Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Work In Progress Wednesday

Hello there.

Today is Wed and I am posting the progress made on Block 5.  It isn't much because I am having a rather difficult time trying to figure my way around this blog process, but I did do a bit of stitching.  Here is today's view.


This is where I added one of the motifs from the Adventure.  In the bottom, right corner you will see a beautiful motif made by Nicki Lee Ravioll.  If you haven't seen her work, I believe she sells on Etsy.  This is a stack of various dyed laces with a bird and some pearls at the top of the motif.  This made me think of "The 12 Days of Christmas" (a partridge in a pear tree?) so I thought that would be a good theme for this block and I embroidered the words in the middle.  I am left handed so I work from right to left (some say backwards) and you might have noticed the 'Christmas'  in the previous view of the block. 

As I said, I am still trying to figure out this bloggings stuff so I didn't get much done this week but I have high hopes for next week.  It is supposed to be very, very hot here this week so Cobi (my grand-dog) and I might just sit in the air-conditioned room and stitch.

Enjoy!!
Maureen

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Block #5

Hello there!

How are you doing today?  This week I have been working on Block number 5.  There is no rhyme or reason which block I work on, I just pick the one that cries out to me first.  This is how block 5 looks at the beginning of this challenge.

Let me talk about my plan for these blocks.  I thought that the top 5 inches or so would not really be seen too much because it will be covered by the tree.  So I thought I would just put some plain stitching there to look a little festive but not too much work.  For the most part, I have chosen to use the Feather stitch using different Kreinik threads and varied the size of the stitches.  

As I said in the Intro, I will be using things I learned or obtained while at the Adventure last year, including motifs from the super Motif swap.   On block 5, under the Feather stitches there is a bright purple Kreinik ribbon in a zig-zag line.  If you look closely, you will see little circle star shapes.  This is something I learned, I believe from SharonB.  It is called sequin waste (or something similar).  What it is is the piece left after all the sequins have been punched out of the form.  The sequins could be stars, circles, hearts, anything.  You just cut the 'waste' apart and you have cool, shiny shapes.  I sewed them on with thin sewing thread and they are shiny and purple, which I don't think you can notice here.

On Wednesday, I will post the work I have done this week on block #5.  There has not been much work done but I still have one more day.

Thanks for stopping by.

Maureen

Friday, June 22, 2012

Introduction

Well hello there and welcome to my blog!!

I never thought I would have a blog but you know the expression "Never say never".  So here I am.  Why am I doing this?  I wonder that myself.  The main reason right now is because I have joined a challenge with Sharon Boggons to post my WIP (work in progress) every Wednesday.  I think this is the only way I will keep working on this project and finish in a reasonable time.

A little background on the project.  Last year, I was extremely lucky to be able to attend and participate in the CQ Adventure in Connecticut, USA organized by Maureen Greeson.  It was a wonderful event.  The teachers were Sharon Boggons, Allie Aller and Betty Pillsbury, it doesn't get much better than that except then I was able to attend 3 additional days with Sharon.  Being totally unrealistic, I thought I would complete a Christmas tree skirt at this event.  I made 6 panels (actually pie shaped) for each of the sessions following the suggestions of the teachers.  Well I didn't get to work on it hardly at all, but had a wonderful time any way.  So since these blocks were already pieced, I thought I would continue (after thinking about it for many months) and make this tree skirt for my special Christmas tree which is filled with handmade ornaments.  I am using stitches and techniques I learned at the Adventure as well as motifs from the fabulous Motif Swap held at this same event.

That is probably more information than you needed but there it is.  I have been working on different blocks and changing around whenever I feel a little stuck on one.  I will post a picture of each of the 6 blocks as they are today.  There is one block that is mostly blank and I will talk about that one at another time.  I should add a disclaimer that I am not a very good photographer so it might be a little hard to see what I have posted.

Thank you for reading all the way through this first post and hopefully you will want to check back a time or two to see if I make any progress.








Have a great day!

Maureen