Sunday, February 28, 2016

Hand Stitching: The Sampler Book

Erika C. binding some of her book pages.

The final stage (Class #5) of my Hand Stitching class was to put the samples (samplers and challenges) together into a book. Since we didn't have enough time to complete the entire book during class, I wanted to make sure that students had a good start. We focused on the cover, possibilities for borders and backings, and page connections.

Erika C. stitching a border on her front cover.
Erika's book so far. Love all that yummy texture!
Ann Z. work table with book beginnings.
Ann Z. stitching together a cover mock-up.
We all agreed that one more five-hour class session would have been great and that the books might have been completed with some extra class time. We decided to set a date in June for a reunion...look for future photos of finished books then.

Lovely layers by Sarah H.
Peggy G. stitching her cover.
Peggy's outside front cover design. Love that little wool felt "pocket".
Peggy's inside front cover design.
Jan B. working on her front cover.
Jodie F's cover design. Lots of beautiful stitched details.
Judy B. attaching her cover design to a backing fabric.
Lee W. working on her cover.
Lee W. stitching on a piece.
I can't begin to tell you how much this class has meant to me! It was such an amazing experience to work with eleven eager, enthusiastic, and extremely talented students. They were so committed to the process and to each other. I look forward to teaching them again and we even talked about what a Hand Stitching 2 class might be...I'm already getting excited!

Amy L.'s front cover design. Amy took this as a correspondence course. She moved to London last year when I was in the planning stages of the class.
Amy shared this beautiful quote that really expressed the theme of her book.
Amy is hand stitching the quote to include in her book.

I'm interested in teaching a variation of this class as a week long or even a weekend workshop. If you have a fiber/quilt/stitching group that might be interested...feel free to contact me...(leave a comment).

Thanks for your comments here and on Facebook.

To see past posts about this class: Let's Get Stitching!; Hand Stitching: Pattern and Rhythm; Hand Stitching: Texture; Hand Stitching: Layers....Enjoy!!

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Hand Stitching: Layers

Peggy G.

Class #4 of my Hand Stitching class focused on Layers. Students combined stitching with applique techniques to build up their stitched pieces. Hope you enjoy viewing the rich details and use of different fabrics and textures to create these pieces all within 4" squares!

Peggy G.
Lee W. The light gray circle is all hand stitched...I thought it was printed fabric!
Judy B.
I just noticed that Peggy, Lee and Judy all have pieces with a similar format. This is fascinating to me because these are all pieces that they stitched at home, between class sessions!

Judy B.
Judy B.
Judy B.
Ann Z.
Ann Z.
Erika C.
Erika C.
Jan B.
Jan B.
Jan B.
Jan B.
Jodie F.
Jodie F. Detail. I thought this stitched fabric was a print until I looked more closely!
Jodie F. Detail of cover. I'll show the full shot in the next post.
Amy L.
Sarah H.
Sarah H. Detail. Very long Bullion knots.
Sarah H.
In the next post, students start to put their books together. Stay tuned!!

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Hand Stitching: Texture

Sarah H.

This Wednesday, was the last session of my Hand Stitching class. What an enriching experience...what a dream class! Each session was like opening a wonderful gift. Over the next few days, I'll be posting samples of work from the final three sessions, beginning with the theme of Texture. By the way, most of these pieces were stitched within a 4" square!

Sarah H.
Sarah H.
Erika C.
Erika C.
Jan B.
Jan B.
Jodie F.
Jodie F.
Amy L.
Amy L.

Lee W.
Lee W.
Peggy G.
Peggy G.
Peggy G.
Ann Z.
Next post is Layers! Stay tuned!