An Itch to Stitch

A few nights ago I was reading the May/June issue of Somerset Studio Magazine and first I saw Diana Trout's article. Then Lynne Perella's, then Renee Stein's, and of course featured artist Jessie Chorley with her little hand stitched journals. The whole issue was chock full of fabulous projects (I won't even start on the wax/encaustic projects!) Well, I have a ton of "open" projects and the last thing I needed was to start another big project that I probably won't finish. Enter the ATC! (Yup, arting just ONE ATC at a time!)

After reading these articles, my hands started to Itch to Stitch something. Not a lot, just a small project. So I grabbed my little IKEA bag with my fabric scraps I used at a class I took with Jane Lafazio, ripped some ATC size fabric and went to work. The fabric I used for the top was some I hand dyed and then painted over using Lynn K's Marked Series stencils, both the X's and O's. The X's were painted with a metallic silver paint, the O's with an iridescent paint. I also used the Quasicrystals Infra for those small gold dots. I do have a piece of batting in between, cut a little smaller than the ATC.

I wanted the X's to stand out. They represent Kisses, right? So I outlined them with a simple running stitch in a red embroidery thread. I picked a few dots and put yellow French Knots over them. And to hold the layers together I decided on a... heck, I don't know what the stitch is called, but instead of a running stitch, I decided on a ladder type stitch all around the edge. It gave it a bolder outline. The edges are natural and frayed, the stitches are imperfect and crooked, - just like me!

The backing fabric is a piece I did in Jane Lafazio's class, where she had us journal on the fabric, then rip it into the pieces we wanted to use. I think I talked about the fabric being the very first one I dyed, back when I did a lot of that stuff. (I have bins full to prove it!)

So the project took about an hour to finish (since I knew where all my supplies were and didn't have to go hunting!) and it satisfied my urge to stitch something. Until the next magazine, or FB post, or book comes out! (So much inspiration, so little time...)

I hope you like my little project and try something like this when you feel the urge to make something but don't have a lot of time. ATC's are perfectly sized canvases for little "Art Snacks." Leave a comment, leave some love!

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