bye bye 2016

There was no power for nine days, phone lines were not working and no internet connectivity for two weeks.Cyclone vardah had affected our telecommunications and we had lost hundreds of trees too.Most of the roads have been cleared and got intermittent power supply now.

My plan is to be more creative in 2017.I hope I'll be able to blog often and share my progress.

               

Wishing y'all a very happy,healthy,creative and prosperous new year!

Happy stitching!

Anita

white block

I've started embellishing white block #3.

Most of the white fabric that I'm using for the blocks are from my old dresses and it makes these blocks even more special because of so many wonderful memories.                              

                                 Tucks are joined with cretan stitch                    

macramé cord,bullion loop over a knot,tassel with synthetic pearls,knotted blanket and herringbone stitches                             

                              shisha framed with a tatted flower

Happy stitching!

Anita

lace

I had to switch back and forth from shuttle to needle tatting for the past couple of days.Even though it was an interesting experience I'd prefer to stick to one technique at a time.The biggest challenge while switching is to get the tension correct.                

shuttle tatted lace in progress for a lil' girl.

Happy stitching!

Anita

whitework motifs

Happy thanks giving to all my American friends!

Now that I have absolutely no pain in the wrist while holding tiny embroidery needles I'm spending more time doing embroidery and sewing.So I guess I'll be blogging regularly from now on :-)

I've made a couple of chikan embroidery motifs on a cotton dress.                  

P.S. Google says "European Union laws require you to give European Union visitors information about cookies used on your blog. In many cases, these laws also require you to obtain consent.
As a courtesy, we have added a notice on your blog to explain Google's use of certain Blogger and Google cookies, including use of Google Analytics and AdSense cookies"
But I don't see any notice and also don't remember about the cookies.Please let me know if you know how to fix this if you'd figured it out already.

Happy stitching!

Anita

small motif

It's been a while since I posted something here..I sprained my right wrist twice.I had to take it slow and recover.I was okay for a couple of days and then bad luck struck again...I dropped a pan full of hot oil and ended up with burns all over my left hand :-(.I'm okay now and getting back to normal life slowly.

I've embroidered a motif for a tiny pouch to hold prayer beads.              

Happy stitching!

Anita

needle book

A needle book for a wonderful friend who loves quilting/piecing by hand and cross stitch.                   

Happy stitching!

Anita

doilies

A couple of weeks back I was looking for some black beads in my stash closet and found some blue crochet threads inside a bead box.I absolutely have no idea why I kept threads in a bead box and felt like kicking myself .

I ended up crocheting two doilies instead of kicking myself :-)              

 

                   

I tried different settings in my camera and lighting but couldn't capture the exact blue shade...

Have a wonderful weekend!

Anita

scrap project

I've finished stitching a few counted thread patterns on single weave canvas using stranded cotton floss.                         

                   

                    

                    

                    

                   

My plan is to stitch some more patterns,then figure out how to sew these patches together and make a throw pillow or a wall panel.

It's going to be a bit challenging because of different color schemes:-)

Happy stitching!

Anita

small motifs

I've been designing and stitching small blackwork motifs for the past few months.  

               

                         

These motifs are stitched on 14ct aida with anchor floss.

Happy stitching!

Anita

Stitch tutorial - Squared palestrina stitch

Step – 1 : Bring the needle and thread up at 'a'.

Step – 2 : Go down at 'b' and come up at 'c'.

Step – 3 : Pass the needle under the diagonal stitch formed in step 2 from left to right as shown.

Step – 4 : Pass the needle under the diagonal stitch once again keeping the working thread under the needle and pull.

Step – 5 : Go back down at 'd'.

Step – 6 : A squared palestrina stitch is made.

                               This stitch can be used as an isolated stitch or for filling.If I want to replace french knots in my designs then I always go for this stitch and it works pretty well.

Happy stitching!

Anita.

lace and motifs

I had spent most of the evenings in April/May to tat 10 meters lace with #20 thread...My wonderful seamstress friend was very happy to receive it.

                 

I made a couple of motifs too :-)

                            

Happy stitching!

Anita

black 'n' white runner

a quilted runner..             

                    

It's still very hot and humid summer here in Chennai,India... about 32C at 8 pm yesterday :-( and it's really difficult to work with needle and thread …

Happy stitching!

Anita

small doily

A small shuttle tatted doily about 5” diameter with Anchor crochet cotton #20.                   

Have a wonderful and creative weekend!

Anita

Anamika

Finished all the kloster blocks and blanket stitches

                   

moving on to the fun part next i.e. cutting threads,weaving and filling stitches

Happy stitching!

Anita

coaster

a beautiful coaster..                          

I'm afraid someone will spill something over this coaster when I use..So I'm thinking of either putting it away in a drawer or frame or come up with some other idea :-)

Happy stitching!

Anita

Stitch tutorial - Fly stitch with twisted ties

An interesting variation of fly stitch tutorial for y'all.

Step 1 – Bring the needle and thread up at 'a' , go down at 'b' , come up at 'c' and keep the working thread under the needle.

Step 2 – Pull the needle and go down at 'd'.

Step 3 – Bring the needle and thread up at 'e'.

Step 4 – Pass the needle under the first tying stitch from right to left as shown.

Step 5 – Go back down to the right of the first tying stitch as shown.

Step 6 – A fly stitch with twisted ties is made.

                                    Have fun!

Anita

                                                             

roses

a bouquet of bullion roses...                   

Have a wonderful weekend!

Anita                  

Anamika & a new scarf...

It's summer here so we don't need scarves but I've gone crazy and started knitting a scarf..                   

Also I've completed the middle part of the hardanger doily Anamika..                   

Have a great weekend!

Anita

a tiny spray

I found two embroidery hoops that I'd bought many years ago when I was organizing my work space. I think they'll look good on my studio wall which needs a make over.

I've been tweaking few designs to fit the hoop this week and embroidered a small spray to fit the smallest hoop..                       

yet to do all the finishing stuff.. I'll show the finished frame another time.

Happy stitching!

Anita

Stitch tutorial - Single knotted cable chain stitch

This stitch has a wonderful texture which is what I like the most. If you want some texture then use this stitch instead of daisy or detached chain stitch.

Step 1 – Bring the needle and thread up at 'a' , go down at 'b' and come up at 'c'.

Step 2 – Make a twisted chain stitch as shown.

Step 3 – Pass the needle and thread under the stitch to your left without picking up the fabric and pull the needle.

Step 4 – Go down between 'a' and 'b' . Bring the needle and thread up slightly above 'c'.

Step 5 – Make a chain as shown.

Step 6 - Secure the chain with a tying stitch as shown.

The length of the chain stitch,both the number and length of the trying stitch can be varied to achieve a different effect.

                                                                  Hope y'all will have fun working different variations of this stitch!

Anamika

I've gone crazy and added one more project to my long WIP list..

It's a hardanger doily.                   

I've completed the outer square and part of the middle section so far.                   

I'm going to call this doily as 'Anamika' which means 'without a name'.

Happy stitching!

Anita