Tea Party Blocks Being Pieced: The Rest

 Here are the remaining 5 of 8 blocks!  Now I've just got to sew them all together to create one large piece.  Normally people embellish each block and then sew them all together but just like with Fairy Treasure I want this one to have that same whole-cloth feel instead of a separate blocks feel. So that is why I'm going to sew them all together first!  There are pros and cons to each method and for what I want the pros weigh in favor of sewing them together FIRST! LOL

Tea Party Blocks Being Pieced

 Here's a bunch of fabrics I picked out for piecing.  Usually I do that using an inspiration fabric which is the rose fabric I'm using as the center of each block.  I don't usually use all the fabrics I pick out but I like to have the options as I do piece and I try to have unity for the blocks. As I started I ended up leaving out the yellow fabric and a couple of fabrics that didn't feel right after all.  So far I've pieced 3 of 8!

I also finally got the Teapots 2 to Applique book and I have an idea to have a Teapot with a creamer and sugar in the center!  Then around the center will be teacups and tea things and goodies!!!  This is going to be so much fun!!!  Also I'm thinking of using my inspiration rose print fabric as the main body of the teapot, we will see how it goes!

 The piece of Dupioni silk fabric on the bottom of this block is really neat it's both green AND pink at the same time!!!  So sometimes you see more green other times you see more pink but usually you see green with a tinge of pink like this photo!

Tea Party Piece Brewing!

 I have a Tea Party themed piece brewing!!!  It's been in my brain for a long time to do a tea party themed piece and I feel that now is the right time to get it going!  I've started collecting some things with it in mind.  I've had the 2 tea themed fabrics that you see at in the top of the photos for a few years now and have used them in a couple of projects.  One was a tea cozy for a friend which I ADORE it was so amazing!  And the other I used in a little block that is now hanging framed in my guest bathroom!

I saw the fabric with all the tea cups and had to have a piece of it!  I thought they would make great appliques!  Then recently I was looking through fabrics and that sweet rose print stood out and I just KNEW that was going to be my inspiration fabric.  Shades of Pinks, Greens and a touch of yellow and cream I think will be my color theme!  Now I still need to gather fabrics to possibly use in piecing and begin!  We will see how things turn out as I piece.

I decided I want a large piece put together in 9 blocks. Each block will be 6 inches to create an 18x18 finished piece which will be framed.

I'd also love to get this Tea Pots 2 to Applique book and applique a tea pot etc. on the piece!

 I've also had Tea Parties!  And I collect Antique China which the patterns inspire me!

More Accessories!

Here's Kaity!  She has a very unique style and loved the idea of flower hair clips so we made a few and this is one of them.  She picked the fabrics and I layered them as she liked it and added feathers that she chose too.  At the time I didn't think to take photos of them (3 total) so I'll have to take photos as she wears them.  It was with her that I developed the new method for creating the flowers!

 These are the flowers that we made together for her set of boots!  She chose the fabrics for these too and I layered them to form the flower as she liked it.  In the centers is a green flower with a pale orange pearl.

Here's another photo of my boot accessories!  I added a "belt" of the red/white polka-dot fabric and pinned it around with the flower!

Elizabeth's Flower Accessory

 Having fun creating her flower!!!

 Stitching on her leaf sequin and star button to the center!

Here is her creation!!!  We also attached a hair clip to the back.

Antique Lace on Handbag

 I got this damask painted jute tote at Hobby Lobby and added a piece of antique lace to a corner!  I get to see it and enjoy it and I can always remove it and reuse the lace when the handbag wears out!!!

The antique lace is so neat and completely hand made!!!  I absolutely adore it!

Flowers and Hearts Block: Finishing Touches

 I finally completed the finishing touches!!! YAY!  What I did was add more purple details!

 I added a purple beaded flower near the dragonfly which is made of bugle beads and one seed bead.  I also added colonial knots inside the tatted rings in a purple buttonhole twist silk thread.

 Using the same purple buttonhole twist silk thread I stitched scallops in stem stitch and added purple silk ribbon sweetheart roses and colonial knots.

I also added some stars using the same purple buttonhole twist silk thread and the same purple silk ribbon colonial knots to the centers that also repeats the feel of the beaded flower in the opposite corner.

Misc. Accessories

 Here's another flower I created using lace and a polka-dot fabric!

 Another hair accessory!!!  This one uses an beaded applique and a white feather and is attached to a bobby pin.

 I'm heading to winter camp with our youth group and me and another leader and her daughter all have the same snow boots so we needed some way to tell our boots apart.  So I created some small simple flowers that just have a safety pin on the back and can be attached anywhere on the boot!  My set will be the red flowers, the other leader's set is the black and white flowers, and the daughter is coming over to make hers!

I saw these scraps and thought they looked cute put together in this way...not sure what I will use it for but I just think it's a pretty ornament of some sort!

Flowers and Hearts Block: More Details

 I needed a little something in this spot so I added a mother-of-pearl heart with purple delica's around it and purple flower sequins to top it off!

I also added a little honeybee charm to remind her of me!  I stitched a running stitch flight path in a metallic thread.  I also added another feather coming out toward the bee even though it covered a bit of rose print.  I don't like covering pretty prints unless I really have to and there was no way around it.

I also used a pink metallic thread and added highlights to the rose print around the dragonfly.

I added a silk ribbon bow to the silkie and some tiny size 15 seed beads one for her earring and one on her necklace the chain of which I used a metallic thread.  I also stitched in the bouquet in sweetheart roses and colonial knots in silk ribbon embroidery and added a touch of white french knots too.

I also added some silk ribbon embroidery at the base of the silkie creating more sweetheart roses and knots along with added tiny green seed beads and a fire-polished heart bead.

I still feel the block needs more but I'm not sure just what that is yet.  I've been letting it sit on the back-burner of my brain for a few days so hopefully it will come to me when the time is right.  Just like putting together a puzzle sometimes you leave and come back and BAM you find the exact piece that was missing that you searched for previously! LOL

Flower Pin/Hairclip: Correna

 This year for my girl's birthdays in Small Group (Church Youth Group) I'm making flowers as pins or hair clips.  This flower is for Correna and it's totally HER!  Most of my girls adore the funky styles so I've bought a lot of funky print fabrics.  I've also started making the flowers a little differently than before, but I'll have to save the explanation for another post with photos of the steps.  I've simplified the process a ton, which makes them easier to put together and faster to make.

On the back I sew a little strip down slip the clip in with a touch of glue to keep it in place and then glued on a pin back with a bit of fabric over it too. Dual Use!

The flower is 4in x 4in pretty big!

Lace Headband

 I absolutely adore this lace and I use a lot of it in my crazy quilting so I had a large motif cut out and stashed in my lace bin.  Well one day I saw a headband for sale that used a vintage applique and loved it so much that it gave me the idea to make my own!  I love to be able to insert my favorite things into my style/wardrobe and headbands are one accessory I love to use.

 Here's how I created it:  I bought some blank metal headbands (came in a set of 3) and sewed the lace onto the band.  You can see my stitches in the photo below.  I also let part of the bottom free to float away from the band.  I'll have to make more headbands and clips from some of my fave bits in my stash!!!

 

Flowers and Hearts Swap: Kathy's Block

I'm doing a private 8 inch block exchange with Kathy, the theme is Flowers and Hearts! I sent her This Block and she sent me this one...(which I forgot to take a photo of it blank)
Click on any of the photos to see them larger.

The block is made up of a lot of prints that compete with each other and that was a bit of a challenge for me when trying to start! With competing prints you have to find a way for them to go into the background a bit more without them being too hidden or them swallowing up the stitching. Also the few more solid fabrics stood out too much and they needed to blend into the block more.
In this first photo you can see I added some lace that I hand dyed and sewed to the top right corner. In the lower left corner I added some tatting that I had created with a veriageted pink thread. I sewed the tatting on and added some purple beads to alternating rings down the middle.

I also added a dragonfly lace applique that I hand dyed as well to the upper left, filling in the gap in the print there.
I also needed a focal point for the block so I added a silkie of a girl with flowers with more lace I hand dyed

I added around the silkie some vintage purple flower trim and a piece of white feather.

I've also added some more of my tatting that was made using a purple variegated thread to the silkie as well as another feather on the other side. I also added some little flowers to the hand dyed lace applique.

I also added some of the purple variegated tatting to the seam under the dragonfly. I sewed on some white lace in the lower right and purple lace in the lower left.

I feather stitched in some green holographic thread in the dragonfly's wings. I wish the camera captured the sparkle of the thread better.

I added the same little flowers to the other alternating rings of the pink tatting.

Atop the white lace in the lower right I added a white feather with a green gem on top then added a piece of jewelery component that looked like a bow with two gold bugle beads to act as the tails of the bow.

I also added some little pink fire-polished glass hearts down one seam that I'm not sure I'm finished with yet. I also added some purple flower sequins with a darker purple seed bead to the other seam to the right.
I'm not finished with this block yet but this is my progress so far...more to come!

Baby Stuff for Nephew Tristan

I took a plain Bib and cut out a cute lizard design from some fabric.

Sewed it into place...

How cute is that? But it needed something more...

So I cut out a 'T' from the same fabric and sewed it down too!

I also put 'T's on a couple of baby blankets too and embellished them! One got green flannel fabric with colorful buttons, and the other got pale blue flannel and a couple green flannel leaves with one little yellow button!
These got sent off to my sister who is expecting Tristan to arrive any day now!