Wendy's Block is Done!

I imagine everyone is getting tired of looking at this block of Wendy's I have been working on but I finished it today so I thought I would show you what else I added to it.

I decided the third (and last) motif on the block would be a paisley which I thought tied in well with the peacock theme. I started by couching down a double row of Japan gold-ish thread around the paisley shape. I added a fan shape of bugle and seed beads at the fat end of the paisley and some more seed beads leading from there back to the small end. I filled in the small paisley shape inside the big one with satin stitch in metallic thread and then added three feather charms and a sequin flower (remember these from last week's BAS?) The finishing touch was the sequins around the outside. I decided I wanted a scalloped edge around the outside so I used sequin trim and cut one third off each sequin on the trim before I stitched them down so they would snug up nicely to the Japan gold (yes, I was getting a little obsessive at this point! lol) For the most part, it worked though!

And there is the completed block which will be in the mail to Flora bright and early Monday morning. The feather motif was large so there was only room for three motifs and three seam treatments. It looks a bit unbalanced with the heavy seams and the airy feather but I think Wendy will be pleased anyway.

I have enjoyed working on this block for Wendy so much I have pretty well decided I will try to duplicate the block for myself at some point. I'm telling myself that anyway because this one is very hard to mail away - I really want to keep it! roflol

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...

Giveaway! (Closed Midnight Monday!)

While packing my stash for the move to the lake I found duplicates of a couple books. What can I say? It must be really appealing to buy it twice! So, I have two books to giveaway. The first one is "45 Fine & Fanciful Hats to Knit". My knitting skills aren't up to this, I'm afraid - I wish they were because it is a gorgeous book! The second book for giveaway is "Tatting Doilies & Edgings", edited by Ruth Weiss. This is a good one because it has lots of edgings that can be tatted and used for crazy quilting. Of course, you could tat the doilies and edgings for anything you like! lol So, to enter the giveaway simply leave a comment with your email address and indicating which book you would like to go in the draw for. I'll draw names sometime on Monday. Thanks!

kerrykatiecakes

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