Batwoman

I can't get the Batman theme music out of my head as I write thing...but don't worry, I have resisted adding the music :)

I think she turned out pretty good. I debated fancy stitches, but I do so like the simplicity of the backstitch. And since her hair is not Poison Ivy wild, there was no need to get all fancy there.

The darker blue background works too. Gives it that dark shadowy edge. And her boots & belt really pop!

And I finished off the I Read Banned Books (design by Urban Threads). I am on the fence about painting the hoop. And if so, what color?

WIPadeedoodah

WIPadeeaaa...my oh my what a very full day...s

Okay, I was close. But dayS it is, plural. I got myself a big 'ol batch of embroidery hooplas ready to stitch up & go.

I should finish this one off tonight. It's another fab piece from Urban Threads. I tried to make the chain links just wonky enough to look banged up. I also plan to print up a list of the top 100 banned books to go with it :) Hubby & I decided to get a copy of them for a shelf here...although we may already have quite a few :P

And this is what's to come. I know you can't exactly see just what it is that will be stitched...except for that front piece. I took the image from a statue. I of course now want the statue, but after I saw some of Harley & Ivy...well, I only have so much space for such things. I may just draw or stitch them for my own walls someday. Much more room on the walls than horizontal surfaces :P

Anyway... I think you can get an idea of the volume. There are some smaller hoops hiding in there as well.

Wish me luck :) I hope to complete one every other day. It may be a bit too ambitious with the new job and all. What? New job you say? Why yes, new job :)

Biohazard

Another Urban Threads design! I had a hard time deciding some things with this one. Do I fill in the yellow bits? Paint inside the orange circle and bits? Barbed wire - which color? As you can see, I skipped the filling in of parts. Actually, I did start to fill in the yellow and took it out. Didn't care for it. The barbed wire became a compromise...4 grey and 2 black strands :) You can see it better in the angled pic below...

Have you peeked at my shop lately? I have started adding my embroidery pieces :) Yippee!

Fight Like a Girl

Another fab design by Urban Threads. This time, I may keep it for myself.

Now these wings. Yikes. Have you ever used metallic or pearl essence embroidery floss? Not fun. It is so stiff and the strands do not like to stay together. And at the point of the needle's eye it sort of shreds. But it looks so cute and sparkly :)

She may become part of my gym bag. Or I might just wait and make another since I still have to make the gym bag itself :P

Zombie Hand

I am trying to decide if I am done with this piece or not. It is another Urban Threads design...a zombie hand. I like the puce green cotton background - it sets the old and decaying stage rather well I think. The only glitch was the lighter colored stitching. The yellow nails and off white bone bits did not show up well initially. Solution - fabric paint to fill in those areas. Perfect.

So why am I not sure if I am done or not? Well the blank spaces above and below the hand call out "caption" to me. But what? My first thought was ultra cheesy: "Zombies, always willing to lend a hand". Hubby's idea: "Let your fingers do the walking". Since our oldest did not know what that was referring to, I think that idea is out.

So, any ideas?

Peace Dove

I finished another embroidery piece. I love this one. The design is from one of my fave places - Urban Threads. My son helped me pick out the colors. I am not sure if you can tell in the picture, but the blue is a blendy color.

The hoop is a 10 incher, so it is a nice size. And the time it took to embroider matches the larger size. In total, about 6 hours. Am I slow? I don't think so, but I do get distracted by everyone around me.

btw...the background fabric looks odd because it is wet. I used a water erase pen to draw out the design...and got too impatient to wait for it to dry to take a picture.

I liked it so much I went searching Peace Doves on Etsy and made a treasury blog post

A New Bag...For Me!

I don't make as many things for myself anymore. So when I sat down to my machine the other day, I decided it was time.
I had one embroidered piece that was a bit small for a large messenger bag or pillow. The fabric piece it was on was quite large since I was not sure what I was going to create. I decided on a bag for myself. I have had the pieces cut for a while now, but kept putting it off to make stuff for other people.I have a new idea for a tab closure that incorporates an area for holding credit cards...okay, it's not "new" new, but it is for me to make. The front of my bag was kind of a trial run for a card holder design. It sort of worked. I left this one kind of raw on the edges...a look I tend to prefer. Which is a good thing since this bag was made sans pattern & had many portions that needed tweaking. And I like the resulting look...but I do know that if I make this for others I will have to do without the visible contrast stitching & patched in piecing.

The inside has a back wall zippered pocket, which I have not yet even used :P A clasp hanging on the side for my keys...this does get used. Always easy to retrieve my keys now. And there is a diving wall to, well, divide my stuff. I like to put my receipts, coupons & notepad in the front.

I had some fun with the flap closure. My messenger bags have the typical clasp & D-ring. This one just called out "key" to me. I have a few old keys around for other project ideas & decided to use one. If I make this again, I will make the strap portion thinner or at least slipperier so it is easier to slide through.

September Challenge Days 7 & 8

Once again, I post one of them a day late...but the other is the day of, so not too bad. Actually, by the time this is done, it will be the next day (which is the way I assumed each post would be).

Day 7 had a bit of a cheat to it because I prepped the embroidery piece quite some time ago. It's a design by Urban Threads...my fave :) And I started it during the craft show. But since I am sick, I am cutting myself some slack. I hope you will too *bats eyelashes*.


The color isn't so great on this one, but the detail came out good. The "net" on the front of the dirigible was fun because I wanted it to look kind of loose, so I was able to get "sloppy" on purpose :)

Day 8 was from a tutorial in that notebook I showed you last time. Sort of. I always change things up a bit. This tute was used more as a check to see if I was making it correctly...as in the way my mind saw it before I ever saw how it's supposed to be made. The tute itself was written very nicely (you can find it here on Making It Fun/Star Dust Shoes along with many other great tutes). It is a simple soft basket using quilted batting for the innards. I, however, did not have any quilted batting on hand, so I kind of quilted some soft interfacing onto the exterior fabric. I do like how it turned out. Now to figure out what to do with it...keep or give?

....check out Peacocks and Dragonflies to see where she is on her OADCC...
...she's the one that got me into this :)

Wordless Wednesday (well, almost)

hand embroidered by me...design by Urban Threads

Wordless Wednesday

latest embroidery project...design by Urban Threads