Shibori Ribbon Fan Tutorial

For today, I thought I'd share the tutorial for the Shibori Ribbon Fan that I did on my Peacock Wall Hanging project.

There's so many things you can do with Shibori Ribbon and this is a very easy embellishment for your crazy quilt blocks.

First, you'll need your piece of Shibori ribbon and you'll need to decide where you want to place it.

In the case of my example, I tucked one end underneath the lace, near the seam on the top.  You can tuck your ribbon into any seam on your block or underneath a piece of lace.

Once you have one end tacked down with a few stitches, you'll want to "poof" the top 3/4's of the ribbon.  Look closely at the above photo.  I pinched the ribbon where I wanted the fan to start.

I took a few "tack" stitches where I had the ribbon pinched to hold it in place.  Also, tack the edges of the ribbon down to hold the "poof" in place.

The next step is to fan out the bottom of the ribbon.  Do one side first, tacking along the edge with a few stitches to hold it in place.

Do the same on the other side of the fan.

As a focal point on the "pinch", I added a little hand painted rose lace applique.  You can use anything you like.  A ribbon bow, buttons or a piece of vintage jewelry.  A little focal point brings the eye to the Shibori ribbon.  Just be sure not to crush the little "poof" in your ribbon.

 

Finally, I did some beading along the edges of the poof as well as the fan.

Again, this is a really easy way to add some Shibori to your crazy quilting!  Give it a try and send me some photos for Crazy Quilt Quarterly magazine.  I'll be starting on the Fall issue soon!

And here is an update of the overall piece:

I started working on the Broiderie Perse Rose applique this morning.  I still have a way to go on that.

Click on the photos to see them up close!

Hand Dyed Silk Ribbon

I spent about 3 hours this morning hand dying 50 yards of 7MM Silk Ribbon:

I was out of pinks all together and running quite low on greens and blues so that's what I focused on for this batch.  In a couple of weeks, I'll order another 50 yards and do some more muted colors.

I use Rit dye to do my silk ribbon.  It's inexpensive, easy to find in stores and works nicely.  Here is a tutorial for dying Silk Ribbon with Rit Dye.

In other news, I finished up the stitching on my Crazy Quilt Bird Pillow:

It just screams Spring doesn't it?  I want to get this sewn together sometime this week.

And finally, this is my next project:

This will be a wall hanging.  If you look closely, you should be able to see the point at the bottom.  Just follow the basting stitches.

The rose is not ironed down yet.  It's a Broiderie Perse applique but I haven't decided on where it will go yet.  This piece will have a focal point theme so where the rose goes will depend on how the focal point comes out. 

Does anyone want to guess the theme?  Leave me your guesses in the comments!

Finished Clutch Purse with Broiderie Perse Applique

I put this Clutch Purse together yesterday.  You might remember this piece as I used it for my Broiderie Perse Tutorial.  And Part 2 is here.

I absolutely love this piece!  I think it's the soft colors, the Broiderie Perse Applique and the Shibori ribbon.  It's so feminine!

Crazy Quilt Bird Pillow

My current project, which I started earlier last week, is the very Springy (and who doesn't need some Spring right now?) Crazy Quilt Bird Pillow:

I still have a way to go on this but as you can see, I did some Broiderie Perse applique:

Both motifs are from the same piece of fabric.  If you click on the images, you can see them larger.

I'll be adding the Shibori Silk Ribbon piece soon so I'll write up the tutorial for that as I work it.

Broiderie Perse Piece Finished

I have been stitching away on this little Broiderie Perse purse!  LOL!!  Yes, this will be a purse.

Here's a little something I wanted to point out:

I thought this piece of lace was a little boring looking.  It just didn't show up on the block.  I didn't want to take it off to hand paint it so, since I had my Rayon threads out, I decided to embroider it:

I satin stitched the little circles and then stem stitched the leaves.  This really defined the lace.  I went on to add some beads to it and them silk ribbon embroidery.

This is the finished stitched piece:

I have the frame to put it on so I'll get this sewn up either over the weekend or the first part of next week and I'll post another photo of it.

My next piece, which I'll start stitching on this afternoon is this:

As you can see, there will be a little bit of Broiderie Perse applique on this.  I was asked about the pink Shibori ribbon on the purse so I will be writing up a tutorial about working with Shibori ribbon when get to that point on this block.

If you want to see closeups of these photos, just click on them.

I'm going to leave you today with a YouTube video.  This is Marie Osmond singing Nessun Dorma from the opera Madam Butterfly.  My grandmother loved Madam Butterfly so it makes me think of her.  And I don't know about anyone else, but I think Marie Osmond does a beautiful rendition.

Correction Edit:  This piece is from Puccini's opera Turandot.  My grandmother always said it was Madam Butterfly.  Thank you to Catherine for correcting my error.  I'm well versed in Classical music but not opera.  I should have double checked it.  Still, it reminds me of my grandma who loved this piece!

Stitching Fix

Yesterday, I shared a link to Mary Anne's blog.  She posted a fix to a "stitching gone wrong" problem.

I think her solution is absolutely brilliant!

Mary Anne did not care for the cross stitched long stem rose in the first photo.  She felt that it over-powered the other elements on her block.  I agree with her.  It's too much going in the same direction and it's too heavy.  The eye doesn't know what to look at first.

Mary Anne's fix was to cover the area with a pretty eyelet doily.  She added some small cross stitch roses and a pretty light pink rosebud trim along the edge. 

So much softer looking and now, nothing competes with the broiderie perse applique.

Speaking of Broiderie Perse, I will be post Part 2 of my tutorial this afternoon so be sure to stop back for that!

Broiderie Perse Applique Finished

I wanted to show you some close up photos of my finished Broiderie Perse applique piece:

This one is a little closer:

Be sure to click on that bottom photo so you can see the stitching up close.

The beetle is a little brooch.  I've had it for awhile and can't remember for sure but I think it was given to me.

I used a variety of Kreinik #4 Braid colors which really make the applique pop.

Today I pieced up my example block for my Broiderie Perse on Crazy Quilts tutorial.  The tutorial will be presented in 2 parts.  I will post Part 1 over the weekend.

I need to shop for fabric.  Can you believe I said that?  LOL!!!  No, I don't need any fabric, I just need more fabric with larger flowers on it in more colors so I can do more of this!  Okay, so I do need more fabric!

So anyway, gather up some of your larger floral prints and stop back over the weekend.  This is such a cool and easy way to add more interest to your crazy quilting!

Broiderie Perse Embroidery

Early this morning, I finished highlighting the applique on this piece with Kreinik metallic #4 braid:

I used several colors of the Kreinik metallic rather than just one color.  I wanted the applique to almost look like a painting rather than a piece of fabric applied to a foundation.

Don't forget, I will put together a simple tutorial for Broiderie Perse and post it sometime this coming week.  I'm hoping there are some stitchers out there who will give it a try and send me photos for the Fall issue of CQ Quarterly.

I'm not going to share the entire block at this time but there are a few other things I thought I would discuss as I work on this. 

I have one seam that I embroidered on this piece that does not show up well.  Rather than pulling it out (which I almost never do), I will show you how I make it work using beads.  It's all about working with color. 

Every crazy quilt block offers some unique challenges.  I've kind of gotten away from sharing my works in progress but I think it's time to get back to that.  I'm sure some of the solutions that I use to deal with problem areas will useful to other crazy quilters!

More On Broiderie Perse Applique

I'm still highlighting the flowers on my applique with Kreinik metallic threads.  The effects are quite lovely:

You may want to click on the photo to see it better.  I still have a bit more to do but as I mentioned yesterday, I love handwork!

I've received several really great questions about Broiderie Perse applique and I will address them here next week.  I want to work up a tutorial for everyone but I need a bit of sewing machine time to do it as well as a fully charged camera battery!

Again, this is a wonderful technique for crazy quilting and I want to make sure that everyone is comfortable in trying it.

I'm wondering, have you ever been intimidated by a technique?  What sort of things have you been wanting to try but just don't know how or where to start?

I ask because I've always been one to just jump in and do it.  I don't know if there's a right way or a wrong way to do any of these things.  I only know my way and if that works, then it's good!

I say that because we've all be taught that there is a certain protocol for everything in life.  And I agree that for the most part, there are right ways of doing things and not so right ways of doing things.  But when it comes to being creative, those protocols can get in the way and limit our creativity.  I think sometimes, they keep us caught in the web of "I don't know how so I can't do it" mindset.

I would suggest that if you were planning to make a traditional "sane" quilt with applique, there would be more rules about it so that it holds up to washing and everyday wear and tear.  But for the most part, crazy quilts cannot be laundered or dry cleaned.  So we can ease up a bit on some of the rules that would apply to traditional quilt making.

So, that's my little piece of philosophy for today!  LOL!!!  Again, I'll post a nice little tutorial here next week.  I really want to see some CQ pieces with Broiderie Perse.  I will publish them in the Fall issue of Crazy Quilt Quarterly.