Stitch by Stitch

The title of this post is actually the title of a class (and project) developed by Susan Cleveland; our guild brought her here last week for a lecture, a trunk show, and a couple of classes. One of the classes was to learn her Dresden Plate technique, which I’ve used and really like; it ensures a nice, flat “plate” and eliminates the necessity of the appliquéd center circle. I didn’t take that class, since I hadn’t yet played with her Stitch by Stitch ideas, so I took that class, which was lots of fun! Of course, anything having to do with Susan is fun, given her infectious sense of humor and generosity in sharing her advice and techniques.

We worked on making miniature blocks in thread, using various techniques for precision — necessary in things this size — the blocks are about 2.25″ square! No piecing was necessary for the blocks, and we played with very thick threads, as well as with very fine ones. We added small prairie points, embellished with stitching, wool balls and teeny tiny buttons. The finished project is about 11″ x 11″ — click on the photo for a closer look.