Glasses Case Panel - Landscape 1

Waaaayyyyyyy back in December, while piecing my first CQJP blocks, I made a couple of extra glasses case panels to embellish as time allowed.  (I have not tired of them yet - lol!)

I have been working on the one above as a gift.  (I do not believe the recipient reads my blog.  Even if they do, I doubt they would know it was for them!  So, I think it is safe to post this...)

My first steps were using a metallic DMC white floss to make stem stitches along the white lines in the water, and adding silk ribbon cattails.

I found the directions for these cattails in The Silk Ribbon Embroidery Bible by Joan Gordon.  I picked up a used spiral bound copy at Powell's Books in Portland for about $20.00.  (I had NO idea the new ones sold for over $90.00! The link above will take you to Amazon.com, where used copies are about $23.00.  There were 8 used copies available when I added the link.)  I love this book, and the fact that it is spiral bound makes it easy to use while I stitch.

My cattails are a little on the short side, but I worried that longer stems and leaves would snag easily.

Next, I added a tree.  (I wanted to experiment with tree ideas before adding one to my CQJP block.)

For the trunk and larger branches, I used two strands of floss and chain stitches.  Those two strands of floss were both different shades of brown: one strand of DMC 838 and one strand of DMC 3021.  Using the same colors, I added a few smaller, stem-stitched branches to the tree.  (I began with the chain stitch on the far left and just continued working to the right, randomly beginning lines of stitches from the bottom to create the roots of the tree.  After I made the taller lines, I added a few shorter sections amidst the roots to fill them in a bit.)

Next, I used a single strand of DMC 433 (a lighter brown) and made a few back-stitched lines through the trunk of the tree to give an illusion of bark texture/highlights.

There are three types of lazy-daisy stitched leaves.  Some use two strands of DMC 702, some use two strands of DMC 704, and others blended the colors - using one strand of each.

So far, I am happy with the way the tree is turning out.  (Unlike the cherry blossom tree I put on my last CQJP block, my husband has not teased me once about the top of the tree not being big enough for the trunk.  I guess I am making progress - lol!)

As always, thank you for stopping by!