Angel Purse

After finishing up a couple of my purses on Friday, I decided to put Button Block #35 on hold and stitch another purse. There is nothing like having these beautiful fashion accessories!



I pieced this block in aqua and cream and as you can see, I will be embellishing it with lavenders, pinks and greens. There will be an angel in the center as a focal point.

When choosing seam treatments, I usually start by picking a piece of lace or two. I chose the floral applique first. The lace will usually be the heaviest seam treatment so once that's chosen, it's easier to balance the rest of the block around it.

As you can see, I then picked out a piece of vintage tatting with some lavender on it and a piece of antique gold trim. Notice how I placed it. It's almost adjacent to the applique and it moves in the opposite direction of the applique and it's about the same width. That's how balance is achieved.

Next, notice the seam treatment moving down from the applique. That seam treatment is from my book and I chose it because the shape of the flowers are similiar to the flowers in the applique. Adjacent from that is the feather stitch which again, is about the same width and weight as the border coming off of the applique.

There are no rules in crazy quilting but CQ blocks always look best if the over all design is well balanced. I'll talk a bit more about achieving balance once I get a few more seams stitched.

In the meantime, here are pages 12 & 13 of my Needlecrafts Embroidery & Fancywork Catalog from the 1930's:

Themed Crazy Quilt Purses

I spent most of my day yesterday doing some finishing. I still have quite a few stitched pieces that need to be sewn up. Finishing does not go quickly but I did accomplish quite a bit!

First is my Pink Lady Purse:



I stitched this one before Thanksgiving and wanted it for Valentine's Day so I got it together just in time!

The lace is antique and I hand-dyed it and the pin on the right-hand side is vintage.

The next purses have never been seen before. I made them quite awhile ago and had intended on submitting them to a magazine. I've since decided to keep them. First is the Yellow Rose Purse:



The yellow rose is from a vintage machine embroidered handkerchief. The crystals are from a vintage necklace that I took apart and the green bug is a vintage pin.

Last but not least is my Grapes Purse:



I found that bunch of grapes at Michaels and I knew I had to do something with it! Again, I hand dyed the lace at the bottom. The grapes on the lattice-work trim at the top right are from a vintage bracelet that I took apart.

All beads, sequins, lace and embellishments are sewn on by hand. The borders are my own charted borders from both my book and my own personal collection.

I do accept custom purse orders. More information can be found here.

Well, I thought my readers would enjoy some eye candy for today. I used my Pink Lady purse this morning and the ladies at the Post Office were in love with it!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Vintage Needlework Catalog Continued....

I haven't gotten around to stitching on my current Button Block yet. But I'm am quite pleased to say that my beads and sequins are all organized now, in little ziplocks bags and then in sandwich sized ziplocks according to color! Now, when I need blue beads, I just grab the bag of blue beads and I have them all to chose from instead of digging around through everything looking for the right color or size! And I have 3 empty drawers in my rolly cart!

Today, I will simply post pages 10 & 11 of my vintage needlework catalog:





Remember, you can click on the images to go to my Flickr site where you can see the large versions.

Enjoy!

Crazy Quilt Spider Webs

I completed Button Block #34 yesterday:



When I do my spider webs, I do what I call "mock couching". My spider webs are all free-hand. I work the long spokes of the web first, starting in the center. Then, when doing the short spokes of the web, I come up on one side of a long spoke and down with my needle on the opposite side of the next long spoke. This will hold the long spokes in place without couching them all down individually. Saves a lot of time! Click on the image to go to my Flickr site where you can see the large version. You should be able to see the stitches.

Remember, that most spider webs are not perfect! The more imperfect they are, the more realistic they look!

For the spider, I sew down a big bead, running my thread through the bead twice. I then do the same with the small bead. Then, I run the thread through both beads which again, holds them in place and keeps them in alignment with each other. Finally, I do the legs last.

For the buttons on this block, I used a mixture of new and vintage glass buttons, antique metal buttons and a few modern plastic buttons. Mixing them up adds visual interest so don't be afraid to play! Again, clustered buttons are more interesting to look than just one here or there. You can also layer buttons. Look for the square button and notice that I sewed an antique metal button on top of it. That gives the cluster some dimension. And for buttons with holes in them, I always fill those holes with seed beads. That adds a bit more sparkle as well as giving them a nice finished look.

Finally for today, here are pages #6 & 7 of my Needlecrafts Embroidery & Fancywork Catalog from the 1930's:





Enjoy!

More On Beading Crazy Quilt Seam Treatments

Yesterday, I painted the lace and did some more beading on this:



The cream lace was way too bright for this block. Generally, I paint my lace as I need it. I don't usually do a bunch of it at one time.

Another way to decide on where to put beads is to look for gaps. Empty spaces just scream for beads! Notice the bottom right-hand border. I added a few large beads in between the round beads.

When using sequins on lace or appliques, overlap your sequins a bit like I did on the leaves. It looks nicer than having gaps between the sequins and adds more sparkle.

Here are pages 4 & 5 of my Needlecrafts Embroidery & Fancywork Catalog:





Be sure to click on the images to go to my Flickr site where you can see the large versions. The cutwork designs are gorgeous!