New Baby Bunnies

 

My sister was given four little tiny rabbits this week by a co-worker. She has been feeding them with an eyedropper for the past few days. They got their first taste of clover today. Aren't they just too cute. They are about four times the size they were when she took on the task of caring for them. How sweet!

Springtime Flowers

When I took Buddy out for his walk-about this morning...thought I'd snap a few photos with my phone to share. These are some of the blooms around the yard. The daffodils and Bradford pear blooms are long gone already; these are the second round of flowers for spring.  

CQJP2013 - March Block Completed

My challenge to myself this year for the Crazy Quilt Journal Project is to create a large panel with many circles with crazy quilt seams only. The seams will document the designs in Embellishing Crazy Quilts, and provide me a way to showcase those seams...other than the long linear sampler I first stitched as the seams were designed. Some seams have additional beads, or changes to fit the space of the circle. Eventually, the project will be a shower curtain cover in my bath I'm thinking....in front of the plastic liner so it won't get wet of course.   Here are the seams by number used in this block:  

Seam #18  

 Seam #21  

Seam #25  

Seam #35  

Seam #55  

Seam #69  

Seam #114  

Seam #137

Fast Embroidery Poodle - Tutorial

Labels are great to work with to define embroidery shapes...because they are sticky on the back...and can be positioned then removed without any harm to most all fabrics. I trace simple shapes on the label...then cut that out...and place them on the fabric. For this poodle, I only need the circular shape of the top of the head, the tail, the breast, the rear, and at least two lower legs.

For a poodle...first find a photo or drawing (or make one) that you can use to give you a visual reference for your own version. Here is the poodle I created as a line art design...but you can download all kinds of images on the internet for use...coloring book pages are great resources.

Next I drew out some circles on my label, cut them out, and placed them on the fabric where I wanted the poodle to be stitched. Then I began stitching French knots around each of the circles. After this first row is completed, the label circles can be removed.

Here all of the circles are outlined with the French knots, and I've added some simple straight stitches to connect these circles into a dog shape. There needs to be feet, legs, tail, belly, and snout stitched. Sometimes you don't need very many stitches...that depends on how man knots you have in place.

Lastly, add one black French Knot for the eye; a couple of tiny pink straight stitches for the tip of the nose; and a pink bow made of detached chain and straight stitches...or bit of ribbon. And your sassy little Miss Poodle is all done! Using labels means no marking on the fabric...which is really helpful if you are working on black fabric like this poodle is.

I Love Paris Block for Wilma is Done...

It went into the mail today...hopefully to find it's way to the Netherlands very soon! The poodle was the last addition. She is a bit sassy, smelling the flowers on that seam treatment.   

Darlene did a beautiful fashion frock complete with matching purse. The entire vignette is just perfect for this block! Cathy added the P-A-R-I-S typewriter style beads...and I just adore them! The block got so adorned, that the space below the keys started looking a little empty, so I added a lace heart streamer to represent "love". I didn't add any other embellishment to them...as that would have conflicted with the typewriter keys.  

The right hand corner got a lace heart, roses, more trim, and a pair of lace doves to represent "romance". The corset lady is for plain ole "S-E-you know what!!". And the Eiffel tower is for "history".

I think it was Theresa that put in the cafe'...but I could be wrong. I don't have the booklet with me anymore, and my memory is really bad....so, if I'm wrong...hopefully someone will correct me. I placed the cancan dancer in the upper corner for "fun". She is so flamboyant that it washed out the cafe' some. Therefore, I added some color to the original black line drawing style by adding some green cushions to the chairs. And I removed a thin yellow stitched seam and used that thread to create a bowl of French knot flowers.

The strong white color and wide width of the lace piece that was on the upper left corner overpowered the block with it's scale. It is a gorgeous piece of lace, and made even more so because of the ribbon flowers, trim, and leaves that the ladies prior to me had stitched. The seam was so long, that there was a lot of the lace compared to other items on the block...which threw off the scale. I decided to try to break up this long seam by adding a cabochon and ribbon bow. The ribbon was provided to me with the block...and the cabochon represents "Marie Antoinette".

The perfume bottle was on the block when I received it...but had become a bit "lost" when everything else was stitched. So, I extended this area by adding a lipstitck and necklace. The chain of the necklace falls off of the "table top" and dangles a Fleur-delis.

The center area of the block has a dotted fabric with printed ladies. One image was full size, so I embellished her by over-stitching her hair, around her arms, and down the front of her dress. I used eyelash yarn to create her feather fan and added a beaded large stone style 'mirror' to a short seam. Lastly I added a trail of lace flower pieces with burgendy beads to trail across the block and help to move the viewer's eye around the area. I forget to get a full photo of the block, but hope that Wilma will remember to take one when it arrives.
 

What a Night...

We had a couple of thunderstorms roll through last night...and they contained lots of lightening strikes. One of those apparently took out our local sub-station...right before dark. Let me tell you...it's hard trying to finish bead fringe on a cabachon with only two little flashlights for light. See the dark around the light...that's what my house looked like inside. Pitch black!  

I managed to find my only candle in the house...then my flashlights and batteries before the sun was completely out of the sky. But, after that...no light at all. No street lights, no moon, no stars...nothing. It was creepy. Buddy and I went to bed early...he would not stay in his doggie bed, and had to get up on mine. It was hot...and really hot with a large dog next to you! We opened a window a little, and that helped. But around 3:00 a.m. the power was restored...and I was gladly awakened by the television coming back on. I'm tired this morning and waiting for Mother to get up...and coffee to be available. But, I'm glad that she is getting some sleep...and am sure that she needs it.  

Here's how many cabochons I've still got to do...but not today. Today, I'm working more on Wilma's block for the "I Love Paris" round robin...as I've finally determined what else needs to be done...then it will be ready for the mailman to take to her!

I Love Paris...

My block is back home...and the ladies did a wonderful job! The block is so romantic. Here are some closeups for you to enjoy...aren't the elements just too lovely and delicate.