Silk Ribbon & Crazy Quilt: A Heart for August

I finished this last night, except for the beads, but Google was tired and wouldn't let me post the photos of the details of the white flowers.

Looking at it this morning, I'm not totally happy with these posies, and may take them out and do it again. One of my pictures had some little white generic looking flowers, and that touch was perfect to "cool off" the bright warm colors of the Glads. I have a different effect in mind, but still using the white flowers.
The first thing to do was to place the flower petals where they should go - and these are simply straight stitches with 4mm white silk ribbon.

I usually, for attempting good symmetry, make three in the form of a "fly stitch" and then fill in the gaps with three more. - Perfect symmetry wouldn't look hand made, so fortunatey, I'm a bit clumsy at it, a they are far from perfect. It's a good idea, always, to use a trolley needle or #18 tapestry needle under one petal while the next one is being made, to avoid pulling it all the way down and causing it to be skinny and disapper.












The illustration demonstrates the ease of making a simple flower petal - there are five here, but I like the look of six or more when using 4mm ribbon, unless a specific variety is being done.




This detail of the beading in progress also shows the centers and leaves of the white flowers. Centers are made with one ply of Soy Luster in yellow - two wrap French knots, and then on green one in the center.


The beading detail is to show how much difference the beads make in dressing up the "fabric" of this patch. You can see where the spaces are in comparison to the part already beaded. I used Sundance size 14 beads with a faint greenish tinge. My first thought had been to use peridot green beads, but that would have been very distracting with the chain of jewels that is the seam treatment. Orange beads wouldn't do either.


The ones I used here are from the category "silver lined" (which you can find on their web page), as they gleam and shine, but don't sparkle or glitter - an effect I like very much. Nothing here should sparkle but the Peridots!

My daughter had a party yesterday for the birthday of her Mother-in-Law, in addition to celebrating Father's Day - so here is a vase of flowers I found in the living room this morning. Good timing??

August CQ: Sword Lily in Silk Ribbon

"Sword Lily" sounds very exotic, but I had always known this flower as Gladiola, which I've just learned is the botanical, and not the common name. It's the flower for the month of August - and I have procrastinated for nearly a year finishing this one.

I was as intimidated by this one as I was the sweet peas for April. I had sent the picture - the one that is almost hidden, to Jean at River Silks, and she was wonderful at choosing the colors for me - really beatiful!! The 7mm was what was required to get the effect I wanted, but it's always a surprise when they take on a character of their own - usually not what I intended.

Anyway, armed with these photos and my beautiful ribbon, I started about two days ago to embellish and enhance with SRE. On this one, as well as the April birthday heart, I won't say it was "instant gratification," as I struggled a bit with the flowers to make them work.

The background patches have been finished since the end of last July, but I hadn't done the seam treatments yet - so that had to be accomplished. In this case, they needed to be simple and not compete with the brilliant colors of the flowers. The chain of peridots is quite effective, I think. (my daughter's birthstone).

















To begin the embroidery, the leaves for the flowers had to be done first - in 4mm green ribbon. I used the Japanese ribbon stitch, which was shown before on the sweet peas, but in this case, instead of leaving the small loop at the top, it was pulled all the way through to produce a folded, very sharp end on the leaf. I spaced the leaves, as I wanted to use three shades of green, inserting them between the dark ones, which were done first.

Next, the gladiolus flowers! I started at the bottom with the 7mm ribbon, and made big, loose 3 wrap French knots, pulling them progressively a little tighter as they went toward the top. The arrows point to the unopened buds at the top of the "spear." Against the blue patch, I had already made Fly Stitch around each little bud - you can see where the other arrow points how it looked before Fly stitch. Soy Luster was used for this - 2 plies. It's soft, flexible, and so great for this purpose.

The next detail photo shows the flowers completed.
This is enough for tonight. I'm almost finished with the little white "field flowers" that were needed on the lower orange/pink patch - and I've also begun putting beads on the yellow patch, and almost finished with that - tomorrow maybe!

The Enemy of Perfection: Silk Sweet Peas

One of my favorite quotes of all time was from the movie "Beau Brummel" when I was young and impressionable - about Beau Brummel, friend of George III of England. When being outfitted in that first tuxedo he created, he told his tailor, "Haste is the enemy of perfection."

I was looking at these silk ribbon sweet peas this morning, and thinking maybe I should have practiced a bit after I figured out how to do them - as this is one flower I haven't seen done before. However, if I had practiced and made them better, they wouldn't be "hand made" but would start looking like the machine made things.
I do love the charm of hand stitched as opposed to the regularity of machine generated embroidery.

I have to do this bit by bit, and then put it away for a few hours and look at it again to be able to tell what it needs next. I think a few more leaves, and it will be done except for whatever I decide to do on that blue patch on the left - has to be simple so as not to compete with all those dancing sweet peas.
The detail is showing the little curly thing that will attach the vine to whatever wall it's climbing on. This is just a simple back stitch made with 4plies of Splendor silk. I just kind of "drew" it with needle and thread - improvising. This is part of what is so enjoyable about surface embellishment with silk ribbon flowers!!

I've been out taking pictures of a few flowers I found in the neighborhood - Austin is already baking from heat and lack of rain, so I wanted to get what I could find so I can try to re-invent them in silk ribbon. I already figured out how to replicate the crepe myrtles, which have amazing tolerance for Texas weather.

A Mutant Pea Vine in Silk Ribbon

I have a better shot now of the placement of the needle in the center of the ribbon to make the Japanese ribbon stitch. Also, had an AHA! moment this morning when I wasn't so tired, and realized that putting a size 20 tapestry needle in the loop made it lie a lot flatter than the trolley needle, which is a size 18 or larger needle.
Also, by just using the tapestry needle, I could leave it in the loop until I was finished pulling on the ribbon. It looks so much better, that I pulled out the ugly one I made last night. You can see where the arrow is how much better it looks.


I won't point out ALL of the botanical errors on this, as maybe nobody will notice that the buds are larger than the flowers, or that the sweet pea blossoms aren't hanging in clusters. It's only needlepoint, after all, and it has limitations.

I'm hoping that they at least resemble sweet peas by power of suggestion - since diamonds are the birthstone for April, and the beads do rather glitter and sparkle. (Sundance size 14, #250 hex beads, crystal clear) It has a long way to go, but I'm trying to be patient and not force it. I'm looking at three print-outs on my table as I go that I found in Google images of sweet peas on their vines.

I'm beginning to "see" July in my head finally. It's my birth month, as well as five other people in my immediate family. I didn't want to make it the usual red, white, and blue with stars and firecrackers - as the flower is the lovely lotus, or "water lily" - one of Monet's favorites to paint. (out come the books again.) and the stone is the ruby. If I start on this, I can delay August and the gladiola a little longer. I finished everything but that sometime early last fall.

Sweet Peas and Silk Ribbon (for April)

I had put this thing away for a while, and didn't get it ready for April, as the sweet peas kind of had me stumped. I finally got it out again, and all the images I had printed out of sweet peas on vines - and this is what I came up with. It's a long way from being finished, but so far, I'm almost pleased with it.

I decided to make the flowers before placing the leaves and little curly-cue things that pea vines have - usually I do leaves first. Anyway, I needed to be able to make the tops flat instead of pointed, which isn't an easy task with 7mm ribbon (this is from River Silks).

Japanese ribbon stitch, without pulling the ribbon all the way down, made the top look like I wanted (almost) - and loose French knots worked well for the little trumpet shape of the blossom.

To get this flower started, the 7mm ribbon needs first a plain stitch for padding, as the ribbon wants to crunch up an make a skinny petal - then make another stitch over it, but go down with the needle right in the center of the ribbon.

The picture is terribly fuzzy, but I didn't look at it until it was too late to re-photograph. I use a trolley needle and/or a cable hook (from my knitting ) to hold the loop while I make the next stitch. Otherwise, the tiniest bit of tugging on the ribbon will pull it all the way through and ruin the stitch.


















I forgot to put up the picture of the seam treatments first - so here it is. The stitches are simple, as they mustn't, in this case, compete with the diamond chain or the sweet peas - it's a birthday crazy after all!! The buttonhole stitch above the white patch is made with Soy Luster - three plies. The white fly stitch is Kreinik #12 braid, color 032.

The Fern Stitch between the blue and green patches is Splendor silk, 4 plies. More on this in a day or two - Tomorrow is Monday, after all, and I need to paint a thing or two before I can declare "stitchin' time."

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!

Color Inspiration and Silk Ribbon Embroidery

The first blog I ever saw a few years ago was that of an art quilter - I was looking for crazy quilts, and found what has occupied my mind since. I actually spend more time looking at these than I do on needlepoint blogs - as the inspiration and images are so wonderful.

Color schemes are particularly good on some of them, as Allison Aller's quilts - I have an entire file folder full of blocks from her quilts - with her permission, and I suspect, high amusement. She also graciously supplied me with a block to use in my very first article for Needlepoint Now, which was on adaptation and inspiration for needlepoint.

In analyzing this first picture as a color theorist, I know why the little touches of yellow and orange work so well - but it doesn't matter knowing the WHY - what matters is that it works. Allie's color sense is superb. This is the kind of thing I take to the LNS to choose silks or whatever I feel like working with (or can afford).

In the next one, the touches of blue against the orange, and the wisp of green on the right are perfect for accents. Incidentally, the butterflies are from another art quilter from Houston - Debra Spincic - who is going to have an Etsy store to sell these beauties. She makes them on her embroidery machine, and they are exquisite - the link to her is on Allison's blog, Allie's in Stitches.

The other Art Crazy Quilt/Embroidery blog I look at every morning without fail, is PINTANGLE - Sharon B.s beautiful and informative blog. So much great instruction and inspiration even for a needlepointer! She is going to start a Cyber class for Silk Ribbon Embroidery on June 18, which I wish I could find time to do (might do it anyway).

My very first experience with that was about 12 years ago when I was wanting to replace a book on Crazy Quilting - and the quilt shop sold me Judith Baker Montano's book, "Crazy Quilt Odyssey," which was full of SR - stitches and instructions. I was hooked, although I'd never seen it before, and immediately began to apply it to needlepoint. (I now own five of her books)

Sharon's work is without equal - so do go take a look if you're interested in learning, and learning it right. I call SRE my "instant gratification."

Silk Ribbon Daffodils and Beaded Jewels

The March version of "Crazy for Birthdays" is finished, complete with daffodils the way I remember them blooming in the pastures in east Texas long ago.

I left the blue patch on the upper left bare of embellishment, as it is the glorious spring sky! It's a little bumpy because it might rain. This stitch is a good example to show the difference in the intensity of a color when the light hits the long stitches, (light and shiny) and then is broken up by the tiny basketweave in between to be a bit darker and duller. The thread is Caron's Soie Cristale.

The flowering peach tree branch is now against a background of dewdrops - the clear Sundance beads, #250, which were applied with DMC floss in the yellow to match the yellow petite Very Velvet.
I really enjoy using these totally clear beads, as so many different effects can be achieved. I would not have used the hexagonal #250 here, as those glitter beautifully, but I wanted dewdrops and not icicles.

I may decide yet to put a little spray of wisteria hanging from the top of the blue patch - later. It could probably be done with the needle blending technique and cotton floss that Anne Stradal uses to make skies for her lighthouses - I would make the flowers in French knots, and progress from darker purple at the top down to white at the bottom of the blossom.

I forgot to mention the bracelet of aquamarines - I used beads for these, as they needed to sparkle. I did look up the symbolism for the daffodils and aquamarines, but forgot where I put it. Oh well.

CQ for October Finished!! (and November on it's way)

This one gave me a few difficulties, but after adding the beads and subduing the marigolds, it will do, I think. I studied the flowers closely on the internet - photographs of calendulas - and then reproduced them with stitches in silk ribbon. (the flowers are 4mm, and the leaves are 7mm). One of my errors was on the left side - the bead pattern. I was trying to be clever, and won't go into the mathematics of the thing, but the motif I was trying to do is scattered looking. I won't do that again. I know why I counted it the way I did - but will have to admit, it didn't work. Oh well.


The flowers were a bit labor intensive, as I did the centers using one ply of Soy Luster in two-wrap French knots. I tried doing two ply with one wrap knots, but for some reason, these looked too fat. For the darker outline on the yellow flowers, I used two ply of Soie Cristale - as that is what I had in my stash for the correct color. With two-wrap French knots, it worked fine.
The soft, muted colors were a bit difficult - but seemed appropriate for the month, and work well with the Opals. In Texas, October is kind of the end of summer and (hopefully) the beginning of cooler weather. Symbolically, the Opals are for "Hope" and according to Victorian reasoning, the marigold/calendulas say "My thoughts are with you." Apparently, verbalizing feelings were tabu in polite society, so they spoke with gifts of flowers.

Now for an update on November! I am using the TIF colors for September, as they are absolutely perfect for this - even including the Topaz. The first thing I do before beginning the stitching, is to start with a color/fiber that is suitable - and add one patch at a time, as building this way seems to work best. As I add each, I also plan the appropriate texture for the patch, keeping in mind on these birthday hearts that the flowers and jewels are the main focus - I don't want any patch to be overwhelming in pattern or color.

I used one of my favorite stitches - created in desparation some time ago. I usually work this straight down in rows from top to bottom. However, in this case, I am using the "shimmer" version of the YLI Ribbon Floss in Smokey Blue for the tiny areas of basketweave between the long, satin stitches. I have found it best to work the long checkers from lower right to upper left when doing it this way - on the diagonal. It is less likely to pull the canvas than doing it from upper left to lower right. Then, the basketweave checks are filled in going on the diagonal again, but from upper right to lower left. It's just common sense and logic. After my frantic/begging/desparate e-mail to Jean K. of River Silks, she "Googled" chrysanthemums and looked at colors - and sent me these. Gorgeous, and softer than what I had. I'm looking forward to the experience - but it won't be easy. I'm rusty with the SRE!

Progress Toward "October"

I have worked on "October" and "November" simultaneously this weekend. so am a bit too tired (brain wires short circuited) to make wise and wonderful or inspirational and motivational comments on the subject. The first picture is showing the background stitching finished, and the seam treatments in place - which are simple so as not to "fight" with the flowers.

Next I put stems with two ply of Soy Lustre (by The Pure Pallette) in simple stem stitch. Leaves were next, using the River Silks 7mm ribbon - but only in one area, as I want to build it a bit in layers. Before calling a halt to stitching for the weekend, I did go ahead and place one Calendula, after looking at many many images on the internet. 4mm River Silks ribbon was used for this, and 1 ply of soy lustre for the center French knots - with only two wraps. The little touch of green in the center brightened it a bit. Tomorrow I will continue the flowers and make some yellow ones! Last, of course, will be the beads - which is always the finishing touch.

Crazy for September is finished!!

While getting toward the end of finishing this piece, I realized what a great part of the creative process "balancing" must be. The design elements must be in good balance according to size, shape, and color, in order to hold the eye in a pleasing manner - whether the artist means to evoke excitement , serenity, or other feelings that might be. I also realized, as I was quite tired of this particular crazy quilt rendition, that I had worked too long and too hard in order to meet my own deadline, and lost the pleasure in it. I need to work on balance in my art and my needlework - between what I do for my business, and what I do just for relaxation and enjoyment.


Designing has been my life's work, and I do enjoy it - but it still requires a self discipline and occassionally long and strange hours to meet deadlines. Needlework and pottery are also very therapeutic for me - and I don't do nearly enough lately "just for myself." I must work on that - and throw in a bit of gardening and walking when the weather cools down. A good balance in these aspects of my life!


As for the September Crazy Quilt - it's done, and I'm pleased with it (at least for now.) The first step in the embellishment, after the seam treatments, was to stitch in the background leaves, following the curve. This was done with 4mm ribbon from RiverSilks, which is beautiful stuff, and it holds up well in the stitching. The little asters were begun by just placing them one at a time wherever my eye landed - using 2mm silk ribbon from Thread Arts of Houston. It's great ribbon, and the only 2mm I've been able to find - it works well and doesn't fray at all. I chose the 2mm, as the asters have tiny petals and this gave the best effect. The close-up illustrates the beginning of an aster, and how to manage to make it round - I just place five petals in the size and shape I need, and then go around the flower filling in with more petals until it looks right. The centers were done when the flowers were finished, and are French knots made with Splendor silk. Beads were added when everything else was finished.

Crazy for Birthdays: September

One thing leads to another, and it occurred to me as I was working on my "jeweled chains and trims" series, that the jewels could easily become part of needlepoint crazy quilt! My older daughter has a September birthday, so it seemed a great place to start. Of course the research had to be done into the "why" of the stones and flowers, and I found that the origin of assigning precious jewels to each of the 12 months, apparently has it's beginnings in the Bible, as 12 precious stones were assigned to each of the 12 apostles, - and earlier, to each of the 12 tribes of Israel, beginning with Aaron, the brother of Moses. The use and meaning was interpreted differently in different cultures - as they also were assigned to the signs of the Zodiac.

The birth months are also represented by flowers, which is mostly derived from the Victorian love for floral symbolism. The flower for September is the aster, so I found this picture for color and for form - and will use 2mm silk ribbon to get the effect (as well as having chosen the thread colors in this palette). As always, for the crazy quilt thing, I dig into my stash for everything I can find in the colors that might work - but always end up discarding some and adding others, as it changes as I start stitching each patch.























Next, a pattern is sketched onto tracing paper, and then inked when it suits me. The basic heart ornament shape (5 1/4" wide for this one) that I keep on file is drawn carefully onto the canvas, and then the lines are traced onto it from the paper pattern (as always, using the Pilot ultra-fine point permanent pen that I prefer.)





















You can see that I have already added a color or two and subtracted another. I do like the effect of the sapphires, which were acheived with Renaissance sprinkles for the big bump stitches, and dark blue beads for the little links on the chain. I haven't decided what color the beads will be on the white Petite Very Velvet - that will come later, but the beads on the green patch will be my favorite effect with the clear (#250 Sundance) attached with green floss. So now I'm off to stitch some more. I already have June ( pearls and roses) drawn, and also October (opals and calendulas). Figuring out how to make "opals" has been interesting, to say the least.

Crazy Quilt Progress!

I've been working hard on this! At this point, it usually has a mind of it's own - and I just do what it seems to call for in the way of colors and stitches. First the seams have to be covered - both to hide the jagged edges of the stitching, as in the real crazy quilts (they have this problem too.) Colors are important, but in this case I am planning a "splash" of color in the flowers and leaves, so don't want the little design overwhelmed - it's only 5 1/2" in diameter. .

I'm not sure I like the little bit of buttonhole stitch at the top, but it's a short seam, and after making the planned leafy vine, it won't show up much - not worth taking out and re-doing. The leaves on the vine on the curved seam were made with overdyed ribbon - 7mm (from Thread Gatherer). I'm not sure what will happen next - but am looking at ribbons and colors from River Silks - and liking it so far. The 2mm ribbon on spools is from ThreadArts of Houston, and is great for little clusters of French knots. We'll just see what develops - I never know at this point.

Crazy Quilt of a Different Color

Working with different colors - and this is more difficult for me than the pinks and blues of the previous heart. I made a small error in judgment on the two yellow patches, as they are a bit close in value - but when separated by a vine of silk ribbon roses, they will be fine. I wasn't in a mood to dump out boxes and boxes of threads to find the right one. - but theoretically this is working with "scraps" anyway. The patch on the top right is stitched with the very first of my "fabrics" that I worked out in the early 70's, and was inspired by the dotted swiss my mother liked for my Sunday dresses. The background needs to be plain, as I plan to add big white silk flowers - but it also needs a slight amount of texture. I marked the dots before stitching to make it easier, but, in this case, I marked the warp "bump" stitches instead of the weft "dips" as I do for beads.

Just beginning to add the silk ribbon embroidery - and again, using the beautiful Riversilks. The seam treatments are an assortment of threads - a bit of Kreinik metallic ribbon, a 2-ply strand of Baroque silk, and some Soy Lustre - all of which add interest. Now, off to do something a bit mindless - and more silk ribbon flowers tomorrow when I'm rested. Again, there was no pre-plan for this except to pull out a pile of colors that looked right together. The white flowers are needed, I think, to kind of cool it off. There will, of course, be beads for the finishing touch!!