There's been much discussion and interest in Crinoline Ladies on the CQ Embellishers Yahoo group. I did a little research on crinoline and was surprised to discover that the term crinoline actually refers to the hoop skirts that women wore in the mid 1800's! And crinoline skirts were made of horse hair! Yikes! I had no clue!
Crinoline is no longer made of horse hair, thank goodness! And now it actually refers to a type of fabric. It was used alot in the 50's under dresses to make them poofy. Rememeber the movie Grease?!!
For those of you interested in reading the eye-opening articles that I found, here are the links:
Fashion-Era
Victorian Era
For those of you interested in stitching some old-fashioned crinoline ladies, southern belles and bonnet ladies, Design Originals has published a wonderful book titled, "Ladies Of Leisure".
The book contains many reprinted iron-on transfer designs of all sorts of ladies, many of which are crinoline ladies. This book is in my collection and I promise, it could keep you stitching"pretty ladies in fancy dresses" for years! They're gorgeous!!
Cross Stitch Patterns inspired by nature, animals, holidays and scripture by Pamela Kellogg
Saturday, June 18, 2005
Friday, June 17, 2005
Pansy Block Is Complete!
I completed this block last night. As you can see, I added alot of beads! I started with some beadwork in the centers of the pansies to make them pop out more. I also added some beads to the seam embroidery.
I had planned on using some Mother Of Pearl buttons on this block but for some reason, they just didn't work. That kind of surprised me because they've worked on every other CQ piece I've done. I have tons of Mother Of Pearl buttons, in all different colors, but the white ones didn't look white on this block. They looked creamy colored and just didn't look right.
I kept looking at the block and my eye was being drawn away from the pansies and over to the ribbon motif on the right. I decided it needed something to pull the eye up from the ribbon motif so the eye would then move around the pansies.
I know the yellow rhinestone button is quite unexpected but it seemed to to be the best option. I tried some blue and some purple buttons and they just didn't work.
I also added on a pewter basket charm. I wasn't sure it showed up enough against the moss green fabric but now that it's daylight outside, I'm quite pleased with it and am sure I made the right choice.
CQ'ing isn't as spontaneous or random as one would think. I did alot of ripping on this block. I started embroidering seams only to find that the thread color didn't show up or the stitch was too small or too big. I sewed some do-dads on and ended up taking them off because they weren't complimentary.
I don't usually have a lot of trouble with my blocks. But this one was rather challenging.
This block is a gift for my mother. I will sew it into a doorknocker (pillow that hangs on a doorknob) for her sitting room. I need to pick up some twisted corded edging over the weekend. I hope to find some in purple but not sure they carry it. I might have to go with the moss green.
I had planned on using some Mother Of Pearl buttons on this block but for some reason, they just didn't work. That kind of surprised me because they've worked on every other CQ piece I've done. I have tons of Mother Of Pearl buttons, in all different colors, but the white ones didn't look white on this block. They looked creamy colored and just didn't look right.
I kept looking at the block and my eye was being drawn away from the pansies and over to the ribbon motif on the right. I decided it needed something to pull the eye up from the ribbon motif so the eye would then move around the pansies.
I know the yellow rhinestone button is quite unexpected but it seemed to to be the best option. I tried some blue and some purple buttons and they just didn't work.
I also added on a pewter basket charm. I wasn't sure it showed up enough against the moss green fabric but now that it's daylight outside, I'm quite pleased with it and am sure I made the right choice.
CQ'ing isn't as spontaneous or random as one would think. I did alot of ripping on this block. I started embroidering seams only to find that the thread color didn't show up or the stitch was too small or too big. I sewed some do-dads on and ended up taking them off because they weren't complimentary.
I don't usually have a lot of trouble with my blocks. But this one was rather challenging.
This block is a gift for my mother. I will sew it into a doorknocker (pillow that hangs on a doorknob) for her sitting room. I need to pick up some twisted corded edging over the weekend. I hope to find some in purple but not sure they carry it. I might have to go with the moss green.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Pansy CQ Block Continued
I spent a few more hours on this yesterday. I decided I was in the mood for SRE but unfortunately, didn't have the ribbons in the right purples or blues. So I sewed on a few purchased ribbon flowers and then did a bit of SR work. The SR isn't really embroidered on, but ratherI gathered some of the green and then stitched it down. The tiny purple SR flowers are also gathered beforehand and then sewn down. I added some purple beads to look like grapes and then some pearly white plastic leaves.
I hope you can also see that I sewed on alot of sequins! I can't find enough sparkly things! I also added several tiny rosebud appliques to the tatting.
Next, I plan to do some beadwork on the pansy fabric in the center so they pop out a little more.
I hope you can also see that I sewed on alot of sequins! I can't find enough sparkly things! I also added several tiny rosebud appliques to the tatting.
Next, I plan to do some beadwork on the pansy fabric in the center so they pop out a little more.
Corticelli, Last But Not Least!
This is the end of my Corticelli booklet. There are several advertisements in it but this one is my favorite. Can you guess why?
This is the back cover.
For the large version, please click here.
This is the end of the booklet. There were some other ads, a page or two on crocheting and a list of "proper colors for flowers". Since my book is starting to fall apart, I've shared with you what I thought would apply most to embroidery and crazy quilting. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed sharing it with you. It's time to pack my booklet up and store it in a safe place. Now that the pages are stored in my computer, I can work from the files instead of having to handle the book.
This is the back cover.
For the large version, please click here.
This is the end of the booklet. There were some other ads, a page or two on crocheting and a list of "proper colors for flowers". Since my book is starting to fall apart, I've shared with you what I thought would apply most to embroidery and crazy quilting. I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I've enjoyed sharing it with you. It's time to pack my booklet up and store it in a safe place. Now that the pages are stored in my computer, I can work from the files instead of having to handle the book.
Corticelli Patterns
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
