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  • surface design
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July 10, 2026
Collage, stitch, surface design. from contemporary embroidery

 



A little surface design happening over in class.

Collage, ribbon, papers, tags...all hand stitched to a white base.

This work is moving on, can't show you yet but I'm getting there. 

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July 8, 2026
Gathering from contemporary embroidery

 

I've been gathering, or more accurately 'scrabbling' around to find things that will fit as I progress my latest design collection.

I think I have fallen a bit short to be honest.

It's true when they say you can have a house full of stuff but still not have the one thing you need! 

I'll crack on and make the most of what I've got, I will try and be inventive

(don't laugh) 


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July 5, 2026
Sunday Stash July 5, 2026 from Quilt Paint Create

No change in the numbers.

I finished two more squares of the Paint Chip Challenge, paint stik and oil pastel over rubbing plates.

Both squares will fade a little when I heat set them.

With all the painting and stitching, I haven’t had time with my sewing machine lately.  I miss it and may need to shift to a different project later this month.  Summers are so short and incredibly busy.  It’s hard to fit everything in. 

Fabric Added: 13.125

Fabric Used:  6.5 yards

Net Fabric Added:  6.625 yards

How did you do this week ...

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July 3, 2026
July 2026 OMG from Quilt Paint Create

Welcome to Summer!  We’ve had unusually hot weather for the past week, the same as many of you.  Nothing to do for it but stay inside where it’s cool.

On the sewing and stitching front, July will be a tricky month.  We have a lot going on, and I know my creative time will be limited.  Given everything on the calendar, the best I can do is move something forward.

My current focus quilt is the Paint Chip Challenge.  I filled 8 of the 24 blocks.

I only worked on one this week.

The Challenge is due on ...

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June 28, 2026
Sunday Stash June 28, 2026 from Quilt Paint Create

No change in the numbers.

I spent some time on the paint chip challenge this week.  I added embroidery to block 4 and stamped with the larger bubble wrap in block 5.  The bubble wrap was older and the bubbles had deflated a bit.  That resulted in great texture. 

I created a freezer paper stencil for block 7.  I wanted thicker stripes and a stencil big enough to cover the whole square.

In addition to having fun, I’m learning a lot revisiting so many surface design techniques.  I’d forgotten how much I enjoy it.

Fabric Added: 13.125 ...

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June 21, 2026
A little design work. from contemporary embroidery

 



Surface design, a new design sheet, each torn piece of paper hand stitched to an A3 base of white.

The end goal here is a design collection which leads to the creation of a drawstring pouch.

As I am working on this in class it's slow going.

Videos are posted monthly so I'm trying to rein myself in and not get carried away! 

 

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Sunday Stash June 21, 2026 from Quilt Paint Create

No change in the numbers.  I only wish I had enough sewing time to finish something.

I worked some on the Paint Chip Challenge this week.  Block 2 is oil pastel over a rubbing plate.  Block 3 is stamped.

I skipped blocks 4 and 5 because I wanted to continue with painted blocks.  Block 6 is stenciled.

I will go back and pick up blocks 4 and 5 this week.

Fabric Added: 13.125

Fabric Used:  6.5 yards

Net Fabric Added:  6.625 yards

How did you do this week?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click ...

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June 18, 2026
Paint Chip Challenge Block One from Quilt Paint Create

I’ve been plugging away on the Paint Chip Challenge. 

In a prior post I showed the gridded fabric.  I decided to add boro-like stitching to the first block.  My thread of choice for that is pearl cotton. 

All the surface design will be black, grey, and possible white.  I didn’t have any black or gray pearl cotton, but I did have white.

I decided to paint it.  I didn’t have any black fabric paint, using acrylic instead.  It came out a little stiff for my taste.  I combined it with gray fabric paint, and lightened some of ...

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June 7, 2026
Sunday Stash June 7, 2026 from Quilt Paint Create

No change in the numbers.

I finally started the paint chip challenge project.  I found fabric that comes as close to the paint chip as I’m going to get.  I masked the outside border with painter’s tape and gridded the center.  The paint chip is in the upper right corner.

My first love in quilting is surface design.  That’s the place where I lose myself, where time passes unnoticed.  If you are a regular reader, you’d be hard pressed to know that based on recent projects.  It’s time to fix that.

I have a sketch ...

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June 6, 2026
A little surface design from contemporary embroidery

 

This morning.

A busy table. 

Surface design for class.

Get your needles threaded girls there's a video coming soon x 

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April 17, 2026
Design collection from contemporary embroidery

 


Do you remember the gingham drawstring pouch?

This is a small selection of the design work which accompanied that piece. 

I am drawing on this collection to inform my current work, some of which you saw yesterday and I feel very fortunate to have all these resources at my fingertips.

 

 


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April 16, 2026
Accessories. from contemporary embroidery

 

Accessories, embellishments, adornments.

These have been made for some time, all part of a bigger collection, the little silk book, the wrapping cloth, the embroidered notebook.

Today I'm assessing, assessing embellishments, wondering what other forms of accessory I can create to complement this body of work. 

Remember...your stash can never be too big! 

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April 6, 2026
Design for Embroidery. from contemporary embroidery

 











We've been doing a little design work in class so these sheets created a while ago came out.

It's such a good creative exercise to examine pieces like this.

They reinspire and spark new ideas regardless of your current project.

Techniques used here are transferable 

Colour, theme and pattern may differ but presentation technique can be used again and again.

 

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April 5, 2026
Doodling with needle and thread on paper. from contemporary embroidery

 



A paper base, lots of French knots, some running stitch, fabric snippets, paper inserts, beads and sequins.

Just doodling really but hoping this evolves into a design sheet crammed with information and inspiration.

More has been added to this since I took these photographs. 

I will show you that progress soon. 

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March 23, 2026
Another page. from contemporary embroidery

 



Another page completed in for this ever growing collection.

Next step here is an overlay.

The embroidered cloth piece relating to this work is also progressing along with a small embroidered fabric book. 

The ideas keep coming..... 

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March 22, 2026
Embroidered samples....how to preserve them, keep them safe. from contemporary embroidery

 



I have so many embroidered samples, I'm constantly questioning the best way to preserve them, to keep them safe, unscathed.

Large paper sheets are one option as are very large sketchbooks.

I'm still not sure which is the best way if I'm honest.

This is discussed in the video today.

What do you think?


 

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March 20, 2026
Pattern and stitch from contemporary embroidery

 



Thi spiece popped up in my Facebook memories today and I'm so pleased it did.

It has provided more inspiration for my current design work especially the gimp and the buttons but also the composition, the placement of paper alongside embroidery.

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March 2, 2026
Grids and Guides stitching from contemporary embroidery

 








It's a hardback notebook today, one of these (and no, I'm not on commission).

I can recommend stitching into one of these books.

There are pages of dots, graph paper and other linear patterns which make spacing so easy. 

The paper is very receptive to needle and thread too.

I haven't actually worked into this one for a while and I'm tempted but I must finish some other things first. 


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March 1, 2026
Stitched notebooks. from contemporary embroidery

 


You have been seeing a lot of stitching in notebooks recently.

Well....I have lots of those, embroidered/stitched notebooks. 

Today it's a different one, an old one.

(you may have seen it at the 'other place')

There are lots of these little stitched/design/exploration pieces dotted around my house.

I'm tempted to keep sharing them with you. 

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February 26, 2026
My current embroidery hoop and another type of overlay. from contemporary embroidery

 



My current project is all consuming. 

I am not working on anything else. 

A reminder, there's a wrapping cloth and a design notebook. 

More painted cloth is being embellished for the wrapping cloth and 'different' overlays are being created for the design notebook.

There are plans for more hand made embellshments for the notebook to accompany my little mushroom tags. 

Can you tell I am enjoying this? 

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  • surface design
  • Page 1 of 12 ( 233 posts )