Blizzard of 2013 - Nemo

What else could I do while waiting out the 2013 Blizzard but quilting and embroidering? :)  I decided to make my very first ATCs (Artist trading cards).  These are so cute:  they are 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches.  The inspiration for these came from the blizzard:  We ended up getting 29 inches of snow!

here is one of the ATCs.

a closeup of one of the snowflakes

and a closeup of the second snowflake (Bullion knots, French Knots, fly stitch)

 using DMC thread and metallic thread and.  Further embellishments using some bead  trim.

Here are two more ATCs I made.  These are addicting!  
I am keeping the one on the right for my collection.

The other two are being traded and I can't wait to see what I get in return!

Teal Aqua Turquoise study- Crazy Quilting Group

I am excited to participate in my first Round Robin for the Crazy Quilt Newbee group!  The ladies are so friendly!  I feel fortunate to have found this group!

I am working on Lori's block first and after taking a look at it, I decided to focus on the Dragonfly fabric.  I plan on embellishing 2 of the dragonflies, each a bit differently to try and see what works best.  I hope Lori doesn't mind that I am using her block for my experimentation :)

For the outline I have couched 3 strands of DMC 964 using one strand of the lovely Pearlescent Effects #E966 also from DMC.  I just love the pearlescent effects thread for embellishments.  The results with this thread is just lovely! I do find that I need to use short stretches of this thread as it tends to kink a bit here and there.  I need to keep an eye on the tautness of the thread that is being couched.  It is obvious from these pictures that there is some slack here and there.

Each section of the dragonfly wing is filled with French Knots using 1 strand of thread of different shades of teal.  The front wing consists of DMC threads (not shiny) and the back wings consist of Guterman threads (shiny).  Although the Guterman threads are shiny and thus more pleasing to the eye, they are a pain to work with because they are so slippery.  I did not enjoy making the French knots with this thread. You can also see that some of the French Knots are not as tight as they ought to be.  I most likely would use them again for this kind of effect, but I would be saying a few choice words under my breath as I did so!  One little trick that seemed to help was to make a small stitch right after the french knot to anchor it.  That kept it from becoming loose.

finished outlining the other wings and started filling in with French Knots.

The head is filled in with a satin stitch and the eyes on the side of the head are made with a cast on stitch.
The body was made from beads and sequins.  The antennae were made with a stem stitch using pearlescent thread.

The first dragonfly is just about done!

I decided to embellish the second dragonfly's wings using a LATTICE stitch to  

make the wings appear more fragile.  The rest of the dragon fly was made just
 about the same as the first.  Let me know what you think!

here are the two finished dragon flies.

 Below is a seam treatment decorated with lazy daisy stitches with French Knots in centers, 

pistil stitch, buttonhole fans, and fly stitch secured with a French Knot

Below is another seam treatment consisting of lazy daisy chains, lazy daisy flowers and coral stitch.  

The cat tails were made with a stem stitch and Bullion stitches.  

here's the bottom, right-hand side of the block that I worked on.  

(The crocheted flower was already present)

hope you enjoyed this post!  Happy stitching!

Another Crazy Quilting diamond

This diamond was made for a project initated by the CQfornewbees group.

  It needed to be made with bright happy colors.  

Below is the top of the diamond. Because the blue fabric has butterflies on it, I decided to

try my hand at the Satin stitch and make a pretty butterfly.  

It didn't come out to bad, but I know I still need lots of practice.

The heart below is made using the Basque stitch and filled in with a Lattice stitch 

that is couched down with yellow thread at the intersections.  The yellow stitching

around the heart consists of lazy daisy stitch (3 leaves) and stem stitch (Curly "S').

The curly Ss are tiny and I just love the stem stitch with tiny stitches.  

I like how this RED heart looks on the green background.

I hope you've enjoy these photos!