Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Round robin blocks

I'm in two round robins with CQI right now. The first is Flower Fairies III, and this is the block I worked on for Cathy L. The FF RR is a DYB, or do your block, which means each stitcher pieces 6- 6" blocks to go around to the group. When you receive a package of blocks, you get to choose which one you want to work on, and then you embellish the whole block. Out of Cathy's I had the choice of Rose, Iris, Wild Rose, Strawberry, Poppy, or Sweet Pea. I picked Strawberry and here's what I came up with:

The white strawberry blossoms are done in silk ribbon embroidery, with the strawberry fruits in perle cotton French knots. I dyed the lace piece and embellished it with beads and stitches. The gimp trim is also a home-dyed bit and it has beads worked into it too. The piece of crocheted doily is vintage, and makes the web of the red strawberry spider. Lastly I made the birds. They are done in bullion stitches and straight stitches with French knot heads. I'm not sure if I'm done with this block yet, but it's not due to move on yet anyway.

This my work on Cathy L's Bees, Butterflies, and Beetles block. Isn't it ironic that I ended up with both of her RR blocks at the same time? This RR is traditional; just one larger block to make the rounds. I embroidered the SRE rose bouquet at the top of the heart silkie, then used perle cotton to make the vines that trail down over the sides of it. The butterfly is done in 3D, using my stitch-and-turn method. Its body is boullion stitches and French knots, and the eyes are iridescent beads. The stitches that make up the body are what holds the butterfly on the block, so the wings lift up off the block. I'm not entirely sure I'm done with this block, either, and actually have a whole month before it needs to move on, so I'll keep it awhile and see if inspiration strikes again.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Janet your birds are so amazing, what fantastic stitching. I always love your fantastic work. It is such a pleasure to see what you come up with. Wonderful job on the whole block!


Ann Flowers
flowerscrazyq@gmail.com

Cathy said...

Oh, Janet! Thank you for the work on my blocks. I have tried to send emails in response to your RR mommas but they always bounce back to me with some kind of "time out" error. So thought I would look up your blog and come see what's going on and leave you my comment here. Just want you to know I'm not ignoring you!

Love your work and thanks again. I'll do my best when yours come around to me!

Cathy L

Maddie Can Fly said...

I love both blocks. Especiall the little birds and even the red spider. Who else would have thought of a "strawberry spider"