Arlene's Blocks

Finally, long awaited, Arlene's blocks for both the Garden & Flowers DYOB and Garden & Flowers Traditional are finished.

For Arlene's DYOB block - because Arlene is an Aussie, I chose a selection of flowers from Jenny Bradford's Little Book of Wildflowers in Silk Ribbon. All the flowers in the book are Australian Wildflowers.

First things first - putting lace on the edge of the fan. After going through my basket of beloved antique laces, I finally settled on a beautiful handmade torchon lace. There was only just enough of this one to fit, but it suited so well. It had obviously originally been made for going on a curve - probably along a neckline or cuff, as once it was pinned into place with the edge even with the fabric edge, the lace still had a nice little ruffle to it.
I used a basic blanket stitch in rose coloured No 8 pearl along the edge of the lace, then did small ribbon roses in a variegated pink silk ribbon on the lace itself.

The first seam was done with sprigs of Red Boronia on each side of the seam.

The second seam was done with native Flax on one side, and Buttercup on the other. It wasn't until after I started the flax that I realized the blue ribbon I had chosen for it perfectly matched the blue in the fabric on that patch.

The third seam was done with native Gorse (yellow) and Hovea (mauve) intertwining.

At the top, above the fan, I added a flower called Leatherwood.

To finish off, I did a matching row of blanket stitch along the inner seam, and filled over the flower print in the corner with silk ribbon to match.

For Arlene's Traditional block. I did the last two seams and the remaining patch.

The first seam I did was the long one that bisected the block. I did a random scattering of small ribbon roses in a variegated dark pink silk ribbon along the seam. On the second seam I did a stylised vine with flowers. The petals of the flowers were alternating Kiko stitch and lazy daisy, with a pale purple glass pearl in the centre of each flower.

On the patch I did a large dragonfly. He ended up a bit fat, but it was the first time I had done this style of dragonfly, and overall, I was quite pleased with the way he turned out.

I hope Arlene is happy with the final results for her blocks.

Elizabeth's Block

Last night I was able to finish Liz R's block for the Garden & Flowers DYB RR.
Liz's block was a joy to work on. I simply adored the colours. Most of my stitching was kept in the colours of the block - various greens and purples, and a rusty red-ish touch pulled from a small section of the flowers in the silkie - with gold silk highlights to lift it.

The lace on the bottom left is the second of the two oldest antique laces I have, being cut from a bodice overlay (the other oldest lace was used on Flora's block). This was sewn into place with purple crown stitch on the seam, and gold silk and beads on the lace itself. The flower centres on the edge are done with metallic gold seed beads and gold glass pearls, the flower centres in the body of the lace are done with very light gold tinged Swarovski crystals topped with a metallic gold seed bead. The one on the far left is very close to the seam, but has been sewn on separately from all other stitching, so it can be removed for sewing the block up. It was just as easy to sew it in place where it belonged, as to sew it one inch over into the seam allowance for 'holding'.
Next were the rest of the seams, done in a variety of silk ribbon, Caron Wildflower hand-dyed pearl threads, DMC pearl threads, glass rice pearls, seed beads of various sizes, and some of the wonderful glass flower beads I recently bought from Kathy S.

The last seam done was the one on the top right as that was the most time consuming. It is a continuous drizzle stitch vine, with purple beads scattered through out for buds (or berries - depending on your preference).

Then the web was added, along with Mr. spider at the top of the block, and the dragonfly in the bottom right corner.

Barbara's Block

On Monday last I finished Barbara W's block for the Garden & Flowers DYB RR.
I actually found this block quite difficult to do. For me, crazy quilting is all about the seams and seam treatments, with motifs and other embellishments an added extra to fill in blank spaces. So having to treat a block as a single whole canvas for a picture was very hard. Seam work breaks a block up into pieces, which isn't really desirable if you are treating the block as a single unit to 'paint a picture' on. And when doing a scene, things really need to have a reasonable degree of proportion. It doesn't have to be an OCD level of exactness in proportion, but you can't really have a dragonfly bigger than your flower cart - not unless you are doing a scene of a flower seller who has been zapped back 300 million years to the Carboniferous period. I don't think that was what Barbara had in mind!

So I started, as always, with doing the seams. I chose simple stitches, done in thread that matched the patches, to avoid breaking the block up. Then I added matching beads, to give it some sparkle and texture.

Next I did a variety of flowers in the cart - Shasta daisies, Forsythia, Cyclamens, Agapanthus, Alyssum, rosebuds, and Forget-me-nots. I added a basket-of-flowers charm on the path next to the cart, a butterfly charm above it, and finished it with a little green caterpillar inching its way along the top of the wheel.

Then I embroidered a flowering cherry branch at the top of the block, imagining the cart to be parked under the shade of a tree. I concluded the piece with a lone dandelion growing up beside the pavement, having gone to seed and the seeds starting to be carried off on the spring breeze.

Returning CQ Blocks

Well... here we are... waiting for the polls to open (it's election day here in NZ)... waiting... waiting... that's what I get for waking up at 5.30 in the morning. So I figured now was a good time to document my returning blocks. The blocks for all three RRs I was in have returned (we aren't talking about the UTS RR... EV-ER).
The first one - A "seams only" RR - came back  a couple of months ago. The second one - Garden & Flowers Traditional - arrived home last week, and the third one - Garden & Flowers DYOB - came home yesterday.

The stitchers for the Stitching Only 2013 RR were Maire C., Susie J., Molly P., Rose Anne B., and me, with Tahlia H. as angel.

You just GOTTA see Rose Anne's most adorable little ants! Aren't they just the cutest little things ever! (Can you tell I really love them?)

The stitchers for the G&F Traditional were Arlene W., Candace B., Velia A., Shelly R., and me, with Gerry H. as our angel. It is such a wonderful block, and I was totally thrilled when I saw it!

The stitchers for the G&F DYOB were Arlene W., Elizabeth R., Barbara W., Shelly K., Flora G., and me, with Renee Y. as our angel.

Arlene did the purple block

 Liz did the green block

Barb did the orange/brown block

Shelly did the red/burgundy block

Flora did the blue block. Have a good look at the smaller lace - it looks like spiderwebs and bees. How cool is that?

That leaves the pink block for me to do.

All the blocks are just wonderful! I love the unique style that each stitcher has, and that I have come to recognise. I plan on making these into a wall hanging, and they will be the very first CQ work to be hung on my walls.

Thank you to all the ladies in all the RRs.

Well, gotta go vote now.



Candji's Block

Finally, at long last, I am back on track with my embroidery, and have finished my work on Candji's block for the G&F Traditional RR.

With the area left to do, it seemed to naturally divide into a centre block, and a block down the right side. I chose to do the section down the right side.

As always with CQ, I started with the seams. My first seam was the long one that separated the area I was going to do from the area left for Arlene to stitch. I did this in a purple feather stitch, adding detached chain, and dark purple seed beads, to give it the look of a climbing vine.

The second seam was the one on the bottom patch, which I did in green stepped blanket stitch, adding detached chain leaves, detached chain petals in peach, and metallic gold seed beads.

The third seam was the one along the third-from-bottom patch. This I did in dark red herringbone stitch, adding gold metallic daisy spacers, and garnet seed beads in the centres.

The last seam, along the bottom of the top patch, was done in apricot Cretan stitch, with pearlized apricot seed beads and metallic gold hearts added.

I used a lot of metallic accents to pick up on the high sheen and metallics in the fabrics that were used in the block.

I then worked the motifs from the bottom up. The first was the patch of violets.

On the second patch I did a silver metallic spiderweb, with a pearl spider. The legs of the spider were done in a single strand of DMC Pearl Effects thread.

On the third patch I embroidered two stalks of hollyhocks.

On the last patch I did lovely Japanese Cherry blossom. I thought a descending tree branch was very fitting for the top patch.

I hope Candji is happy with the work. Now It will head off to Arlene for finishing.

Shelly K's Block

Yay! I have completed my work on Shelly K's block for the Garden & Flowers DYB Round Robin. I am definitely catching up.

On Shelly's block I started with a SRE following the print in the centre patch, then I surrounded this with floss embroidery. A wonderful groundcover vine done in fly stitch with pink and dark red berries, purple Michaelmas daisies, Solomon's Seal, cast on buttonhole stitch roses, and tiny 3-bullion stitch tulips. I finished the block with a silver and crystal butterfly charm in the upper left corner. Each motif (except the daisies) has green in it, but each green is actually a different green from any of the others.
I hope Shelly is happy with the work, I quite enjoyed doing this one, and am very pleased with the way it came out.

Velia's block

Those who know me know I like to slather embroidery on a block like an Australian slathers sunscreen in summer. So when Velia's block arrived, with Shelly's lovely, delicate work, it was a challenge to keep my embroidery light, to keep the tone that had been set.
Shelly's work consisted of SRE, and delicate seam work with a sprinkling of transparent seed beads in matching colours. I love that kind of subtle use of seed beads, and often use it myself. Transparent seed beads are like fairy dust - a little bit of magic. They add a sparkle to the seam, elevating the stitching from ordinary (albeit lovely) to something special.

My work on Velia's block consists of a narrow seam treatment in floss and transparent beads, a wide seam treatment with SRE, and A SRE motif.

The narrow seam treatment is a stylized Wisteria, done in zigzag buttonhole, detached chain, colonial knots, and seed beads.

The wide seam treatment is a Briar Rose motif. The briar is zigzag couched floss, with detached chain leaves in floss sprinkled through. The roses are done in silk ribbon, in French knots and scroll stitch.

The SRE motif is of the Eusebia fuchsia.

Flora's Block

With everything that has been happening I have fallen way behind in the Round Robins, and am now frantically trying to catch up. To that end, I have finally completed Flora's block in the Flowers & Garden DYOB - yay! I hope she is happy with it.

In the top right we have stumpwork lilacs worked in silk ribbon and floss, with a gorgeous gold ladybug charm. The seam for that one is a row of long-and-short blanket stitch, with the long arms made into forget-me-nots done in seed beads. In the middle to we have a row of bluebells, and on the left the seam is done in feather stitch, with rice pearls added for flower buds. The floral patch next to that has a spider web worked in silver metallic, with the seam done in a row of herringbone topped with tiny gold daisy spacers with cream seed bead centres.
The seam under the silkie is done as alyssum - a cascade of white colonial knot flowers and green detached chain leaves. Dangling underneath is the spider that lives in the web. The bottom right corner has a foundation of lattice, with No.10 purl twisted thru it to form the climbing rose stems, and detached chain leaves and bullion buds added.

The bottom left corner I have overlaid with lace. This is one of the oldest, and most fragile of the antique laces I got in the box of laces in the post Arsenic and Old Lace... Without the Arsenic (But With the Cup of Tea). It was identified as being Point de Venise, most likely from around late 18th or early 19th century. I carefully tacked it on with gold pearl centres to the flowers and straight stitch stamens topped with pearlized milky-orange seed beeds, and straight stitch and seed beads on the lace edging. I have also added little flowers made of the same seed beads and a colonial knot to the spaces in between the edging, on the seam.

Catching Up

Several high-stress issues have come up over the last few weeks, and coupled with battling a bout of depression, my work on the CQI Round Robins has been delayed. I have gotten a lot of jelly made though! Cooking, preserving, and gardening are my refuge when depression hits. Since moving into the flat five years ago and having a proper kitchen again, and putting in the garden, it has made a huge difference to how severe the depression episodes are and how long it takes to recover.

The crab apples came ripe the first week in May, and I managed to get quite a lot of them, so I have a LOT of crab apple jelly! But I did really enjoy making it, and have given quite a number of jars away.

Meanwhile, my beloved Chrysanthemums came into flower - always sure to bring a smile. They are the most gorgeous colour I have ever seen in Mums. I originally bought the plant a couple of years ago as a straggly, on-it's-last-legs pot plant in the half price bin, and just plopped it into a spare bit of garden hoping it would flower for a few more weeks. I didn't realise it was a perennial, or that the 6 inch spindly stalked plant would grow into a humungous bush taking over a section of the garden!

On Shelly R's block for the Garden & Flowers Traditional RR, I did a variety of work.

I started with a spiral spider web in silver metallic thread, and an adorable little yellow and black spider. This is the best spider I have done yet, and I was really pleased with it.
After that, I laid down the feather stitch in a single strand of a dark olive green to match the green in the ribbon, then added lots of tiny bullion buds in two colours of pink to echo the pinks in the ribbon.
Next I did a row of herringbone along the ribbon edge, and added flowers done with tiny bronze daisy spacers and deep turquoise seed beads to pick up the colour of the turquoise silk fabrics in the block.

The next fabric had a central flower print, which I overlaid with silk ribbon flowers. The flowers in the print were a mix of cream and yellow, with a mix of red centres and yellow centres, so I followed the print in my choice of colours for the individual flowers and centres. I used a mile of ribbon and a ton of beads, to give the piece texture and volume, and extended the flowers up into the next patches (as requested by Shelly). Rope Stitch in a No.10 purl was used to do the stems. To finish it off I added a Victorian style brass bee charm.

Stephanie's Block - The Burgundy Mermaid

Well, this one was, without a doubt, the most complex and fiddly one I have done for a long time, but I do like the final result. Let me introduce you to the Burgundy Mermaid.

Unfortunately I just didn't seem to be able to get a really decent photo. None of them captured the vibrant colours, instead she looks rather 'washed out'.

I started this block the usual way, by doing the seam treatments - a small one in purple detached fly stitch (which ended up looking like zigzag stitch) with purple seed beads, and a long one in a rich rust chain stitch wave with dark red seed beads. This one ended up getting rather lost under the mermaid's hair.

My vision for this one was a mermaid pulling at a fisherman's net, so the first thing I did was sketch it out. 
The stitching was started with the net, done in a beige No. 10 purl, and the needlelace stitch used was knotted buttonhole stitch. Normally needlelace is started on a leader thread, but I didn't want that solid straight line across the top. Rather, I wanted to give the impression of the net extending up past the edge, so I knotted the first row directly onto the fabric, to give it that 'open net' look.

The next step was to transfer the body shape to a lovely flesh coloured piece of silk, and the tail shape to a burgundy satin. These were then cut out, and placed into position. Rather than appliquéing using a tiny turned seam, I used an outlining thread instead, for both pieces, as I liked the definition it gave better. Once this was decided, the outlining threads (both No. 10 purl) were couched into place with small stitches.

I chose some beautiful facetted 'dusky rose with gold tones' sequins from my stash, and stitched them in place with 'antiqued gold' seed beads. I have to say - wow! Who knew it took so many sequins to cover a mermaid's butt! Once all the sequins were placed, I added extra seed beads up her back and on her tail.

Finally, the hair was added, This was done in two stages. The first was carefully stitching the hair yarn in close parallel lines to cover the head, using tiny stitches, and being very careful not to catch any of the wispy bits. Second was stitching the flowing strands, again using tiny stitches, and being careful not to catch any of the wispy bits. Then, viola! The Burgundy Mermaid. I hope Stephanie is happy with her.

Maire's Block

The final stitch on the final seam of the final block of my first Round Robin is finished. I have completed my work on Maire's block.

As there were so many seams left (9 in total, although, granted, several of them were very small seams), I did 4 seams instead of the usual 2 we had been doing with the RR. Here is the completed block (except for the seams left for Maire to do, of course).
All the work I did was done in the threads Maire provided with the block.
 

The first seam I did is a row of bullion roses with ivory pearl centres, and a stem stitch border underneath with bullion rosebuds. The second seam is a row of wisteria, done in blush ivory beads, and pale pink and medium pink French knots, on stem stitch branches with detached chain leaves.
These two seam were my original ideas for this block when I first saw the naked block pic at the beginning of the RR. The first thing I thought when I saw it was "roses and wisteria". Of course, wisteria is normally purple, but when the block arrived, Maire stated in her booklet that she wanted the work to be in the colours of the block, and there was no purple in the block. Fortunately, I have seen pink wisteria.

For the third seam I did this wonderful beaded Buttonholed Cable Chain from Sharon B's TAST. The buttonholed cable chain was done in a lovely variegated fine purl thread, and  "antique gold" seed beads were added to the centres of the chain. Then straight stitch tripods (I don't know what else to call them) with the "antique gold" seed beads were done underneath, to extend and accentuate the border. The only other beads on the block are the pretty, tiny gold beads in Rose Anne's tatted lace, on the top right, so by putting this beaded seam on the bottom left, it kept the balance.

The final seam is a row of feather stitch, with each terminus topped with a beaded cast-on flower. These are terribly fiddly and time-consuming to do, but I just really love them. Normally I use a much smaller seed bead for the centre, but I used the same ivory pearls to cast the flowers onto that I used in the roses border, to give balance to the piece. That way the two seams with pearls are bottom right(ish) and top left(ish), nicely opposing the two beaded seams. I like how they turned out with the pearl centres.

 
Maire's block was a joy to work on, being all in silks, and such lovely delicate colours. It will head on home to Maire on Thursday.

I have enjoyed this - my first - RR, and learned a lot from it. Thank you to all the ladies who were a part of it.

Beth's Block

Wow! Here it is, the middle of March already. The time is just speeding away!

I have completed my work on Beth's block for the UTS1 (Under the Sea 1) Round Robin.
Beth orientated her block with the rocks at the top rather than at the bottom, so I visualized it as a rock shelf or outcrop, like the type I have seen many times when scuba diving, and chose to do the 4 patches on the top right. I started by laying down the seam treatments in stranded cotton floss and seed beads, in colours complimentary to the patches.

Beth said she envisioned "the light shining down into the water", so I ran with that idea and couched metallic gold 'rays' down the green patch, to represent that.

 

On the 'rock' patches, red branching coral was worked in seed beads, and a small kelp was done in long needle woven bars with No.8 purl, and carefully tacked down in a few places to give it the wonderful 'floating in the water' look. Next I made a needlelace Sea Lettuce type seaweed, in a variegated green No.8 purl, and attached it with a gold pearl in the centre.

Then came the orange sea anemones. These were done in a variegated orange No.8 purl. I started by making 3 rolled couronne, attached them with small tacking stitches, and put a single colonial knot in the centre. Each couronne was then surrounded by a circle of long drizzle stitches for the tentacles.
The final work on the 'rocks' is a collection of different types of small non-branching corals and polyps that typically cluster on reef rocks, done in sequins, seed beads, bugle beads, and pearls, interspersed with small green seaweed done in solid green No.8 purl.

Under the rocks is a small school of silver fish, like those that often hang around under rock shelves, done in silver metallic thread. 

I hope Beth likes it.