Cross Rice Boss

Just a quick post today. I enjoyed doing this week's TAST stitches - but it was very time consuming!

It's hard to believe that we are in week 38 this week...and I'm still going. I'm really enjoying the weekly challenge and almost keeping up. I've skipped a few stitches and still plan to catch up with them sometime soon. Those I have skipped are: cretan, crossed buttonhole, crested chain, shisha (to get the hang of it!) and this week's stitch, which is knotted buttonhole band.

Rockpool swirls

This is the picture of the amazing rockpool I saw near Port Stephens in New South Wales - north of Sydney.

Don't the colours and shapes sing! I love the way the seaweed floats to the surface and the shapes of the seaweed echo the sea-snail trails on the orange sandstone. You can feel the movement of the wind and water just by looking at it.

Wouldn't it make an amazing embroidery?!

Cable Chain Seaweed

As soon as Sharon B suggested this cable chain for this week's TAST challenge, I thought of seaweed. You know, that one that bursts when you stand on it on the beach. As a kid it was a regular beach activity, along with rock-pooling and building sandcastles. I like to think of it as an old fashioned version of the bubble wrap! In England there is one called bladder wrack (great name isn't it?). There seem to be lots of different types - the ones when I was growing up were muted green and browns.

I found a fantastic set of rock pools last year near Port Stephens in New South Wales, just up the coast from Sydney that would make an intriguing embroidery. I'll put the picture in the next post to do it justice!

I have always loved rock pools and still they are my favourite thing at the beach - only now I take my camera. I can spend hours looking into them to see what is caught by the tide and hiding in a corner. A whole world in a pool of water...

Shishas, Scrolls and Portugese Stems

I really enjoyed scroll stitch and portugese stem. Once you get the hang of them you could go for miles! They make lovely textured lines and I could see them being used in a thicker thread for some realy punchy height. Top picture - on handprinted calico.

The shisha stitch is one I have wanted to learn for ages. So I was delighted when Sharon B (InAMinuteAgo) made it the TAST stitch of the week. My first feeble effort is shown above. I will have another go and hopefully have more success. It is on a base of free machine embroidery over threads, sari yarn and fabric snips (which were originally on soluble fabric).

I'm looking forward to next week already!

Catching up with life...Starry Doodle Cloth

Where is the time going? Have I said that before?!

The new job is going fine - but I am struggling to keep up with my creative hobbies.

So I am multiplying stitches for TAST. I like the idea of a doodle-cloth and have done a starry one to learn single stitches. I may add to it, if I think other stitches will work in a star shape.

So this one has basque stitch, wheatsheaf stitch, lazy daisy, half chevron and some cross stitch variations...

I just love orange and turquoise together!

Rocky Inspirations - the whole piece

This is the full piece. I was thinking of rocky textures, of lichen, moss and rock surfaces. Hopefully, this piece has that feel.

I couldn't have done this without learning the TAST stitches - most are new to me each week and I am enjoying the ride. For this I used a variety of TAST stitches so far: french knots, bullion knots, arrowhead, long and short stitch, cast on stitch, buttonhole wheels, wheat sheaf stitch and a few others...the details are in the pictures in previous entries.

I have just got Beaney and Littlejohn's Trees as a Theme book - so bark and tree inspirations next, I think! I've got this amazing photo of the inside of a tree fern...

Inspired by rocky textures

Catching up on TAST stitches - inspired by lichens and rocky textures. This is a combination of buttonhole wheels, with french knots, bullion knots, cast on stitches and some wheatear stitches. The background fabric is machine stitched cotton, with melted painted Tyvek and throwers silk waste for texture. This is the last corner of my larger piece, which I will post soon.