Cy - Reveal of My July Block

Crazy Quilt Journal Project - My July Block

A Mandala Motif .

Detached Chains with a French Knot to anchor it. Pistil Stitch (purple).

Tubular petals for this half flower.

Love this simple seam.

The blue is Buttonhole bars and then added the white beads.

A very small amount of Algerian Eye stitch for TAST this week, and I shall have to play some more with it on my August block as I haven't really done it justice this week, but I still like this little 'starburst' shown here.

Well, that was quite a lot of work for the month.

Seven blocks down.....five to go.

Slowly getting there.

There are lots more photos of this block over on my blog 

Happy Stitching

Barbara's July TAST and CQJP

In between a couple of out of town trips I finished my July CQJP block.

Pink Basque stitch is accented with hearts.  The cardinal's branch has some oyster stitch leaves.

I added some fern stitch and button flowers to my faux ceramic pot.  I wish that green had a higher contrast against the blue background.

I pulled this crochet motif from the goody box circulating among some of the Tuesday Stitchers and added a bouquet of silk ribbon flowers.

There's the up and down buttonhole stitch in red, accented with more buttons.  The button stash got heavy use this month.

Carol - TAST, July Reveal

New Zealand

Sarah's going to let her pictures tell the story

Pohutakawa - NZ Christmas Tree

Land of the Long White Cloud

If its NZ then there must be a Kiwi - here's one walking out of the Toi Toi

and, of course, a little lone sheep

90 mile Beach, surf, penguin and stars especially for Cy

Harakeke - Flax Flower - used for weaving, making baskets, etc.

Facing Page

 Holiday romance?  Looks a bit old, would Great Grandmother approve?

Oyster, oyster and

more oyster!

Apologies if I've overstepped my share of the July Reveal

Cy - TAST Oyster & CQJP WIP

TAST week 30 Oyster Stitch

What a peculiar stitch this was. I had trouble getting the 1st part (the twisted chain) to stay down, but I think I eventually got it to BEHAVE enough for a fairly unison finish.

Here is the Oyster Stitch on my CQJP block for July.

Coton A Broder 16 in black on the left and white on the right of this seam.

And here is a little "playtime fun" on my Stitch Journal page

Love these scallops or swags.

And a flower burst

This is my Stitch Journal page for the last month or two.

Not all the stitches are on here as I did some of them straight on to my CQJP without trialing them first, but I shall probably add them to the Stitch Journal at a later date as I want them all together in one place.

CQJP July Block WIP

I have been gradually adding seam treatments and embellishment to the July Crazy Quilt block, and working through some problem areas with it.

Remember this from last week

Well, I didn't like it so I frogged it...... rippit, rippit,rippit.

And in it's place is this....

I'm not sure what it is meant to be haha.... but it was fun to do and it's staying.

It's possible that I got a little bit influenced by the Olympics. 

The crocheted trim that I added last week has had it's ribbon embellishment added, and I used a tiny cross-stitch in a light green metallic thread to anchor the ribbon in place rather than weaving the ribbon like I first intended.

As usual though, the metallic thread does not photograph well.

I wanted this trim to have a gentle and delicate look, as there are already too many 'chunky' seams on the block.

One more freeform stitched seam this week is this one that is not finished yet. I'm not going to think about what it needs yet, just have to wait and see what happens on the end of my needle on the day it gets it's topping.

Lots of beads to be added to the July block over the next couple of days hopefully, and then it will be finished before next weekends reveal.

That's all for now.

I hope you have a great stitching week ahead.

Happy Stitching

Cy - TAST Basque & CQ block

My journey this week took me down memory lane as I used the thread that I had re-found.

...the story starts HERE on my blog

And I turned it from this.............

to this..............

Personally, I think it is beautiful, but I am probably a bit biased about it.

It's like planting a twig that grows into a beautiful tree.

It is such soft thread that I might use it for a special crochet piece later. 

Anyway, that was my TAST Week 29 - Basque Stitch on my stitch journal.

And here it is on my CQJP block for July.

Six strands of cotton floss in pale aqua, and reversed in lilac silk embroidery ribbon.

Not sure if the long and short twisted chain part worked to create a wavy line. I may have ruined it with the beads. I might frog the beads as it was better before I added them.

I also made a crochet trim for this CQ block. It is meant to have a ribbon or cord woven along it, but I haven't done that part yet as I'm undecided what to use, so this is a WIP.

And I've been doodling in the midnight hours again.

A Mandala Clock.

I've had a request from the IFFCG to make two more books for "The Missing Years" of the Freeform Crochet Challenge's that never had books published. Years 2006 & 2007..

I will be starting them in September as I have my current "big project" deadline for the end of August, and that is taking a lot of my time at the moment.

Not a lot of Spring cleaning got done after all this week, lol.
Ah well, back to stitching.

Happy Stitching

Cy - TAST - CQJP July block

I had a little 'playtime' with this stitch on my stitch sampler journal page.

I have no idea 'what it is meant to be', but I suppose, being freeform style, it does not have to actually BE anything at all.

Stitching, just for the sheer enjoyment of stitching.

And onto my July CQJP it goes......

One ......

Two .....

Three ......

...CQJP...

I finally managed to get my naked block for July made.

 I have a lot of catching up to do on this block if I'm to complete it before the end of July.

So far I have only got the one seam stitched which is the TAST stitch above.

So much to do, so many stitches yet to trial.

And as i forgot to post this last week, here are my six completed blocks so far.

I've just tucked the raw edges underneath for this photo-shoot. There will probably be black(ish) sashing between the blocks. I am still undecided on that yet, and they won't be in this format either.

That's all for this week.

Keep dry, keep safe and Happy Stitching.

Cy - TAST stitch

I've not got much to show this week. 

The days have just disappeared too quick and I've also been having problems with my long-suffering shoulder injuries again, but I'm in denial over that because I really cannot be doing with THAT major surgery again. Positive thinking will make it go away, right?

So here is my TAST Bonnet Stitch for this week. Worked on a square of my hand dyed linen that will  be made into a stitch sampler book later.

These two rows are worked in different ways. The top row is with the first 'wrap' going OVER the bar then under it from right to left (as in Sharon's instructions)............. and the second row has the 'wrap' first going UNDER the bar from left to right before going over it (as in the link Debra gave us, and also in my old stitch encyclopedia).

Personally, I prefer the second method. This sample was stitched with no.12 Perle cotton (nice and chunky) and shows the stitch well.

This next pic is still the Bonnet stitch. An experiment to see if it would work around tight corners. Took a bit of concentration to get it to look even on all three sides. Almost got it right, but not quite, lol.

Pale blue 'candlewick' thread used.

The Bonnet Stitch did not inspire me to get creative, but that does not mean I don't like the stitch. I actually found it a rather therapeutic stitch to work, and I will be using it again perhaps with some experimental seam treatments on the crazy quilt.

CQJP

Non-existent this week. I've not even got the naked block for July made. Hope to catch up during the week.


Sorry, I completely forgot to take photos of all 6 blocks that I've completed so far. I'll get it done for the next reveal hopefully (if my memory doesn't desert me again).

Inspiration

I have been watching a few crazy quilts progressing through the months, block by block, and I have been very impressed with how lace doily's have been incorporated in the blocks, so when I saw this pile of crochet, needlewoven, and tatted doily's in my local charity shop, I knew I had a future use for them. 19 in all and bought for peanuts.

And this Damask tablecloth...... have been added to my 'embellishing' stash.

Happy Stitching