Springtime Stitch projects

With spring’s creeping up on us (it’s almost March? Seriously?), the Spring 2012 issue of Stitch has crept onto newsstands. Meanwhile, my Hexagon Pouf Ottoman, made for the Alfresco feature, remains firmly indoors despite its hardy skin of outdoor canvas. It’s not that it’s too cold to venture out (this is California, after all); it’s more that I haven’t quite got my bum in gear to clear the garden of the weeds and other assorted debris of winter, so the backyard isn’t the loveliest of places to sit, nor to photograph project samples.

I liked the idea of making a fabric footstool that was a little less bloblike than what I was seeing in shops, so I pulled the structural inspiration from the hexagon print. The quilter in me naturally inclined to piecing the top from triangles of striped fabric, while the shaping is probably my first foray into darts—all the dressmaking books that’ve crossed my work desk taught me something after all.

The other pattern of mine you’ll find in the spring Stitch is for this pair of Bird Collage Tea Towels, made with fused broderie perse and some free-motion embroidered details. You may have to zoom in to get a good look, but I was pleasantly surprised at the branch’s bark-like texture, made by just sewing back and forth. I used a finer thread in the bobbin that was a bit lighter than the top threads, and the occasional dots of bobbin thread add some extra color depth too. Now I’m wondering how it would look with a brown variegated thread…hmm…

Both of these projects are quick and fun, and as usual there’s a lot of other great stuff in the magazine too (I want to make the placemats on the cover!). Check it out.