Crazy Quilt Days 13 and 14

The past few days, I have been itching to work on my crazy quilt.  On a positive note, I have had a lot of time to spend with my family.  Yesterday, we celebrated Father's Day and my husband's birthday.  The weather was lovely, and we had a nice time.  As the day drew to an end, I had the opportunity to sit and stitch.  (And I managed to dump petite glass beads all over my hubby on the couch.  We had quite a laugh cleaning that up!)

On Saturday (or was it Friday?  It's all a blur - lol!) I finished 3 seams.  I learned how to make a fly stitch with 1 strand of the green variegated Edmar 079 Iris rayon floss.  At the end of each fly stitch, I made a colonial knot in the same color.  Then I used 2 strands of the light pink DMC 30818 (or S818) to make pairs of lazy daisy stitches between the fly stitches.

Fly Stitch, Lazy Daisy, and Colonial Knot

Cross-stitch, Lazy Daisy, and Beads

On the seam below, I used red DMC 30666 (or S666) to make a row of cross-stitches.  Next, I used 2 strands of white DMC 35200 to make four lazy daisy stitches around the center of each cross-stitch.  I fastened white 11/0 glass beads at the center of each cross-stitch, where the lazy daisy stitches met.  Then I used Mill Hill Petite Glass Beads 42010 where the outer edges of the cross-stitches met.  (I pinned on the applique heart I may use prior to sewing beads in that area, so I would not have to sew it on over them.)  Honestly, I was not sure I liked this combination of stitches prior to adding the beads.  I was much happier with the seam after that final embellishment.

Next, I embellished the last seam of the tiny read triangle of fabric near the center of the block by stitching in little bows.  Using 1 strand of the white DMC 35200, I made two lazy daisy stitches, two straight stitches and one colonial knot to make each little bow.

Last night, I finally worked up the nerve to try something new: silk ribbon embroidery.  A couple of years ago, I searched for a local place to purchase silk ribbon.  I tracked down an Anna Griffin silk ribbon and floss packet at Michaels. (I was unable to find anything like it recently - even on-line.)  So, I am not sure of the actual names of the silk ribbon colors.  However, I do know they are Bucilla ribbons.

Using some of these ribbons and a pattern from An Encyclopedia of Crazy Quilt Stitches and Motifs, I began working on the center piece of this block.  First, I used a stem stitch with DMC 3347 to make the heart shape.  Next, I used pinks, mauves, and a light blue silk ribbons for the flowers (which were made using straight stitches and spider web roses.)  Yellow French knots and colonial knots filled the center of the straight stitched flowers.  The leaves were made with green ribbon stitch.  There are also two stems with small, mauve colonial knots to make little buds.  I still need to add in some more colonial knots to accent the piece, but this is how it looked when I finally made my way to bed last night.

Silk Ribbon Embroidery

(I also figured out how to set my camera on a Macro setting; so, the closeups focused much better.  Yippee!  It's the little things in life...)

February Block Progress