Wandering Rose Memorial: Gold Scalloping Chain Stitch

I added a gold scalloping chain stitch on the light gold moire in the corner.  It's very imperfect but I think further embellishment will fix that later on.  I might be ready to move on to the next stage of embellishment and add some Silk Ribbon Embroidery!

Wandering Rose Memorial: Metallic Gold Curving Feather Stitch

I added a Metallic Gold Curving Feather Stitch today!

Wandering Rose Memorial: Little Yellow Zigzag Stitch

Today I added a little yellow Zigzag Stitch!  Not sure if I all out love it but we'll see what I think as I move on and get to the further embellishing stage.

Wandering Rose Memorial: Tiny Vining Feather Stitch

Today I added a tiny vining Feather Stitch in a fine gold silk thread!

I totally skipped a week of work!  That's the trouble sometimes with trying to start a habit sometimes you fall off the wagon.  But as long as you get back to it as soon as possible, it should be okay.  Last week was pretty busy, and I honestly felt a little blocked as well, but if I'd prioritized a bit better I could have still worked on it a tiny bit each day.  Well at least it's Monday again and I've got mission accomplished for today!  LOL

Wandering Rose Memorial: Little Yellow Feather Stitch

Today I did a little seam to make me happy again. It's a light yellow feather stitch! 

♡ 

My plan of doing a little bit every day to start building consistency is paying off with almost all the seams in the seam layer done! It's my least favorite layer, I much prefer silk ribbon and beading layers! LOL But first things first! One step at a time!

I'm going to take a break for the weekends, but my goal will be to do a little bit each workday as possible.  I want to build that habit as an Artist to help me with my further ventures down the road!

Wandering Rose Memorial: Gold Herringbone Stitch

Not sure if I like today's addition of the gold herringbone stitch. It may come out later on. We'll see.

Wandering Rose Memorial: Swirlies!

So I'm trying to start building consistency of working on something every day.  Today I added some back stitched dark green swirlies in silk thread!  I plan on playing with them later on.  I know it seems extreme with the dark against the light but hopefully with later layering it will be balanced out...that is what I do!  I keep balancing the composition as I go!

Lately I also have been thinking about my dream to be an Artist.  And I know technically I already am one and I realize that now.  It's been hard for me to acknowledge that to myself feeling like I'm not a real artist.  But now I am going to start working on heading towards building a portfolio of work that could be considered fine art and be in a gallery.  I still feel like at this point people will totally laugh at me for thinking I might even have a slight chance to do that eventually.  But I think I can do it.  My media is different than traditional artists and I don't totally fit within the Crazy Quilting world for art quilts either.  I still think what I do is just as valid as anyone else, it's just different.  Right now I need to look into copyright issues that could come up with fabrics and materials I use and start working on pieces that are completely free of that issue.  When only working privately for myself and gifts it didn't really matter as much.  With the goal of being a Fine Artist it's important that I create with that in mind.  Also to create things that are the heart and soul of what I do but done in a way that I can allow to leave my possession.  So much of my current work could never leave my hands...including this Memorial Piece!  It has too much meaning for me personally.  So I need to work on things that are meaningful to me but I can let go of.  I also don't need to do this for income, my ultimate goal is *just* to create fine art!  It will only be icing on top of the cake to one day be sold.  If it never happens then I will be just as content having built up a portfolio of art!

I'm now acknowledging that what I do is art, it has emotion in it and people connect with it on an emotional level.  I always have a larger goal of showing people things that bring them enjoyment, maybe tickle a desire to find more details within it to enjoy.  It is meant to be framed on the wall, and has no use for it other than to bring enjoyment to the viewer!  It may be that I use pieced fabric as my "canvas" and I use forms of needle art, other objects, and textiles as my "paint" but it is art.  I'm not sure what genre it belongs in.  I don't think it's even fully crazy quilting because I don't finish it in a traditional way or create quilts.  So this is what I'm trying to hash out right now at the beginning of this new journey in my life!

Wandering Rose Memorial: Fearless Freehand

Almost a year later and I added a new seam treatment detail freehand inspired by the way she fearlessly created beautiful things without fear of imperfections!

I used a light pink swiss made cotton thread that was in my stash and used chain stitch in wavy lines.  When I first set out I thought they were going to inter-cross, but as I worked it ended up wanting to be parallel wavy lines.  No matter it's still overall like the idea I had in mind when setting out and taking the risk to just do something and not be paralyzed by fear.  I just kept remembering how she would be so fearless when creating!  She made such beautiful things all the time and fear of not doing well didn't seem to stop her!  I can see the imperfections in my waves but you know what?  There are no straight lines in nature, there really is beauty in imperfection.  I'm trying to embrace this more and more and take risks.  I want to just flow more!

Wandering Rose Memorial: Perfection in Imperfection

I added a couple more seam treatments yesterday.  I'm not embellishing them more yet but I want to keep getting more seams stitched to really have a solid base layer to embellish over.

I used to have so much trouble with this step, I know I have a tendency to over-think it all and end up getting stuck because I want it to be perfect.  Wendy taught me a lot about the beauty in imperfection.  She would simply find an idea she loved and put it on the block and it always turned out so beautiful!  She completed whole quilts for her kids that were not perfect but were so stunningly beautiful!  I always admired how she simply did stuff and didn't over think it like I do.  If she had been stuck on perfection the quilts would never have been finished.  Sometimes when I see beautiful work I purposely notice the imperfections that create a whole of beauty and let it soak into my heart, that there is proof after proof that there is beauty in imperfection.  Sometimes it's the imperfections that add interest to things that give it a special unique beauty that can't be replicated.

So I'm doing my best to go with the flow, to find a stitch I like and go with what feels right and not over plan it but just do it.  To trust my creative instincts because they usually steer me right, and if not I can always do it over.  Without taking risks we aren't truly living.

I really appreciate each comment left for me, thank you to everyone who is supporting me in this.  Thank you for caring and reading what I write, it means a lot to me.

First I chose a Chevron Stitch and picked a red wool thread and I threaded the needle and just put it in place and eyeballed the placement and spacing.  It's not perfect, but there's something wonderful about it not being absolutely perfect.  Proof that a human made it, and people are imperfect yet beautiful too.

The second one I chose was a combination stitch, a chained feather stitch.  I liked the feeling of tiny rose buds this one gives and I used a fine light pink silk thread.

Wandering Rose Memorial: Starting Work

Okay here's how the block was left off as way back in 2009.  I guess looking back through old posts I never blogged the last progress I had made which was adding some Turkish Oya up in the right hand top corner.  As well as a few more seam treatments over there too.  Also I had finished the rose garland and added some silk cut out leaves to the center.  I started on some dangling leafy vines at the base of some lace and never finished it up.  I remember Wendy seeing those additions and loving them!  I really miss her!

So today I finished up the last leafy/vine dangle, not sure what to call them, LOL!  I also started thinking over what seam treatments to add next.  I want to make sure I get the depth of layering in this piece so I'm going to focus on getting more seam treatments in before I start adding motifs and such.

It's nice to be embroidering again, I've always loved it and always will.  Even if I pause for a time here and there I know I will always, always come back to it again.  It was very soothing to be focused on stitching.  Also I can feel my creativity brimming with inspiration and I've always loved using CQ as an outlet for that.  I'm always creative in some way.  The last year I've been on a journey to a healthy weight and along the way I've found that I'm a FOODIE!  LOL  And I enjoy creating new things to eat that support a healthy weight and are really yummy!  I even have a food blog!  It's neat how creativity can translate into so many areas of life.  I know that might seem random but I figured it might be nice to update you all to my life right now too.

I believe my CQ has taken a backseat for a while since I was needing to be more active and this tends to be a more sedentary activity.  I'm better able to balance things now so I believe that I can reintegrate this part of my life too.

CQJP 2013: March Block Feather Stitching

I added a bunch of feather stitching in three different shades of metallic thread. I also added a hand charm and a sweetheart rose in its fingers.
I feel like this block could be finished. I will have to sit on it and see.

CQJP 2013: Feb. Block Seam 3

Here is the last seam treatment.  I added a ton to this one!  At the very top is a lazy daisy flower with lots of layers, with a silver-lined size 15 seed bead and 3 green lower leaves.  Also a running stitch scalloping line.

I added to the 4 petal blue flower a dark blue colonial knot center and  a light pearlized blue straight stitch coming off of it with fly stitches along it.  I also added green straight stitches around the little flower.

On the Herringbone stitch's tips I added pink metallic thread in crisscrossing straight stitches.  I also added some light blue colonial knots in a swag, and medium blue stright stitches in a zig-zag along it to draw the eye up and down along the seam treatment.

CQJP 2013: Block 2 Middle Seam Treatment

Here's my progress added to the scalloped chain stitching of this middle seam treatment.

I added tiny size 15 blue seed beads to the eyelets.

I used a light blue pearlized thread in a fanned straight stitches with a dark blue french knot at the base.

I added a pink fly stitch and using a metallic pink thread a lazy daisy tipped with a pistol stitch and 2 french knots.

CQJP 2013: Block 2 Left Seam Treatment

I am really loving this seam treatment!  I'm glad I'm pushing myself to try to create better ones, and I'm finding it's all the layers of stitching that I really like.  I like to look through Carole Samples "Treasury Of Crazy Quilt Stitches" to help my brain brew ideas.  I don't copy any specific thing but I just browse and notice what I like and think about why I like it and if it's possible to incorporate and keep browsing and then I set it aside and look at the seam again and it helps me dream up my own.  It's like I have to input info visually by browsing ideas so I can think of possibilities.

I've tried reproducing seams before in the past and it just never works out.  To me it's like trying to reproduce someone's handwriting!  There are too many variables that have an influence on the result.  So I just use all seam ideas I see as inspiration to spark my own.

Anyway her book is like a nice giant compiled brainstorming session of seam treatment stitch combinations and to see the process of that brainstorming helps my brain start thinking like that too, of possibilities, and they really are endless!

I've even come to enjoy the imperfections of my seam treatments, the way nothing is ever the exact same size even when I try my best to make it so.  I figure it adds to the hand stitched feel, it gives it warmth and personality.  Machines do perfect exact work, and I am not a machine! LOL

So here is what I did:

I added to the center of the base stitching some lazy daisy leaves in green, then some metallic pink straight stitches, and a tiny size 15 silver lined seed bead.

Then the the Cretan Stitch end of the base stitching I added a green fly stitch, light blue lazy daisy stitches that are using a french knot to finish the stitch instead of the normal straight one, and a dark blue colonial knot in the center of the flower.

CQJP 2013: Feb. Block Progress

Here is what I am working on. For some reason I just didn't want to work on this for a few days and then I realized what the problem was.  The rose I last did just wasn't right.  The color was off and it was annoying me, and holding me back, though I wasn't fully aware of that yet.  So I ripped it out.  Sometimes you need a little time away to gain some perspective and forget all the hard work and long amount of time you put into it, so you can rip it out if it's not right!





“The urge to destroy is also a creative urge.” ― Pablo Picasso

So I started working on some seam treatments.  I am not usually very strong in these but this block really called for nice seam treatments in the background.  They will be more quiet than the bouquet but still add interest to the block. None of the seams are finished they will have more added to them, but this is what I got accomplished today.

 I started with a Herringbone stitch in the upper right.  I used a metallic thread.  I also added some light blue lazy daisy flowers to be like forge-me-knots.  I'm not sure what else will be added, I'm letting ideas brew.  The seam to the left of that one, I simply did Chain stitching in scallops using a variegated thread.  If you notice I also worked around the eyelets in the fabric, I want to incorporate them into the seam treatment.  

I'm trying to bring blue around the block in little touches, since the cup is a blue patterned one.  I don't normally prefer blue, but I have noticed that I enjoy how it makes pink pop, and that makes it worth using!!! LOL

This seam is a combination of one side Cretan and the other Herringbone to which I added some lazy daises with long arms, some french knots in dark blue each downgrading in wraps from 3 to 1, then a few straight stitches of a light blue thread.

Finally I worked on the bouquet ripping out the outer part of the petals and reworking them with another silk ribbon which is a better color of pink.  It's 7mm, and I pretty much did stem stitching around the center and then added some loops.  I also added 7mm green silk ribbon leaves, some sweetheart roses in a 4mm variegated pink and green ribbon.  I also used a ribbon work method to create the center of the large bud to the left with 13mm ribbon the same as the large rose, and then used the same 7mm pink ribbon to do a couple of looped ribbon stitches.  I added some straight stitches around it in green and then made a stem by twisting the ribbon and taking a straight stitch with it twisted.  I'm really blending Silk Ribbon Embroidery with Ribbon Work methods to create this bouquet.  I cut off the fabric print and am going to wing the design instead.  I like my own ideas better!!! LOL  I'm prepping to make more of the large bud centers for more of them, and I need to figure out another larger rose or flower to add to the arrangement.

I feel so much better after all the work I did today.  I'm really happy with how this block is coming along. 

Tarnished Gold: Honeysuckle Flowers Finished

 I finally got to sit down and finish the honeysuckle flowers!  I love them, so sweet and subtle.  These photos seem to be a bit better to see the stitching in.
Then I took a few hours trying to figure out what's next!  Went though stash and still can't seem to come up with any ideas.  I think I'll call it a day, all that thinking and searching makes you tired! LOL  I hate getting stuck, but the good news is only 3 more areas to work on till it's finished.

Tarnished Gold: Honeysuckle Flowers

Today I started on the honeysuckle flowers!  I used one strand of floss and did tiny thin lazy daisy stitches and then added some yellow pistol stitches.  It's so hard to see in the photo because they are so tiny and it's blending into the background fabric(especially the ity-bity pistol stitches), but in person it looks just right for bunches of honeysuckle flowers!

Tarnished Gold: Honeysuckle Vine Leaves Finished

I took a week off after all that trouble with the bullions but today I resolved to finish it once and for all!  Again I kept having trouble with them but I am relieved to have them finished.  I am not sure why I had so much trouble with them this time!  Normally they aren't that bad, and it makes me wonder if it was the thread I was using instead of embroidery floss.  At least it doesn't really matter if they are perfect or not, the imperfections give the leaves character. ;D  Now I get to move on to the figuring out how I'm going to do the flowers!

Tarnished Gold: Little Honeysuckle Vines

 OY!!!  I love this idea of tiny honeysuckle vines in the background of the bird, but wow have I been having trouble with these bullions for the leaves!!!  First I figured out that even through I thought I had the correct needle that nope I hadn't actually been using a milliners needle, which I figured out after having tried a couple sizes of needle, then I get a real milliners needle and it's so much easier but then it was too big of a needle, so then I switch to a smaller one and have some trouble again and have to make sure my wraps aren't too tight etc.  LOL

Two bullions per leaf, and so far I have seven sets of leaves completed which adds up to 28 bullions in just this little area!  I had to call it a day at this point! LOL  My original idea is to have the honeysuckle flowers be out of bullions too but I'm thinking they might be too large if I do in comparison to the leaves, so I might go with some tiny lazy daisy stitches instead.  Not sure yet but I still have a ton of leaves left to finish before I get to adding the flowers.

Tarnished Gold: A Little Birdie

I got the idea to add a little bird, so I sifted through a bunch of vintage patterns to find one and this little guy is the one I chose!

I traced him onto quilters paper and then stitched through the paper and tearing it away when finished.

I don't really like using the quilters paper but sometimes it really is the best option.  The patch of fabric is one of those kind of fabrics that you can't draw on because it will snag and ink will run, an iron-on isn't a good option on a crazy quilt either...so quilters paper it was.  LOL  I really hate tearing it away!  There's always the water solvable Solvy but that wasn't viable either since crazy quilts aren't really made for getting wet either, especially this one.  And plastic is even worse to tear away than the quilters paper.

So does anyone else have a method that they really dislike but use anyway because it works and is usually the best option?

I stitched him in using different threads for the different areas, his wings are a variegated brown thread, and his fluffy area is a metallic thread, as well as his beak.  His eye is a little black sequin with a tiny seed bead.

I love how it seems that the lady in the silkie is looking at him!

Next I'm going to add some tiny honeysuckle vines in the background of this yellow patch.