Slow Stitching Collages

As some of you know, I really hate being bored. I have to have a project of some kind to work on or all I do is watch TV and no one wants that, especially me. Or, I spend too much time in Pinterest which, in this case, actually turned out to be a good thing. I saw some fabric collages that some folks had made and it made me want to make some of my own, but with my own spin on it of course.

This was the first one. I loved it while I was working on it but, since I’m a process crafter and not a project crafter, once it was done, I didn’t like it. It was okay but I needed something else.

Again, I loved it while I was working on it, but when I was done… I think you can see the pattern here. I like the ribbon rose and the three dangly bells. But I needed another one…

This one I actually still like even if it’s done. I think. It might not be done. Something still nags at me so I’ll have to stare at it for a while and see if anything comes to me. I like the visual texture of the vertical ribbon and I love the cat-on-the-moon charm. (Sadly, my photos could be better. Sorry.)

I sewed all of these on a linen background and I think that may have been a mistake. Linen, as most people know, wrinkles horribly and it’s not so easy to iron out the wrinkles around beads, silk roses, and silk embroidery thread. I managed to remember about the silk floss and didn’t use it in this next, and last, one.

By the time I was about half way through this one, I was starting to get bored with the whole process. These managed to distract me for almost a week. Time to start looking again.

I made five in total but that wellspring has run dry. Translation: I’m bored with it. So it’s back to Pinterest and too much TV for a bit until something else calls to me. I have a couple of quilting projects that are spiking my curiosity so those might be next. I also have three in-process quilts that need to be finished. Unfortunately for those quilts, the new ideas are speaking louder than the three quilts that are currently sitting in time out.

Last week, I went to the Sewing Expo in Novi, MI. I took two classes: the first was about using your machine’s walking foot for quilting more than just straight lines. I really enjoyed the class, taught by master quilter Catherine Redford. Sadly, my machine as home wouldn’t do the stitches I enjoyed the look of the most. The Berninas we used did a great serpentine stitch that, when stitched side by side, looked really cool. Someday I might buy myself a Bernina, but today is not that day.

The second class I took was stitching beads on fabric (I read clothing) and quilts. I probably shouldn’t have signed up for this one since I’ve been doing bead embroidery off and on for years. The one thing I learned that was new was couching or tacking beading down to a curved shape. That one was incredibly fiddly but looked so cool when it was stitched. Thank you, Catherine, but teaching such fun classes!

(By the way, this entire post has been typed on my fabulous new keyboard that I’ve hooked up to my laptop. It’s a gaming keyboard and as such, it has fabulous key action! I haven’t used an actual keyboard in a while and I’d forgotten how much nicer it is to compose on one than it is to compose on my laptop’s keyboard. Thanks, Ames!)