Dimity's Fiber Adventures

I fell in love with Kim’s crazy quilt block the minute I saw it and took my time deciding what to add to it.  It’s a bit scary when you embroider on someone else’s crazy quilt block.  Foremost in my mind is – DON’T MESS IT UP.  I do hope that Kim will like my contribution to her block:

Aren’t her embroidered hearts gorgeous?  Kim did all the silk ribbon work and did a beautiful job.  A couple of them seemed like they needed a bit more embellishment (I do so love encrusted crazy quilts) so I added a rayon machine embroidered motif that I made to this block:

I added the 3 heart buttons to this next heart and the seam treatment:

It’s hard to photograph silky fabric.  Between today’s bright sunshine and the shiny fabric, this was about the best I could do.  The seam embroidery on this heart is small, but it’s a stem stitch arched over the heart buttons using a solid DMC color.  Next was an overlapped arched in the same thread, this time with a lighter color wrapped around each stitch.  The addition of little leaves completed that small seam.   I can’t take credit for coming up with this idea.  Connie used it for her encrusted crazy quilt block and I “borrowed” it for Kim’s block.

This next photo shows a silk ribbon seam, a crocheted heart, and an embroidered peacock feather:

The silk ribbon seam is overlapped fly stitch.  In the center of the fly stitches are a detached daisy stitch, flanked by some straight stitches.  I used 2 colors, but it’s very hard to see.  The darker color is a variegated DMC thread and the lighter cream color is linen thread with tiny cream glass beads.

The crochet heart was made with sewing thread and a size 8 crochet hook.  I didn’t have any smaller than that.  A big thank-you goes out to Rose Anne.  She had one posted on her blog and kindly shared the pattern with me.  I added a sequin flower to the center to notch up the glam factor. 

The peacock feather is my design.  I beaded the center and outlined it in metallic thread, then used my hand dyed cotton thread to back stitch the feathers.  A stem stitch was used for the stem.  While the colors were perfect for the feather, they didn’t show up much in the block, so I wrapped 2 strands of a Gutterman metallic thread around each stitch so it would be a bit more visible.

I really wanted to bead the entire feather, but this block will be going to Australia and all those beads would have made for one heavy package.  I also did not want the feather to overshadow Kim’s embroidered hearts.  Those hearts are wonderful focal points, and deserve all the attention.  Everything I added, I wanted to behave as a supporting cast – adding interest, but not hogging the limelight.  😉

Hugs…

More shopping for me this week.  Retail therapy is such fun.  Here is a picture of a nice assortment of YLI’s Silk Buttonhole Twist thread:

I purchased way more than I needed for myself, so if anyone is interested in adding to their supply, please email me at Dimity@aol.com for price info.   I can let you know what colors I have too. 

I got lots of questions about the colors, and thought it would be a good idea to post number and names according to rows.  There are 13 rows and I’m listing them from the top to the bottom and from left to right.  I hope this helps a bit.

Row 1 –  White, 00 Nat White, 01 Cranberry, 02 Brick Red, 04 Chinese Red, 05 Brt Red Orange

Row 2 – 06 Magenta, 11 Brt Pink, 13 Pl Peach, 14 Palest Pink, 16 Creme, 17 Lt Yellow

Row 3 – 18 Dandelion, 19 Goldenrod, 20 Royal Blue, 21 Med Royal Blue, 22 Grape, 23 Dk Eggplant

Row 4 – 24 Eggplant, 27 Khaki, 28 Pine Green, 29 Xmas Green, 30 Brt Green, 31 Mint Green

Row 5 – 33 Wedgewood, 55 Cinnamon, 78 Gold, 79 Dull Gold, 83 Beige Brown, 84 Taupe Brown

Row 6 – 85 Brt Turquoise, 86 Dk Blue Green, 89 Dk Rose, 91 Salmon, 92 Tea Rose, 93 Lt Rose

Row 7 – 94 Lt Rosy Peach, 97 Med Creme, 99 Pumpkin, 100 Cocoa Brown, 101 Brown, 107 Dusty Purple

Row 8 –  108 Lilac, 111 Lt Loden Green, 112 Dk Leaf Green, 116 Med Turquoise, 118 Brt Blue, 124 Lt Olive Brown

Row 9 –  134 Brt Grass Green, 136 Aqua, 138 Grass Green, 144 Brt Royal Blue, 148 Jungle Green, 151 Dk Blue

Row 10 – 154 Dk Royal, 155 Olive Green, 166 Palest Mint, 170 Dusty Rose, 171 Flamingo Pink, 172 Bubble Gum Pink

Row 11 – 177 Melon, 182 Natural, 185 Beige, 186 Pl Beige, 189 Lt Dusty Purple, 190 Lt Dusty Rose

Row 12 – 191 Dusty Mauve, 196 Butter, 745 Dk Turquoise, 795 Fuchsia, 818 Dk Purple, 821 Dk Dusty Rose

Row 13 – 827 Pale Khaki, 828 Green Yellow, Black
Hugs…