TAST 34 & BEYOND TAST 34

 TAST 34 - Crossed Feather Stitch & Plaited Feather Stitch

As the name suggests, both these are derived from Feather Stitch.  Crossed & Plaited Feather stitch are almost similar, just that in Plaited Feather Stitch we take the working thread under the cross bar created by the initial set of feather stitches.These stitches can be used for Crazy Quilting Seam Treatments.

                                                        

BEYOND TAST 34 - Spiked Knotted Cable Chain.

A new stitch to learn in this series of TAST challenges.  This creates a knotted stitch and is derived from Chain stitch family.  I tried practicing this stitch in a circle.

                                                            

TAST 29 & BEYOND TAST 29

 TAST 29 - PEKINESE STITCH

I have used this stitch before and this TAST challenge is a good refresher to stitch it again .  Initially, a row of back stitches are stitched which are then laced with another thread.  While lacing the stitches, the thread tension has to be managed carefully, if pulled too tight, the beauty of this stitch is lost.  This stitch is also called as chinese stitch.  This works great as a decorative edging stitch.

 

BEYOND TAST 29 - SCROLL STITCH

This is a new stitch for me to learn in this TAST challenge.  This was very simple and easy to learn.  It creates a knotted stitch,  the effect is more spectacular when stitched with thicker threads.  This stitch follows the curve well.

                                                    

TAST 18 & BEYOND TAST 18

 TAST 18 - Arrow Stitch

A new stitch to me, but a very easy one.  This can be done vertically or horizontally.  This also can be stacked up one upon the other which would create beautiful patterns.  This stitch when combined with other stitches would make  a lovely crazy quilt seam treatment.

BEYOND TAST 18 - RAISED CHAIN

This stitch is a new one to me.   Though Sharon has listed out 2 versions of this stitch, I tried only the first version.  This is a textured  stitch.  The look and feel of this stitch is so pretty, it convinced me to try out the other version too.I will be doing this shortly.  

TAST 15 & BEYOND TAST 15

 TAST 15 -  Butterfly Chain Stitch

This is one of my least favorite stitches.  Though the working of this stitch is pretty easy and simple, I somehow struggle to make uniform stitches of same length and uniform spacing between each cluster.   May be I should mark the points in pencil before I start the stitches.

I tried to play around with different thickness of anchor stranded cotton floss and perl cotton thread in the below sample.

BEYOND TAST 15 - SPANISH FEATHER STITCH

I learnt this stitch some 10+ years ago and duly forgot the name of the stitch.  I remembered this stitch a couple of years back and wanted to stitch, but got lost , totally forgetting the name and the method of working of this stitch.  Sincere thanks to Sharon for choosing this stitch for the TAST Challenge.

I tried playing around with this stitch in stranded cotton floss and perl cotton thread in different thickness.

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 4 & BEYOND TAST 4

 TAST 4  - Stem Stitch

Stem stitch was the first ever stitch I learnt, as a beginner in embroidery .  Its an easy stitch,  and is the best stitch  to embroider the stem (as the name suggests) when the embroidery involves botanicals (trees, branches etc)

This stitch can be used as a filling stitch, as it fills the surface beautifully.  This is one of the best choice for embroidering letters & text.

I have used this stitch extensively.  So I just wanted to keep my sampler very simple.

Beyond TAST 4 - Portuguese  Stem stitch.

This stitch creates a textured,knotted stem stitch.  This stitch looks better when done in thicker threads.