Skip to main content

My work on Kathi's RR block

I just finished working on Kathi's block from a round robin at CQI. It was a great block to work on - wonderful fun colours so I went with the bright colours and had a blast. I was first to work on it and Kathi's instructions were just to have fun so that's what I did. I went with sort of a garden theme. The first thing I did was a butterfly with Janet's technique. I have a couple more pieces of butterfly fabric now so am able to play with this some more. It is done by cutting out two identical butterflies from fabric. Cut down the center at the body and put the right sides together and sew around each wing, except for where you cut it. Turn them inside out, press and voila! You sew them onto the block at the centre and after you add a replacement body - this one is beads - and some antenna, you have a wonderful three dimensional butterfly with wings that stand up from the block.
I also did the two seams in this picture. The vertical one is a simple herringbone stitch laced with a nice sage green velour thread. Then I added trios of detached chain stitch. The second seam is a simple cretan stitch. At the top and bottom of each stitch I added two detached chain stitch leaves and then a silk ribbon french knot.
My second motif was this cluster of fantasy flowers made with raised spider webs. This was my sample for last week's BAS (Build a Seam Challenge). The stems are stem stitch and the leaves are feather stitch. The little butterfly beads I scattered around are plastic but I couldn't resist the colours. Just above there is a small seam done in braid stitch with varigated silk perle thread. Where the two lines of braid stitch met I added a resin bead I think I acquired by cannibalizing some thrift store jewelry. It seems to fit the colours and feel of the block.


Here is Kathi's block as it looked when I was done stitching. It is headed off now to Alice who gets to go next. I hope she has as much fun with this block as I did!

Comments

Maggie R said…
Hi Kerry,
Your work is lovely..
I especially like the raised spider webs for flowers. Great idea..Very inspiring..
xoxo
((((hugs))))
maggie
gocrazywithme said…
I love the spider web flowers. When there was just one, I couldn't figure out a use for them, but now I see....you're a genius.
qwerty said…
That looks beautiful! Love those raised spider webs, I'll have to attempt this stitch. The result is stunning.

The technique for the butterfly is genius!!
Cathy said…
Oh, how lovely this is! How did I miss it on the list (too much use of the delete key - oops!). Gorgeous flowers and butterfly. I can see why you had fun with this Happy Block! Hugs, Cat
Kathi said…
YAY...that's my block and your work is perfect. I love everything you did...thank you!!

Popular posts from this blog

Giveaway Day! (CLOSED)

I am very happy to be joining in the Giveaway Day through Sew, Momma, Sew .  I have chosen to share one of my finds from a shopping trip, or treasure hunts as I think of them.  This is an antique sewing box -  I could not resist it when I saw it for sale!  Were you able to guess the item from the sneak peek earlier in the week? The box itself is fairly small, 8 inchs X 6 inchs and 4 inches high (20 cm X 15 cm and 10 cm high).  From my research it is of Asian origin. Inside the sewing box is lined with hand-painted silk.  The inside of the lid features a neat little needlebook. In the bottom of the sewing box there are more beautiful hand-painted blossoms and an attached pincushion.  I hope you are as charmed by this little box as I was when I found it and that you will enter my giveaway.  I will be pleased to mail internationally so everyone is invited to enter. To enter, visit my Etsy shop and then come back and leave me a...

BAS - Week 81 - Sequin Flower with Tutorial

This Build a Seam (BAS) Challenge is a little different - not exactly a stitch per se.  It is a technique for making sequin flowers which can be a wonderful addition to a seam treatment or motif. You will need cupped sequins for this - flat ones will not work properly - and some seed beads.  Mark your fabric with a center dot and five evenly spaced dots around the outside.  Bring your needle up through one of the dots on the outside and string on one sequin (cup upwards), a bead, another sequin and two more beads.  Take your needle down through the middle dot.  Carry on making another leg in the same way on each of the other four outside dots, always going down into the center dot which will be the middle of your flower. This is what you end up with after you have done all five legs - a nice little sequin flower!  You can add a bead or two more in the center of the flower if you wish.  You can also vary the number of legs depending on the size of t...

BAS - Week 79 - Feather Stitch Variations

I have about the next twenty BAS stitches scheduled and by happy coincidence this week's BAS is a series of Feather Stitch variations which coincide with this week's TAST stitch if you are following.  So, we can hit two birds with one stone!  These hardly look like feather stitch but they are.  They are created by making the "v"'s of the feather stitch vertical on the inside.  Very simple to do but a different look to an old stitch.  The second variation is created by doing two feather stitches at a time on each side, again making sure the inside of your "v"s are vertical and line up as much as possible. Same thing again in this one except they are in series of three.  To me these have the look of stitching on old crazy quilts so they are nice to add to your stable of stitch variations.  Hope you  enjoy them and have fun!