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ill be featuring more how to tutorials on the new blog things have been moved around a bit but we still carry the same products and we are adding new things every day we hope you will find the new site much more user friendly and informative thank you to all of our loyal customers note it will take the search engines a while to relink to the new sections of the website but just enter the site address and you will find everything up online posted by a sproule at january 27 2020 no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels block printing embroidery japanese boro stitching surface design tuesday december 10 2019 another hand stitched story i wanted to make a piece using these two photos of my son tyler and his girlfriend carly i took last summer in new mexico the first image is a doorway in socorro nm and the second is an overlook of the rio grande gorge near taos nm the title of this piece is what s next i printed the door image on jacquard s regular inkjet printing cotton and the second image was printed on jacquard s extrav organza silk organza i printed the images on my small desktop epson et 3750 inkjet printer both fabrics have a freezer paper like backing so they feed pretty easily through the printer without jamming i selected a regular print and paper setting on the printer i did test runs with these papers previously so i sort of knew what to expect the prints were a bit on the light side but the color reproduction was fairly accurate i printed two of the silk organza images as it was pretty hard to see the print when placed on top the door image i tried a couple of different layouts and decided i liked the second layout more i am not sure that old teabag would have added a whole lot to the composition so i tossed it out next came the hard part figuring out how in the world to pull this all together i started basting my pieces together and added solid colored cotton behind the figures to make them more visible after finishing part of the hand stitching i used my ipad apple pencil and the adobe sketch app to figure out the designs for the rest of the stitching this process makes it so easy to visualize what it might actually look like i used dmc and weeks dye works cotton floss for all the hand embroidery finished 10 x 12 take a look at that hair 1 strand at a time posted by a sproule at december 10 2019 no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest wednesday june 19 2019 experimentation with hand embroidery and heat away stabilizer finished i accomplished what i set out to do and i learned what to do and what not to the next time around i am working on a new little piece to try out some new techniques and materials the size of this piece is 8 5 square below is a section of the background i made from layering torn strips of cotton and silk after basting down the strips i stitched the layers together using a simple japanese boro or mending style of stitching this is just a simple running stitch once you wash the organza it loses quite a bit of its body and it becomes a bit too soft for this particular use i have done a rough sketch of my image a chinese lantern pod and i outlined the drawing with black ink to simplify it and make it easier to trace the stabilizer i am trying out is sulky heat away clear film that i found on amazon i traced my image on to the stabilizer with a fine point sharpie the instructions with the stabilizer say not to use a sharpie and i understand that in the process of heating the stabilizer to dissolve it there is a danger the ink might transfer to your fabric or thread the instructions recommend using a frixion type pen that is removed when applying heat but i found the marks really hard to see i did a test sample first and i did not have that problem with the ink transferring i would absolutely recommend that you do a test sample with your fabric choice of marker and thread before doing work of this nature on an actual piece i worked a few sample stitches first with a couching stitch to outline the shape and some needle weaving stitches to fill the area in once i had enough stitches to experiment with i applied the heat with my iron on a high setting i was pretty hesitant to iron over this plastic like substance with my brand new iron but it actually turned out to be just fine you can see the film beginning to melt away with the application of the heat and in the image below you can see there are little bits of the film stuck in the really closely stitched areas but almost all of the film actually dissolved in my final review of this product i am going to give it a try on my actual small project where i need something to stabilize the very open stitching if i was working on something with very dense stitching i probably would not choose this product as i might not be able to remove it all now all i need to do is figure out this needle weaving thing and then i can finish my little project i am really glad i decided to experiment with a really small piece before tackling something much larger and more involved using these same or similar techniques here the main areas of the lantern have been outlined using couching with 4 strands of dmc cotton floss final decision i would not use this product again as you can see in the previous image there were some little bits of stabilizer that remained under the denser stitching i could not get rid of these on my final project it took me ages to get rid of all those nasty little bits sometimes all you learn when trying something new is that you will never ever attempt that again that is what i learned so i hope you can benefit from my little experiment posted by a sproule at june 19 2019 2 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest wednesday may 15 2019 workshop feathers ferns and furls on july 12 13 2019 i will be a teaching a two day in depth version of this class at village sewing in santa rosa ca all work is done on your regular domestic machine in my machine quilting career i have created just about every shape you could possibly imagine one design tendency i have for quilting is to choose one or two motifs or designs and then i do multiple variations of those designs throughout the quilt that is why the information included in this workshop is so valuable many people think drawing is very intimidating and something beyond their reach or skill level almost everyone s first response to the word is that they can t draw and they quickly retreat in the opposite direction i will take all the fear out of drawing for you in this workshop i will share with you my foolproof method for drawing curves and quilting design variations of the feathers ferns and furls to fill just about any space these are some of my fern designs look at how they pop on the black fabric day one create amazing foolproof curves to fit any areas of your quilt fill any shapes with your designs learn stitching tips and optional sequences to achieve immediate success practice with traditional feathers and learn more contemporary designs as well these are the furls once you know how to draw the curves you can do endless shapes and variations day two for more practice you can do any of the following with lots of help of course stitch the sampler pattern provided design and stitch your own original wholecloth piece using the designs you have learned quilt your own quilt or wallhanging in class or just receive a consultation for quilting ideas to be used later on this is my sampler in progress it is all about technique and you can do this too with a little practice more than anything i want you to look forward to quilting your work when you finish the piecing i will help you get unstuck when it come to options for the quilting of your work posted by a sproule at may 15 2019 no comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest santa clara contemporary hand embroidery workshop irene brummer last october i taught my hand embroidery workshop to the santa clara valley quilt association in santa clara ca we had a packed class with 20 participants the skill level ran the gamut from people who had been embroidering for most of their lives to those who had never done hand embroidery before everyone was remarkably patient and enthusiastic and i was very happy to see all the finished samples entered in the guild s semi annual show a couple of weeks ago tracy visher this piece was done by tracy visher of s acramento ca tracy made a whole set of pillows for her patio furniture of which this is one tracy is a very accomplished stitcher who has been doing hand embroidery for years so i was glad she enjoyed the class mitsuko sasaki this beautiful piece was done by mitsuko sasaki she has done a marvelous job and i love the additional edging she added to her piece roberta pabst betty eastham i offer the option of doing this design in either the bright or neutral color palette roberta chose to do her piece in the neutral color palette the neutrals really help you see the impact of values in your work one thing that really makes mandala type designs pop is the variation in value and the detail and scale of the shapes in each concentric row sandra crane and last of all we have sandra s lovely piece i love the way everyone has put their own spin on this embroidery pattern you can see what a difference the choice in colors and the variation in the fabric borders can make to the overall impact of the piece thank you everyone for sharing your work i will also be teaching this workshop contemporary hand embroidery at san francisco school of needlework and design on august 24 2019 posted by a sproule at may 15 2019 1 comment email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels design hand embroidery hand stitching mandala workshops friday april 19 2019 working in a series japanese boro stitching i have always admired artistic work done in a series it is interesting to see where people started and what the initial impetus was where that initial piece of work led them and what they gained from the experience i always seem to jump around a lot in the type of work i do i am constantly looking gathering ideas being inspired and wanting to try new things but now i really want to settle in and begin to explore things a little more in depth to see what i might possibly learn by working in a different manner instead of finishing a piece and instantly rushing into the next project on my design board i want to slow down and more fully contemplate what value or lesson each piece holds i think the biggest change over the years in the way i approach making my fiber art is to learn to completely enjoy the process i began with this one little sample of different fabrics appliqued onto a background of hand dyed navy and black fabrics the linen patches are printed from hand carved stamps i have made as i worked on this piece i realized too late that i really liked the negative spaces without any stitching my eyes beg for a quiet place to rest so began my little series of four pieces i will try to explore something different in each one maybe the next one will have only a few thoughtfully placed stitches in a very simple manner japanese boro stitching was common in 18th 19th century japan as a way of mending worn clothes to make them last longer it has become popular as an art form in itself these days so these are the parameters i used in setting this up all pieces had to be the same size at 8 5 squares they had to be in 3 basic colors black red and white but could include shades or tones of these colors the samples should include different textures and should include silk cotton and linen but not necessarily all 3 fabrics in each piece i can only use one basic stitch the running stitch it is so much easier to prep all these pieces at once so i don t have to dig everything out again that way i only have to clean up a big mess once i am working on sample 1 now sample 4 is finished i have been doing lots of hand embroidery over the last four years or so the funny thing is the more hand stitching i do the more i want to simplify my design aesthetic the work is not at all about how complex concentrated or perfect the stitches are but it is much more about the texture the stitches create on the fabric the way they catch the light and the way it feels in your hands posted by a sproule at april 19 2019 1 comment email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels collage fiber art hand embroidery japanese boro stitching monday march 11 2019 the blocking process over the past couple of months i have been taking an online embroidery class although i have gotten really comfortable and confident in doing hand stitching without an embroidery hoop i found that the hoop was an absolute necessity in experimenting with different needle weaving techniques these types of stitches are done by running the thread vertically the length of the shape to form a weft then your stitches are formed over this structure while only attaching to the fabric at the edges of your shape this can cause major distortion if you aren t using a hoop even when i finally resorted to using a hoop i still had a lot of puckers in my fabric i decided i really had to block my fabric to try and flatten things out a bit and eliminate the distortion what you will need to do the blocking a piece of foam core sheet of plastic spray bottle and some straight pins begin by spraying your embroidered piece on the front until it is evenly moist then flip it over to the back side and repeat the process let your piece rest for a couple of minutes so the water saturates and relaxes the fibers now starting by pinning a corner of your fabric close to the corner of the foam core so you can use the board for reference to keep your piece straight i know my square of fabric started out at 8 square in some places it was 3 4 smaller so i gently started stretching the fabric until i got a perfect 8 again the moisture really relaxes the linen fibers and as they dry the fiber tightens up again usually the fabric dries in a couple of hours when doing the blocking but because of the density of my hand stitching i let it dry overnight you can see what a remarkable difference this process made for me the blocking is well worth the effort and it only takes me a few minutes to do now my fabric lies nice and flat and the dimension of my stitching shows up even more posted by a sproule at march 11 2019 2 comments email this blogthis share to x share to facebook share to pinterest labels blocking thursday january 10 2019 gratitude for victor thomas jacoby award opportunities dec 14 2018 award ceremony at the morris graves museum of art with past and present recipients i am the second shortest in the front row just to the right of center last november i was notified that i had been selected as one the of the victor thomas jac...