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Art, Craft and Needlework, July 2009
Posted: Wed Jul 01, 2009 7:13 am
by Harriet
When we're designing or planning a new project to paint, weave, scrap, knit, sculpt, crochet, sew or write, what fun we have to look forward to!
There's also so much satisfaction to be found in going back to an UnFinished Object and completing it to enjoy.
When we can balance our creativity with keeping up with our work (so that there's no guilt, no worry that we "should" be doing something else) we can have the best of both worlds - a calm, well-ordered home AND the chance to create things of beauty to place within it! That's a double blessing to strive for!
Welcome, and please let us know about the project you have at hand, compliments received, struggles to balance work and play, and your creative direction!
Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, July 2009
Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2009 12:44 am
by Harriet
My dmom is struggling to save clothes that are soft and comfortable - her skin is just very fragile and anything hard or harsh bothers her. Also all waistbands are potential sources of discomfort because of the feeding tube at her abdomen. So I've been kept busy, mending and sewing buttons on to save soft old cotton pajamas and tops, pants.
I got one pair of the lounge pants I bought her hemmed and did it as though it were for nice slacks. It's a plaid so it works fine for these (frequent) doctor's appts and she has a top that is a solid of one of the colors in the plaid so I lucked out. You would never think it was lounge pants. She got several compliments on the "new" outfit when she wore it and told people I "made" the pants for her, which was not far from the truth as they needed altering. The waistband is lined in satin.
Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, July 2009
Posted: Sun Jul 05, 2009 12:13 pm
by Nancy
I had enough yarn left for another pink
baby blanket so I have that going this month.
I do not do as many crafts these days
especially in the summer.
But I need to pay attn. to the craft zone
as it heats up here and is nice and
cool in the basement where the crafting zone is!
Re: Art, Craft and Needlework, July 2009
Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 5:45 pm
by Harriet
Thought this would be of interest for any of our stitchers who may sometimes embroider. My copy of Quilter's Home magazine for Aug/Sept came today, so "you heard it here first".
Quilter's Home Magazine did a consumer reports style test of the 7 six-stranded embroidery flosses and 6 pearl cottons that were the easiest to find in shops or online. They were judged on:
color,
stitch quality (how the thread looked sitting on top of the fabric after it was stitched),
separation,
spooning (how well threads come back together for threading),
strength,
colorfastness and
the judges' overall opinion of performance.
Pearl cottons were also judged on sheen.
Prior to the testing, most of the judge/embroiderers stated that the brand they were most likely to use was DMC.
The winner for floss was The Gentle Art, with Anchor as runner up and DMC 3rd (7 tested).
The winner for pearl cotton was Anchor, with Presencia 2nd, Weeks Dye Works 3rd (6 tested). (DMC came in 5th.)
Presencia is only recently available in the US but "familiar to Europeans and South Americans for years". Presencia does not make a floss.
The Gentle Art does not make a pearl cotton. They do make a wool thread that handles similarly to pearl cotton, but wools weren't included in the test.