Paradise Stitched

I taught a class at Laura's based on the book "Paradise Stitched by Sylvia Pippen.  The techniques I taught were back-basting hand appliqué and sashiko.  Only two ladies signed up for the class, which would have normally meant cancellation, but these two ladies drove over an hour to get there, so canceling was out of the question!  We ended up having a great time, just the three of us, and I ended up making two new friends - always a bonus!  Monika chose to start off with a kit, for practice.  She appliquéd the flowers in the center in beautiful bright colors and then sashiko stitched the corners in orange thread.  She finished that one and two others!

Sharon chose a beautiful butterfly design from the book.  Unfortunately she did not have a lot of time to work on the project between classes (as happens to many of us!), but she did get the butterflies appliquéd.  She will be adding shiny thread to their wings and then filling in with a LOT of sashiko stitching, which she already has all traced on the back.  Sharon has some bead work planned as well, so many good ideas!  She promised to send me a picture when it's completed so I will post that.

Here you get a glimpse of the sashiko she began on the lower left corner.  It will be very subtle but add to the overall design beautifully.  I can hardly wait to see it finished!