Needle Me

They say to quilt is human and to finish devine ... and I find that to be true. I have to admit that I start more projects than I finish, however well intended I believe I am.  My studio, like many of my comrades, is filed with UFO's, fabric I just had to have ... and of course tons of wool.  But, as you see pictured here, I have finally finished my tree of life, and what a journey it has been.

I started this quilt in a class at the Elly Sienkiewicz Appliqué Academy in February of 2007. The instructor, Judy Severson, is a marvelous designer of broderie purse appliqué and I had always wanted to make her tree of life design.  When it came up again on the schedule, I signed right up completely ready for the adventure.

Broderie purse is a form of appliqué which became popular in the 17th century when fabric was hard to come by.  When Chintz fabrics were bought they were shared between needleworkers who cut the flowers from their backgrounds and stitched them to plain muslim fabric in order to stretch the yardage.  It seems that economics will often push people to be innovative and creative, and this is what happened with broderie purse. In French "broderie perse" means Persian embroidery, but it also came to refer to the lovely appliqué of printed chintz flowers and other motifs onto a solid fabric. Early examples of broderie purse have been discovered in India, but it became popular in the US in the colonies.

Once in class, I had plenty of fabrics and set off to designing my tree using batiks on a warm beige background fabric that incorporated some greens and browns.  Of the fabrics I brought to class, I had leaves, flowers, and a variety of earth tones for the rocky mound and the tree branches.  Once the class was over it took me months to locate other fabrics to breathe life into my quilt including birds, bugs, butterflies, crawly things and the like.  When the design was complete I had used 18 fabrics to craft the quilt and all the appliqué was done using silk thread and straw needle in the style called "needle turn". When I was almost finished with the appliqué, I was so familar with the color palette that I actually bought the batik fabrics for the borders without the quilt, and they matched perfectly.

After the appliqué was complete I had to decide on the quilting.  Many quilters use shadow quilting, but I was never a fan.  I set out to use a contrasting grid set on point to offer an angular change from the soft curves of the flowers and leaves. I have to say it pleases me ... and this is where my friend Helene would say "It doesn't take much" and naturally, I agree ... it doesn't.

For those of you who are interested in learning this technique, I recommend the appliqué academy and hightly recommend Judy Severson. Learn more at http://www.ellysienkiewicz.com

Happy Stitching!

I have just returned from Sackville NB, Canada where I was fortunate enough to be on the faculty of the Embroiderer’s Association of Canada’s Annual Seminar sponsored by the Maritime Region. My class consisted of a talented group of stitchers with amazing skill in their hands and minds. I had a wonderful experience teaching them my Harvest Penny Rug.

The right tool for the perfect job … that’s my motto and each time I teach a class or even sew with my friends, I promote this idea. The first tool of hand sewing is a good pair of glasses, maybe you are ok with sewing through the bifocal portion of your eyeglasses … well, not me! I have a more than a few pair of the really “mean” drug store glasses and use different magnifications for different tasks. I use 3.0 when I hand sew and appliqué, I use a 2.5 when I am at the sewing machine … and a 1.50 when I’m cutting. Yes, the glasses are all over the house and studio, but to see well is to sew well.
Let’s talk about lighting. I find that lighting your hand sewing is critical in providing the ability to stitch well, stitch even and to develop rhythm. I use an Ott High Definition Task Lamp when I am seated at a table sewing or embroidering. It is a great light for 2 reasons; one, it lights only your work and can be adjusted lower or higher to eliminate reflections on your eyeglasses or other light sources in the room; and two, you can easily close it when it’s not in use and the florescent bulb seems to last forever. When I move from the studio to the living room to sew, I have a great task floor lamp with a halogen bulb and a movable snake neck that I am able to position perfectly to light just the fabric I am sewing, not above my head where the light would reflect off of my eyeglasses. In addition to these lights, I have a portable Ott lamp that is light weight, fits in my stitching bag easily, and I take it when I travel or stitch with friends to be sure I have adequate lighting.
Ott lights are available at JoAnn stores in a variety of sizes.

As always … Happy Stitching!