One of my homework assignments for stitch class is to design with geometric shapes for an applique piece. So I picked out a couple of shapes, cut them out in paper and played with moving the shapes around.

 Here’s one with a black background. This one reminded me of a skull. Not what I had in mind.

 So I tried on a white background. Dull.

I liked this arrangement slightly better.

Taking it off the angle.

 Add a bit more.

 More layers to add more detail.

Move the little black shapes higher?

Adding more of the medium tear drop shapes.

This one isn’t bad. But still kind of dull.

How about adding a few more circles?

Do a little switcharoo?

Move the smaller elements down?

Another switcharoo?

Change out the top element?

It needed something else at the top now.

Let’s start again.

 Hmmm… not much better.

Perhaps I’ll add horns??

 And now a new head?

This is silly.

Maybe add a wreath to the top?

Now we have a silly cyclops.

Add a few circles to make it look less like a figure?

Or just add legs?

Turn the legs the other way?

 Sort of clown like.

 Not much better.

 Hmmm… this is getting nowhere.

Turn the top teardrops over?

 This kind of looks vaguely peacock like.

 What if I put the bigger element on top? I kind of like this one. But I have a hard time with symmetrical designs. Perhaps I should try something asymmetrical?

Now that’s completely different. But do I want to start all over at this point? I don’t think so. Which one do you like? Why? This was a fun exercise and it goes much faster if you don’t stop to take a photo of every single example.

 It’s still been busy around here and I’m still working on my stitch homework. These are some stitch samples that we started in class. This sample includes a machined cord, simple tassels and cheesecloth.

 This is another machined cord with tapered ends.

 Here’s a different use of cheesecloth.

 More machined cords, the top one has wire inside.

 On to hand stitch samples. This is velvet stitch. The loops can be cut for a more “furry” look.

 This should have been up with the machine stitched samples. The point was to integrate  a fringed edge into the piece. I didn’t get the full length of the fringed bits into the photo.

 This is “knot on a stalk”, a variation of French knots.

 Here is a sample of detached chain stitch purposely leaving the stitches loose.

 This is ruching. For those of you who are felters, this is done with stitching as opposed to nuno felting.

These last two photos are of one of my print to stitch pieces.

It is supposed to be a heron but it’s neck shrunk with the stitching. He looks more like a goose to me now. I only have a few more weeks to finish my homework. I only have two more pieces to finish but they are taking a while. Wish me luck.!

I normally don’t even look at the automatic machine stitches that are available on my sewing machine. But one of our assignments for class is to explore what the machine stitches can do.

 So I tried on stitch that looked interesting and varied the stitch width and length. This is a close up so you can see the way the stitch changes.

I also tried a little cable stitch as well. This photo shows the entire piece. Have you tried varying your automatic stitches?

In case you haven’t noticed, I made a new page on the blog for my book, The Complete Photo Guide to Felting. If you’d like an autographed copy, you can order it directly from that page. I’m not sending them internationally because the postage is $17 and the book only cost $24.99. Didn’t seem to make too much sense. If you’re from anywhere outside the US or Canada, you can find it online at the regular book venues such as Amazon. I’d love to hear what you think about the book or if you’d do a review on Amazon, I’d really appreciate it.