Stitch By Stitch Is A Flimsy--post 2

Pieced words

In April, I posted about my SHIB (Squirrels Hiding In Bags) project. I put some of the pieces together and played around with some layouts. In May, words were calling to me so I pieced some. 

Fewer words

The words took over the project. I decided to use fewer words on the front. I planned to piece the word "she." The words, She transcended, may go to the back because I don't want to make a big project. This is the project for the book, "The Dressmaker of Khair Khana" by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon. I also want to hang this project in my home so that was the reason to nix the transcended line. Gertie, my inner squirrel, protested mightily.

HSTs from leftover background triangles

As the piece marinated, I decided that my string pieced strips didn't show well. The purple that I liked wasn't doing much to add to the overall design. I pulled both from the design wall. I decided to sew HSTs from the leftover background triangles from the original SHIB with leftover triangles from another bag. (Can you tell that I have a problem er challenge with bags?)

Layout of words as per Gertie

Gertie continued to talk to me about the "words." I removed all of the pieces from the design wall. I added the words. I played with different configurations until one felt "right." I placed a few of the scraps around the words. I auditioned two orange scrap fabrics that were about half a yard each. These were leftover from a previous project. I liked it better than the purple.

Progress at the end of session one

I liked the darker orange; but, because I didn't have enough, I decided to augment it with the lighter orange. I also realized that I could use the strings, if I sashed them with the background. With the limited background fabric, I knew getting this project to a flimsy would be like solving a 1500 piece puzzle!

Progress at the end of session two

At the end of session two, I had incorporated some background fabric and the lighter orange fabric as well as the darker orange. I liked the direction of the progress. Gertie, while supportive, wanted to change "Transcended" so that it began the second line. I agreed to consider her request. 

It doesn't look like I did much from session one to session two. Placing a section, stepping away, replacing it in another orientation takes time. Irene Roderick calls this process "Dancing with the Wall." She wrote a book about improv piecing with that title.

Progress at the end of session three

At the beginning of session three, I did change the order of the second line. I liked the change because the words have more impact. Where it was possible, I added strings to fill in the spaces. For such a simple project, I ripped a ton. I let my mind wander and learned every way possible to stitch the rows together incorrectly!

The leftover strings

I had some strings leftover. These will go into another project. The extra pinwheel will become my label. I  used all but two pieces of the background. I had little of the other fabrics remaining as well. This project measurers 56 1/2 inches wide by 40 inches high.

Other leftovers

Goal number four on my June list was to make progress on this project. I'm planning to make a pieced back to use some "parts" (sample blocks) I stitched long ago just because I was curious as to how they would look in different sizes. I'm linking to Cynthia at Oh Scrap.