Crazy Brown Color Study RR

BEFORE

I've been participating in a Brown Color Study Round Robin with a group of 4 ladies from the CQForNewbies Yahoo Group. Each person sends off a pieced brown block to make the rounds to every lady in the group for stitching/embellishing. All of the embellishments are supposed to be brown. Above is Angie's block as it came to me after Beth, Ruby and Toni had their way with it. I'm the last person to stitch on it and there doesn't seem to be much room.   Well, I've never done this before...but I removed those YELLOW sunflower buttons because they were not brown and they bothered me. But I'll send them on with the block to Angie when I mail it out.

AFTER

Here is the block after my additions and it's ready to mail on home to Angie.  I tatted a butterfly and attached it with a bullion and above it added a brown leaf button. I crocheted a few star flowers and added bead centers - one in the lower left space and a couple of others on the right hand side. I added a whole bunch of bullion "flowers" around the pig button and along that seam below and I added a few kiko flowers below the wheelbarrow...

EXTREME CLOSE UP

...And, most of this stitching is mine - bullion roses with leaves, ribbon flowers, kiko flowers and the seam treatment with beaded flowers.

Can't wait to see what my block will look like. I've had a heart on all the Color Study RRs I've participated in. I might make a fancy bed runner or wall hanging. But I'm really not much for wall

hangings. 

Brown

 I finished my work on Beth's block for the Brown Color Study RR hosted on CQ4Newbies Yahoo Group.
I added the buttonhole/french knot seam, feather stitch w/ bullion seam, bullion roses/leaves, big ribbon rose with button/bead center and leaf...

 and I added a crocheted basket full of bullions, beads and sequins.

 I just remembered I did not blog about my work on Ruby's block that came before Beths. I added branches and leaves, half buttonhole wheels...

 ...feather stitch w/ ribbon flowers...

...seam with bead flowers and teddy bear button.   I also added a crochet basket of flowers to Ruby's block but don't see that I have that picture handy.

All the stitching/embellishments are supposed to be brown in this RR. I think this Brown RR has been one of the best colors to study so far.

Tale of Two RRs

This is the final block I need to work on for the Fool's Goldwork RR hosted at CQI Yahoo Group. Wendy requested a peacock theme and so here's my peacock. I cut the peacock from gold ribbon, and padded it with felt. I then trimmed the body/feather with gold trim. Rest of body was stitched with 3 different gold threads.

Before I added the peacock I had embellished all the seams with treatments of white (or was it ecru?) perle #8. It would have bothered me if those seams were bare but I also didn't want them to detract from the peacock.  The bottom of the block has some other chicken peacock scratch stitched with various gold threads and beads. I added a butterfly also cut from gold colored organza ribbon and trimmed in gold threads to break up the white space but it occurred to me after I was finished that the butterfly is as big as the peacock and it reminded me of those old Japanese movies where two giant creatures fight each other. Who would win? Butterfly or peacock. Ah, my mind wanders...Anyway...when I thought I was finished I thought that dark brown triangle looked like a tumor protruding from Mr. Peacock so I think I toned it down with a trail of bullion roses made of 2 strands DMC and 1 strand gold DMC antique effects. Some of the leaves are stitched with DMC pearlescent and sparkle more than shown here.

I wasn't sure I would like the fool's goldwork because I'm not a gold/sparkly person; however, I have really enjoyed this, have a book on real goldwork to use for further ideas and have an entire tub of gold stuff I need to use up. So...maybe something will be in the works soon (or not).

Hosted on the CQ4Newbies Yahoo Group is a "Brown Color Study" RR. The block and all embellishments are supposed to be done in brown. Each lady sends her block around to others in their group to embellish and then eventually each block makes it's way back to each owner.

This is Toni's block and it had a lot of rectangular spaces. I find it difficult to stitch seams on blocks made in this style but look at each block as a challenge so..

Since it is hot here and I'm without A/C (I did go to work and experience some today, though) my thoughts of course led to fans. I embellished a long seam with my rendition of chain stitch/buttonhole fans with lazy daisy handles of variegated perle. Below that I added a variegated silk ribbon fan since I needed something to stand out on that striped brown.

Continuing on with fans...Toni's block had an Asian looking dragon in the fabric she used in the middle of the block So, I stitched an Asian lady with fan next to it. (Yes, that's supposed to be an Asian lady with fan and some bonsai in the background.) That's a stray thread near the bottom of the lady's kimono on the right. I think each of my pics has a stray thread somewhere. I also added a feather stitch/bullion seam between dragon and dragon  Asian lady.  Like the peacock block I used two strands of DMC plus one strand of antique effects brown metallic thread on the bullions. That's why they look kind of stripey. 

 And finally...I crocheted a little brown basket and added cast-on flowers/beads to it. And the seam above is satin ribbon, french knots and kiko flower stitches.

And here's what it looks like before it passes on to the next lady to stitch on (except I somehow managed to chop off some of the top half of the block in the photo.

Oh, one last thing...I'm not sure I showed MY brown color study block that is going around for the other ladies to embellish. I wonder what everyone will choose to do.