Stunning Stitches for Crazy Quilts Blog Hop!

Hello all, I am pleased to have Feeling Stitchy to be one of the last spots on the blog hop for Stunning Stitches for Crazy Quilts by Kathy Seaman Shaw! Kathy sent me a free copy of this book, as well as a digital download, so I can assure you they are both equally stunning.

Just so you know, the book link above is an Amazon Affiliate link - clicking through the link and buying costs no more for you and is one way to support our volunteer reviews.

Kathy is also doing a giveaway on this post - so stick around to win a digital copy of this truly stunning book!

Kathy Shaw teaches Crazy Quilt and Embroidery techniques on her site - you'll want to visit her for one more chance to win a copy of this book on her blog tomorrow: https://shawkl.com.

Now, some of you may be thinking - quilting? Crazy quilting? What does that have to do with embroidery? Crazy quilting remains a technique I have yet to try. But whether you are new to crazy quilting, seasoned, or have no intention of ever crazy quilting - this book is a wonderful title for you to explore!

Let's have a look inside!

One of the strengths of this book, and what I know will interest all embroiderers, are the wonderful stitch templates!

These stitch templates are easy to photocopy or print (I'll show you how I used mine later on) and they provide a very helpful framework for where your needle should go in and out of the fabric to achieve a perfect stitch.

If you are a crazy quilter - these designs can be stitched on the borders of your fabric pieces to embellish them, and Kathy gives excellent instructions on placement.

There are 36 stitch templates in all - with her directions they are all easy to achieve. I found myself drawn to stitches I had tried in the past, but wasn't happy with - like herringbone and feather stitch...

Kathy provides full instructions for using each of these stitch templates, so there is no guessing at all!

Now, here is the stunning part - using those base stitch templates, Kathy has created 480 different designs!

Each design is very carefully illustrated, and is a wonderful springboard to creativity!

For each design, Kathy includes a detailed color-coded line drawing, stitches, and suggested materials used.

There are also stitched examples so you can know exactly what your finished stitching could look like!

My stitching

I decided to explore a stitch I've never been comfortable with - feather stitch - and see if I could improve my stitching with the stitch templates...

I printed my templates on regular copy paper, then cut and taped them into place on my fabric. I used a large, thick needle to punch holes in every dot...

Then I used a chalk pencil to color in each dot on my fabric - you could also use a water soluble pen or heat erasable marker...

A few hours later, I was stunned to see the neatest feather stitches I'd ever attempted!

Then, using Kathy's seam designs as inspiration, I began adding embellishments...

Here are my three experiments with the templates - as you see I used templates 2, 3, and 4, stitching one unembellished row, and one embellished one.

I had SO MUCH FUN with this project! Now you see why I would recommend this book to any stitcher, beginning or advanced - quilter or non-quilter - there are so many different ideas contained in this book to inspire your embroidery and embellishments.

Kathy has done an incredible job with this book, and I highly recommend it - if you're looking to improve your stitching, your crazy quilting, or just looking for some creative exercises, this book will do the job!

The Giveaway!

Kathy is giving away 1 free digital download of this book to 1 lucky winner on this blog!

To enter - leave a comment on this post and tell us: are you a crazy quilter, embroiderer, neither, or both? We will draw 1 winner and announce them soon!

Book Review: All Points Patchwork by Diane Gilleland

Today I'd like to feature a wonderful book by Diane Gilleland called All Points Patchwork: English Paper Piecing beyond the Hexagon for Quilts & Small Projects. This is a book I purchased myself, and I wanted to share it with you because it is an amazing resource for English paper piecing!

Just so you know, the book link is an Amazon Affiliate link - clicking through the link and buying costs no more for you and is one way to support our volunteer reviews.

Here on Feeling Stitchy, we've been fortunate to receive many books to review over the years. Each one felt like a gift - and I will always be grateful to the authors and publishers who have shared the fruits of their hard work with us. This is not a book we received for review, but it definitely deserves a spotlight, both for the hard work of the author and the absolute gorgeousness of this book. I think it's so gorgeous - I'm giving away 2 copies!

A look at the book

I've seen many craft books over the past 13 years of craft blogging, I think I need to say this is the most beautiful craft book I have ever seen!

One of my favorite kinds of craft books is the kind that is full of life-sized images of fabrics and tools and projects - you know, the ones that make you feel like you could reach out and grab anything on the page?

The photos in this book are all like that!

Everything is so well laid out and explained - there's nothing intimidating or scary about the process - you get the feeling you are crafting with a a really patient, wonderful friend...

And the colors!

Everything just sings in this book - you get a sense of Diane's natural eye for color and print and texture.

Hexagons, diamonds, jewels, triangles, tumblers, octagons, pentagons, and curved shapes like apple cores and clamshells - this book has sections dedicated to every EPP shape you can think of, with careful explanations of how to baste each and every one...

I love how the author also takes the time to explain the basics of color value and the importance of how you lay out your patches...

There's an entire section devoted to creating your own EPP patterns, either by hand, or on computer.

One area where this book really shines is in all the possibilities it gives you - there are no set projects, per se, but just limitless explorations of everything you can do with EPP - your imagination is the only limit!

Everything is explained - even those funny little flags you see hanging off of everyone's points on Instagram - what do you do with those? Diane explains what to do with them!

Throughout the book you'll see numerous ideas, photographed so beautifully...

And no detail is too small. I really can't think of one question I had about EPP that this book did not answer...

About Diane Gilleland

You may remember Diane Gilleland from Crafty Pod, a series of podcasts she did on crafting. I am probably the only craft blogger who never listened to Diane's podcasts - I have no idea what I was doing instead of listening to Diane's podcasts, I wish they were archived so I could enjoy them as so many of you out there did! Sadly for us, Crafty Pod is no longer around, and Diane has moved on to other pursuits - but how wonderful it is that she has inspired so many of us, and has contributed 3 wonderful books, of which All Points Patchwork is one.

After writing on this blog for so long, I am starting to think about the crafty legacy Feeling Stitchy has created, and the crafty legacy I have created individually, too. It's not something I ever get much feedback about, but I'd like to think we've inspired you over the years. I've been thinking of this for awhile now, and maybe that's why I found this interview with Diane Gilleland on Crafty Planner so moving: http://www.craftyplanner.com/2016/09/26/diane-gilleland/.

In it, she talks about a few of the reasons she stopped pursuing craftiness full-time. I think it is a wonderful discussion for anyone who is thinking of pursuing crafty goals full-time to listen to. One of the major limitations on the success of full-time craft entrepreneurs, I think, is that the traditional handwork of women remains undervalued - not just by others - but also by us! One of the loveliest takeaways I got from this podcast is that we must set the terms for how we want our work, and the handwork of others (male and female) to be valued. We must decide how much time we want to dedicate to our craft, and not take less than what we know our talents are worth.

It's another reason this year, I've set out to review, purchase, and enjoy things I did not get for free. Again, I value the work of the authors and publishers who send us titles to review (I'm featuring one later this month!) but I also think it's valuable to spend my hard-earned cash on the things I enjoy, so I can contribute to their presence and hopefully keep more of their magic in this world.

For the time being, the best I can do is use this space to say thank you to everyone who enriches our community with their talent, creativity and generosity, so thank you, Diane!

Giveway!

I loved All Points Patchwork so much, that I'd like to give away 2 copies! Seriously, if you have ever thought about trying English paper piecing but didn't know where to begin, THIS is the book to buy!

The rules: Please leave a comment on this post by telling us what your favorite EPP shape is (for me, it's a tie between hexagon, pentagon, and tumbler) , and/or what YOU would make with English paper piecing (assuming you had infinite time, energy and skills of course)!

I'll leave comments up through next Monday, July 8, when I'll close them and draw 2 random winners! Everyone can enter!

Edit July 8: We have 2 winners! Will announce soon!

Book Review: Mandalas to Embroider

Hello all - here's a review I've been looking forward to doing for some time - Carina Envoldsen-Harris has created a lovely new title called Mandalas to Embroider: Kaleidoscope Stitching in a Hoop, with colorful, easy designs that can be adapted to any level of stitcher.

Just so you know, the book link above is an Amazon Affiliate link - clicking through the link and buying is one way to support our volunteer reviews.

This book is beautifully photographed, with lots of bright, compelling images of each project. Carina’s wonderful sense of color is evident throughout this book. It's a delightful book, and I recommend it to any stitcher! And stay tuned to the end of this post for a giveaway!

What's in the book

There are 24 total patterns with iron on transfers, and materials, stitch, and color guides.There are 12 large patterns made to fit in a 6 or 7 inch embroidery hoop, and 12 mini patterns for tiny Dandelyne hoops.

I love that the Table of Contents includes a visual guide of every project in the book, to pique your curiosity, and give you a clue of where you might want to start:

The intro includes a bit of info on the spiritual significance of mandalas, I must say it is wonderful that they included that, as those of us coming from another culture might be inclined to view them as merely pretty art. I appreciate that Carina takes the time to explore their significance.

There's a Materials and stitches section which walks you through each stitch used, a brief guide on hoops,  and a how-to guide for mini Dandelyne hoops, which is a lovely plus.

Pattern pages

Each pattern page includes a color line diagram, with DMC floss suggestions, a stitch guide, and a large, lovely photo of the finished piece. One thing I love about the Winter Solstice pattern, is that it incorporates DMC Coloris floss, a bright variegated floss that looks quite nice stitched up as a mandala.

Each of the mini patterns have a common theme: The Explorers, The Gardeners, and The Artists, and I love that each of the mini hoops has a female name- it gives them a nice dash of personality.

The last section in the book contains the iron on transfer patterns, and a brief guide to using them. The book also has a handy large pocket in the back for storing your cut transfers.

 

What I made

Using the transfer patterns was a breeze - I used a hot iron with no steam, ironing the front and back of the fabric first, to heat it up, then pinning the transfer face down and ironing.

The transfer lines we nice and dark, no trouble at all! I wasn't happy with size of my fabric, so I tried again, and the second transfer was just as crisp and dark - I suspect each transfer is good for many ironings:

On to my stitching - Carina's color palette was lovely, but I love to strike off on my own, so I decided to choose my own colors and stitches.

I used a thick pale blue perle cotton, and couched it down with 2 strands of pale blue floss:

Next I chose a light taupe floss, and chain stitched all the little leaves. It took awhile, but I think it paid off well in texture and interest:

Next I chose 2 nice blues, and did a combination of split stitch and chain stitch for the centers:

Next, I followed up with a split stitch in a nice bright red:

I could have repeated this same pattern for all of the cute radish-like shapes, but instead I chose to rotate all 3 colors is different combinations. Not sure if that was successful, but it was quite fun:

I again used chain stitch on the petals in the center, and large lazy daisies in the thick perle cotton. I love the texture these different weights and stitches provided:

Overall, I'm quite happy with my stitching of this project - I love that the design is simple, but you can adapt it with any stitches you'd like to try out, as well as experimentation with color.

Here are all the threads I used:

Again, I highly recommend this book - the patterns are enjoyable, intricate, and very adaptable!

The Giveaway!

Carina and her publisher kindly sent us this book for review (thank you!) and are offering 1 giveaway copy of Mandalas to Embroider to one lucky Feeling Stitchy reader! This applies to all our readers, no matter where you live!

To win, answer this question (from Carina herself): What's the stitch that you "fear" the most? I'll leave comments open through Wednesday evening (CST), June 27, when I'll close the comments and choose 1 random winner, and announce it here. Ready? Set? Go!

Featured book: the Cute Book

Here's my latest crafty find, The Cute Book. It is indeed, very cute. Our friends in Japan have discovered that we love their craft books, so I'm sure this is just the first of many Japanese craft books translated into English: yay!

There are many patterns for tiny softies, or, as the book calls them, "felt mascots". They're all a bit bizarre and fun, and include a squirrel, sprite, sheep, bunny, fish, frog and tadpole, kidnapper, liar, bad guy, panda, and a hippo-looking creature called "Pinky." (yes, I did say "kidnapper" and "liar") :)

A quirky bio at the top of every page even tells you your mascot's personality. Also many ideas of things to sew your felt mascot onto - basically everything under the sun is suggested, and you guessed it, those fuzzy guys look cute on everything. For sample pages, or to see a few felt mascots in action, visit their blog.


My one challenge when making these guys is size and my crappy sewing skills (as you can see from my lumpy efforts above). My advice is to choose a thread that blends in easily with your felt unless you are a sewing god, like for example, cupcakes for Clara... Also, if the size and tiny stitches frustrate you, march that book over to the copy machine and enlarge it! I produced a very huggable monkey that way:

Bravo Felt Mascots!