A little Free Form

Often I'm intimidated when starting a new project. Will it turn out? Will it be pretty? I rarely work from my own drawings, and mostly depend on patterns. I decided to take a different approach on this project, and be impulsive for once. I drew no lines, and only flipped through my embroidery books for inspiration. It gave me a good chance to try some new stitches without worrying if they fit into whatever pattern I'm using. So for your viewing pleasure...
I particularly liked this part with an altered feather stitch.

Meow!

I worked on this dish towel on the train last weekend.  It's a Christmas present, and I think it turned out quite nicely.  I hope he likes it!  The little blue lines will wash away when I get around to washing this.

My new discovery

I've been toting around reading material, because I'm regularly the first person to class, and I get bored on the bus etc.  Reading was working really well, until I began reading a great big thick book of Louisa May Alcott's short stories.  This book is huge.  Really too heavy to add to my already over-filled backpack.  I needed something else.  You know what is fun, portable, light, and starts conversations?  Embroidery projects!  So I've been getting a lot of embroidery done.  Here's what I worked on yesterday during the super-Saturday orchestra rehearsal...

It's a handkercheif!  I'm doing the entire scalloped edge by hand, and then I'm going to add a monogram!  Then I will have my own personal handkercheif for those 18th chentury moments.  And Timm(ie), tomorrow I'm posting the thing I made you for Christmas, so if you don't want to ruin the surprise, don't check.  Or, you can just pretend to be surprised in December :).

Octopus!

I spent last night embroidering this octopus into the breast pocket of my dad's shirt. He had an ink stain in the bottom of the pocket, so it looks like this poor little guy inked himself. Teehee. Poor little octopus is embarrassed. It's alright octopus, we forgive you.

A Mask for Class or The Most Pointless Asignment Ever

So my theater history professor asked us to make a mask and bring it to class. I made this one! I had a lot of fun doing it, and really there's a lot to be said about an open ended project like that. What might it say about someone who goes all out and makes a feathery cat mask vs. someone who burns holes in a paper plate? But to my dismay I got to class and the teacher literally gave no opportunity for discussion. We all admired each others' masks, and that was it! We could have talked about how it changes your perspective when wearing a mask, or how masks effected theater's development or SOMETHING! But no. We saw some pictures of famous masks, looked at ours, and left. Masks are clearly an integral part of theater, but making one didn't bring any extra understanding. Pointless. At least I got a chance to practice some stitches I hadn't used before. Do you see that beautiful line of lavender feather stitch? I've never had feather stitch turn out well for me, but this time it did. I was so proud.