It'll Be A Peacock!

For those of you who guessed a peacock for the focal point on this wall hanging, you are correct!  Unfortunately, I haven't gotten that far with it yet:

Here is a closeup of the floral spray:

And closeups of the seam embroidery:

I did not embroidery the fabric in the above photo.  I'm fortunate enough to be give outdated fabric sample books from a local decorating store.  Some of these fabrics are so incredibly beautiful!  The floral fabric in this photo is from one of the sample books.  Some of these fabrics sell for $150 - $300 per yard.  Yikes!!!  I couldn't even afford a 1/8 yard piece!

But I'm so grateful that the store owner gives me the sample books for my crazy quilting.  How else could I have some of these wonderful fabrics to use in my work!

New Crazy Quilt Project

I spent some time with my sewing machine this morning and did the finishing on a few projects so I expect to have some photos of completed things to share tomorrow.

I also started on a new crazy quilt block.  I'm not sure what I'll do with this but I pieced the block awhile back and have been wanting to stitch it:

Here's a closeup of the silk ribbon embroidery on the hat:

And a closeup of this border worked with Sharon B's templates:

I also wanted to mention that we're offering Elegant Cross Stitch Sentiments For Crazy Quilting at a special sale price:

For a limited time, it's available for $24.95!

Pink Cellphone Pouch

I mentioned the other day that my aunt asked me if I would make a pink crazy quilt cellphone pouch for her neighbor.  Of course, you never have to ask me twice to make something in pink!  Ya'll know it's my favorite color!  Anyway, I finished it up early this morning.  I mean very early!  Thanks to some very rude people who were shooting off fireworks at 2:00 a.m. this morning!

Anyway, here's the stitched piece:

The cameo is carved Mother Of Pearl.  It's really pretty!  I did a lot of ribbon roses on here with my hand dyed silk ribbon.  The flowers on the bottom left are just shank buttons with French Knots worked in 7MM silk ribbon going around the buttons.

I have several birthdays coming up so I'm working on a few gifts.  When I have a couple of them done, I'll sew this up along with the others and I'll share another photo.

Silk Ribbon Embroidery Easy Rose Tutorial

For anyone who struggles with Silk Ribbon Embroidery roses, here is a very easy version that only requires 2 stitches.  First, the Japanese Ribbon Stitch and second a French Knot.

I used 7 MM ribbon in my example.  To make a Japanese ribbon stitch, bring your ribbon up through your fabric:

Next, put your needle back down into the fabric but pierce your ribbon so you're going through the ribbon and the fabric:

Pull your ribbon to the back of the fabric but be sure to keep the ribbon loose.  That's the key to Silk Ribbon Embroidery:

You'll need to do 4 of these next to each other:

This makes the base of the rose.  Next, add a single French Knot:

And that's all there is to it!

They make pretty roses on hanging vines as you can see in my example:

And here's the block that I'm working on:

I couldn't help myself, I had to add pink to this block!  I expect to have it finished up later today or tomorrow.

A Little Bit Of Stitching

After doing a bit yard work yesterday, I added some more silk ribbon embroidery to my cat purse:

It's supposed to be a hot weekend so I'll probably spend most of the weekend indoors enjoying my A/C and stitching.

Tutorial - Dyeing Silk Ribbons with RIT Dye

I've had several requests for a tutorial on how I dye my Silk Ribbons for my Crazyquilting.  It's much easier than you might think!  Get ready to make a mess and have a lot of fun!  It's like dyeing Easter Eggs! 

NOTE:  I'm using RIT brand powdered dye because it's budget friendly and it does do a nice job.

Supplies

RIT Dye Powder in a variety of colors
Clear Plastic Cups (available in the Dollar Tree Store)
1/2 inch wide brush
Scissors
Silk Ribbon (I mostly use 4 MM and 7MM white ribbon)
Hot Water
Paper Plates
Paper Towels
Gloves (if you don't want your hands to turn purple)

You'll want to cover your workspace with plastic.  I didn't do that for the photos because I didn't want the flash reflecting back.  You'll also want to wear an apron, preferably a black apron.

NOTE:  if you get dye on your counter top, table or wall, a little bit of bleach water will take it out but it's better to cover your surface.

To start, fill your cups 1/2 full with hot water.  It doesn't have to be boiling.  You don't want to burn yourself.  Just hot water.  Add about 1/4 teaspoon of powdered dye to each cup.

You'll want to start with your lightest shades first so 1/4 teaspoon is all you need to start with with.  Mix well to make sure your dye powder is disolved.

Next, cut a 2 yard length of your white silk ribbon and fold in 1/2 and then in 1/2 again and then in 1/2 again.

Next, put your ribbon in one of the dye colors to about 1/2 way.

After a few seconds, take the ribbon out of Dye color #1, turn it around and dip the other end into another color.

The choice is yours but think about what colors you'll want to stitch with.  Purple and blue blend well, blue and green blend well, pink and red blend well and so on.  Try one end in a light green and the other end in a different shade of green.  The choice is yours but once the colors are set, that's what you have to stitch with.

When you're happy with your colors, put a paper towel on top of a paper plate and lay your ribbon bundles on that.  Keep in mind that colors will dry lighter than they look when they're wet.

Another thing you can do is to dye your ribbon as described above.  Lay your ribbon bundle out on your paper plate and then take a brush, dip it in one of the dye colors and drip it onto your ribbon bundle:

This was shaded green and I dripped some purple onto it.  That gives a really nice touch of added color.

Once you have some light colors dyed, you can add a little more dye to the cups or you can add a bit of brown dye powder to each of the colors.  That will give them a muted tone.  Just try a little bit at a time.  You can always add more but you can't take any out until you dump it down the drain and start from scratch.

Here's another tip.  Dye your entire ribbon bundle in one color and then, while it's still wet, dip one end in another color.  A whole different effect!  In the above photo, I dyed the ribbon purple and then dipped an end in brown.

Once you have your ribbons all dyed, lay a sheet of paper towels over a hanger and then lay your ribbon bundles on the hanger and hang to dry.

I have a heat vent right next to my bathtub so I hang my hangers on the shower curtain rod.  That's when it's Winter.  In the Summer, I dye my ribbons outside on the deck.

Once dry, you'll need to iron your ribbons.  This will get out the wrinkles and will also heat set the colors.  I always put an old pressing cloth over my ironing board just in case!

Iron your ribbons on a silk setting and then they're ready to stitch with!

I don't bother with recipes or formulas.  I really just stitch with whatever I come up with.  You're welcome to play and mix colors and write down your formulas as you go if you want to. I don't like to get so technical with this.  For me, it's playing and I try to just enjoy the process of that.  When I'm done, I have gorgeous hand-dyed ribbons to use on my crazy quilts and other embroidery projects.

Update On Marie Antoinette Crazy Quilt - Block #7

I'm really having a hard time putting this crazy quilt project down now.  I'm eager to get these last few blocks done.  I've really enjoyed stitching on it and am so looking forward to having it hang on my wall.  But one block at a time!

Here is what it looked like with the seams embroidered and beaded:

And now for some flowers:

Obviously, since it's me stitching this, it needs much more in the way of embellishing!  I'll be getting back to stitching on this shortly.

In other news, I'm feeling a bit better now that more of the Zoloft is out of my system.  What a slow process to cut down on this!  And having ADD/ADHD, patience is not one of my virtues!  It's been almost 2 weeks since the last decrease and the full withdrawals don't hit me until week 4 but for now, I'm enjoying a little less back pain, a little less pressure in my head and a little less racing of my mind.  Oh, and those extra 10 pounds that the Zoloft put on my butt can start falling off anytime!  I mean really!  Every time my Dr. drops the dosage, I hope a few pounds drop off too but no luck yet.  Maybe tomorrow.  According to my calender, Spring starts tomorrow.  And ya'll know, the only thing that gets me through Winter is knowing that Spring is the next season!

I know, laugh if you will, but I use the weather man's calender.  I always refer to March 1st as Spring 1st!!!

Anyway, one of these days, I'm going to tell you all about living with ADD/ADHD.  Both my husband and I have it so life can be quite challenging at times.  And at other times, it can be rather amusing!  But I'll save that for another day.

Be sure to stop by tomorrow!  I'll be posting a tutorial for dying silk ribbon using Rit dye.  Prepare to make a mess and have a ball!  Dying silk ribbon is so much fun!  Until then: