Artistic Gardens

 Some days ago, I joined Kathy Seaman Shaw 's Artistic Gardens course. Few years back, I had done a couple of her other courses and I really enjoyed the new learning and finishing each task and there by gaining knowledge and confidence.  Needless to say, this course too was fun and packed with new learnings like trying out freezer paper, art supplies on the fabric, painting the background, weaving techniques, burden stitch, embroidering wee little garden creatures, narrating a story through painting and embroidery, embroidering hair.  Thankyou Kathy for offering this course.  Without this course, I would never have tried out these new things.

Task 1 was organising the supplies.  I had most of them handy in my craft shelf apart from the freezer paper, which I ordered and got it in few days time.

Task 2 involved using art supplies on the fabric.

This one was done with crayons

This one was done by using water colors

This one was done with oil pastels.

This one was done with fabric paints.

This one was done with color pencils.

Task 3  involved playing around with fabric paints and freezer paper masks.

Task 4 involved stitching on these painted backgrounds with feather stitches.

Task 5 involved simple garden scences.  To pique the interest of the viewer, I added a small snail in between the bushes. 

Here, I added a tiny spider busy weaving its web.

Task 6 involved a weaving sampler followed by the creation of Topiary with weaving stiches and burden stitches.

Task 7 included a garden visitor.The hair is embroidered with  the Turkey stitch .  For the dress I used fabric glue and stuck the fabric in place and a couple of straight stitches for the belt. The little girl is very careful not to step on the tiny lady bug, patiently waiting for the lady bug to cross the garden pathway. :)-

Task 8 involved creating flowers with simple straight stitches and French knots. 

Squirrels bury nuts to prepare for the cold weather, as the availability of food is limited during winters.  If this squirrel named Ojoe forgets the hiding place, Would you be kind enough to remind him that he buried it in between  the plants Kumquat (orange flowers) and Chinese Forget-me-not (blue flowers)?

TAST 48 & Beyond TAST 48

 TAST 48 - Rice Stitch

  Its time to say good bye to TAST 2020  as this stitch is the last one .  TAST 2020 played a major role in uplifting me during Covid - 19 lock downs.  Looking at the  TAST stitches on Tuesday mornings, was a ritual I enjoyed thoroughly this year.

My sincere thanks to Sharon Boggon of PinTangle for hosting TAST 2020. 

Rice stitch is mainly a canvas stitch.  Two different variations of the Rice Stitch has been worked in the below sample.   I tried adding some beads as well.

BEYOND TAST 48 - Woven Trellis Stitch

This stitch makes beautiful flowers , especially while using thicker threads like Perl 5. The white flower is done with Perl cotton and  the dark pink flower is made using all 6 strands of the embroidery floss.  

TAST 45 & BEYOND TAST 45

 TAST 45 - RAISED CROSS STITCH FLOWER

This is a new stitch to practice.  Such an easy and beautiful flower stitch.   I tried doing this with Perle #5 ,6 strands of anchor embroidery floss and also with  2mm and 4 mm silk ribbons .  As the name suggests, this is a raised stitch and has a texture .

                                                    

BEYOND TAST 45 - Closed Base Woven Picot & Open Base Woven Picot

I have admired this stitch before but this is the first time I tried to stitch.  I wanted to stitch a beautiful sun flower with dark and light shades of yellow color of all the 6 strands of the  floss.  I set out to draw a big sun flower and started with this stitch with much anticipation.   I was able to create only  a narrow and ugly set of petals with this woven picot stitches.  This ugly petals then gave me the freedom to try out each petal with different thread - I have used perle #5, tatting thread, 6 strand embroidery floss and crochet cotton thread (whatever was available in my stash) 

 I should have drawn the petals in a much smaller size.  Though my hands were itching, to cut all the petals and restart from drawing a small sun flower, I decided against it.  This sample will surely keep reminding me to draw small flowers while using this stitch in my future projects.   

TAST 38 & BEYOND TAST 38

 TAST 38  - Woven CROSS STITCH

This is a new stitch for me.  Its a simple, easy and fun to work stitch.   This stitch would look pretty when worked on an aida cloth.  This stitch creates the effect of stitching a small flower.  The foundation for this stitch is the regular cross stitch.

 BEYOND TAST 38 -  CHAINED CROSS STITCH

This is a new stitch to learn this week.  Its a very simple stitch - a combination of cross stitch and the chain 

stitch.  This stitch can be used to create decorative edgings.

                        

TAST 37 & BEYOND TAST 37

 TAST 37 - WHIPPED WHEEL

 This stitch is also known as Ribbed spider wheel stitch.  This is one of my favourite stitches.  This starts with a foundation of fly stitch (fly stitch can also be replaced with straight stitches towards the centre of the circle).  In my sample, I tried working this stitch with stranded cotton, thicker perl cotton and thin perl cotton threads.  The purple wheel is worked with all the 6 strands of anchor stranded cotton.

BEYOND TAST 37 - WHIPPED SPOKE STITCH

This stitch is also called as woven filling stitch.  It was really fun and easy to experiment with this stitch. 

The first row is worked with thicker perl cotton thread for weaving .  In the second row, I tried this stitch with a little curved line which did not yield the desired results.  I guess , working the spokes a little closer would have helped.  The third row is done with all the 6 strands of varigated cotton embroidery floss and I have used French knots to fill the centre of the circle. 

                                                           

TAST 36 & BEYOND TAST 36

 TAST 36 - FEATHERED CHAIN STITCH

Feathered chain stitch is derived from Chain stitch and in appearance it can be compared to the zig zag chain stitch.  This is a variation of long tail Chain stitch.

In the first row, I worked the stitch with a single color.

In the second row of my sampler, initially I worked this stitch with yellow color, followed by working this stitch in red color, in between the spaces created by the yellow color stitches.

In the third row ,  I have packed the stitches with 4 different colors to give a dense appearance ,as if the bark of a tree entwined in the fall color leaves before shedding them.  I have used light green, dark green, red and golden colors here.

BEYOND TAST 36 - Long Tail Chain Stitch

This is derived from Chain Stitch . As the name suggests, this stitch is tied with a long tail of the chain stitch.  This can be used to create patterns, by varying the number ,length and direction of the stitches.  

TAST 33 & BEYOND TAST 33

 TAST 33 - Cloud Filling stitch

This is one more new stitch for me to learn .  As the name suggests this is a filling stitch and it is fun to do.

I should be careful with the stitch tension  as pulling it too tight results in a flat stitch (as seen in the first row)  instead of curving shapes.

                                                        

BEYOND TAST 33 - Slipped Detached Chain (Tulip Stitch)

This is a great and such a lovely stitch to learn.  As the name suggests, this creates Tulip kind of shapes and is adaptable for creating beautiful petals and leaves.  

My inspiration for the sampler, came from my imagination.  I imagined myself walking along the path of a beautiful and colorful Tulip garden.

TAST 32 & BEYOND TAST 32

 TAST 32 - Alternating Up and Down Buttonhole

This stitch is derived from buttonhole stitch and in particular from Up and Down Buttonhole.  I was wondering about such a long name for this stitch.  Can you believe this stitch has totally 30 alphabets in its spelling.  :)-.  Anyhow the stitch is not too complex to learn.  I tried to adapt this stitch for floral elements like stems by slightly varying the direction 

BEYOND TAST 32 - Triple Chain stitch

Though this is a new stitch, it was fun , easy and simple to learn.  This is derived from the Chain stitch family.  Therefore it follows the curve very well.  This can be used as a decorative stitch with beads for Crazy Quilt Seam Treatment.  This stitch very well adapts itself in creating floral elements like vines and stems.  

TAST 31 & BEYOND TAST 31

 TAST 31 - Woven Detached Chain

As the name suggests this stitch is derived from detached chain (or lazy daisy stitch).  But this creates a textured shape and this makes it suitable for floral elements like flower petals and leaves.  I

  In some of the Indian households, there is a  bunting made of green plastic  with pictures of  Gods and Goddesses and this is hung on the house entrances. The bunting picture is below. 

  This was my inspiration in creating this sampler and I wanted my stitched bunting to have the  the fall colors. :)-

                                                       

BEYOND TAST 31 - Woven Zig Zag chain 

As the name suggests this stitch is derived from Zig Zag chain stitch and it creates a textured stitch.

  

TAST 25 & Beyond TAST 25

 TAST 25 - FERN STITCH

Fern Stitch is a simple and fun stitch , but gives great results, especially for creating floral displays in embroidery.   I tried creating a floral bouquet and included fern stitch as a part of it.   There is a beaded version of this Fern Stitch , which I would try out sometime later.

BEYOND TAST 25 -  Zig Zag Coral Stitch

I  did not try this stitch out and I skipped it,

TAST 19 & BEYOND TAST 19

 TAST 19 - OYSTER STITCH

This is a new stitch to learn for me.  This is like a textured chain stitch that can follow the curve well.  This can be stitched as independent one (resembles  detached chain with a texture ) or consecutively in a line or following a curve.  This creates textured petals and leaves.  

                                                      

BEYOND TAST 19 - Beaded Oyster Stitch

This is the beaded version of the oyster stitch.  This stitch is best suited as an Edging stitch.    

                                                   

TAST 17 & BEYOND TAST 17

 TAST 17 - Bullion Knot

This is one of my favorite stitches.  Though, the working of this stitch is a bit on the "Not so easy" side, once we get it  right, this stitch is such a beautiful one and we will be using this quite often.

This stitch creates a textured effect on the surface of the fabric.  This is a pretty  stitch for creating roses .  Varigated thread colors bring out much more beauty in these bullion roses.  I have tried creating bullion roses, bullion rose bud , a CQ seam treatment  combining bullion knots and feather stitch and some flowers.  

                                           

BEYOND TAST 17  - Buttonhole Picot

I skipped this stitch challenge , as the stitch was not that appealing to me.  I did not find any unique visual differentiation between this and Buttonhole stitch.

TAST 13 & BEYOND TAST 13

 TAST 13 -  Buttonhole Wheel

This is one of my favorite stitches.   A very simple and quick one, useful in creating flowers and leaves.  This stitch can be used to create circle, semi circle, quarter circles which can be used as a pretty crazy quilting seam treatment when combined with other stitches.

BEYOND TAST 13 - Buttonhole wheel cup.

This stitch is an extension of Buttonhole wheel.  A foundation is made with a buttonhole wheel, followed by working the button hole stitch in the outer edge.  These buttonhole stitches can be stitched , more than once to create beautiful textured stitch.

 

TAST 12 & BEYOND TAST 12

 TAST 12 - CRETAN STITCH

Cretan Stitch is one of the beginner stitches.  

In the first row, I have worked a row of Cretan stitches followed by second row of cretan stitches by turning the fabric upside down and aligning the stitches, to give the appearance of the hexagon shape

In the second row, I have tried to stack cretan stitches one row upon the other.

In the third row, the cretan stitches are worked with long arms, to contain in between cretan stitches with a different color thread

In the fourth row, the sizes of the cretan stitches are varied according to the design line.

Cretan stitches are also used in Crazy Quilting Seam Treatments.

BEYOND TAST 12 - Looped Cretan Stitch

A new stitch for me to learn.  Happy to get introduced to this stitch.  I tried to add beads in this stitch.  Floral and leafy wines can be created with this stitch.

TAST 11 & BEYOND TAST 11

 TAST 11 - French Knot

I love French Knots so much.. I find this stitch  easier to do.  I love to run over my hands on this textured french knots and feel them.  Few years back, I had seen an embroidered garden entirely worked out of French knots..  This memory became the inspiration behind my french knot sampler.  I have used different colors of anchor stranded cotton floss and DMC perl cotton thread.  Some of the knots are made with a single wrap, most of them are made with two wraps and very few of them with three wraps.  I was indeed happy to look at my finished french knot sampler .

                                       

BEYOND TAST 11 -  PISTIL STITCH

This stitch is just the same as the French Knot, but with the addition of little tail to the knot.   I tried pistil stitch and created a small mandala.  

TAST 7 & BEYOND TAST 7

 TAST 7 - DETACHED CHAIN STITCH

This stitch is also known as Lazy Daisy Stitch.  It works very well and fast in creating the flowers in embroidery.  The tension of the thread is the important factor which determines the shape of the petal.  As per my observations, perl cotton thread creates beautiful stitches & flowers rather than using stranded cotton floss for this stitch.  

In the first row, I tried working 5 petal shaped followers.  The second row depicts the usage of this stitch in creating "the butterfly".   Third row is the trial of creating a 4 petals shaped flower.  A seed can be added at the tip of a long straight stitch in between the gaps of these flowers to depict a beautiful Crazy Quilt Seam Treatment.  The 4th row depicts the usage of this stitch in creating a floral spray.  In this floral spray, both the leaves and the flowers are worked with this same stitch.   

BEYOND TAST 7 - BARRED CHAIN & ALTERNATING BARRED CHAIN

This stitch belongs to the chain stitch family.  This stitch is suitable for working the thorny stems of the garden.  

TAST 6 & BEYOND TAST 6

 TAST 6 -  Herringbone Stitch

I get reminded of the English alphabet "X" whenever I do this herringbone stitch.  Its a simple stitch, yet can be applied in various ways.  This stitch can be stacked rows upon rows to create a geometrically pleasing design.  The length of the stitch can be varied to create a different appearance and application of the stitch.  This stitch could be worked for the petals of the flowers.In kutch work embroidery, this stitch is widely used.I tried to couch down blue satin ribbon with this stich.

BEYOND TAST 6 - Raised Close HerringBone

I learnt this new stitch very easily from the tutorial at pintangle.  I tried creating leaves with this stich, which turned out beautifully.  I tried to even use this stitch in geometrical shapes like triangle and semi circle.  This stitch creates a beautiful texture and fills up the design area quickly.  I will be using this stitch more often going forward.

                                                          

TAST 5 & BEYOND TAST 5

 TAST 5 - FEATHER stitch.

This is a simple stitch, yet such a beautiful stitch.  This stitch can be used to depict under sea scenes, especially coral reef.  Also, some flower like stitches or seed beads can be added to the tip, to depict garden related foliage.

BEYOND TAST 5 - FEATHER AND CHAIN STITCH

Though, this stitch is new to me, it can be used in the same ways like the feather stitch, mainly for the wines,roots or twigs in the gardens, or for the coral reefs under the sea