The prompt for the month of May
for K3N's Coverlet of Comfort,
is"Fauna":
Any animals, birds, fish, etc.,
which remind you of a pet
or are a totem for you.
They will be each worked on
a 10" block...
**********
First I needed some tea/coffee
dyed fabrics--
I found two
old, worn damask napkins
of my Mom's and I set them up
in a dye bath of boiling water...
You can see the water darkening here
after about one hour...
I left the fabrics for about 6 hours in total,
then rinsed them out, and air dried
them overnight...
My choices for the two animals are:
an elephant and a fish.
I chose an Elephant as it reminds me of
Kota's (pictured on my sidebar)
wonderful personality.. so calm and gentle..
an all time favorite dog in our family.
And --
since we've always lived by the Ocean
I chose for my second fauna
A Fish...
**********************
First:
I freehand drew both animals
on copy paper
and
second:
I then traced them onto the
dyed cloths
which I then
invisibly basted to the
backing fabric {white}.
Just a simple line drawing to be filled in with Kantha stitching
in the coming weeks as will be demonstrated
by K3N in future Wednesday YT videos...
I worked the fish in split backstitch
using regular embroidery floss--
[I had SO much trouble with snarling,
tangling, and splitting of the two
strands that I switched over
to my favored perle cotton N0 8
for
Mme Elephante-- below]
for her. I think the heavier looking
line works well for her...
:))))
I will be using the perle cotton for
all my stitching on these two blocks.
...I am not fond
of floss at all!!
I see so many stitchers able to use
floss so well--
But
I certainly cannot...
it gives me so much "agita"!!
π½πΏπΊ
{I pull out one strand at a time,
beeswax it, straighten it etc etc
and still it won't cooperate
for me..!!}
S I G H...
****************************
It has been teeming rain here since noon;
so far we've had
0.89" and it is still really coming
down.
I do love
πππ
a rainy day...
π§π§π§
It was so nice to be stitching
and hearing the
rain...
Hugs, Julierose
La Blageuse
(still-stitching-euse)





Reading still: "The Queen of Poisons" by Robert Thorogood...
ReplyDeleteOh my ! Those are darling embroidered designs! And I love that you used your Mom's napkins. I look forward to seeing you add the decorative stitches and quilting to these cuties. They are going to be a great addition to the quilt. Have a great weekend, Julierose and Happy Mother's Day. Hugs.
ReplyDeleteThe elephant is so cute. I don't know why some things work for me and others do not. It's a good thing we have so many choices so we can figure out what works best for us. Sorry the floss gave you so much frustration
ReplyDeleteThey are wonderful! Such delightful drawings and symbolism. The damask dyed beautifully, subtle pattern and texture. I agree about floss, but have never tried perle cotton. What a fun project for this rainy day. [I am making a dolly sundress, sigh...so tiny].
ReplyDeleteThe rain has stopped tho some forecasts say more to come? My lettuces and radishes are very happy, tiny green arms reaching for the nourishing rain.
love
lizzy
Arent you clever doing all that! I always use Perle cotton too, dont like the stranded cottons.
ReplyDeleteHmmm - perhaps you could try using shorter lengths of floss? Sometimes I get lazy and try to use something that's too long and it snarls (and so do I!!). I also try to drop the needle and let the floss untwist as I work.
ReplyDeleteI like the ellie-fant and the fish - great totems to choose.
I love your drawings. I can't understand how you could just freehand them. I can barely draw a stick figure!! I really love this project.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you have a good start on this prompt.
ReplyDeletePerfect choice to go with the fish and elephant , good idea for the dyeing of the napkins also, memories. I feel that you made the best move by switching to the perle cotton for your elephant, I enjoy using the same cotton.
ReplyDeleteOh, those are such cute animals! Magpie has some great advise on the thread. I can't wait to see the next addition on these. So fun. Enjoy the raindrops on the roof.
ReplyDeleteJulie rose, what an enjoyable post. I very much enjoyed reading about your process. What wonderful skills you have and wonderful results!
ReplyDeleteI think of you each week when I watch Katherine’s comfort cloth video. I love you little animals. I had some older floss that I threw out because it tangled so much. I don’t know how some of these women stitch with threads from those little nests.
ReplyDeleteWhat fun, Julierose. Your elephant and fish look great. I'm so sorry for the snarling thread. I always used to pull out two threads together and I can't remember having snarls. I was surprised when I learned they should be pulled out separately. That didn't work as well for me. What you're doing now looks great.
ReplyDeleteYou’re making so many unique blocks for this comfort quilt!
ReplyDelete