Flea Market Finds & More!

You may remember me mentioning this awhile back. I've never been big on doing Silk Ribbon Embroidery but I love the way it looks so I've been adding more of it to my crazy quilting. Well, I never seem to have the colors that I want so I bought some plain white 7mm silk ribbon and hand-painted it myself:



I did these yesterday afternoon. Aren't they pretty! I can't wait to stitch with them.

Today, Scott had to work so I did my usual errands. I picked up my drycleaning and stopped at the bank. There was a flea market at the park so I thought it would be fun to look around there for an hour and see if I could find some goodies. And did I find goodies!



Look at that metallic lame fabric! Gobs of it in every color imagineable. And I found some vintage rhinestone buttons, some dyed Mother Of Pearl buttons in aqua, some vintage jewelry pieces, lace... Oh and ironically, my 12 inch quilters hoop that I use for my 9 inch blocks broke on me the other day. Scott glued it but we don't know if it'll hold. Well, I found another one at the flea market. An older and much better made one. And only for $1.00! I am in heaven!

Of course you know, it's not like I don't have anything to play with here. I've never had any trouble justifying my supplies. But I got all of that stuff for about $15.00!

My real prize though, is this white wicker rocking chair:



Now that the majority of the Living Room remodel is done, Scott brought my bentwood rocker down for the corner by the window and guess what? It just didn't work there anymore. It looked heavy and out of place. I decided that I need a white wicker rocking chair there.

My old furniture, which is pretty much hand-me-down stuff because I never could figure out what I wanted, does not work with my Cottage Victorian theme that I'm going for now. I've decided that I want all white wicker furniture. It's light, airy and easy to clean (remember, I have 4 cats). Anyway, I do like the mis-matched look and when I saw this chair, I knew it was mine! I'll probably put a fresh coat of paint on the runners but the rest, I'll leave as is. I'm sure you can tell that Lucy has already claimed it as hers! And can you believe, I only paid $35.00 for this chair? I have no idea how old it is but it's in really good shape and I love it.

So next, to find a white wicker sofa, chair and side table!

18th Century Lace

In my research regarding my Mozart purse, I came across an article and images of 18th century lace. Now, I know that nothing I have here is that old. The lace I have here is from the late 1800's to present but in seeing images of lace from that era, it looks to me like much of it has a sort of netted background. I do have a variety of lace that resembles this look and hopefully, I have something that will work nicely.

You can find the article at The Costumer's Manifesto website.

Custom Apron Order Complete!

Just a quickie for today everyone. (You're probably all thinking, "thank goodness!") I ran some errands this morning and still have 2 more to run. And I desperately need some quality stitching time.

You may remember that I received an order for a custom vintage style apron. It's complete now:



My first stop will be to the Post Office to send this off to it's new owner!

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.

Button Flowers And New Block

I only had a small amount of stitching time yesterday but it was enough to decide on what to do next with this little spontaneous button flower design:



I filled in the background leaves with the Buttonhole stitch and then added a line of beads down the center of each one.

I've already decided what my next step will be. I'm not sure if I'll have time to work on it later or not. I need to get into my stash and pull out a piece of black velvet or black velveteen. I have something really cool planned for this!

Is anyone going to take me up on my design challenge from yesterday? I was kind of hoping I'd have a few takers.

As for crazy quilting, I've chosen my next block:



Does anyone know who the man in the image is? This is not just a random photo that I chose. This is (was) a real person. Leave your guesses in the comment section!

I'm sure you've noticed by now that I like to work with themes and focal points. When I first pieced this block, I wasn't 100% thrilled with it. Scott however, felt that it was quite workable and would be a good challenge for me so I'm going to go with it.

I like crazy quilting for the challenging aspect of it. I approach it sometimes with several questions running through my mind:

In this case, the piece has to be very specific. I'm assuming that unless I make it very clear as to who this is, anyone who looks at it won't "get it". I'm sure they'll see the beauty in in, but they won't know who that is so I have several things in mind that will give the design clarity.

Another question that I ask myself before starting is in regard to color. What colors will convey the mood of this piece. So far, I think it's clear as to what era the man is from but I also want to insinuate the region in which he lived and the overall "style" of that time-frame and region. He is not an American and this is not a patriotic piece so there will be no red in the design other than what you see in the image.

Part of the challenge in this piece for me is that it's not my typical "garden themed block". I have to think about this man's profession and what it means to me. It can't be completely abstract because his work was not abstract. It was very structured. Once you know who this is, you'll understand where I'm going with this.

First and foremost, this piece must be absolutely elegant. It cannot be cutesy, it cannot be whimsical, it cannot be abstract. It must be elegant.

Stay tuned for my next journey....