New Friends, Finishes, and Getting Ready

This post is a little bit of this and that as I (Kara) wrap up my to-do list before I head stateside in just a few days for the Academy of Appliqué. It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks, with a visit to Switzerland to see our nephew defend his thesis and a visit north to Heidelberg to share our needle book with a lovely bunch of ladies at the Hearts and Castles Quilt Guild. Their president, Gaby, invited me up to teach the needle book and to share some of my antique quilts. 

Stitching away!

Hard at work cutting their pieces out.

It was great to see the ladies put their own spin on the stitches and the color placement!

Isn't this a fun background!

Branching out with her stitches.

Two people even finished their covers in class.

This awesome group was so kind and generous! From the delicious potluck to some lovely gifts, the whole day was a special treat. One of the ladies even wrote a blog about the day, and you can read it HERE. It is in German, but if you open it up in Google Chrome, it should translate it for you.

The spread of food!

This pillow cover is made by stitchers in Bethlehem and was a wonderful and unexpected gift!

After this class, it was time to get back to the grind and finish up some details before I head west. When I put together our mushroom wreath last June, I knew that the moss should be wool, so I thought I would wet-felt green moss. It turned out exactly as I hoped, but fast-forward to kitting time, and I realized I needed to make a lot more!

Ready to get wet.

Time to get rolling!

The finished product.

Some other projects that need to be completed were a few sample boards for some of the ribbons and fibers we will be selling. I was able to complete two out of the three—one for seam binding ribbon and one for wired ribbon. 

Seam binding is so versatile!

Pansy

Anemone

Ruffled Flower

Spiderweb rose and leaf

So many different flowers can be made with wired ribbon,

I had hoped to get our Fraktur quilt top finished, but alas, I ran out of time. Finishing the hand quilting on the Flora and Fauna quilt was another project that didn't meet the deadline. Frustrating to say the least, but as I was putting some things away, I came across a block that only needed about an hours work to get it to the completed stage. It wasn't a priority, but I just wanted to say I finished something this week. It is a miniature version of our Floral Elegance block that we will be teaching this September at Baltimore on the Prairie. 

There are a lot of textures in this block.

Bias silk, seam binding and wired ribbon are used
for the flowers.

Hooray! A finish!

There are still a few days left for a few more finishes, but only so much of the day can be spent stitching when life's details call—dogs need to be walked, husband fed, house cleaned, and maybe I should pack, too! I have to remind myself that it's about the journey and not just the finish, although a maid sure could help!

Library Candy

We live in a digital age which is quite convenient in many ways—especially when it comes to books. I (Kara) read exclusively on my Ipad for a multitude of reasons; one of which is the fact that my eyesight is not what it used to be and I can make the print as large as I want. Another reason is that my husband got tired of having me pack heavy books when we would go on vacation. But as easy as it is to get digital books these days, I will always buy the paper version when it comes to stitching. Seeing beautiful pictures of embroidery, quilting, and other needlework just isn't the same when I am looking at them on my electronic device. Two of my most recent purchases were first seen on Mary Corbet's site Needle n' Thread. Mary does a very thorough review of the books and I was smitten with these both.

The first is Di van Niekerk's The Art of Felting and Silk Ribbon Embroidery. Wool and ribbon are two of my favorite things so this purchase was a no brainer. The book is laid out well and the projects are just fantastic. I was really interested in learning how to wet felt and I wanted to make moss for one of the Woodland Reverie blocks we will be teaching at the Academy of Appliqué in Williamsburg, Virginia next March. The instructions were very clear and with a little trial and error, I was able to achieve the desired result.

My felted wool 

Another look

My finished moss!

Wet felting instructions

Let me mention again how gorgeous the projects are! The ribbon work is amazing and the felted wool and ribbon complement one another so well.

The supply list is quite thorough.

Clear instructions for the ribbon fuchsia

If you go to Di van Niekerk's website you can even purchase kits for some of the projects. I loved how inspirational this book was and it will definitely be used for more than learning how to wet felt.

Another book that I recently purchased was Chloe Giordano's The Embroidered Art of Chloe Giordano. When Mary Corbet posted the review on her site, I immediately pre-ordered it. Chloe's embroidered animals are a delight to view and it was interesting to read how she stepped into the world of embroidery.

The cover itself is captivating.

The book tells Chloe's embroidery story and the techniques she developed to achieve her vision. She uses sewing thread to create beautiful woodland animals and gives them such life!

The beginning of a sweet fawn.

I love the vines and flowers.

This fox is precious!

This book is going on my coffee table just so I can pick it up from time to time to be inspired. You can learn more about Chloe on her website: Chloe Giordano.

It's always fun to add to one's stitching library whether it is for learning something new or just  for gazing at another creator's inspirational work. Have you read any new stitching books lately? If so, let us know so we can read them too!

To read Mary Corbet's book reviews, please click on the links below:

The Art of Felting and Silk Ribbon Embroidery

The Embroidered Art of Chloe Giordano