd help with finger oils.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment and suggestions. The cotton gloves is a great idea. stitching the blossoms by row is the easiest way I have found to work on this piece.
DeleteOh no, I wrote a superlong comment and now it's gone :( Here we go again...
ReplyDeleteLovely stitching, the colors are great and I agree it's a good feeling when you get something restitched after frogging it, it's like setting things back to order ;-)
I understand your problem, not being able to wash the project once I am done is one of my issued with handdyed fabric. I use scroll frames, so the stitched part is rolled up and so far I didn't have many issues with it. But I recently got my first Jobelan fabric and it's way softer and rolling up the fabric doesn't seem to be goof for the fabric, the strands just move and leave gaps (which you can fix by handy by pushing them back into place with a needle, but it's annoying), I I have to think something up. This never happened with my Lugana, so I will maybe just stick with Lugana. I usually only stitch Aida in hand, I am to afraid to damage the tension of my stitches when stitching evenweave or linen in hand. But for beading big projects, I think I will go for stitching in hand, I don't want to damage anything by rolling up the beads.
Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing your further work on the tree, so pretty =)
Thanks so much for your comment. Oh no I hate when that happens, writing a long comment and then losing it and having to re type it is the worst! I have found that some evenweaves are more difficult to work with than others, especially if they are really soft fabric. Working with hand dyed is tricky due to not being able to clean it but it's just so pretty. Hopefully this piece will be finished soon, I'm pretty close to completing it.
DeleteGorgeous progress! :D
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment. I'm quite happy with my progress on this project so far, other than the visits by the awful frog.
DeleteOh, that is looking so beautiful! I always stitch "in hand"--even on the rare larger projects. I can't stand the weight of hoops or q-snaps and I love the feeling of the fabric in my hands :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for ypur comment. Wow, I couldn't stitch an entire large project in hand, well done for managing it. I do usually end up doing some of a lot of projects in hand but I do like using frames.
DeleteWow for a piece with only a few colours that is turning out so beautifully. The shading of the blossoms is breathtaking. I'm glad you sorted out the frogging bit, it's an achievement in itself. I haven't found a problem with the distorting of the stitches for smaller pieces when using hoops or Q-snaps. But I do remove them from the hoops or snaps when I have finished stitching at the end of each session. I haven't tried stitching in hand but there is a floss tube that I watched about this and I think it looks really effective. I don't think there will be a problem for you to switch to that technique. You're such a talented stitcher, you will be great.
ReplyDeletexo Alicia
Thanks so much for your comment. I haven't really gotten into the whole flosstube thing, must check it out. The designer of this chart really made effect use of a very small number of colours. As you say the effect is really pretty and I think so delicate too.
DeleteBeautiful progress :) I don't have a suggestion since I use a scroll frame but it looks like you got a lot of good ones :)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comment. Thankfully my amazing readers always give great advise.
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