Princess Block: #5 The Strawberry Block

Here is the last of the Princess Block's that I've worked on! Wendy also worked on this block and I took it and finished it up to help her out. She is working on putting the whole quilt together now for Bekah's birthday party in about 2 weeks!

Here are some of the lovely flowers that Wendy embroidered on the block before I started any work. She also did all the embroidery you see on the seams.

For this princess block since it had a strong strawberry feel to it I went with that theme. I added the orange butterfly sequins floating about the block.

Then the princess in the center needed some pink, red and white additions to make her blend better so where there was aqua bits I covered the hem with white and red lace and appliqued it down then I added a cut out of some vintage pink and red lace that looks like a bow with a red sequin and bead. At the top of her bodice I added a bit of silk ribbon trim that is red and pink. I gave her red bead earrings, and in her hand is a tatted red rose that a tatting friend gave to me!
At the very bottom I attached a silk ribbon flower motif.

At the top I added in some little pink flower bits and a tatted rabbit the same tatting friend gave to me! The pink and green seam treatment you see is all Wendy's work!

To this patch I put Rebekah's nickname "Bekah" in red floss and sprinkled it with pearly white flower buttons attached with pink floss and accented with lazy daisy leaves.

This side patch has Wendy's seam treawtments but I added the strawberry motif!
The strawberries were reclaimed from a toddler's shirt I found at the thrift store for 25 cents. I added stem stitch stems in green perle cotton. I also added a felt flower I had in my stash.

For the strawberry leaflet I filled in the leaf shapes with fly stitches and then went back around the edges with blanket stitching to create the texturedness of stawberry leaves!

Princess Block: #4 Complete

Here is another Princess Block that I've completed!

I started by adding a piece of pink tulle to the princesses hat and a teddy bear button in her hand Then I started adding jewel butterflies and sequin butterflies are fluttering around the block.

I added a rainbow braid to the right corner and above it added Rebekah's name using running stitch in pink and whipped it in purple, then added yellow and green buttons.
There is also some pre-made silk ribbon flowers that I attached above the princess.

The bouquet is made of of different ways to make flowers like using lace gathered together and a blue tulle gathered, an organza yo yo flower and some leaves made from lace. I added some feathers and buttons beads and some reclaimed wedding lace leaves and tatting that had been reclaimed from a mistake a friend was working on instead of getting trashed.

I added little buttons and running stitch "seams" to the patchwork print along with a fairy button.

Princess Block: #3 Complete

Here is Princess Block #3 completed! I only have one left from the stack Wendy gave me to embellish for her daughter Bekah. I'll be asking for more because they are so fun to do!
I added a couple of crochet butterflies I bought with some AB thread for the flight paths. Also on the top left I layered a satin ribbon with pink lace and a piece of trimming.

The golden yellow lace was reclaimed from a neckline and I cut it apart and used 2 pieces to frame the princess in the center and to be the base for a motif. For the motif I used some flower lace that I cut the flowers apart and attached them singly and adding pink beads to the centers. I also cut a few of the flowers at a diagonal to create the seam treatment at the top of the princess and hand-sewed them in place.

I also added a hand-dyed flower motif that was gifted to me with a large orange Czech glass bead in the center. I also added 3 star buttons for a childlike feel in keeping with the blocks.

To the center princess I added beads to the roses above her, some on her tiara, her earrings, and to the bottom of her gown. I also added a flower add-on with a fire polished Czech glass bead to her bouquet.

Here are the 3 blocks I've worked on and completed. I think they look nice together and I can't wait to see the quilt all finished as Wendy has planned! If you'd like to see them in progress Click Here.

Summer Breeze DYB RR: Bonnie's block finished

Here is Bonnie's block all finished! I love it so much! There were moments when I wasn't sure if my SRE motifs were going to turn out nice, and then they just came together! I made them more of an open airy feeling, rather than really tightly done. I felt that made them more on the dainty side since Bonnie loves dainty! The last section to be filled in was the lower right and I felt a seam treatment would have just led the eye right off the block and in a direction that was the opposite from where it should go. SO my solution was to make a light airy motif using the same thread from the left and made feather stitch sprays pointing back towards the block with seed beads to echo the pearls from the left as well. The single sweetheart rose and 3 colonial knots I felt acted as a stopping point so the eye didn't go off the edge but stop there and go back along the feather stitching.
I have a cute story to tell about my friend Wendy's daughter Bekah. I took the block with me to church (I had it in a plastic baggie for protection) to show Wendy before I send it off and she was holding Bekah who is 3 years old. Bekah is a gardening princess and loves to play outside in the garden in a dress up princess dress. Well as I was showing Wendy the block, Bekah was ooo-ing over the block too and suddenly pointed to the center and said "diamond"! I was so surprised! WOW 3yrs and knows a diamond! Then she saw the flowers and said "ooo flowers" then saw the dragonflies and said "BUGS!" after that she noticed the pearls too. It was so sweet! And from Bekah's reaction I knew I had succeeded with the design plan I had! #1 was the diamond as focal, #2 was SRE motifs, #3 points of interest with bugs, pearls and beads.

Click Here to see all the Summer Breeze Blocks

Another Princess Block Finished

I do believe that this Princess Block is finished! I added another bow to make it a double bow and let it fill out the area better.

I also added some lace and beads to the princess. I put a cute star button with gold beads for it's sparkle and shine. I also added beads to her crown tips, gave her earrings, and added a beaded flower to her bodice and sparkle to the flowers at the bottom of her skirt. The lace I scrunched using a running stitch and then attached also with a running stitch, with a tiny bit at the top to match.

Princess Block Progress

Here is a little more progress on the second Princess Block. I couched down the pearls with pink thread and also sewed on the butterfly with stem stitching around using Rayon thread and added some pink beads. I also added pink sequins with tiny size 15 seed beads to the roses on the print around the princess.

Princess Block with Ice Cream Cone

Here is another Princess Block I have for Bekah's Princess CQ! I think the cone goes so well on it, now it's ready for other embellishments, I just know Bekah will love it!

What I did was sew down the tatted Ice Cream Cone made by TattingChic, and then I added some fuzzy yarn as whipped cream topped by a beaded strawberry and sprinkles. For the strawberry I used a large Czech glass faceted red bead with a gold bead cap and a red delica bead at the tip. I used the little red delica beads also as some sprinkles as well as some pink regular sized seed beads. I didn't add any beads to the cone area because when I tried it out it took away from the ice cream part, so I left it only tatting for a nice contrast.

Pretty Tatting and the Princess Block

Well since I finished the last edging for my shirt I just wanted to be working on another edging so I flipped through my books and when I saw this one I was intrigued! It is Curds and Whey from Tatting with Visual Patterns by Mary Konior, although to me it looks like waves of flowers! I love how it's only a 1 shuttle pattern and it's pretty easy to do. Anyway I just thought it was so creative that this pattern was thought up using only rings! Not sure what I'll use it for but I just wanted to do it! I also used some pink variegated Rubi thread, since it's a one shuttle the variegation seems to flow smoother and doesn't end abruptly at any one spot as bad as it sometimes can.

Also I've been adding to the Princess block, I added butterfly sequins and also started adding a line of green sequins below the blanket stitch grass. I also added some little details to the princess print by giving her a bracelet (straight stitch with a colonial knot), necklace (fly stitch with a colonial knot for the bottom), a touch of satin stitch to the center of the bow, and also adding french knots to the center of the flowers on her head.

Princess Blocks

I do believe that this Princess block is finished! I finished up my green sequin line, added clear beads to the tatted flower centers and added a pink butterfly sequin with a flight path.

Then I started working on this block. I pinned a few things on and added butterfly sequins with flight paths to add movement to the block since it's a little square-ish. The thread I used to attach the butterfly sequins and do the flight path is a mixture of 2 threads. One strand pink floss and one strand aqua floss, the aqua seems to dominate but I think the combo looks neat.

Princess Block: Yum

I added some drop beads with pink seed beads at the tips as ice cream drips and stem stitched in the word "yum" that I drew on the fabric with a fade away quilters pen. I used pink sewing thread to stitch in "yum" and the camera just doesn't pick it up right so it's hard to see in the photos but really it is visible on the block.

What I've been working on lately

Lately I've been toggling a few different projects so I thought I'd give a little update on them.

Here is the last block for the Windsong Jewels DYB RR. When I made the blocks it was my first RR and I was so excited that I didn't think about what I was going to do with them when I got them back! LOL So I didn't realize that the colors in the blocks don't really match my decor to make a wall hanging with them. I did make a purse out of 2 of them and I'm thrilled with it, but I can't make purses out of all of them! Then as I was visiting my friend Wendy I noticed that the colors in the blocks could have been taken straight from her couches! So I decided to gift them to her to use as art in her living room. I know she will treasure them! She says she is going to frame them and put them around a painting over her couch, it's going to look perfect! So I'm embroidering the last block with her in mind.

I used a fade away pen to draw words on the block. I put Love (stem stitch 1 strand floss) in the center because without love it's all meaningless. I put Family in a dainty green cursive (whipped backstitch in 1 strand YLI silk floss) because family is aways growing. Then I added Friendship in 6 strands YLI silk floss that is couched with 1 strand gold floss, so it feels kind of like a princess dress, because finding true friendship is a treasure. I also added Joy (stem stitch 1 strand floss) because that is usually the result of these things!

Then I've also sewn the finished blocks from the Summer Breeze DYB RR together end to end and tacked it up on the wall temporarily to see what it will look like. As you can see the colors go perfect with my decor! I'm trying to decide if I want to finish the last block and add it too. Then I'm going to sew on a 2 inch boarder I'm thinking in red Dupioni silk to finish the wall hanging.

And here is my nearly finished edging for the 2nd sleeve of my sweater! I only have to finish up that last repeat and sew it onto the sleeve!

What do you do? Inspiration, Motivation, and Oz! LOL

What do you do when inspiration and motivation to create seem to have flown out the window?  Lately it seems the mood to create has left me.  My garden is blooming like crazy and I'm enjoying taking photos of the flowers again, but CQ and Tatting have been pushed aside with no desire to pick it up.  I'm happy to be taking lots of pretty flower photos and tons of them are on my Honey Bee's Photos blog!

I also took a trip to visit family and it was fun!  I had packed some tatting for the airplane but I never picked it up once!  LOL  I did get that round of chains finished weeks ago on the doily but I still haven't taken a photo of it!  LOL  It's like procrastination set in and got out of control! LOL

I did pick out some pink and yellow fabrics, inspired by my roses.  I think I better just buckle down and make a block at least...sometimes it's like giving your battery a jump-start to just DO IT.

How do you overcome the blahs?  Do you wait for it to come or do something to jump-start yourself again?  It seems that not even eye-candy on Pinterest is helping!

Sometimes I can figure out what's demotivating me, but I'm having a hard time putting my finger on it this time.  My last block was really hard to work on and it's been harder and harder since then to work on things.  I had the idea to crumb piece a block and make it really "crazy" inspired by "The Patchwork Girl Of Oz", since I've been reading through all the Oz books and love them, but I hated the results.  Hopefully the pink and yellow rose inspiration will do the trick.  Hmm, maybe it's color!  I know I get energized seeing the bright colors in my garden, and my bright colored blocks are the ones that are making me happy, so maybe that is what was demotivating me.  Also the color of the crumb pieced reject is what really put me off...it's anemic looking to me and just upsets me to look at it, I hate it, I need to throw it away and get it out of my workspace! HA!  The only way I would do it again would be if I picked a rainbow of jewel toned colors, and in fancy fabrics too, that's how I "see" Scraps in my mind.  She's bright and spunky and whimsical, and she's a bit crazy (of course being crazy patched) but very fun and has lots of energy.  Hmmm, maybe I will work on this idea after all for next month.  Scraps my not be able to drink tea with us, but she'd be a fun addition to the tea party!  In Oz that never stopped the ones who didn't eat from hanging out with the meat people who need to eat at any dinner or feast. ;-)  I could see myself doing a whole Oz series after reading so much about them.  I'm almost done with the set, I just finished "The Lost Princess Of Oz" (in which Scraps is one of the main characters again) and started "The Tin Woodman Of Oz" after that there are only 2 books left.  I think it's really neat reading Baum's letters in the intros of each book and in "The Tin Woodman Of Oz" he talks about how the Oz books are for all ages, the young and the young at heart.
It's funny because I didn't start reading the Oz books because of the movie or anything, in fact I never really cared for the old movie that much and I HATE the song that everyone loves, it's like nails on a chalk board to me kinda like the titanic song...HAHAHA ;-P  Anyway the way I got into reading them was searching free books for Kindle and I read Baum's "The Sea Faries" and loved it and then when searching for more books everyone raved about the Oz series so I figured I would probably love those too.  And I do.  Then it just so happened that the new Oz movie came out in the midst of reading them!  LOL  I really loved the new Oz movie too.  It may not be perfectly true to the books (they never are) but I loved it and all the nods to the books and I felt it was true to the spirit of Baum's Oz.  I think he would have loved the movie!  It's so neat how what once could only be seen in the imagination is now able to be put into movie form!  I could see how now the ideas in the Oz books could be made into movies and really work!  The porcelain girl was so cool looking in the movie! Wow! Ya, Baum would be impressed.  Live, yet porcelain!  So cool!  I digress...LOL

Okay I better get to work if I have a hope of getting a block done this month! ;-)  At least I'm feeling better to have talked about it!  Thanks for read/listening!

Princess Block - changed some things

Well as I was working on it a bow seemed more and more like the perfect thing so I changed a few things that were pinned down (Here is what was there before) and instead added a satin bow with tails wandering. I attached it by couching it with a running stitch going along the entire thing. I also added to the center of the bow a flower sequin with a round one in the center and a pink bead.

I also changed out the butterfly and the pearl strand will still need to be tweaked but I'll do that as I sew it on.

Bekah's Princess Blocks

All I've added was some tatting leaves and flowers and sewed them and the caterpillars on!

The motif I created from pieces of tatting the bits came from the book "Tatting Rings of Flowers" by Mary Maynard. I liked the little leaf idea and had extra thread still on the shuttle from the strawberry and just did those, thought they looked nice on the block. Then I saw the simple one ring flower that just has 25 stitches with picots between every stitch, all I did was very the lengths of the picots for the different size flowers. I haven't gotten to any beading on this block yet but I'll be adding beads all around and to this tatted motif as well!

Bekah's Princess Blocks

I've been slowly working on this block here and there adding stuff while driving into town and today I did a little sitting in the garden! I just love the leisurely pace, and it's nice to just relax and do whatever I think would be cute and know that anything I do Bekah and Wendy will love it! LOL As much fun as the RR's I've done have been I'm glad they are coming to a close so I can take a break and relax and work on non-time sensitive projects that I've been wanting to do, you know...those things that take the backseat and sometimes become UFO's! LOL

I've added a stem stitch "princess" and back stitched my initials and the date since this will be an heirloom I want her to be able to know things like that in the future. I also added some yellow pistol stitches to the bell flowers and I'm adding pink butterflies as well.

What I'm working on...

Well, now that my time sensitive projects are complete I've gotten out a few projects that can take the backseat when I need them to. I finally got to sew down the lace frame to my Frilly Pink Purse, I just hand sewed it in place also adding tiny size 15 clear seed beads to the flower centers...which you can't really see in the photo but I thought it added a little sparkle without taking away from the block. Now this can be sewn into a purse!

I also grabbed one of the blocks that Wendy pieced for her daughter Rebekah's princess quilt. I have about 5 or 6 just to work on whenever.
I'll be sewing on a couple of tatted caterpillars. The green one was a gift from an online CQ friend and the pink one I was playing around with excess thread left on the shuttle and thought it was cute.
I also did a metalic blue feather stitch seam which I'll be adding more to, and also a double feather stitch seam that I'm adding quarter buttonhole fan flowers. I've wanted to do a seam treatment like that for some time but never got the chance. Ya know what I love about doing Bekah's princess blocks is they don't have to be a work of art...well they are, but not like other blocks. The reason is because it will be used, loved, washed, played with, and so on so what I do has to be durable. The other thing is the single blocks won't stand alone but they will be pieced into a quilt for her bed so it's a different kind of embellishment than if it was to be a framed piece. It's a lot simpler in design, and I can just have fun and everything doesn't have to be perfect or exact. No matter what I do I know Bekah will love it and I'll have gotten to be a part of an heirloom that even if it's tattered will be loved and enjoyed. Wendy's kids are like a niece and nephew to me so it's special to get to add to her quilt as I will also get to add to a quilt for Joseph too.

Few things I'm working on and a Thank You!

First I would like to say Thank You to Cheryl who so kindly sent me a squishie of River Silk ribbon to try and the most Yummy velvets for my stash! A photo just doesn't show the delicious texture and suppleness of the velvets! Thank you Cheryl!

Since a pattern for the doily I found is no where to be found I just printed out the scan and counted the stitches and used that as a diagram. It's a very simple pattern no special techniques needed to do it all you need to know how to do is ring, chains, and joins. This doily would also work well for needle tatters.

I'm tatting it up in size 80 DMC tatting thread, which I love since it tats very nicely. Since the original doily is tatted in what I believe is size 10, it will be a lot smaller and delicate looking.
I've only gotten 2 repeats done but my goal is 1 repeat a day and there are 8 repeats in the pattern. As I was tatting it yesterday I had an idea that I think would be pretty. Three repeats of the pattern would look lovely as a skirt for a belle or princess, and all you would need is to embroider in the upper body! My friend Wendy is making a princess crazy quilt for her daughter and she said I can help with it too so I think I will use that idea on it.

This is a little sneak peek at the block I'm making for a Cream on Cream RR that is just starting up! I pieced it last night because I was too anxious to get started, but I still have a little finishing up before it heads out. I'll blog it later on when it's ready, and let you know what it will become when it is complete.

Princess Bekah and the Block

This evening I got to go visit Wendy at her house and I brought my blocks to share with her. One of the joys is showing her daughter Bekah (Rebekah) the blocks and seeing her reaction. Many times I've wished it was on video so this time we had the camera ready! Isn't she SO cute!!! We'll have to video her enjoying blocks more often!
Wendy has also made a blog for her children Joseph and Rebekah.
You can also see the video Here on YouTube