More Roses

This is Kathy's completed block ready to return home to her. This was a roses themed rr over on CQI Yahoo Group that 5 ladies participate in. I was the last to stitch on this block. Rita, Meg and Ruby did their magic before me. 

I added a wired ribbon wild rose and bud and leaves and to the right some peach colored spider web roses to fill up a gap where someone's lace didn't quite extend to the edge. 

Over on the left hand side of the block there was a naked seam so I added a few sweetheart roses. 

Here's my addition of a "shabby chic" butterfly and some bullion roses. There is another shabby butterfly on there somewhere too. 

So, that ends my stitching for both rose themed RRs I was in. Now I can't wait to get my own blocks home! I have really enjoyed this RR. I think I will make two more blocks for myself since I bought a new book on ribbon roses. 

Roses

The days have been very cold and dreary. It's snowing outside now. Inside, roses are blooming and now Colleen's block is ready to be mailed home. This is a 12 inch block for a traditional RR with a rose theme over on CQI Yahoo Group. Four ladies before me added their special touches to Colleen's block.

I added some silk ribbon roses, baby's breath, bullion rose buds and a tatted butterfly...

...and a crocheted heart with an organdy ribbon spider rose.

Flowers in Winter

The following are some pics from some RRs I am participating in:

This is Lauri's 6 inch angel themed block. I added 4 different seam treatments in variegated DMC then framed Lauri's silkie with silk ribbon flowers. I tatted a butterfly for upper right and made a bullion fantasy flower for lower right.

This is a different type of RR where everyone stitches on one large block. This is Ely's roses themed block. I added sweetheart roses, spider web roses and bullion roses around the fairy center and added a crocheted butterfly.

And this is Ely's block after Arlene, Paula and I have stitched on it. One more lady needs to add her stitching and then it's going home to Ely.

This is another rose themed RR block. This time it is for Meg and she requested yellow roses so I added a large one plus some other rosebuds and flowers...

...plus some bullion rosebuds.

This is Meg's block after Rita, Ruby and me. Then it's on to Kathy to stitch on and then home to Meg who says she will auction it off for Texas firefighters.

In Between Sane and Crazy

It's never boring around here. I always have my choice of sane or crazy project to work on after a hard day on the job. And I always like challenges. I think they keep the mind functioning.

Another challenge I hope to work on in 2012 is Sharon Boggon's "Take a Stitch Tuesday" .

I love gingham so decided to make some 4.5 inch squares into little canvases to stitch on for the TAST challenge. I figured it already has some lines marked for me to follow while stitching. If there are some stitches that involve circles I guess I will use some pastel polka dots for the "canvas". The 4.5 inch squares are bordered with 2.5 inch white on white strips and I figured I could stitch on those too. Then it will turn into a lap quilt. Crazy, huh?

This is my work on Rita's rose block. It is for a rose themed RR over on CQI (Crazy Quilt International) yahoo group.

And this is how Rita's block looks after Ruby and I have worked on it. Now there are two more stitchers to go.

And, yuck, I don't really like orange but I am participating in an Orange Study RR with some ladies on the CQforNewbies yahoo group. This is my stitching on Doris' block. I added some pale orange eyelet trim, tatted a little butterfly, crocheted a few flowers, added some kiko stitch flowers, a bullion flower, some leaves...

...and this is how Doris' block now looks after Doris and I have stitched on it.

The Latest Craziness

This is my work on Peggy Sue's block for the sewing themed RR.

This is my section of Peg Sue's block done by the entire group.

This is the entire group block after Ruby, Carol and me. Lorrie and Ruby need to add to it now.

This is my work on Susan's winter themed block. For the pine sprigs and holly leaves (those are holly leaves, I hope) I used one strand of white plus one strand of some flourescent green metallic type thread in order to hopefully look like they are kind of snow covered. 

On Paula's rose block I added more silk ribbon overstiching the leaves that seemed bare with the chain stitch I used. I feel better about it now.

Also, previously I thought the pink stamens were too pink so I toned them down with some acrylic and added some yellow beads to the center of the rose. Wendy suggested nail polish, but, alas, I don't wear it so that's how I ended up using acrylic. I thank Wendy for the idea. I was going to completely redo the rose. I feel better about the rose now too.

And, now off to some sane quilting before the guests (family) arrives to celebrate my granddaughter's birthday this evening. My baby will be 7 (going on 13). I spent a few hours at Toys R Us last night after work looking for gifts for her birthday, my other DGD's birthday in 5 weeks, Christmas and the advent calendar. Quite a few of the gifts will turn them into crafters, I hope.

Everything's Coming Up Roses!

This is my work for Ruby on her roses themed block. This is a traditional RR where 5 participants take a turn stitching on each participant's block. At top I chain stiched a heart and then filled it with some silk ribbon spider web roses, fargo/farago roses and french knots. Below is a seam with bullion roses then I tried some wool roses and leaves on the red patch. Below that I tried a rickrack rose and filled in that patch with some raised leaves. And then there is the BIG rose made of 1.5 inch wired ribbon surrounded by a seam of bullion rosebuds/stem stitch. I hope that big rose doesn't cause too many problems for the other stitchers that follow me on this block. That's why I put it at the edge instead of in the middle where I first thought of placing it.

Things Are Just Crazy Today

This is my work on Gayle's block for the "Lucious Lace RR" on CQI. At the top I tried some raised cup stitches that I hoped would look sort of like morning glories but I'm not convinced they do. Bottom right are motifs cut from lace that I buttonhole stitched around and added beads for center. In the middle are some silk ribbon french knots and lazy daisy leaves, gathered organdy ribbon flower  and  butterfly I tatted (that's the only thing I know how to tat).

This is my work on Ruby's block for a "Sew It Up" RR. I added what I hope looks like some cross stitch in a hoop on the left. There is a ring underneath the aida cloth and I couched some brown thread around it to make it stand out.  The bottom right is a gathered flower made from a selvage edge of some 30s reproduction fabric. I made some teeny-tiny four patches to go under the sewing machine button.  And at top I made a faux buttonhole that is definitely too small for that button!

For this RR we all decided to stitch as a group on one block. This is the part I did. I made a "pincushion" out of felt and added sulky silver thread pins with bead heads to stick in it. I wish I would have thought to put a little stuffing under it to make it puff up a bit...maybe on the next one. Then I did a herringbone stitch with french knots (to cover my pencil marks) and put buttons in some spaces.

And this is the group block after Carol and me. Hey, I just noticed that I accidentally made a pattern when I stitched on the buttons alternating four holes with two holes. What are the odds of that? I just grabbed some buttons and stitched them on. Weird...

Stitching Rainbows and Pansies

I just finished Misty's block for the "Anything Goes" RR. I picked this block because her silky had pansies on it and I just love pansies so I knew this was the one. I first surrounded her silky with various types of pansies - a crocheted one, silk ribbon ones and cast-on stitch ones. Then I surrounded it all with a rainbow - red, orange, yellow, green, blue/indigo, violet. I rather enjoyed it all and will have to do something like this for myself now.

Asian Challenge Pillow Complete!

My Asian challenge block has now turned into a 14 inch pillow for my sister for Christmas. As you can see it doesn't go well with my couch or my decorating style so I'm not sad to give it up. My sister likes the Asian motifs and she appreciates handmade.

Here it is from a different view so maybe all the stitching will show up.

This was the sixth stitch of the challenge - lattice stitch. I had a difficult time being able to see the threads let alone weave them. I used perle #8 on the smaller flowers and used 3mm satin ribon for the larger red one with the orange french knot center. I see a stray thread in this picture that I didn't see when taking the pic so block that out with your mind since I don't know how to photoshop it out.

One of the extras we were supposed to add was a fan. This is mine out of silk ribbon.

And there you have it.. a Christmas present finished for my sister. Now back to the list...

Up and Down Feather Stitch - Asian Challenge

For the Asian Challenge - up and down feather stitch in red silk ribbon. And here is a sneak preview of a dragon stitched on felt I am about ready to attach to the middle of the block. When all is finished it will be a 14 inch pillow for my Buddhist sister for Christmas. (I hope she stays a Buddhist that long since she flits from one thing to another like a butterfly.)

Asian Challenge Stitches

This is the first stitch for the Asian Challenge - Coral Stitch which is a knotted stitch. I chose to make mine out of silk ribbon and did not pull the knots very tight and then...

...I added some leaves and cherry blossoms to my coral stitch.

The more advanced knotted stitch that I am not sure I have mastered was knotted loop stitch or basque knot. My eyes don't see well enough to do the two loops knots aren't very even. I drew a giant leaf with lead pencil and used those lines as guidelines for my leaf...

...and then I outlined leaf with stem stitch to cover over the pencil lines. And then I added a silk and satin ribbon chrysanthemum to go with the leaf. (Well, at least that's what it's supposed to be)!

I've used the coral stitch a few times before but that basque knot stitch was new to me, well...I've seen it in books but never tried it but now I have. If I try layering it next time you won't notice my unevenness and it might be fun. I like challenges. Oh, and I might try a couple lanterns with ribbon thru them to simulate lanterns. Later...

English Garden Block

This is Gayle's English Garden block. I embellished wisteria around the silkie she had attached and did a gold metallic chain stitch around the frame since there was already a dark line around it. Then I added some silk ribbon roses, some blue silk ribbon larkspur, pink silk ribbon tulips, purple silk ribbon cone flower and some white #8 perle cotton daisies. Of course they don't all flower at the same time in a real garden but in a silk ribbon garden whatever you can imagine blooms all at the same time.

Going a Bit Crazy

Between trying to get out into the garden to get my flowers and veggies in and working my real job that pays the bills (6 years to retirement) I've managed to stitch on a few crazy quilt blocks as follows:

Above is Janet's "For the Birds" block.

We were also supposed to contribute some stitching toward a joint block so I added some fluffy thistle, a crocheted sunflower with prairie point leaf, some "kiko flower stitch" and added a few flowers to the stem stitch that was already on the block. Below is the total block after my addtions.

Above is my addition to Nina's "Pink Color Study" block. The button cluster was already there but I added a few beads and drizzle stitches to the largest button. Also added a tatted butterfly, some bullion and silk ribbon roses, some ribbon, a couple seam treatments and a crocheted heart. I really didn't think I liked pink before I started on this block. Now that I've picked up some pink supples I will probably make a few things for a granddaughter who has loved pink since she was old enough to say the word.

This is Nina's pink block after me and ready to pass on to the next stitcher.

This is my stitching on Carol's "Anything Goes" block. She has a wonderful valentine theme going with her blocks that I just love. She is going to make a wallhanging with all the blocks separated with black sashing hence the black additions. I've been working on valentine blocks for my own valentine bedrunner so had a bunch of supplies on hand to add to Carol's block. Even tho' I never get much for Valentine's Day and even though I am not much of a decorating or holiday celebrating person I must say for some reason I love Valentines.

English Garden

This is my stitching for an English Garden RR. Laurie N pieced the lovely background with the adorable little girl and I added daffodils, forget-me-nots, violets, larkspur, roses and rosebuds. Most of the flowers are done in silk ribbon but some are done in perle cotton #8. The violets in the foreground don't show up too well in the photo. I overstitched the photo too but not sure that shows up too well either. What a delight this was to work on!