Wednesday 18 May 2016

TAST Week Forty-Two: Fern Stitch

This week's stitch for the TAST Challenge hosted by Sharon Boggon at Pin Tangle  is stitch forty-two, Fern stitch.  It is a really pretty and versatile little stitch and Sharon has posted a step by step tutorial of how to work it here.



As you may know, I finished filling in the last box on my previous sampler with last week's stitch and made a little picture from it which is now proudly hanging in my sewing room. That meant that I needed to start a new sampler for this week's stitch. The new sampler will probably also be stretched over a canvas and made into a picture. That way I will have a pair of stitched sampler pictures which will complement each other.


The sampler I recently completed was made up of a series of boxes and the new sampler is going to be made up of a series of circular designs.  I thought this would be a nice change but at the same time similar to the previous sampler. Here you can see my first circle stitched using fern stitch in variegated silk thread.


Fern stitch is not a new stitch to me and I like using it.  In fact, I have used it quite a lot including some of my earlier quilts such as on this table topper that I made a few years (too many to count!) ago...



and in the cable stitched onto this quilt also....



I have also used it much more recently in some of my little embroidered pictures....


and also in my crazy quilt blocks....


It is a very useful stitch to be able to use and in another of  Sharon's tutorials you can see it stitched with the addition of beads which is very pretty.

22 comments:

  1. I love your little (perfectly stitched) fern stitch circle...what a lovely start to your next picture. It was also interesting to see how you have used the stitch in other designs too, so pretty!
    Helen xox

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    1. Thank you Helen! Looking forward to adding more stitches to this new project! Christine x

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  2. A very pretty and useful stitch.

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    1. Thank you Janet! I really like this particular stitch! Chrissie x

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  3. Very pretty! I wish there were more hours in a day. There's so much I want to do, but just not enough time.

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    1. Thank you Sunny! I know that feeling only too well! Christine x

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  4. HI Christine ,wow you have made some amazing projects using this pretty stitch on them,thankyou for sharing :)

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    1. Thank you Shez! I really like this particular stitch... I use it a lot! Christine x

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  5. Another really pretty stitch! It will be fun to watch your new sampler unfold - as well as seeing how the challenge of making circles will work out.

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    1. Thank you Mary Anne! I hope the circles will work... should be fun trying! Christine x

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  6. You are going to have a lot of stitching tricks up your sleeve after both of these samplers are finished. Looking forward to seeing the circles. Janita

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    1. Thank you Janita! I hope the circle work out... not all stitches are good on a curve! We'll see! Christine x

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  7. Your stitching is so neat and perfectly done. I imagine you sat in a whicker chair, in the sun, calmly stitching away. How else would you stay so relaxed and happy?

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    1. Thank you Amanda! I'm afraid I don't have a whicker chair but stitching does make me very happy! Christine x

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  8. Fern stitch is so lovely. It would be hard to choose a favourite from all the ones in your sampler. What a brilliant idea to do this one with circular designs.

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    1. Thank you Baa! I hope it works out... some stitches don't work well on a curve! Fingers crossed! Christine x

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  9. What a wonderful idea to pair the "squared" sampler with a "circular" one! Also, that you can practice stitching in circles...I'm looking forward to seeing its progress! Thanks for sharing the other projects, they all look wonderful... all of them are indeed so sweet! Regards, Ariadna.

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    1. Thank you Ariadna! I am hoping the new sampler will be as much fun as the last one! Christine x

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  10. Dear Christine,
    what a lovely stitch and so many ways to use this stitch...as you did. Really pretty results.
    Many hugs
    sigisart

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    1. Thank you Sigrid! It really is one of my favourite stitches! Christine x

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  11. Christine, you do the prettiest work. These are all lovely examples of the fern stitch. Beautiful!

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    1. Thank you Renee! I have always loved using the fern stitch! Christine x

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