Assisi Embroidery: A Simple Rose

Here is my current sample for Assisi embroidery. I traced a rose from my sketchbook and outlined it with black back stitches; then added variegated back stitches to the background.

Another TAST Blast from the Past

I found another 2007 embroidery sample that is (kind of) Assisi-esque. Here, rows of linked double chain stitches were used to fill the negative space.

Assisi Stitch, Sorta...

I was wondering how to approach this month’s stitch and remembered that I had made up (during the TAST challenge in 2007) a quick little sample of an oak leaf with the shape voided and the background filled with twisted satin stitches.

Eastern Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo silvestris)

This is the first time we ever saw wild turkeys in the backyard. They seemed pretty oblivious to being watched. Years ago, when we were really struggling to make ends meet, DH was offered a lucrative photography assignment at a turkey processing plant. As an ethical vegetarian, he couldn’t accept the job… That’s one of the reasons why I love him so much!

Jeepers Creepers!

Here is another combination of felt and trellis stitch. I lightly needle felted the eye shape, iris and pupil to the felt background; then worked several rows of trellis stitch over the top to create the dimensional eyelids.

Mon Chapeau

Well, Annie Whitsed issued a trellis stitch hat challenge and I just had to join in. This is my tribute to red hat ladies, everywhere. The brim flips up all around so I tacked it down in the front. I didn’t have any red silk ribbon, so I made a bow of narrow satin ribbon and tacked it to the back.

By the way, a few years ago, before I ever knew what blogs were, I had a few embroidery and crazy quilt sites saved to my favorites. Annie’s website was one of them. Lots of inspiration there…

Spiral Trellis Stitch

I’m on a bit of a felt kick, lately. I wanted to try the spiral trellis stitch as a flower center. I love how it stands up really well off the surface. It will come in very handy for stitching all sorts of flowers, real and imaginary.

Another Trellis Leaf

This time, I cut out the center of the felt leaf and embroidered the trellis stitch inside the open space. I'm still having trouble with uniformity of stitches, but I'm having fun, anyway...

First Try at Trellis Stitch

I cut a simple felt leaf shape in half and lightly needlefelted it to my base fabric. Then I outlined all the edges with chain stitches. The upper half was done in size 3 perle cotton; the lower half in size 5. I see possibilities with this stitch but, whew, it’s gonna take some practice…

Back to the Stitch Along Sampler

I made a little more progress on the chain stitch portion of my band sampler. Here, I stitched a floral motif inspired by a charming book I received for Christmas, Felt Wee Folk, by Sally Mavor. I used oyster stitches (my favorite chain stitch variation) to make the flowers and buds. Embroidering on felt is pure joy…

Scratched Out...

I finally filled in the remaining spaces in my little chicken scratch sampler. I thoroughly enjoyed playing with this – and I’ve only just begun to scratch the surface. The possibilities are limitless!

Briar’s Mom, Mary Frances

Mary Frances is recovering from her spaying operation. She had some complications. One ovary was tiny and dislocated, so a long incision had to be made just to find it! Also, in her abdomen, there were two calcified masses that had to be removed and sent to a lab for analysis. It turns out that she had an ectopic pregnancy. The vet said it was a good thing we had rescued her because another pregnancy would have been dangerous for her.

After spending a small fortune on her (and worrying for a week that the growths might be cancerous tumors) you’d think she would appreciate us but she doesn’t. She just hisses and spits at us and treats us with utter disdain. We have to wear gloves to handle her and she bites right through them. Ah, but look how pretty she is. It’s so sad that no one treasured her or even wanted her when she was a kitten. How I wish people understood the vital importance of spaying and neutering pets…

Only Just Beginning to Scratch the Surface…

So far I’ve just created rows of stitching with space between each row. I thought it might be fun to start to fill in those spaces. What I like is how the single mass of stitching is beginning to look like a lace overlay. It is also pleasant to the touch.

Briar Sleeping

It’s hard to believe that this gentle, affectionate little angel is the offspring of a feral cat. Doesn’t he look like he could just sprout wings and a halo?

Flying Chicken Scratch…

This quick and simple border design was made up of fly stitches.

It’s Just a Scratch…

Chicken Scratch Fever...

In this row, I played with floral and geometric shapes.

Still Scratchin'...

I think the most fun about chicken scratch embroidery is seeing designs emerge from the interplay of simple stitches and the background fabric. This row looks like some sort of alien hieroglyphics.

More Chicken Scratchin’

Here’s a quick and simple fill design with lacing.

First Attempt at Chicken Scratch Embroidery...

Well, I wasn’t planning on joining the Stitch Explorer Challenge this year – but I just couldn’t resist, especially since the first stitch was chicken scratch – something I’d wanted to try for quite some time. This is my first stab at it – and I might be hooked!