Little Garden on a Hill

Taking a break from a larger project that requires more concentration than I am capable of for longer than a couple of hours, I treated myself to a play date with the "snowball" I pieced a few days ago.

Sketching the embellishments was where I left off the last time. Now, with my transparent paper pinned to the block, I realized that, while the green patch on the bottom looked like a nice hill and I could use that idea, it's orientation also gave the block a rather sad look. I solved this by adding some flower beds, getting inspiration from a great Japanese embroidery book I received as a gift from my dear friend, Lee Albrecht.

With the flower beds sketched, it only seemed natural to use a variation of blanket stitches for the seam around the hill, to suggest a little fence. Then came the variation of feathered chain stitch on the right seam, and the feather stitch seam treatment for the lavender-blue patch on the top, both to be taken a bit further by beading.

For the patch on the left I planned a tree with blossom clusters, and to balance the block, wisteria for the patch on the right. And maybe a butterfly in the center...

To transfer the pattern of the flower beds to the block, I copied it on tissue paper, pinned the paper to my block and went along the lines with running stitches. Then I tore away the tissue paper, embroidered the flower beds with whipped stem stitch and unpicked the running stitches.

Now they are ready for flowers to be planted :)

What I am really looking forward to is embroidering the tree. This would be my first one... I'll let you know how that goes.

Until then,

have a wonderful week, Everyone!

All The Blooming Trees

...in my parents' garden inspired me to embroider this pendant today.

Just a small detail, a couple of branches, loaded with sweet scented ivory-yellow flowers.

Where did you find your inspiration today?

Curved Piecing the Meticulous Way - Tutorial

Most of the blocks in the Snowball Fight swap with CQI being the size of a CD, their shape inspired me to practice curved piecing.

Usually I do most of my CQ piecing by machine, but my sewing machine and I can barely get along for stitching in a straight line, so whenever it comes to curved piecing, we agreed to disagree and let each other be and I piece by hand.
There are various methods for curved piecing that I found on the internet or in books, but somehow I couldn't get my curves nice enough with any of those. Now, after several blocks pieced, I  have found my own way and I can honestly say that I am happy with my curves LOL

Having to piece another CD sized block today, I thought I'd document the process and share a small tutorial with those who, like me, had a bit of a trouble with their curves :)

So this is how I make my "snowballs":

0. On a piece of paper I trace a circle around a CD, for the actual size of the finished piece, and then I trace a larger circle around the first one, for the 1.5-2 cm sewing allowance around the block. Then I design my pattern, drawing the arches with the help of the CD. (Can you tell what I was listening to after I was done drawing the arches? LOL)

Then I lay a piece of supporting fabric (old sheets, in my case) over my drawing and as the fabric is transparent enough, I can easily transfer the design on it.  (I like to keep my support fabric larger, so I can use a hoop when embellishing). Usually the lightly traced lines are also visible on the back of the supporting fabric, otherwise I lightly trace them again on the back, too.

Next I cut my pattern into pieces:

1. Laying pattern piece no.1, right side up, on the right side of fabric no.1, I lightly trace around the pattern, cut the patch into shape, leaving a 0.5 cm seam allowance and pin it in place on the supporting fabric. Now all the curves are aligned, ready for the next patches.

2. Laying pattern piece no.2, wrong side up, on the wrong side of fabric piece/patch no.2, I lightly trace around the pattern and cut out the fabric, leaving a 0.5cm seam allowance. Then, I run a line of basting stitch exactly on the line of the curve to be sewn on. No starting or ending knots here, that stitch is coming out in a matter of minutes.

Then, folding the seam allowance to the wrong side, I pinch the fabric between my left thumb and index finger so that the basting line is right on the "ridge" of the fold, and as I go along, pinching the fabric so that the curve shapes smoothly, I run a second line of basting stitch to hold the fold down.

At this point out comes the first line of basting stitch, I press my fabric, curve and all, and sew it in place on the supporting fabric and patch no.1 with tiny invisible stitches, using the guidance of the pattern traced on my supporting fabric. After removing also the second line of basting stitches I press my piece again.

Repeating step 2 for all the remaining patches, after about two hours of tracing, cutting, basting, pressing and sewing (and taking pictures), I had my piece ready for the fun part - embellishing.

Too laborious? Maybe. But those curves are nice, too, aren't they? I think it is worth the effort...

Now, for planning the embellishments, I place a sheet of transparent paper over my pieced block, trace the pattern and, if the case, even sketch the design of the patterned fabrics or lace motifs I have used on my block. I keep my block under the paper, so I can see the colors, the patterns and start sketching with pencil my seam treatments, embroidered motifs or whatever other type of embellishment I wish to use.

Today I had to stop here, but I can show you the sketch I started out with to make Cathy's Snowball.

Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Hoping that you will find this tutorial useful, I remain, as ever, yours truly,

Snowball Fight

Snow is long gone, but the Snowball Fight swap continues at Crazy Quilting International. My partner for April is Cathy K. at Cathy's Crazy by Design.
Cathy wished for bright colors, "think Kaffe Fassett", she said :)

Although at first i was a bit intimidated by the bright colors of his designs, it was fun and refreshing to try my hand with more color than I am used to.

In May I am playing with Hideko from Japan. I've pieced her block yesterday, it still needs to be embellished, but you can see the block she already made for me HERE.


Have a wonderful day, Everyone!

 

Pansy

One day, when I was about four or five, I asked my grandmother if "purple went with yellow". I don't remember exactly what brought to this question, but I clearly remember what grandmother said: "Go outside, child, look at the pansies under the old pear tree and you'll know."

There's no yellow on this pansy, but it still reminds me of my dear grandmother, just like each and every one I see.

Have a nice weekend, Everyone!

Two Rings

 Two rings, the same simple design, the same cream silk dupioni base, the same shiny silver setting. Except, the one in the first picture was embroidered with hand dyed red-burgundy silk ribbon, the second one with "plain" red (not that silk ribbon could ever be plain).

They both turned out really pretty, if I may say so myself, but doesn't that hand dyed ribbon make a whole lot of difference?!

Have a nice Friday, Everyone!

Five More

Round ones, in bronze settings, made during the weekend.

I love how these pictures turned out! Photographing silk is challenging enough as it is (for me, at least) and this is the first set of pictures I am happy with ever since I started making pendants.
Note to self: as soon as there will be 25 hours in a day, spend an hour every day learning (more) new things, photography is at the top of the list.

Have fun, Everyone!

It's Raining... Pendants

Just as whimsical as April weather, my muse comes and goes, but one thing is for sure, she is still hooked on pendants....

Five oval ones, made last week:

I hope you are all having a beautiful day!

Tone on Tone DYB Round Robin

Magdalena's block told me it wanted to be a sunlit meadow with lots of flowers. Who am I to argue with that? :) I do hope she likes it...

Have a great week, Everyone!

Back in the saddle

... at the working table, to be more exact...
There is so much reading and mail to catch up with after almost a month long absence. I will do that one step at a time, but until then, let me show you that I haven't been completely "inactive" during these weeks :o)

The giveaway winners should receive their prizes any minute now! Karen, the winner of the custom made pendant, expressed her desire for a Tiffany blue - pink - cream pendant, to wear on a very special occasion, her son's wedding. Here's what I created for her:

I loved this color combination, so I used it again:

Then I tried something different, in ways of color, anyway:

And, finally, yesterday I completed a phone pouch I had started quite some time ago:

All items, except Karen's pendant, can be found in the shop :)


Special thanks for all your patience and kind inquiries!

Have a beautiful day, Everyone!