Day: December 2, 2007

What comes next

December 2, 2007

SharonB over at In a minute ago is taking Take a Stitch Tuesday on to the next thing. During 2007 she demonstrated a hand embroidery stitch each Tuesday, and people who were playing along took that stitch and made a small sampler or piece from it. While I don’t do much hand
embroidery, I really enjoyed seeing what others did while beating a
stitch to death each week.

For 2008, she’ll be organizing the Take it Further Challenge.  For Take it Further she is planning on issuing a challenge and a set of colors each month, and we can do with those what we will. Media and materials are up to the participants. I am guessing many people will be interested in some of the alternatives she mentions (paper, collage, quilting as well as hand and machine embroidery) or will incorporate several different things. Interim reports and final photos will be posted on Flickr and in our blogs. She will keep a list so you can see how (and what) others are doing with the challenge.

I am looking forward to working larger and for longer. The Journal pages this year felt really huge after postcards, but I am thinking of going (gasp) even bigger – possibly up to 12×18" or even 18×24" to give me enough room to explore these things. I have thoughts for several series that I might use as starting points for the challenges Sharon posts.

Dec 2

December 2, 2007


Dec 2
Originally uploaded by Dancing Crow.

I was pleased with this one until I saw it next to the one from yesterday, and realized how similar they are. I was trying to get a more raggedy edge on the light blue under the greeny-blue silk. I rubbed and scruffled it pretty hard with a stiff brush, but it does not ravel as sweetly as the silk chiffon layer on the Last Brown Postcard.  I need some more different colors of silk chiffon, even if it is a giant pain to sew with.

Cathy and I went down to Osgoods this afternoon, amid all the pre-storm barking (Ah! Ah! snow! snow! bark! bark! – peeps, it is New England in Winter. Duh.) I needed swatches of white stretchy material for a commissioned costume. The performer wants a white body suit to dye in an ombre pattern, and three mutually exclusive choices in sleeves, shoulders and back. So we’ll figure it all out, and with any luck she will be both covered and thrilled.

We stopped at B&N on the way home for tea and some books. I got Terry Pratchett, filling in holes in our collection. She was finding Christmas presents in a very efficient way. We sat in the craft department for a while looking at things. There are a lot of knitting books. There are a lot of beginning sewing books. There are a lot of "don’t be scared, it isn’t that hard" books. There were very few that were interesting enough to bring home. Mostly I need to make things, use stuff up, practice techniques I have only read about, not bring home any more eye candy. I can sit and read the eye candy and then leave it there. That is my new plan, anyhow.