Heart Felt Wishes to you all! I love hearts, I love the shape, I love to decorate the house at Valentine’s Day, and I have a lot of hearts… so I decided to post A Heart a Day for the entire month of February.
And so you see I have come to doubt
All that I once held as true
I stand alone without beliefs
The only truth I know is you
–Paul Simon. Kathy’s Song
Happiest of heartfelt wishes for a wondrous day! ~Christen
Heart Felt Wishes to you all! I love hearts, I love the shape, I love to decorate the house at Valentine’s Day, and I have a lot of hearts… so I decided to post A Heart a Day for the entire month of February.
“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.” – Helen Keller, Author
Happiest of heartfelt wishes for a wondrous day! ~Christen
Heart Felt Wishes to you all! I love hearts, I love the shape, I love to decorate the house at Valentine’s Day, and I have a lot of hearts… so I decided to post A Heart a Day for the entire month of February.
“You know you’re in love when you can’t fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.” – Dr. Seuss, Author
Happiest of heartfelt wishes for a wondrous day! ~Christen
Heart Felt Wishes to you all! I love hearts, I love the shape, I love to decorate the house at Valentine’s Day, and I have a lot of hearts… so I decided to post A Heart a Day for the entire month of February.
For the love of embroidery, and threads, and beads, and silk ribbon, and buttons, and trims, and for all of the things that make you happy, and inspire you to be creative.
Happiest of heartfelt wishes for a wondrous day! ~Christen
This a great sampling of corsages, ones that will look great on any jacket form jean to velvet! These also make a great gift, for that special someone, and the bonus is that they are fast to make. The flowers include: Rose ‘N Bud Brooch, Rosette with Leaf, and the Lacey Flower.
Skill Level Beginning: hand-sewing and some ribbonwork skills a must
Class Information
This class can be purchased at any time, there is no set schedule. The class can be ordered by contacting Christen: thestoreonthecorner@gmail.com. She will send you an invoice through PayPal.
Once the class is paid for, the supply list and handout/s will be sent out.
A high-speed internet connection is recommended, and you must have basic computer and internet skills. You will need to be able know how to download and save a document to your computer’s hard drive, open it, and print out a copy.
You can contact Christen with any questions pertaining to the class/class information throughout the length of the class.
Class fees will not be refunded.
Happy Stitching! ~Christen
Batik Galaxy by Christen Brown
This piece started with the a group of batik fabrics in dark mustard, teal, and cranberry/rust. The cranberry/rust fabric reminded me of the red ring around Mars, so I created a galaxy in the center of the piece, using a wholecloth reverse applique technique. The copper and antiqued brass finishes of the celestial-themed charms added an extra color element. This piece can be found in my book, The Embroidery Book by C&T Publishing.
Umbria by Christen Brown
This piece started with four printed fabrics in rich browns, rust, and cranberry colors. I found a variegated perle cotton that picked up all of those colors. I then chose the remainder of the embroidery and embellishments to match the thread. Embellishments include vintage shell buttons, copper charms, and glass buttons that are sprinkled around the fiber and metal leaf trims. This piece can be found in my book, The Embroidery Book by C&T Publishing.
Autumn Ribbons by Christen Brown
The base of this piece started with a linen napkin, and added bits of vintage lace that I hand-dyed with Colorhue dyes. I then added in loads of rust, orange, and brown flowers and leaves that I hand-stitched from Hanah silk bias ribbons. I used techniques that can be found in my book Ribbonwork Flowers by C&T Publishing. The embroidery was worked with perle cotton, Wildflower threads, and silk embroidery ribbon, using many of the stitches that can be found in my book Embroidered and Embellished by C&T Publishing.
Harvest Quilt by Christen Brown
The base of this quilt was strip-pieced using Hoffman cotton batiks, in rich autumn colors of rust, umber, cranberry, maple, and olive. The embroidery stitches are worked in perle cotton #5 and #8, Wildflower threads, and cotton floss. This piece was featured in the gallery section of my book Embroidered and Embellished by C&T Publishing.
Enjoy! Happy Stitching! ~Christen
Day 25
Question: When you are working with a group of fabrics, how do you decide what colors to use for the embroidery stitches? Here are a few ideas.
Victoriana by Christen Brown
This crazy-pieced square started with a rayon print, and 6 different silk fabrics that matched the colors of the print. I chose silk embroidery ribbon, perle cotton, buttonhole silk, cotton floss, and seed beads in those same colors. I used 7mm silk embroidery ribbon and silk bias ribbons for the ribbonwork flowers. Each section of fabric is worked with a combination of the colors and components.
Melted Crayons by Christen Brown
Tiny bits of precious silk fabrics were crazy-pieced onto four foundation squares and strip-pieced onto four border strips. These blocks and strips were bordered with black silk fabric, satin ribbon, and rayon cord. I chose to work each of the border rows with black buttonhole twist, then the decorative and detail stitches with a variegated Valdani perle cotton. Vintage and new button details were stitched down with perle cotton and rayon floss. This piece can be seen in The Embroidery Book, by C&T Publishing.
Happy Stitching, ~Christen
Day 10
Question: Do you have a favorite pincushion, or two? Here are a few of mine.
Perky Pincushion is a class that I have taught both locally and at the International Quilt Show Festival in Houston. It is a fun little project, that requires very little time, with a fanciful result.
Strawberry Scissor Fob and Red Roses Pincushion and is similar, but has different flowers, and of course, the strawberry fobs! This piece and the instructions for the flowers and strawberries can be found in my book, Ribbonwork Flowers by C&T Publishing.
The above pincushions all start with a ribbon base. The first three can be seen in my book Ribbonwork Flowers, with the instructions to make all of the flowers. Bonbons were gifts that I made, for the dedicated editors of my books.
Happy Stitching~Christen
Day 9
Question: Did you know that the wooden spools that you have in your stash may be 50-100 years or older? If you have been saving them for just the right project, here are a few ideas and ways that you can use them.
Spools and Tools Wreath, started with a group of wooden spools, that are threaded through an 18 gauge florist wire, to create the base. I wrapped an old pair of my grandmother’s scissors with a printed cotton tape, and wrapped the base with a printed satin base. The flowers and and ladybugs were made using instructions from my book, Ribbonwork Flowers, by C&T Publishing.
Tid Bits and Tats, is a class that I taught, were you take a length of ribbon and cover it with scraps of lace, fabric, doilies, hankies, and all manner of goodies. The ribbon is attached to a wooden spool. I also have version of this project in my book Beaded Embroidery Stitching, by C&T Publishing.
Wooden Spool Vase is a simple and fun way to use a wooden spool, and use up some of your other treasures. This project can be found in my new book Creative Embroidery, Mixing the Old with the New, by C&T Publishing.
Happy Stitching~Christen
Here are a few images of more buttons!
These are a few necklaces that I have made with buttons.
This necklace started with the wonderful wrapped metallic gold center piece given to me by a friend. The necklace base is made from silk rouleau and rayon cording wrapped and curled into an entwined pattern. The beads, buttons and extras are attached at random, using a free-form peyote technique.
This is a technique that I call “train tracks”, the buttons are attached through two layers of silk rouleau. The beads and charms are added on after the buttons.
This necklace started with a base made from ruched velvet ribbon. The buttons are made from abalone and muscle shell, jade, turquoise, and other materials. Seed beads and larger beads were used for the dangles.
This necklace was made using a right-angle weave pattern, the base is comprised of seed beads, pearls, and buttons made from muscle shell.
This necklace started with a base made from ruched velvet ribbon. The buttons are made from glass and metal, seed beads and vintage glass beads and charms were used for the dangles.
Hope that you enjoyed looking! Happy stitching! ~Christen
Christen's Creations 