More Silk Ribbon and Color!

This heart is another piece that was totally inspired by an art crazy quilt - even the colors. At this point, I was fascinated with replicating as closely as possible in needlepoint, the fabrics used.

While the background fabrics are important, as they determine the general color scheme, they are secondary to the surface embellishment - the seam treatments and embroidery. I have seen needlepoint crazy quilt misinterpreted and used as nothing more than just patches of decorative stitches - this misses the point, and also eliminates the fun part!



















On the detail, the arrow points to a section that on the original quilt was a patch cut from a silk tie. I got "the look" by using Hungarian Criss Cross, and inserting beads in the spaces where usually just another stitch is made - very effective in these two colors!.

The close-up also shows the simple silk ribbon flowers. The white ones were made with simple "ribbon stitch" in 7mm ribbon, and the buds are just very loose French Knots worked with the same. I made the details in the flowers with two plies of Soy Luster - tiny French knots at the ends of the yellow stamens and in the centers.

The swag of roses was done with two shades of 4mm green ribbon - making the light leaves first, and then going back over them with the dark. The roses are French knots worked with Thread Gatherer 4mm overdyed ribbon. At this point, it's kind of like painting with your needle, and is really fun - instant gratification here. You can also see the other seam treatments, which are just simple embroidery stitches - like fly stitch, chevron, and buttonhole..

The next detail shows the patch with beads - worked in offset Mosaic stitch with beads placed in the blank spots left. The arrows point in the direction of the stitches - the way the thread slants, which is also the way the beads are placed. I have seen some confusion on this point - where people attempt to place the beads end to end instead of putting them on simply as another tent stitch. As even the round ones have a tendency to look like bugle beads when placed this way, they appear awkward and crowded.
The tiger skin mini-sock is a bit off the subject, but it demonstrates clearly how the beads should lie. I turned the canvas on this one so as to have the heel and toe going in different directions - it looks like sparkly diagonal stripes this way.

The pattern and instructions for the CQ heart are on my web page as an e-pattern, as people have been asking for the patterns for them. It's a really fun way to experiment with embroidery techniques and silk ribbon! I have also put my bead book there, divided into two chapters. I just finished putting an ornament on the Freebies, etc. site - with a swatch of "lace" as a seam treatment. Go take a look!