An article on the history of crazy quilting lead me to be reminded of Carol Leather’s site Needlework tips and techniques. While there I was poking about and discovered that the ever tricky bullion stitch has been featured in a tutorial on Bullion Roses. Clear tips and advice on how to do this stitch is presented. I have directions on how to do this stitch here but I think this article clearly explains how the needle is angled if you do not use a hoop. Personally I always recommend a hoop but many people do not like them.
This lead me to poke about a bit and I discovered these detached chain stitch strawberries that I think crazy quilters will love. Do pay a visit to Needlework tips and techniques and Carols blog I think you will enjoy them both.
I do like Carol’s stuff. Clear information on how-to. If you are into Blackwork her book is very good and really clear. She also has a blackwork design sampler – freebie.
I smiled at the history of crazy quilts. There is nothing untrue, but the majority of us who do share the legacy of crazy quilting do NOT share a family history in the late 1800’s of “silks, brocades, and velvets”! My family’s crazy quilts were made of recycled hand-me-downs, as I would imagine most quilts of that time were – store bought yard goods (fabrics) were expensive to rural families and in our area were first used to sew Sunday-best and school clothing, then every day clothing, which were passed from sibling to sibling, and finally at the end of its useful life became scraps for quilts. When one of great-grandma’s daughters could barely stand the sight of the fabric, and the item it had been made into was not fit to be seen in, the fabric would again enter her life as a bedcover! Great-grandma would ease the pain by adding the prettiest button she could find in her box and some intricate stitching in the form of a favorite kitten! Since the selection of yard goods in rural stores was limited, she had to use the stitching to make not lovely but necessarily adjoining fabrics meet in pretty ways, too, and those intersections were remembered by her children as places they contemplated while falling alseep on cold winter nights. I can’t imagine she ever touched silks or brocades in her whole life, but she is remembered to this day in her family for her kindness, generosity and cooking skills.
Thanks for this pointer. i am struggling with bullion at the moment – put some in my May TIF and unpicked them. So it was timely
Why thank you Sharon! Its an honor to be featured in your blog.
Carol Leather