Chinese Braid Embroidery/Goldwork Embroidery

Back from Convergence, slept several days, now I'm ready to start doing stuff.

When I first started doing Chinese Braiding, I used a pillow and some bolts, very unsatisfactory. Then a braiding stand was made out of a stool and a rag shuttle and used bobbin lace bobbins, better but still unsatisfactory.

These are the bobbin lace bobbins with washers for weights but the bobbins are made to have the thread slide. When braiding the thread is stationary until you move it.  Also the washers kept cutting the ties and they were noisy.

I purchased these from "The Lacemaker"  I just love her shop, it has everything for making every type of lace and she knows how to do them all.

Tonight I'm going to fill these new bobbins and start a braid so I can get on with the embroidery part.

Embroidery

I have always embroidered. It is very relaxing to hear the sound of the thread pulling through the cloth and watch the little lines getting longer. Embroidery is my spare time hobby. Last year at Fiber Fiesta, I finished a project and didn't bring another so I looked around the booths and found "Bird Brain Designs" www.BirdBrainDesigns.net. What a hoot. I have been working on this for almost a year, the embroidery is finished and I decided to make a pillow out of it.

The frame and back of the pillow is a batik of cats.

I was working on this project at the Reno Show last week and was told by some of the quilters there that I couldn't quilt without a frame and basting. I have always done this type of embroidery and quilting without a frame and since they were standing there watching me, I really had to keep my mouth shut.
I do really like the 1/4" masking tape.