Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Stitch Me Up Blog Hop


Today is the day.  I love embroidery and I have been so excited for this project.  Thanks once again to Madame Samm and Jane for cheering us on to finishing this project.


There were so many reasons I was excited about this project.  First of all, I loved the pattern.  I have always dreamed of having a cottage with a picket fence.  It would not have to be large by any means, just cozy.  I also got to try using the Presencia threads and they were amazing to work with.  They were the perfect thickness, they laid so nicely on the fabric, and they had such a nice sheen to them.  I also decided to try using the Transfer Eze paper so I didn't have to trace my pattern.  That worked nicely too while I was stitching...it did make the fabric a bit more stiff than I liked, but it seemed to work well...that is until I tried to wash it out.


The sheen of the threads was gone once I washed out the Transfer Eze, my project seemed to wrinkle to the point of no return, and the tension on my threads was not the same.  I should also mention the fabric is now stiff.  I guess I'm going to pretend that it is an "old" piece and just enjoy my little cottage as a sofa pillow.  I was thinking of making this twice, but it was very time consuming, so maybe in another ten years I will think about doing it again. :)  I can't wait to see what everyone else has done with the pattern.  My fellow blog hoppers are listed here...


WEDNESDAY March 20th

Meadowbrook           

Happy Stitching!!  --Kristen

88 comments:

Unknown said...

You have done a lovely job...it is awesome

Pauline said...

Kirsten, I love your little cottage, it looks really vintage and a great place to be.
Thanks for sharing your adventure with your materials used.

Britt-Inger said...

Your cottage Kristen is so beautiful and very vintage. Thanks for sharing your creativity
Greetings from a snowy Sweden

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

I love your cottage. It does look vintage but elegant. Beautiful.

Judy Cooper Textile Artist said...

It's a lovely piece.

Marla's Crafts said...

Very cute pillow. I enjoyed doing that one.

Quilt Doodle Designs said...

Your pillow is so beautiful! I would love to live in that adorable cottage :)

Sowing Stitches said...

Great pillow! :) But I do have a 'thing' for cottages...one day, I hope to live in a cottage just like the one on your pillow!
Now I am very curious as to why your fabric went stiff and the thread lost it's sheen...Curiosity sometimes takes over in my brain and investigations soon follow. I wonder if this happened with anyone else's pieces.

Gwen said...

Your cottage turned out beautifully, even if some of the process went a bit awry! Great job!

LesQuilts said...

I think this is lovely! After awhile, after family and friends sit against the pillow, it will soften up and age a touch, but you won't notice the things you notice now. I think it is great!
Take care, Leslie

Vickie said...

It looks just perfect !

Jeanie said...

I love your cozy cottage! It certainly looks lovely, soft, and inviting, even if it is a little stiff. BEautiful job!

Jeanie said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Martina said...

Lovely! I would move in right away, lol!

Marjorie's Busy Corner said...

Wow Kristen....what a beautiful piece for your day.

Pat said...

Lovely pillow :0)

Sue said...

I love cottages too, I also use transfer eze all the time, have you tried soaking it again? sometimes that happens to me, I think I have washed it all out but I haven't and it still feels ''stiff' hope this helps.
Sue

Patty C. said...

Great job -

AnitaS said...

What a lovely cottage you made.

Valerie said...

The cushion turned out pretty! Can't tell the creases from the picture.

Truffle queen said...

Sorry you had such a bad time - but your cottage pillow looks beautiful to me! Thanks for sharing - the good AND the bad!

JudyCinNC said...

Beautiful piece of work and a wonderful pillow - I also felt the use of the Transfer Eze (have also used Sticky Solvy) left the stitching very loose. I did find washing the piece in warm soapy water helped to finally get the TEze or SSolvy out. Even after ironing upside down on terry towel, the stitches were still too loose. Not sure what the answer is. Judy C in NC

Linda C said...

Very lovely worked in the various representational colors. There is a ton of stitching in this piece! It looks wonderful as a pillow.

I am sorry that you had such troubles with the Transfer Eze. I know that Bird Brain Designs is always touting it as an adjunct to their designs but so far I have resisted. Hearing of your troubles reinforces it.

Carol Swift said...

I love the vintage look, so your pillow looks beautiful to me. It would look great on my couch! Your little cottage is perfect. :O)

Sparky said...

Ohhh how pretty you did such an elegant job..very antique looking actually very serene...

krislovesfabric said...

That pattern is beautiful and so are your stitches!

krisgray said...

A-dorable! I've not used the transfer-eze before either. I will read some comments to see what others have to say - thanks for the feedback.

Frederika said...

So nice this pillow. It will be nicw to sit on the sofa with it.
Thanks for showing
Frederika

Loves to Quilt said...

What a lovely project! It reminds me of my grandma!

Linda Coleman said...

I love your cottage, it just wants to make me live in it. Great work

Kathy said...

LOVE your pillow! Nice job.

Linda said...

Your cottage embroidery is beautiful! It does look very vintage, which I love!

Daryl @ Patchouli Moon Studio said...

Lovely pillow with the cottage. I did a needlepoint of a cottage with lots of flowers and a stone path about 40 years ago. That was my dream house too. I still have that needlepoint hanging in my sewing room.

Kathy H said...

The pillow still looks beautiful in the picture. I am getting ready to try the transfereze myself on some black fabric (much harder to trace on) so I hope it goes better than your experience.

Jane's Fabrics and Quilts said...

Well, I think it looks wonderful! I also would love to live there. Maybe we could have a whole neighborhood of cottages!

Brenda said...

I think it still look great, despite your trials with the transfer product. I have not tried it myself. I also love cottages.

Dee said...

Awesomely beautiful. I am so thankful you gave a review on the transfer eaze as I am wondering about that product.

Patty said...

Seems as though everyone agrees that a lovely job was done. I think maybe this is like sewing.You see the mistakes, everyone else sees the beauty. Great job.

Mara said...

Thanks for letting us know about the trasfer eze, that's good into to know.

sew.darn.quilt said...

Beautiful place to be :)

Teresa Quilts said...

Oh I love your cottage! You did an awesome job!

busyascanbe said...

You did an amazing job! I know it was a lot of work but your stitching made it worth it!

B J Elder said...

Your cottage turned out great! I plan to do this one as well (I did Nana's Chair for the hop).

LadyV said...

Lots of beautiful detail. You did a fantastic job.

Amy said...

It is just beautiful! I always wanted a cottage with a picket fence too.

Jane's Quilting said...

You did such neat work with your embroidery. I know those little stitches can be a challenge. I love the cottage and picket fence. Perfect!!

Jacqueline said...

It looks beautiful in your picture. And thanks for the info on TEZ. I too have been thinking of ordering some,, don't think I will now.. just trace by hand.

Quilt n Queen said...

Hi Kristen...love your vintage cottage pillow. Beautiful, thanks for sharing!! Happy stitching, Pauline

Judy B said...

Love your cottage! Thank you for sharing.

Needled Mom said...

It really is gorgeous. I am sorry that you had problems with the product, but it does look spectacular.

Gill said...

Fabulous!
Thank you for sharing!

Tammy said...

Thats a great hand stitching project. Thank you for shareing it with us.

Shannon said...

What a great piece of work! You did a wonderful job!

Loralynn said...

Too bad you ended up unhappy with it...you still did a lovely job!

Michelle said...

Just lovely!

Sheila said...

Your cottage is adorable, great job!

Wendy said...

oh no, I'm so sorry to hear about your bad experience, that really isn't much fun. Love the cottage though, it looks wonderful to me.

Cathi said...

I love that cottage - it truly has a vintage feel to it and just invites one in.

Christine M said...

Your cushion is lovely Kristen.

Rosa said...

It`s spectacular.Thanks for sharing your creativity!

vicki said...

Very cute cottage. Thanks for sharing. vickise at gmail dot com

Lou said...

Thanks for the honesty of the problems you encountered:)
Still beautiful!!!!

Heather said...

You have done such lovely work on the house, I really like the colours that you have chosen.

The Slow Quilter said...

The cottage came out great, it was a great thread to use on these project, just love it.

Betty said...

I love your cottage stitching. I am also am glad you commented on the transfer eze as I was thinking about using it for a project. I am wanting to stitch something on a dark blue. I cannot trace it because it does not show through with my light box.

lefuntz said...

Thanks for the 411 on transfer eze. I can't see any problem in the pic. Your cottage looks like a place I'd like to visit. Well done.

Carrie P. said...

Love your little house and thanks for sharing.

CaliQuilter said...

Darling Cottage Pillow!

CaliQuilter said...

Darling Cottage Pillow!

Beverly said...

You sound so disappointed but your work is lovely and I truly love the pillow. It's beautiful. I love that cottage look too but did not tackle that big job. I think you did an amazing job with the cottage!

StitchinByTheLake said...

This is simply gorgeous - I've stitched this one up too (tomorrow's my day) but it's not nearly as pretty as yours! blessings, marlene

Sherry said...

I am sorry to hear that you were frustrated with your project but it does look lovely. I love the inviting cottage.

Marcy said...

I use Sulky's Sticky Fabri-Solvy printable "Fabric-Like" film. Just finished nine embroidered blocks and after I washed them they were soft and no thread puckering. I did use a dot of ivory dish soap in the water and rinsed well.

Your cottage is adorable and looks like my kind of project. Thanks for sharing.

LJ said...

I love the design on your pillow; I was immediately drawn to read when I saw it. Sorry to hear you had problems. I'm wondering if you let it soak more; dispose of the water and soaked it a time or two more, if it would help. Might be that the "glue" stuff isn't completely washed away. ??

Janet said...

Very lovely! It is impossible to see the "issues" in the photo, but I know what it is like when a quest for perfection escapes us. I think pretending it is vintage is a wonderful fix!

Quilter Kathy said...

Gorgeous Kristen!

Sharon Dawn said...

Your piece is beautiful!! What a wonderful cottage!

Robin said...

Wow, it looks fantastic!

lauraluvsloons said...

What a nice embroidery. I liked the vintage look to the background fabric

Farm Gate Creations Incorporating Hummingbird Quilting said...

Fabulous job all that effort ended up as a beautiful cottage.

Debra Lee said...

Your pilloew looks like a treasured antique!

Jenny said...

what a lovely little cottage! Can I move right in? Great job!

Deb@asimplelifequilts said...

I'm not familiar with Transfer Eze so I appreciate your heads up... I think your cottage looks beautiful and I hope it will soften up over time!

carla said...

Hi!! It is really pretty!!!

apple blossom said...

nice project wonderful job

Unknown said...

Love your awesome little cottage! It really looks vintage.

Scrapbook-ChickADoodle said...

Lovely cottage. Great colors and I really love how you added the address!

Tammy said...

Absolutely gorgeous.