CQJP, TAST, and WIPs

CQJP, TAST, and WIPs

I've been working on my May CQJP, and there have been a few changes:

Mr. Snowman changed his scarf to a red 

one, and, look!  He now has twiggy arms. 

That makes it easier to hold the tinsel he's 

putting on the Christmas tree.


Can you see the little copper decorations he's already hung on the tree? There are sparkles, too.

Tast stitch for this week, Butterfly Chain Stitch, decorates my CQ block..... it was fun to do.....

Looks as though Mr. S. has decorated the hall for a party. .....icicle lights strung along the wall......and snowflakes  hung here and there......


I wonder what else he's planning to do..........

My WIP's are from my Basic Crazy Quilting Course at StitchMAP.

 A little bit of tatting on the second needlebook I'm making as a gift

here's a peek at some more seam treatments.........

My needlebook is all embellished and it was fun playing with different seam treatments and layering them in search of something unique.
The middle one is herringbone, but it could be made using V's too for a little different look

I've completed the seam treatments on my thread roll-up although I may add some beads later......

there's some stitching going on on the pale orange patch.......next time I hope to be finished two motifs and a spider web....


Sounds like a lot of stitching coming up.......

We have our choir concert series this week: 1 dress rehearsal, and three performances, so I might not be around very much. (And, to save time, I just copied my post from The Tuesday Stitchers blog.)

Have a great weekend!

Hope you have some fun stitching, too!

Thanks for visiting.

Hugs from Suz

TAST- Bullion Knot and CQJP

I don't know why it's called a bullion knot stitch.....I think it should be called a bullion wrap instead. Seems to me I've wrapped the thread around the needle at least a bullion times....lol.....(sorry)
I've been making bullions:

DH calls them worms......

I have variegated green bullions

and more, here....



there's so many


I wonder why they're all together like that.....

they do look like worms, crawling over each other.....

oh, look! It's a tree!....well...sort of......

and the tree topper?

it's supposed to be  Shisha, but I used a really large sequin for the mirror, and tried the shisha stitch to secure it

in the top of the 'mirror' is a smaller silver sequin, then a green sequin topped with a red crystal

you can see the sequin shape and a bit of the stitching. This is as close as I could get, so sorry it's somewhat blurry

The tree is on my May CQJP

Mr, Snowman is admiring the lovely Christmas tree.

I'm sure he'd be pointing to it, if he only had arms.........

hmmm, the tree topper isn't centered.....

so it looks a lot like our Christmas trees........lol

Mr. S was getting a little unruly-looking, so I used some silver metallic thread and buttonhole stitch around the outside of his 'snow' to tame the threads.



He's staring at me with his black crystal eyes.
I think he wants arms, don't you?




I hope that you're doing something you enjoy.


Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

TAST Times Two and May CQJP

I've spent the weekend catching up on my stitching. I posted about my Chikan Embroidery on the Tuesday Stitchers here, but I also finished TAST for the last 2 weeks. Yep, a little late.

As both stitches were new to me, I just played a bit.

Once I got used to this stitch, it was kind of fun

I enjoyed making the square frame

I liked the half chevron stitch, and plan to use this again.

 May CQJP

here's the first element on the CQJP: Mr Snowman

Each year, when the kids were little, we'd go outside after a good snowfall, and make snow people.

I still have to add arms, and a scarf, but I wanted to share.....
I think he's sooo cute

Mr. S. is only 3 3/4" from the top of his hat to his snowy butt.

What a schnozz!

My Mother's Day bouquet was a dozen red roses ( thanks DH! ) and they looked like red velvet. Mmmmm, smelled good, too!


I hope everyone celebrating has had a wonderful Mother's Day.
I spent some time this afternoon with needle in hand and wonderful memories of my Mother. I miss her.







Thanks for visiting.

Hugs from Suz

Inspiration Sunday- on a Wednesday

It's been a while since my last Inspiration Sunday, but Shirl was here for a 5-day visit, and, we painted! Yay!  I've missed painting.
I've decided to put away the challenge book, and concentrate on painting from my photos, at least for a while.
my inspiration:

This photo was taken several years ago when we were on holiday. Staying at a resort near Huntsville, Ontario, we heard about a special place not too far away called Dyer's Memorial.
A beautiful garden was created, as well as a memorial, by Mr. Dyer in memory of his late wife.
This was the pathway through the forest and the stairs up to one of the open areas in the park. Ascending the wood-edged earth staircase took one from shaded woods to sunny grassed, flat areas of gardens.

My challenge then would be to create this look of 3 dimensions on watercolour paper. I hope to capture the light spilling through the trees, the depth in the staircase, and of a sunlit meadow beyond.

Whenever I look at this photo, I feel the silence of the forest here, marking the respect and gratitude of a man for his wife, and the sunlight reflecting the joy of their years together.
some links for more info:
http://www.ontarioabandonedplaces.com/upload/wiki.asp?entry=685
http://www.flickr.com/photos/williamsphoto/5099742593/

On to the painting

some light washes added wet into wet

suggesting trees, then penciling in a little detail for the stairs

adding some ground colour and a hint of leaves


beginning the stairs

defining the background trees and building more shrubbery

warming up the foreground

more stair detail















adding a few more trees to create depth and the illusion of distance

 

I didn't like the solid look of the tree on the right, so I softened the greens and will try to gently remove more of the colour, and then add a few smaller trees instead of the 1 large evergreen




more warm tones were added and intensified, and the lower step was made a little thicker



I've set this aside to look at it and contemplate the next step

Hope you're having a wonderful Wednesday.
Thanks for visiting.

Hugs from Suz

Waffling on my CQJP

I was trying to plan ahead on my CQJP, and decided to audition a few items to see if they pleased me. I began with week 1's work completed:

hmmmmmmm



What shall I do next?














Then I tried out the following:

white lace under the sequin flowers?
I like the look, but maybe there's too much lace?

some red lace on the right?
It almost disappears......

maybe a button trail?
I liked picking up the metallic in the fabric on some of the buttons

or a white lace heart?
although it points to the gorgeous tatted heart, maybe it's too big, and there's too much contrast?

maybe some red buttons too?
I like the red in there, but perhaps it looks too jumbly?

and a shell heart?
If red is the colour, and hearts are everywhere, does a white one work?

okay, no lace heart

do you like those leaves?
I don't think I do......well, I like the leaves, just not there.......


but maybe the red beads on the red chain.....
they repeat the beads on the green fabric, ....

red heart beads following the red chain?

well, maybe that's a bit much........

I don't like the red heart buttons on the white lace......and not with the red heart beads......

what about the flat red beads on the white lace on the left?
Well, it does carry the white and red around the block..........and it repeats the red dots on the wine fabric.......

then I tried white and red lace on the upper left.............Too busy!

The whole block looks too busy.....

how about a strip of sparkly red cord along the velvet edge?


maybe those red heart buttons on the rick-rack.........I rather like them there,....but it's still too busy


maybe there's just too many options!








So, after a week, where am I?

Well, I'm right back where I started!

Maybe pre-planning my embellishments isn't the way to go

Maybe I should just add one element at a time, see if it works, and then add another?

I'll try that.

Well, it's two weeks later, and I've finished waffling..........
What do you think of my finished block?
Does it work?

Here's what I added:
a large button trail with snowflakes... gold stars with 2 types of gold thread on the black fabric......
satin stitch hearts with french knots on the top fabric.....
sequin flowers on a smaller white lace dotted with gold and red french knots...
red heart buttons to carry the eye from the buttons to the red rick-rack.......
silver rick-rack with green beads and thread running into the red rick-rack and back up to the buttons which carries one to the silver weaving on red horizontal bars on the top right seam........

red sparkly cord squiggling over the seams below Fox's fabulous tat to add a little movement, and repeat the 'lines' of the bullion knots on the right as well as the waves of the rick-rack...........
and on the right I added red tatted flowers with a bead center and more french knots......
here's a closer look at the flowers....

sorry it's not very clear......

My CQJP block for May is awaiting my attention.










Hope if you're stitching, you're having fun!


Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Chikan Catch-Up

Just showing  pics of my Chikan Embroidery 

with lesson 7 completed. There's 1 more lesson already posted, and I'm still behind. I plan to stitch on this tonight, and maybe even my April CQJP.




This is a view of the front of my Chikan. The variegated 'pink grapefruit' floss creates a nice, subtle, but different look to the pattern.

This is the same Chikan, but with the work sitting in the window and the light showing through from behind. It really shows the shadow work.


I'm thinking of framing the embroidery and hanging it in a north window, allowing the light to show the stitching to advantage, but hopefully, without chancing any fading.


On to lesson #8!
I shall miss not receiving new lessons every week. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about the beauty of Chikan Embroidery. Thanks to Anita for sharing her skills and knowledge with us!



My company has gone on to her next stop, and I hope to soon catch up on all the postings I've missed.
Happy Stitching!
Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz