Broiderie Perse Applique Finished

I wanted to show you some close up photos of my finished Broiderie Perse applique piece:

This one is a little closer:

Be sure to click on that bottom photo so you can see the stitching up close.

The beetle is a little brooch.  I've had it for awhile and can't remember for sure but I think it was given to me.

I used a variety of Kreinik #4 Braid colors which really make the applique pop.

Today I pieced up my example block for my Broiderie Perse on Crazy Quilts tutorial.  The tutorial will be presented in 2 parts.  I will post Part 1 over the weekend.

I need to shop for fabric.  Can you believe I said that?  LOL!!!  No, I don't need any fabric, I just need more fabric with larger flowers on it in more colors so I can do more of this!  Okay, so I do need more fabric!

So anyway, gather up some of your larger floral prints and stop back over the weekend.  This is such a cool and easy way to add more interest to your crazy quilting!

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Finally, Door Hangers

I don't know what took me so long to get these Door Hangers posted.  They've been done for awhile but I guess I had some other things on my plate that needed wrapping up!

So anyway, these are my new door hangers:

And this one is that Mom finished recently:

I hand painted a few lace pieces for her to use on the things she makes and it looks like she's finally using them!

In other news, tomorrow is a much needed sewing day.  I will be getting Part 1 of the tutorial together for Broiderie Perse applique on crazy quilting.  And I'll be sewing up a few new blocks to stitching on.

Part 2 of the tutorial will come when I get to stitching on the block for the tutorial.  But I'll get the first part posted in the next few days.

Thank You To My Sponsors!

Something I like to do when I finish up a publication, is to thank my advertisers here on my blog.  These very sweet ladies sponsored the Spring 2015 issue of Crazy Quilt Quarterly magazine.  Please visit their Etsy shops and webstores:

Crazy Quilting Supplies

Cathys Crazy By Design

Vintage Vogue

Shabby Lane Shops

Sweet Inspirations

Raviolee Dreams

Marionberry Cottage

Challenging Seam Treatments

In working on my current project, I ran into a seam treatment that just didn't show up well.  As I've mentioned once or twice before (LOL!) I use waste canvas to stitch the majority of my crazy quilt seams. 

Judging by the thread color that I used, I thought it would show up just fine but it wasn't until I pulled the waste canvas out that I could see that it didn't.

I do not like to pull threads out.  I remember doing that so many times with counted cross stitch.  Instead, I like to use beads and sequins to make the seam pop or at least show up better.

I went with electric blue beads for the points on the little fan stitches.  That helped.  Then I added larger aqua beads to the base of the fan stitches.  Finally, I added some light blue sequins.

As you can see, this did make a difference.  The electric blue seed beads elongated the fans.  The aqua beads and the sequins are eye catching so they draw attention to the seam even though the actual stitching still tends to blend into the print.

I honestly thought this shaded thread color would have shown up just fine but it didn't.

Using brighter colored beads for a dark background or darker colors for a light background will help to bring attention to a seam that doesn't pop.

It's just a matter of choosing the right colors.  You have to experiment.  And it's not a perfect fix but if you dislike ripping as much as I do, this is a good alternative.