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 quilt square for the SAFE MOTHERHOOD QUILT PROJECT

Click HERE for the link for the Safe Motherhood Quilt Project

Here is another quilt square I have made in memory of a mother 

who died due to a complication associated with child birth.

It is thought she died of a pulmonary embolism one 

day after giving birth to her daughter.  

AGNES CORDES ARDOIN

 I found some fabric that had a floral column that drew my attention and I decided to use that for the quilt piece.  I cut it into strips.  I found a coordinating  piece of fabric that would go great in the middle and sewed that down with large straight stitches.  I then sewed the floral strips around it, mitering the corners.

Using  a variegated purple thread, I machined stitched some floral embroidery just outside

 the seams to bring it all together.  I then machine-stitched a small floral border using a 

variegated tan thread right at the purple/tan seam.
I added some faux pearls by hand -stitching French Knots at the center of each
 flower, using a pearlescence thread from DMC.

I added some fantasy flowers (chain stitch) using French knots for its center 

(two kinds of orange thread).  I used the Blanket stitch for the leaves.

here you can see some small flowers made with lazy daisy stitch (maroon thread) 

for the petals and  French knots for its middle (sky blue thread)

this store-bought butterfly goes beautifully with the piece.  I couldn't resist!

My Embroidery Sampler
I've decided to finally make an embroidery sampler for myself to keep track of stitches and their uses, particularly ones that please me.  I won't be updating this blog very often as it is a "back burner" project but now that I've made this blog I will feel obligated to work on it periodically.

I started out with a good size piece of muslin that I've backed with Pellon Shape Flex (all purpose Woven fusible interfacing).  It is basically a piece of lightweight 100% cotton fabric with glue on it, allowing it to be attached to another piece of fabric (via ironing).   Just what i was looking for, nice and easy!  I found it at my local Joan's.

My first stitch was the French knot, and since I liked how my tree came out on the CQ diamond that was made for someone else, I decided I needed to have one of those lovely trees for myself. 

One thing I've discovered for myself is that the thickness of the needle affects the size of the knot.  I was using a very thin embroidery needle (size 11) and decided to try a betweens and, lo and behold, I like the look of the knot much better.  It comes out fatter, more pronounced.

I left the third branch empty on purpose because not only do I like the way the branch looks but I also wanted it for my future reference.  The branches almost disappear with all those French knots and it is hard to see what exactly I did to make the branch.

 I fooled around with colors as you will see.

This heart is made using the BASQUE stitch, which is basically a twisted loop stitch. I've made this heart before on a CQ diamond that was donated and I wanted one for myself!   I used 2 strands of DMC floss.  The inside of the heart is decorated with a lattice stitch (2 strands floss) held down (couched) with 1 strand of yellow DMC floss at each intersection.

I am in the process of embroidering some S shapes and such around the heart, using the stem stitch.

  I need to figure out how to make better enlargements!

Crazy Quilting Diamond
I recently joined the Crazy Quilting for Newbies yahoo group and got involved in a few swaps.  Here's my very first Diamond for Sue U, who wanted a Garden theme.  One of my favs!

For this CQ diamond I was in the mood for Bullion stitches and knot stitches, such as the Coral stitch and French Knots.   

I decided this diamond needed a little tree, especially one with  French Knots for leaves. 

 The tree's trunk is made from 6 strands of brown DMC floss held in place by couching with 1 strand of orange floss.  The 6 strands were divided to make the branch, each branch consists of 2 strands of DMC floss.  I had to cheat a little and borrow some floss from one branch.  Next time I need to figure out in advance how many branches, multiply by 2 (or how ever many strands thick I want the branches) and then start out with that many strands of floss.

this is the seam above the tree, which I think is made from the fly stitch with French knots

I also love the Bullion Stitch and tried my hand at making a sheep.

  I think he came out pretty cute!  

The white fench is made up of the coral stitch.  

I added some echinachea using lazy daisy stitches and French Knot for the center.

The pink roses below the echinacea were made using the Bullion stitch.

I made a floral border along the seam of the blue fabric 

using different color groups of French Knots that were interspersed 

with green French knots for the leaves.

and some more coral stiching, bullion stitch (light blue flowers in between green coral stitch)