2013 - Reconnect to My Stitchery, Week Forty-One

After finishing the September BJP and the October Crazy Quilt Journal blocks early in the week, I spent a day gathering together projects to take to the quilt guild retreat and then the weekend working on them and a little bit more.

Retreat was entitled "Bling It On!" and was held at Our Lady of the Pines, a retreat center run by the Sisters of Mercy in Fremont Ohio. There were forty guild members there, elbow to elbow in one of the center's meeting rooms, which you might think would not be conducive to quilting but there were a lot of pieces started and finished in this weekend, as well as two demonstrations and (for some, not for me) shopping trips to nearby quilt shops. No television and very few bars for the phone or the tablet made for a time with no interruptions, while the beautiful grounds (some 65 acres of gardens) gave one respite from sewing when needed. And luckily, the weather held!

I cleared the decks of a one project and got a couple more started. The completed project was my 2012 Color Palette/Crazy Quilt Journal/Bead Journal Project wall hanging:

It needs a hanging sleeve and a label but, otherwise, it's off my to-do list! Woo Hoo!

Really, all if needed was batting, backing and binding as I had already pieced the top, but after some consideration, I bailed on the binding idea and simply did an envelope backing like I did for my 2011 BJP wall hanging back in January of this year!

One of the favors at lunch the first day was a kit for a very small grandmother's flower garden flower. I stitched mine together:

and after looking it over, realized it matched perfectly with a blue fabric I had brought with me as possible sashing and backing for another planned quilt. So, I decided to use the flower and some blue and chocolate fabrics to make a cover for my 2010 BJP squares, and turn the lot into a book. I hand appliqued the flower to the blue and layered it with batting and chocolate fabric to create the cover. 

I need to stitch the 12 beaded pieces to a "spine" that I can stitch to the cover and I will have something that I can display those blocks in, once it has been truly "embellished".  This is truly just a work in progress right now --- I have to search out the online reference I had discovered for making a book... and then I will get back to work on it. Meanwhile, it's on the back burner.

The other project I worked on was that "Unstarted Project" that was proposed at one of my first quilt guild meetings - a Chinese Coins lap quilt. I had already stitched a strip set at Quilt Work Day September 14,  from which I cut three 5.5" strips before I left. When I got to the retreat, I cut some 1" blue strips to edge each strip and some 5.5" chocolate to act as sashing. When sewing the first blue strip to the pieced strips, I found that one had been mis-cut which meant I had to shorten the pieced strips by 6 ". This necessitated a design change, with top and bottom borders, which I had not planned on doing. Still, by the time retreat was over, I had four pieced strips ready to assemble for  the top:

Oh, and my "Bling it On!" challenge block? It won "best use of embellishments" at retreat!

One other accomplishment (for me) this weekend: I managed to drive over an hour to a place I had never been before (*and* back) and NOT get lost! For me, who hates to drive and who can get lost in a closet, that is a minor miracle!

After arriving home Sunday afternoon, I fed three demanding cats who claimed to be starving to death, unpacked my car, and immediately fell asleep catching up on email. Later that night, I took out "Puppy Dog" and put in some time on the second page of the chart:

Now, it's laundry time, the fridge needs cleaning out an the beds need changing out, and I have to kit out the October BJP. Luckily, I won some Halloween-themed fat quarters at retreat so one of them is bound to work for my October butterfly...

Take a Stitch Tuesday and a mini-sock; National Quilt Day and International Hermit and Stitch Weekend

Getting ready for National (and International Quilt Day), I was trying to clear the decks of several pieces in progress as well as pack for a guild work day. I managed two completions on Friday, the 15tth!

The first was a very small sample of the TAST Stitch #58, woven detached Chain:

Not at all difficult and, given time, I would have played around a bit more with it.

Second was the eleventh mini-sock from Janet Perry's Mittens and Mini-socks class. It's called Mt. Fuji:

I used DMC 827 for the sky, DMC B5200 (satin) for the snow on the mountain top, a dark brown for the mountain itself (I can't find the color band - it's probably in the washing machine with my bedsheets as I type!) and two shades of white (blanc and B5200) an d one light grey (415) for the clouds.

I spent the rest of the day packing a to-go bag for National Quilt Day work day, and hunting for my mini-iron (which never showed up... but I did find a nifty little mini-wood iron which worked like a charm! Didn't even know I HAD that gadget!)

On Saturday, March 16, I was at the community center at 8:30, and helped set up the classroom for the guild's work day starting at 9AM. Got all my gear set up (that Bernette I had in Saudi Arabia which hadn't been used since 2001, worked like a charm but while I set it up and turned it on, I never used it!). I worked from 9 through almost 3 on finish-finishing my Color Palette/Crazy Quilt Journal/Bead Journal project blocks from 2012. Because I had beaded too close to the seam allowance, I had to hand-stitch the sashing strips so it was slow going but I managed to get four rows of three blocks each done by the end of work day:

I think the black sets the blocks off nicely and also disguises the fact that there was no rhyme or reason behind the arrangement (other than chronological) which meant the blocks simply did not "go" together... Only three more sashing strips required but they will also have to be hand-stitched (I've learned my lesson on beading crazy quilt blocks: plan ahead and leave PLENTY of room for the seam allowance!).

After returning home, I worked a little on the matching mitten for Mt. Fuji... and crashed. Who knew that hand stitching was that tiring?

I didn't unpack until this morning --- and guess what I found when putting away my notions and tools? That "missing" mini-iron *and* a roll of "Steam-a-seam" that I was so desperately searching for when I did my mug rug binding last weekend! I think I need to clean out and reorganize my quilting cupboards!

Since this is International Hermit and Stitch Weekend for March, 2013, I will attempt to get in a lot more stitching today and hope to have some more progress to report tomorrow in my weekly wrap-up.

2013 - Reconnect to My Stitchery, Week Two

I didn't get as much done as I had hoped this week --- mix in a damaged rotator cuff (i'm on massive doses of ibuprofen in the hopes that it will allow it to heal without further intervention) , Girls Night Out on Tuesday, quilt guild on Thursday, and a crafting weekend with my friend Mary, there was little time for stitching. It won't be much better this coming week either since we have house guests all weekend and two of hubby's dinners (one Master Gardener's recognition and one Hosta and Daylily Society); I expect I'll be to tired to stitch...

Anyway --- no progress on my Crazy Quilt Challenge block, but I got a little more of the outlining done on the Bead Journal Project block:

a VERY little progress on the border of  "Red Thai Mandala":

and only a  few stitches put into Januarys "Mitten * Mini-sock" (no photo to show for it - not worth the effort given the amount of stitches shown!). 

But I did complete the BJP 2011 wall hanging!

Here is the back:

tied with clear buttons (which of course, don't show up in this photo), a hanging sleeve and a label (no fabric pen decided it was too old to write so it's not at all clear, but it is only basted on and it will only take a new pen and all will be copacetic).

"Kimono-Revisited" took a road trip Thursday night to quilt guild "show-and-tell" and even though it isn't a quilt, per se, it did go over reasonably well. The fact that I actually had something to show was as much as a shock to the membership as the fact that I showed off a needlepoint project! 

This week is a stitchathon week at Cross Stitch Crazy so I expect I will work more on "Thai Red Mandala" than anything else, but I do want to plan out how to "finish-finish" BJP 2010 (A book, perhaps - I have a clue as to how to do that now) and 2012 (another quilt top/wall hanging?).

2013 - Reconnect to My Stitchery, Week One

2013 - Reconnect to My Stitchery, Week One

Over on Cross Stitch Crazy , it seems the theme for 2013 will be "reconnecting" and reconnecting with my cross stitchery is really in my goals for 2013. In addition, I want to get some finishing done, to bring down the size of that stack of stitchery which is stitched but otherwise put away...

So this week, I set about tackling these and other goals!

First of all, I assembled the basic block from my Crazy Quilt Journal Challenge 2013 piece. Monochromatic --- this block being all yellow with touched of white and gold when it's finished. The grid for the basic block is block 1 from Sharon B's "I dropped the Button Box" quilt...

Next was starting my January piece for the Bead Journal Project 2013. Since I am doing encrusted beading again, this will take a longer than last year's BJP but it will be closer to the real meaning of BJP, I think... January will be a (roughly) 3" x 3" white and pale blue butterfly on a dark blue snowy background. I have the felt template stitched down with some of the light blue beads. At the corner is the pattern I intend to follow (more or less) for this month's butterfly, which is based on one of five free butterfly symmetry outlines:

Speaking of BJP, I have three years of BJP pieces which require "finish-finishing". BJP 2010 is already in "pages" for which I now need to devise a book. BJP 2011 and BJP 2012, however, were, until recently, simply stacks of beaded fabric, awaiting inspiration. I finally decided that I should take my desire to get more comfortable with my sewing machine seriously and at least finish BJP 2011 as a wall hanging. After much sewing and ripping and sewing and ripping, I finally got all 12 blocks together although, as usual, my attempts at making sashing line up failed miserably (although this is much better than the original three attempts!); since it's only for myself, however, I decided that I wouldn't try again to make that bottom row line up. 

This awaits batting large enough I but I think the fabric shown here will make a suitable backing (to be honest, I don't know what I was thinking when I bought this, let alone why I bought so much of it, but it should make a suitable backing fabric).  I have no intention of fussing with a binding at present so I think I will make this an envelope-turn finish... And since the beading is so heavy and quilting around the motifs is impossible, at least for me at this time, this will be tied when finished.

Finally, I stitched on the Elizabeth Almond "Red Thai Mandala" which was published in The Gift of Stitching:

I'm well into the middle border and have made a tentative start at the blackwork outer border. According to the write-up in TGOS, this was inspired by two different temples in Thailand, with the floral motif representing the lotus flower and the four "pointed" motifs in the center square the wat temple towers...

So, despite a few interruptions for family functions and a wonky right shoulder which seems to have decided to malfunction, I did manage to stitch quite a bit this first week of 2013. Here's hoping I keep up the pace.

2012 - A Year of Challenges - Week Forty-Nine

This week, in addition to the TAST already posted, I concentrated on Birds of a Feather and the December color palette/crazy quilt journal/bead journal project square. Given that the color palette challenge this month didn't quite "fit" with my other eleven squares (see yesterday's post) , I decided to do an alternate, based on the block 6 grid form from the "I dropped the Button Box Quilt" and six colors that were used more than once in the previous eleven blocks... Here is that alternate:

The rest of my stitching time was dedicated to the backstitching on "Birds of a Feather". That is almost done:

although I will have to make some modifications to the backstitching on the paislies since I miscounted two of them and they are too close to the feathers to do as graphed. There are a few confetti speciality stitches in the body of the piece and a lot of beads in the border to do yet...

The latest Mittens & Mini-Socks arrived yesterday so that will take precedence over "Birds" for a few days. Drat... I had hoped to have "Birds" done this weekend but it doesn't look good...

2012 - A Year of Challenges - Week Forty-Five

In the past week, there have been a few "completions"! 

The first, and biggest, is Kimono - Revisited which is now ready for the framers! 

The second was the weekly TAST - the open base needlewoven picot stitch. 

The third was the Hillcroft House "name shield" for my husband's birthday, also ready for the framer. 

And finally, there was my block for the color palette challenge - crazy quilt journal page challenge - bead journal project challenge for November! The grid was a modified version of block 12 for the "I Dropped the Button Box" quilt at Pin Tangle. It was constructed using fabric, lace, ribbon, beads and threads from my stash, ALL of which had been used at least once on previous blocks. And as always, the signature chain stitch and row of bead trim (although this time it was gold instead of crystal) were in this block. And I finally decided that, like all traditional crazy quilts, this block needed it's spider web and spider...

I am avoiding "Birds of a Feather" --- it's that the next speciality stitch is in metallic thread, not my favorite mesium to stitch with... But I will get back to it this weekend. I HAVE to! There no other WIP to procrastinate with!

2012 - A Year of Challenges - Week Forty

A day without internet, thanks to a gardening husband and his sharp little spade adn a very close encounter with the internet cable! But I have to give him credit --- after finding out from customer service that it wouldn't be until monday after 5 PM that someone could get out here to repair it, he talked to the dealer downtown and they had someone out last night instead! So only one day without. Bad enough!

However, every bad event has a good side. I stitched instead of hovering around this laptop for three hours --- which meant I got a LOT done this week!

In addition to the day of Rhodes Squares on "Birds of a Feather" and TAST 2102 Week 40, I did a fabric toss for the color palette challenge and kitted up the last Stash Buster Club project! Then, yesterday, in all that freed up time, I stitched the Stash Buster, called "Diamond Scraps", using my different shades of brown and dark yellow from my scrap bag:

Then, once this was done, I attacked my Color Palette/Crazy Quilt Journal/Bead Journal Project challenges with some gusto. The colors weren't exactly my cuppa but all but one had been used in previous blocks, and I managed to arrange them in a grid (block 12) from Pin Tangle's "I Dropped the Button Box" crazy quilt. I set about adding my signature chain stitch swirl and a strand of crystal beads in addition to some ribbon, a piece of lace, and a small jewelry finding. Not a lot of embroidery on this one --- just didn't have the mental energy to tackle complex seam treatments so some of the seams aren't touched at all. I MIGHT come back later and try to embellish further, but I figured that I was at that point where attempting to add more just would mess it up.

The October sections of "Kimono - Revisited" are in now so I think I may spend the weekend trying out my new rayon thread straightening device and working on that. I'll report back on what I think of the device (it came highly recommended by one of the Shining Needle Society gurus so I expect it will do wonders for my love/hate relationship with rayon threads!).

Color Palette/Crazy Quilt Journal/Bead Journal Project Challenges - September 2012

I struggled with this one --- somehow, the color choices didn't resonate with me, even though MOST of them were used in other blocks. I suspect the black and gray are the culprits, although I am getting a tad tired of blue and orange! LOL

The color challenge was posed by Judy Laquidara and VIcki Welsh back in the beginning of September and is based on a photo of a mineral spring at Yellowstone National Park. All fabrics, beads, threads and laces are from my stash. The block grid was a slightly modified block six from the "I Dropped the Button Box" over at PinTangle. As usuall, I added a strip of lace, some crystal beads and my "signature" chain stitch to tie the series of blocks together.

That white thread lower left --- a stray --- don't know why I didn't see it before!

A completion...

The August Color Palette/Crazy Quilt Journal/Bead Journal; Project Challenge:

The color palette can be found here: http://www.patchworktimes.com/2012/08/01/august-color-palette-challenge/. The grid I used was block 59 of the " dropped the Button Box CQ" over at Pin Tangle: http://pintangle.com/2012/07/07/introducing-block-59-of-the-i-dropped-the-button-box-quilt/  Because of the stars in the red fabric lower right, I decided to use stars elsewhere on this block --- and luckily I have LOTS of star-shaped buttons so... I experimented with a button cluster, a la Kitty and Me: http://kittyandmedesigns.blogspot.com/2011/04/tutorial-how-to-make-button-clusters.html to cover up a very long seam and acute angle as defined by shawkl: http://www.shawkl.com/2012/07/bcq-tutorial-dealing-with-long-seams.html

2012: A Year of Challenges - week 32

I hate having to do this but I haven't found a new blog yet so until I do, I guess I'll just take my chances. I've been trying to save this blog as well as testing out three possible replacements (Tripod, Weebly and Ipernity are all failures so far... I can't do anything on Tripod due to disk limitation, Weebly will take my photo galleries and I can copy my blog text but I can't copy my blog photos, and Ipernity will only let me insert one photo per blog...)

I didn't get much done this week. between a plumber fixing two leaks, another plumber checking out our HVAC for the regular annual check-up, a notary with papers to sign (we finally sold our "vacation" house - closing is the 14th!), picking up my fair entries on Wednesday (it was supposed to be Tuesday night but I slept through it), and quilt guild on Thursday,  stitchery took a back seat this week.

But I did accomplish a few things...

I assembled the basic block for my Color Palette/Crazy Quilt Journal/Bead Journal Challenge for August:


I have only half a border of the fourth color to do on "Birds of a Feather":


And I finished (late, of course, but finished) a small sample of the Take A Stitch Tuesday week 32 (Cast On Stitch):

Color Palette/Crazy Quilt Journal/Bead Journal Project for July...

The color palette comes from Judy Laquidara's Patchwork TImes and at Vicki Welsh's Field Trips in Fiber while the grid for the basic block was based on  Block 57 of the "I dropped the Button Box" crazy quilt at Pin Tangle. I used a lot more beads this time since I felt that the previous blocks had been getting skimpy with regard to the bead journal project part of things.

2102 - A Year of Challenges, Week 27

In the past week, I have completed a) three Christmas ornaments on perforated paper, b) one rather tacky attempt at TAST week 27, and c) the latest lesson from the Stash Busters. I took my fair entry form (five categories this year so I won't make my money back, even if I won first in all five) in to the fair office and I paid my entry fees.

On Sunday, I started a new project which I have had kitted up for some time - "Birds of a Feather", designed by by Yvonne Horn of Papillon Creations which was published in The Gift of Stitching. I'm stitching this on 32 ct pewter linen (not because I think it's the right color choice but it was the only piece of 32 ct I had that was large enough):

The border is basically half-done now...

I also started on my July Color Palette/Crazy Quit Journal/Bead Journal Project: 

The color challenge was based on a Picasso pastel shown and posted on Judy Laquidara's Patchwork TImes and at Vicki Welsh's Field Trips in Fiber: Funny thing was, as I was piecing together the block (based on Block 57 of the "I dropped the Button Box" crazy quilt at Pin Tangle), what kept coming to mind was a tee shirt I own from the University of Florida --- at least until I put in the yellow piece! LOL Go Gators!

Since it is so dratted HOT (100 before NOON, for gosh sakes ---I thought I'd left this kind of heat behind when we left Saudi Arabia!), I plan on stitching this afternoon after I get all my computer tasks done --- assuming, of course that my laptop stops dropping out --- so far, iPhoto has crashed twice and Safari once in less than 30 minutes!

Anyway on the stitching agenda today is "Kimono- Revisited" --- the instructor is getting antsy since it appears the entire class has slowed to a screeching halt on this thing, and has threatened dire consequences if we don't start posting pictures again!

Two completions yesterday...

The first to be finished yesterday was the Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge for week 24 - the buttonhole wheel:


The second was the Color Palette/Crazy Quilt Journal/Bead Journal Project challenges block for June...
The color choices were based on the COlor Palette Challenge which used a photo of a Stargazer Lily: http://www.patchworktimes.com/2012/06/01/june-color-palette-challenge/ and http://vickiwelsh.typepad.com/field_trips_in_fiber/2012/06/june-color-palette-challenge.html
The block grid is here: http://www.patchworktimes.com/2012/06/01/june-color-palette-challenge/  --- block 29 of "I dropped the Button Box" on Pin Tangle.

What is more, I even beaded on "Ornaments ala Round" --- 7 of the 20 ornaments that required beads were completed and an eighth started! Yippee! I WILL get it finished this weekend (blood work and a quilt guild meeting tonight mean there won't be much beading time today) and I MIGHT get it to the framers before our house guests arrive Monday (and my stitching time dissolves completely). Fair registration is July 2 - 16 so it has to be at the framers ASAP!

2012: A Year of Challenges - week 22

I tried, I really tried ... but I simply do NOT enjoy stitching these darned evergreen boughs and even though the only time I didn't stitch on "Ornaments ala Round" was when I did this week's TAST, I made very little progress - all the dark green in the boughs, half the medium green, and no light green:

Still have all that metallic and beading to do as well!

The June Color Palette Challenge is out... it is based on a photo of a Stargazer Lily and can be seen either on Patchwork TImes or at Vicki Welch's blog.  Here is my fabric toss for this month's challenge, which will also serve as the basis for my bock for the Crazy Quilt Journal Project *and* the Bead Journal Project for June as well:


I plan to use the grid from block 29 from Sharon B's "I dropped the Button Box" project. I've already prepared the foundation and planned out fabric placement.

The new "Stitching Guide" needlepoint class by Janet Perry starts this month, and there is a new set of 13 stitches for "Kimono-Revisited" waiting in my project basket. In addition, there will be the usual TAST and I expect another couple of small needlepoint projects from Janet Perry (Stash Buster, Mittens & Mini-Socks and Color Through the Ages) to arrive shortly. Looks like prioritizing is going to be a big issue this month because, while none of these take a lot of time, each takes at least two days away from stitching on Ornaments...

Two completions and a work-in-progress

First, here's my Take-a-Stitch Tuesday band for week 19 - half-chevron stitch:

I had already stitched three versions when I realized that I had too much slant in my stitch and realized  I was stitching it wrong... When I figured that out (lower left of the band), I decided to bail for the time being and use the correct stitch in my Color Palette/CrazyQuilt Journal/Bead Journal Project block for May... It's the red stitchery on the green ribbon, embellished with orange and pale yellow seed beads, in the lower right quadrant:

The color palette is the one provided by Judy Laquidara and VIcki Welch; the block is 6 x 6 square per the rules of the Crazy Quilt Journal Project and uses the grid for block 52 of Sharon B.'s  "I Dropped the Button Box" crazy quilt on Pin Tangle; and is also being stitched to satisfy the May installment of the Bead Journal Project.

My WIP is continued progress on "Ornaments ala Round", a Glendon Place chart:


Empty spaces are eventually to be filled with Kreinik braids and Mill Hill Seed Beads. I can tell you now --- I do not like those evergreen branches --- murder to count, for one thing. And I seriously doubt, now, that it will be done in time for the fair... Oh well, c'est la vie!

CQJP/BJP/Color Palette Challenge for April

This one went quickly... my Crazy Quilt Journal Challenge block:


It's based on the grid pattern of block 47 from "I Dropped the Button Box" on Pin Tangle and the colors in the Color Palette Challenge from Patchwork Times. . Seam treatments are based on one of  the Take A Stitch Tuesday 2102 series over at Pin Tangle (basically, "half" whipped wheels) with some chain stitching and blanket stitching as well. Beading (#6 and #11 seed beads)  of the lace and seam treatments as well as the snail shell charm are for the Bead Journal Project for April.

Checking back in to say I did a fabric audition

for the Crazy Quilt Journal/Bead Journal/Color Palette challenge for April --- my, those moldy greens were hard to match and I'm not sure I really got there  (because, while I have TONS of blue fabric, none of them were quite there on the very light and very dark values...) but...
 
Here are the fabrics I picked form my stash:


In order to keep at least one fabric in common with my previous (March) block, I kept the medium brown and instead of going in a pinky-orange direction, I went in a browny-orange direction instead. And the moldy greens became teal/sea blues instead.

And here is the basic block --- requiring only seam treatment embroidery and beads to be done!

The block grid I used was Number 47 from the "I dropped the Button Box" crazy quilt Sharon B is doing over on Pin Tangle.

Now to start stitching!

CQJP2012/BJP2012/Color Palette Challenge combo for March

This piece was influenced by the color palette challenge issued by Judy Laquidara and Vicki Welsh. The Crazy Quilt Journal Challenge requires at least a 6 x 6 block and I used the grid from block 53 of Sharon B's" (of Pin Tangle) "I dropped the Button Box" project. In addition, stitches from the Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge adorn the seams: couched stitches, chain stitches , detached chains (Lazy Daisies) and chevron. The Bead Journal Project aspect of the piece was the beading throughout the seam treatments.

Two completions...

"Medallion" from the Bargello Club for February 2012:

Backgorund stitched in Kreinik fine (#8) white braid (032); medallions stitched in GAST Maple Syrup and Bittersweet, DMC 30676 and Kreinik  fine (#8) dark orange braid (027).

Crazy Quilt Journal Challenge/Bead Journal Project/ Color Palette Challenge block for February:

Lots of acknowledgements to announce! This piece was influenced by the color palette challenge issued byJudy Laquidara and Vicki Welsh. The Crazy Quilt Journal Challenge requires at least a 6 x 6 block and I used the grid from block 39 of Sharon B's" (of Pin Tangle) "I dropped the Button Box" project, modified to accommodate ten fabrics. In addition, three stitches from the Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge adorn the seams: Cretan, herringbone and chevron. The Bead Journal Project aspect of the piece was the beading throughout the seam treatments.

All fabric was from my stash of quilting cottons. Mill Hill beads, DMC floss and scraps of ribbon and lace from my stash completed the piece.

This means I can stitch on "Sewing with Mama!" while I wait for "Kimono - Revisited" threads to arrive!

Crazy Quilt Journal Challenge 2012/Bead Journal Project 2102 - January

Here it is:
Lots of acknowledgements required here. First of all, the colors chosen were from the Color Palette Challenge being made by Judy Laquidara over at Patchwork TImes, based on the color palettes developed by Vicki Welsh at Field Trips in Fiber. I chose my fabrics, all cotton, form my stash based on how that palette looked to me on my laptop --- of course, I found out two weeks later that some called what I thought was purple maroon or burgundy... oh well, it's my eyes, right?

I assembled the crazy quilt base using the Block #1 grid from Sharon B at PinTangle. I enlarged the pattern so it would result in a 6 x 6 block, as required by the CQJC, and transferred it to a piece of white craft felt which became the piecing foundation for my block.

Seam embellishments all came from my stash except a piece of pale blue lace (it looks white in the photo) which I found at Hobby Lobby (It appears I don't have a lot of lace in my stash!) and a length of lime green sparkly ribbon I acquired from my local stamping/scrapbooking shop.

Maybe participating in the Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge influenced me but most of the embroidery stitches were based on the first three weeks of that challenge: Buttonhole stitch, Fly stitch, and Feather Stitch. I used a chain stitch to "connect" various areas of the piecing. Threads used were all DMC: 311 (dark blue), 550, 554 (two shades of purple) and 907 (lime green).

I then embellished the lace and some of the stitches with seed beads (Mill Hill 02031- clear lime green and 02069 opaque purple, and a generic white opaque luster bead) and couched a string of decorative crystal bead edging along the strip of lace.

It needed some balance so I stitched and beaded a "copy" of the motif in the light purple fabric over to the right in the dark purple fabric.

I did all the embellishment "in hand" --- I learned something from this block --- leave enough extra on the piece so I can use a hoop next time!