Easter Purse & Pink Rose Purse Finished!

Just a quick post for today everyone. I wanted to share the photos of my two latest finishes.

First, the Pink Rose Purse:



and, the Easter Purse:



I used to be able to get handles at WalMart with the little hooks on the ends and I could put them on after the project was completed. Unfortunately, WalMart does not carry purse handles anymore. Scott takes me up to JoAnn's for them but they don't carry the ones with the hooks. Turning these purse right side out with the handles in there is a challenge. As you can see, it can be done!

A quick note about my Garden Fantasy Mystery Stitch-Along Project. The fabric color should be white.

Angel Purse - Stitching Complete

I finished up on this project last night:



Lavender and aqua are so pretty together aren't they? If all goes as planned, I'll sew this one up on Friday.

In the meantime, here are pages 20 & 21 of my vintage needlework catalog from the 1930's:





Click on the images to go to my Flickr site where you can see the large version.

Enjoy!

Update On Angel Purse

Just a quick update for today:



I'll be back on Monday with information on the Garden Fantasy Mystery Stitch-Along Project!

Angel Purse Ready For Beads

The seam treatments are ready for beading now:



That vine will have some Silk Ribbon Embroidery on it and I expect to add the angel soon.

For my Counted Cross Stitch Readers, a new Mystery Stitch-Along is coming very soon. Check back often for updates.

Here are pages 16 & 17 of my vintage needlework catalog:





It's a short post for today everyone! I have to get to work on that mystery project!

Angel Purse Continued

I didn't quite finish the border on the left-hand side of this block. Had to stop and make dinner.
Anyway, to continue on with my discussion on balancing a block, another way to do that is to do variations of the same stitch.

If you look closely at the border on the top right, it's a fan stitch. I used a different fan stitch on the bottom left corner. This offers a bit of visual repetition without being redundant.

I'll have time to work on this some more later but for now, I'll leave you with pages 14 & 15 of my vintage needlework catalog:





Be sure to click on the image to go to my Flicker site to see the large version. Check out that Cutwork Ship!

Angel Purse

After finishing up a couple of my purses on Friday, I decided to put Button Block #35 on hold and stitch another purse. There is nothing like having these beautiful fashion accessories!



I pieced this block in aqua and cream and as you can see, I will be embellishing it with lavenders, pinks and greens. There will be an angel in the center as a focal point.

When choosing seam treatments, I usually start by picking a piece of lace or two. I chose the floral applique first. The lace will usually be the heaviest seam treatment so once that's chosen, it's easier to balance the rest of the block around it.

As you can see, I then picked out a piece of vintage tatting with some lavender on it and a piece of antique gold trim. Notice how I placed it. It's almost adjacent to the applique and it moves in the opposite direction of the applique and it's about the same width. That's how balance is achieved.

Next, notice the seam treatment moving down from the applique. That seam treatment is from my book and I chose it because the shape of the flowers are similiar to the flowers in the applique. Adjacent from that is the feather stitch which again, is about the same width and weight as the border coming off of the applique.

There are no rules in crazy quilting but CQ blocks always look best if the over all design is well balanced. I'll talk a bit more about achieving balance once I get a few more seams stitched.

In the meantime, here are pages 12 & 13 of my Needlecrafts Embroidery & Fancywork Catalog from the 1930's:

Themed Crazy Quilt Purses

I spent most of my day yesterday doing some finishing. I still have quite a few stitched pieces that need to be sewn up. Finishing does not go quickly but I did accomplish quite a bit!

First is my Pink Lady Purse:



I stitched this one before Thanksgiving and wanted it for Valentine's Day so I got it together just in time!

The lace is antique and I hand-dyed it and the pin on the right-hand side is vintage.

The next purses have never been seen before. I made them quite awhile ago and had intended on submitting them to a magazine. I've since decided to keep them. First is the Yellow Rose Purse:



The yellow rose is from a vintage machine embroidered handkerchief. The crystals are from a vintage necklace that I took apart and the green bug is a vintage pin.

Last but not least is my Grapes Purse:



I found that bunch of grapes at Michaels and I knew I had to do something with it! Again, I hand dyed the lace at the bottom. The grapes on the lattice-work trim at the top right are from a vintage bracelet that I took apart.

All beads, sequins, lace and embellishments are sewn on by hand. The borders are my own charted borders from both my book and my own personal collection.

I do accept custom purse orders. More information can be found here.

Well, I thought my readers would enjoy some eye candy for today. I used my Pink Lady purse this morning and the ladies at the Post Office were in love with it!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Vintage Needlework Catalog Continued....

I haven't gotten around to stitching on my current Button Block yet. But I'm am quite pleased to say that my beads and sequins are all organized now, in little ziplocks bags and then in sandwich sized ziplocks according to color! Now, when I need blue beads, I just grab the bag of blue beads and I have them all to chose from instead of digging around through everything looking for the right color or size! And I have 3 empty drawers in my rolly cart!

Today, I will simply post pages 10 & 11 of my vintage needlework catalog:





Remember, you can click on the images to go to my Flickr site where you can see the large versions.

Enjoy!

Crazy Quilt Spider Webs

I completed Button Block #34 yesterday:



When I do my spider webs, I do what I call "mock couching". My spider webs are all free-hand. I work the long spokes of the web first, starting in the center. Then, when doing the short spokes of the web, I come up on one side of a long spoke and down with my needle on the opposite side of the next long spoke. This will hold the long spokes in place without couching them all down individually. Saves a lot of time! Click on the image to go to my Flickr site where you can see the large version. You should be able to see the stitches.

Remember, that most spider webs are not perfect! The more imperfect they are, the more realistic they look!

For the spider, I sew down a big bead, running my thread through the bead twice. I then do the same with the small bead. Then, I run the thread through both beads which again, holds them in place and keeps them in alignment with each other. Finally, I do the legs last.

For the buttons on this block, I used a mixture of new and vintage glass buttons, antique metal buttons and a few modern plastic buttons. Mixing them up adds visual interest so don't be afraid to play! Again, clustered buttons are more interesting to look than just one here or there. You can also layer buttons. Look for the square button and notice that I sewed an antique metal button on top of it. That gives the cluster some dimension. And for buttons with holes in them, I always fill those holes with seed beads. That adds a bit more sparkle as well as giving them a nice finished look.

Finally for today, here are pages #6 & 7 of my Needlecrafts Embroidery & Fancywork Catalog from the 1930's:





Enjoy!

More On Beading Crazy Quilt Seam Treatments

Yesterday, I painted the lace and did some more beading on this:



The cream lace was way too bright for this block. Generally, I paint my lace as I need it. I don't usually do a bunch of it at one time.

Another way to decide on where to put beads is to look for gaps. Empty spaces just scream for beads! Notice the bottom right-hand border. I added a few large beads in between the round beads.

When using sequins on lace or appliques, overlap your sequins a bit like I did on the leaves. It looks nicer than having gaps between the sequins and adds more sparkle.

Here are pages 4 & 5 of my Needlecrafts Embroidery & Fancywork Catalog:





Be sure to click on the images to go to my Flickr site where you can see the large versions. The cutwork designs are gorgeous!

Beading Crazy Quilt Seam Treatments

I started beading the seam treatments yesterday on Button Block #34:



I mentioned yesterday that I intended to chat a bit about how I go about the beading. Generally, with my own charted borders, or any borders for that matter, I always look for the points and intersections.

If you look at any of my CQ pieces, the points of any border are always topped off with a bead or sequin. This adds color, light and extends the border even further. It also adds clarity which keeps the points from getting lost in over all design.

Intersections are another good place to look for possible bead placement. I use quite a few cross stitches in my charted borders and if you look closely at the bottom right-hand border, you can see that I placed beads in between the arms of the "X".

I'll talk a bit more about beading CQ borders tomorrow.

For now, here are pages 2 & 3 of my Needlecrafts Embroidery & Fancywork catalog from the 1930's:





Click on the images to go to my Flickr site where you can view the large version.

Enjoy!

Button Block #34

The seams on Button block #34 are covered now:



Yes, I'm going to plug my book again, Elegant Crazy Quilt Seam Treatments and mention that my seams are worked from my own charted borders using Waste Canvas. I love the perfection of the stitches and the variety of designs that can be worked using my charted borders. If you're new to my blog and are interested in learning more about my technique, click here.

I'm going to start talking more about the variations that can be created using charted borders as well as how I actually go about beading them. I do plan to put Volume 2 together in the near future and that will open even more doors to new borders and designs. I already use the borders in Volume 2 on my projects along with borders from my own personal collection.

Stay tuned!

Needlecraft Embroidery & Fancywork Catalog

Yesterday, I started to post a booklet that I have on Cutwork & Filet Lace. Robin left me a message saying that The Skinner Sisters offer this on CD on their website.

With a bit of sadness, because I was excited about this sharing my booklet with my readers, I have decided to withdraw from posting this so as not to infringe on the Skinner Sisters business. Instead, I will offer the link to their website so my readers can order it if they choose to do so.

The Skinner Sisters website.

I will share with you another catalog that I have. This one is called Needlecrafts - Embroidery & Fancywork. There is no date on this catalog but judging from the projects and the prices, I would say that it's from the 1930's.

So, here are the front cover and page 1:





Be sure to click on the images to go to my Flickr site where you can see the large version.

Again, I will put these in a folder over at Flickr and store them there.

Button Block #33 Completed

I finished up on Button Block #33 this morning:



So I'll be starting on Button Block #34 next:



If you would like to see all of the Button Blocks that I've done so far, click here.

I have a ton of finishing that needs to be done and I'm hoping/planning on doing some of it over the weekend. I have Comfort Dolls to finish, my 2009 Just Cross Stitch Ornament (thank you Kim!), a doorhanger and 5 purses! Stay tuned!

1926 Italian Cutwork & Filet Lace Booklet

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I have a booket from 1926 by Variety on Italian Cutwork & Filet Lace. Each day, I will scan 2 pages and post them here for your reading and stitching enjoyment!

I have not tried this technique so I can't comment on the quality of the instructions but I do feel that it's a treasure and I wanted to share it with my readers.

I will set up another folder for it over on my Flickr site and store the entire booklet there:





As I mentioned, this was published in1926 in Boston, Mass by Carmela Testa & Co., Inc.

Vintage Glitter

I didn't get to any stitching on my current Button Block. I got a bee in my bonnet and decided to re-organize my beads. I have some of them in those stupid little bead jars that screw onto each other and I just don't care for that system. They're too heavy and bulky and take up too much space. I've been putting them in tiny ziplock bags and will then store them by color.

In the meantime, look at what my mom gave to me:



I know most of my readers are needle-workers. In fact, I don't know if I have any readers who do paper crafts. If I do, please speak up and leave me a comment! But certainly everyone can appreciate vintage stuff. Mom gave me an old shoe-box yesterday filled with vintage glitter! What a treasure! I asked why she didn't want it and she said prefers new glitter. Well, I was thrilled and I'll use it!

In other news, be sure to stop by tomorrow. I will be sharing another one of my booklets with you. This one is called "Variety" - Italian Cut Work and Filet Lace. The booklet was published in 1926.