Here's my first post, and it's late, but for a very good reason: an attack of vertigo has laid me up for the last couple of days!
This is a block I started for the Stitch Twelve group, with the plan of doing a block a month, each using a color from the color wheel until we had done twelve colors. Well, January's block took me two months, and now I'm re-evaluating whether or not I want to continue with that plan.
The Stitch Twelve group was working on straight stitches in January, so you will see seed stitch, straight stitch, back stitch, cross stitch, laced running stitches, as well as French knots, detached lazy-daisies, and couching.
The little gold straight stitches on the heart and the black background are printed on the fabric. But I did use little gold straight stitches on the gold arrows, which were meant to mimic the arrows in the fabric. Debra advised me half way through that my arrows need to be pointing to something, so I appliqued a heart down and couched gold braid around it. This had the added benefit of breaking up that long line of hour glass figures!
The flowers in the upper right resulted from a motif we were learning in another group. I thought they would fit in well with this block, but when finished. . . hmm. Not so much.
I added the cross stitching, the heart beads, and the ribbon as a way to integrate them into the composition a little better, and I echoed them along the bottom of the block.
This is the first time I have used a stack of buttons, so that was a learning experience as well. These buttons had stems, which made them difficult to position correctly and to sew down securely.
All in all, this was a good learning experience. I learned and used new stitches that I ordinarily wouldn't use. (I'm not a fan of straight stitches much!) I tried some new techniques. The result is. . .the result. A little fussy for me, a little off in some of the colors and the balance of the design elements, but...finished!!
9 comments:
I like this! Your flowers nicely introduce another element and a direction of movement in the mainly red, gold, and black block. A nice variety of stitches, too.
Hope the vertigo is under control and you are feeling better.
Lots of lovely stitches, the ribbon flowers work well and I adore your buttons. Pleased you are feeling better.
I think this block turned out fabulously! Having the heart in the middle and at the end of the arrow points works so well on many levels. Thanks for trying that suggestion.
I think the floral bouquet works very well & all the lesson stitches blend well together too.
You should be proud of this block. Although I can see how a detailed block like this one could take 2 months to stitch. It is OK to scale back. (We talked about that before--)
Those button stems are called shanks.
So glad to have you in the group. I hope you don't give up on this! The block is wonderful! The colors are rich and the stitches are well done. Everything seems to work together so well and I don't think it is fussy at all.
I can sympathise with the vertigo. Do you know what causes yours? I get vertigo also, but only occasionally and it usually lasts just a few days. The doctors claim it is ear problems but I'm not convinced, but who knows. I've been living with it since I was 12.
It's a beautiful block, and I love the flowers! You have so many wonderful textures and so much variety. You are ahead of the game with straight stitches being this week's TAST!
This is just stunning! The colors are striking and your stitching is fabulous. Have I used enough big words yet? Well done and worth waiting for.
Beautiful a real master piece such variety I love it all
I love the little ribbon flower bouquet on this block! The white flowers echo the white hourglasses. The cluster of flowers echos the cluster of buttons. The size and scale work nicely with other elements on the block. I also like the repetition of hearts in various sizes and styles. What's not to like? With this much lovely detailed stitching it would probably take me two months too!
Love the beaded ribbon. So many beautiful details!
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