Mozart Complete! Finally!!!

Well, I finally decided on a trim for the bottom of this purse and I'm happy to say, that it is now complete and I've already used it! So without further delay, here is the finished Mozart purse:



If you would like to see a larger photo, click on the image to go to my Flickr site.

I'll keep this short today. I still have some chores to do, laundry mostly - the "always & forever task"! and then I plan to stitch.

Mozart & More!

I spent most of the day yesterday working on Maxine's quilt. I think I only have 3 more patches to replace but I got a bit bored with doing that so I started reworking the seam stitches on some of the ones that I've already replaced.

I also noticed this velvet piece with a hand-painted flower:



This needs more embellishing! So I started by stem-stitching around the flower:



I'll be adding some beads to this and then perhaps some more embroidery.

I realized that I'm obsessing about this quilt and what to do with it. My peacock idea isn't going to work out the way I had planned. That beaded area, that I spent 5 hours repairing last week is in the center! Argggg.........

Scott suggested that I start working with what's already here and once I get into that, the rest will work it's way through on it's own.

I'm overwhelmed because of the size of this quilt. The largest whole cloth quilt I've ever done is my Lucky quilt which is 29 inches square. First I'll focus on the rest of the repairs.

My other project, that I'm obsessing over is my Mozart purse. Again, thank you to everyone who took the time to give me your opinions on the 2nd trim. Taking your comments into consideration, I decided to look through my stash and find something else.

I had 3 different trims that worked. One was a salmon colored trim with a velvet ribbon running through it. It worked, but my eye went straight to the trim rather than the design.

The 2nd trim was a light blue with silver threads in it. Again, it worked but it just wasn't right.

Finally, I pulled out this ruffled trim with the metallic gold threads in it and I like but it I'm still not sure this is what I will use.



Stop by tomorrow and see what I decide on.

The Mozart Journey Complete!

The stitching is complete on this:



Mozart looks happy, doesn't he? I would like to think that he would be pleased with my tribute to him!

I'll assemble this next week when I have some free time. Michael's carries beaded gold purse handles so I need to run up there for a pair.

Also next week, I plan to start work on the antique crazy quilts. My sweet mom was at Hobby Lobby earlier this week and she bought some fabrics for me that will work nicely to replace some of the damaged pieces. I need to pick up some #8 perle cottons in a variety of colors. I usually use #5 on my CQ's but my antique CQ is worked with finer threads.

Quick question for you: Does anyone have any clue as to when varigated threads were introduced? I was looking at my commission quilt and there are varigated threads on there. If I could find out when shaded threads started showing up, it would help me to "ballpark" date that quilt.

Ok everyone, I'll be away from my computer now until Tuesday, May 22nd. We're off to Galena, Illinois for the weekend and this time, I hope to see the "Field Of Dreams" movie set in Iowa!!!

Have a great weekend everyone. I'll see ya on Tuesday!

My Beloved Mozart

I don't know why I didn't think of doing a Mozart themed purse sooner. I have loved Mozart's music for as long as I can remember. I do enjoy other Classical composers such as Bach, Beethoven and Vivaldi. But Mozart...how could I ever describe what his music does to me? Mozart's music is glorious! When I listen to it, I'm instantly uplifted. I get lost in it. It puts me in a "higher" frame of mind and I can focus for longer periods of time. Certain pieces, such as Symphony #25 and The Requiem, almost make me incapable of doing anything but listening.

Oddly enough, I've never heard anything by Mozart that I didn't like. In most cases, I don't care for vocal music. It's kind of like fingernails on a chalkboard to me, almost like the words get in the way. Mozart's choral works, even his operas (and I do not care for opera)are soothing on my nerves.

Well, I know Classical music isn't everyone's cup of tea, but I'm sure you can appreciate my tribute to whom I believe is the greatest composer of all time:



All I have left to add to this is my little signature cat so I will stitch him on this afternoon and then this will be ready to assemble.

I would like to share a photo with you that was sent to me by one of my readers. This is Mozart's birthplace in Salzburg:



What a thrill for me to see this! Thank you Michele for sending this image to me and for granting me your permission to share it here on my blog so that my other readers can enjoy it too!

Magnificent Mozart

Yesterday afternoon was cloudy and rainy. Although I always prefer sunshine, it was a good day to curl up in the middle of my sofa and focus on my stitching. I stitched for 6 hours straight!



As you can see, I've done quite a bit of embellishing on this. I added the vintage millinery roses to the antique metallic gold lace and then added some green glass leaves to that.

There are now Mother Of Pearl flower beads on the SRE vine and some Czech glass fire polished beads and seed beads.

I added some beads to the seam on the top left and I will be adding some more beads to that.

I also started beading the rose applique. I still need to finish up the leaves.

The Rhinestone Treble Clef pin will go in the center blue patch on the bottom. I'll be sewing that on today.

So this is how it looks at the moment. I'll be stitching on this again shortly so stop by tomorrow for another update!

The Mozart Journey Continues.......

The Mozart Journey is coming along nicely:



As you can see, I have his signature on here now. I think that makes it very clear as to who this is.

I added a SRE motif with roses because, when I think of Mozart, I think of roses. That will get some beads as well. I also have some vintage millinery roses that I will be adding to the antique metallic ribbon strip later today.

Don't you just love that salmon color? It really adds life to this piece and works well with the red in the painting. If you remember, I didn't want any more red on here so the salmon color is perfect!

I still need to figure out where to put my rhinestone treble clef pin. I'm sure that will fall into place when I get a bit further along on this piece.

Stay tuned! I'll be working on this again later today!

Mozart In Slow Motion & TAST

Yesterday was a bit hectic and rather tiring. By the time I completed my work for the day, I didn't have much energy left to use for stitching. I did however, manage to cover one seam:



Sharon's stitch pick for week 18 (last week) was the Woven Wheel or Whipped Wheel. I was intrigued by her Woven Fans so I thought I'd give it a try. Now, I should have made my fans larger. They're a twinge small but they look like little shells. And I truly enjoyed doing the weaving. I think these will look great once I add some beading to it.

I did this using 8.5 count waste canvas. Stitching the fans first, removing the waste canvas and then weaving the fans. I will definitely be experimenting more with this stitch.

In the meantime, I've charted out several Fan Borders for you to use if you would like to try this using Waste Canvas. Click on the image to go to my Flickr site where you can download a larger version of the pattern.



For now, I'm off to take some things up to my showcase at the Brick & Mortar store. When I return, I plan to stitch the rest of the day.

The Mozart Journey Begins

First, since "loose ends" make me crazy, I decided to take today and do the finishing on my 3 most recent crazy quilt projects.

My Little Brown Bird purse is all together now. I just have to do the hand-finishing:



Next is my Heart Shaped Peacock piece. I have no clue on what to do with this. I want to make it into a cellphone pouch and I have several ideas for accomplishing this. First, I could sew it up into the heart shape with a backing and then do the same with another heart and then top stitch the two together. This will automatically give it a lining and I would only have a little bit of hand-sewing to do then. But my top stitching is not always perfect so I'm think my best option would be to sew it into a heart shape with a backing, then sew my regular cellphone pouch and attach the heart to the front of it. My mind is telling me that this is my best option so that's probably what I will go with.



Finally, I want to finish my Button Flowers into a cellphone pouch:



This one will be finished just like all my other pouches. I was asked how big this was. The stitched/beaded area is approx. 4 inches. This pouch will be just a twinge bigger then what my CQ pouches are. I'll have to go 5 inches X 5 or 6 inches. No big deal. More room for more money and hands-free shopping!

The Mozart Journey began last night! But it was a slow start. I think I put way too much thought into this and when I looked at it, I had no idea what to do with it. I decided that I didn't need to see the whole staircase, I only needed to take one step at a time so I started with auditioning some lace pieces:



The lace isn't sewn down yet. I need to look at it for a bit and see if this works. I'm pleased with the antique metallic gold lace to the left and the cream colored lace to the right but I'm not sure about the rose appliqué yet. If I do go with it, I'll give a hint of a salmon pink color and then antique it.

So what do you all think? Does the rose appliqué work? Or do you think it's too large?

Thoughts

I'm at a loss for a title for today's post which may end up being rather long. Please hang in here with me while I attempt to cover my many thoughts regarding current projects and themes.

First, I did not manage any stitching time yesterday. I have a stack of design-work here and I feel as if it's a mile high! I've been working on it and am grateful to have work but I'll admit, my mind is constantly on my stitching and the endless string of ideas that flow into my head. Many times, I think of what it would be like to be a "lady of leisure", having all the time in the world to work on what I consider to be my "bliss". This is certainly an option for me but I know I would miss charted design work if I excluded it from my routine. I know too that my work is appreciated by many cross-stitchers who would also miss out on the enjoyment of creating projects from my designs. So I will continue to balance design work with my need for "hands-on work".

Since I didn't have time to stitch yesterday, I don't have an update on my Button Flower piece. Believing that "everything happens for a reason", I'm glad I wasn't able to go any further on this piece as I was again inspired by Sharon to take it in a new direction! Hop over to her In A Minute Ago blog and read her post for today on Denim.

I too, have a pile of worn out jeans sitting in my laundry closet, waiting to be given some new life!
I have since decided that I will use a piece of denim for the background rather than the black velvet that I had originally intended on using. The black velvet is too elegant for this piece. The denim will give it the more casual look that I envisioned. Combined with a cool fringing technique that I saw in the current issue of Haute Handbags magazine, I can see the finished project completed in my mind. Since everything starts with a thought, I expect to move forward with this later today.

On the same subject, I had one stitcher take me up on my spontaneous design challenge from my post of April 30th. Kirsten of Kissy Cross blog worked a lovely example of "3 flowers in a circle". Kirsten's stitched piece includes buttons, beads, embroidery, a butterfly charm and do I see sequins? You know I love those! I see a variety of stitches and am so looking forward to then next phase of Kirsten's project.

Moving on now to my next crazy quilt piece, I was absolutely thrilled to see how many of my readers guessed correctly! Yes, the man in the image is indeed Mozart! "The greatest composer ever!" as declared by Albert Einstein.



I have loved Classical music for as long as I can remember and Mozart is indeed my favorite composer. The inspiration (remember, inspiration is everywhere) for a CQ piece with Mozart's image as a focal point came to me a few weeks back while I was listening to his Piano Concerto #25. That concerto has always been a favorite of mine. I immediately searched for an image of this famous painting which I printed on an inkjet fabric sheet and worked into a block. I chose the fabric colors based on the background of the painting.

In my post from yesterday, I mentioned several things that I would like to emphasis on this piece. First, I have to make it absolutely clear as to who this is. To accomplish that, I will be embroidering his signature somewhere on the block. Also, you may remember the batch of vintage jewelry pieces that I found at a flea market on Easter morning:



If you look closely, you'll notice a rhinestone Treble Clef pin. I bought that specifically for this block. Hopefully, between Mozart's signature and the Treble Clef pin, I will be able to make it absolutely clear as to who this is.

Another thing that I thought about yesterday while I was working is this, how much information can I actually squeeze into a 9 inch block? Yesterday, I talked about the era and region in which he lived. Mozart was born in 1756 in Salzburg and died in Vienna in the year 1791. How in the world can I convey that region on a 9 inch block along with everything else that I want to include? I decided that this was not the most important aspect of Mozart's life and therefore, I really have no need to include that. Making it clear as who this is will point to the region in which he lived.

What's most important for me is to capture the essence of his music. When I listen to anything composed by Mozart, even his heavier pieces, I envision a gorgeous well-tended flower garden. His music is flowery, colorful and uplifting. It puts me in a higher, more peaceful state of mind. When I hear his work, I can almost smell roses! So although this is not my usual "garden themed" block, it will of course have flowers on it.

Another aspect of Mozart that I would like to include is the embroidery style of the era in which he lived. I spent about an hour this morning researching 18th century fashion and embroidery. I would like to take a moment to thank my reader Coral-Seas for the link to Bjarne Drews website. Do hop over to see some of the most exquisite costume embroidery you will ever see! Here is where I found the inspiration for the colors and embroidery style that I will be using on my next block which from now on will be referred to as "The Mozart Journey".

Normally, I don't spend nearly this much time and energy on what to do with a CQ block. I usually just start stitching and let the block tell me what it wants and needs. In this case though, the theme is very specific and very special to me so I want to think things through well in advance so that I can express my love of Mozart's work to the best of my abilities.

On a final note, (and I do apologize for the length of this post although many of you have told me that you love to see how my mind works so I have no regrets here) I will be watching the movie Amadeus later today to get an even better feel for the fashion of the mid to late 18th century. If you have seen the movie Amadeus, I would like to mention that it is fiction based loosely on the actual events of Mozart's life. Although beautifully written and filmed, Amadeus is not a true biography. If you would like to read a brief, yet actual biography on Mozart you can find it here.

To conclude for today, the Mozart block will be finished into a purse and in case you hadn't guessed, I will be keeping it for myself.