It is my preference to say that things like this are "points of departure" or "inspiration" (which this certainly is) for my needlepoint designing - but in some cases, it seems downright plagiarism of sorts. I am really enjoying these beautiful and unusual things I see on Allison's blog, and have made good use of them in the past few months. The colors, fabric choices, arrangement, and embellishments have made my work easier, so it has simply been a matter of figuring out which threads to use, which stitches would best imitate the effect of the background fabrics - and, of course, the top-stitched embellishments. This is a picture of details of seam treatments on one of the Fan Quilt border blocks, and I have really enjoyed choosing fibers and beads for the needlepoint version. I am limited, of course, by small space (it is a simple ornament) and colors and weights of the threads - but this is the special challenge that makes designing a pleasure! Also rather limiting is the canvas, which is a grid that must be considered. My finished version was lying on a sheet this morning waiting for a picture, when I noticed that it looked a lot better upside down - probably due to the visual weight of the beaded sections, so I am showing it this way. I will probably decide to take out the little white flowers and attempt to make them more "fanlike" as on the quilt block. The detail is to illustrate how the piece develops - a close-up - in preparation for incorporating beads and later embroidery. The "rick-rack" is what I call a "built-in." That is, it is stitched onto the canvas and not embroidered on top. As this is an ornament, the colors chosen are much brighter than the original quilt block. It will be finished with the addition of a backing, a bit of padding, and probably a lovely beaded tassel on the bottom. This is up to my friend Vikki, who does the most wonderful and imaginative finishing.