Sendai Block is Really Finished

This is the block after I have worked some more Bamboo on the left hand side, thanks to Gerry's wonderful suggestion and the gold work on the Crane completed.  It will be winging it's way to Leslie in America before the day is done, (the block, not the Crane, LOL).

Hearts and Hands for Sendai Block Completed

This afternoon I finished my Hearts and Hands for Sendai block.  I'm happy with it (I think) although DH suggested I should put something in the corner with the crane.  As far as I am concerned, the Crane is so big and so glitzy that it doesn't need anything else in that corner. I will now post this block off so that it can be included in the fund-raising quilts for Sendai.  What shall I do next?  I guess I should finish off the "Found Objects" cream on cream quilt block while I wait for the next block in the Tone on Tone Round Robin to turn up......plus every time I get one of those blocks on which to work my 1/5 of the embroidery, I also do 1/5 of the hot pink/red block for Debbie's tote bag.

I have also been out in the garden today and picked aother sixteen mushrooms from underneath the grapefruit tree, which is where I picked a dozen or so last week.  I have scoured the rest of the back yard but there are no more in the other places where I found them last week.

Doing the Happy Dance !! Japanese Koi finished!!

After yet another four hour stint stitching, the Stumpwork Japanese Koi are finished.  They are not perfect but I've had enough of them, I want to move on with other seams and pieces for the Hearts and Hands for Sendai block. I have managed to shut up that whinging, whining Mrs Perfect who lives inside of me and wants everything to be just so.  Well, I have a message for her, the Koi are going to stay just the way they are because I want to get on with pond plants, Bamboo, Fans and everything else Japanese.  I set myself a challenge to do the Koi but I had no idea just how long Stumpwork takes.........ages!!!! Not to worry, I can move on now.

Stumpwork Koi fish on Japanese block

I have been thinking, drawing and finally stitching three Koi fish for the pond in the centre of my Hearts and Hands for Sendai block.  Here is the first fish and the five steps I had to take before I got there.  I am not particularly happy with the tail end which looks a bit thick and fat but that is due to the fact that I padded it with orange felt first.......maybe I shouldn't have done that???  Nevertheless, the other two will have to be done the same way as the first, I can't unpick him now!!  I stitched the fish in ONE strand of stranded cotton which had been dyed bright orange and bright golden yellow and used Blanket stitch, each row stitched into the one before.  The high-lights were sewn with one strand of Kreinik orange blending filament while his eyes are two black glass antique beads.

 Steps 1 and 2 in the top photo and steps 3, 4 and 5 in the bottom photo.

Naked Block for the Japanese Fundraising Quilt

I came home from work today and went straight out to the studio for three hours to sort through my fabric stash for some suitable jewel coloured fabrics for my block.  I even found two Japanese storks which I didn't know that I had and attached one to the block with fusible web to keep it in place until I can stitch around it.  Anyway, I think this naked block will give me lots of scope for incorporating Japanese icons such as Cherry Blossoms, bamboo, maple leaves, pagodas, fish, fans - I am looking forward to starting the embroidery on it now. Here's my naked block with only the pink bird iron in place.  The middle piece looks like water to me so I might start with a bright orange Koi.  There is not a lot we can do to help the people of Japan at this time apart from offering our prayers of support so hopefully when we have finished the quilts, the money raised will go a long way towards making life just a little bit more bearable for some.

2011 Tone on Tone RR

Yesterday I received Susan's naked block in the Southern Cross Crazies Tone on Tone Round Robin. I had no idea just how much stuff in the teal/purple/pink colour range I had in my stash until I started looking. Wow, it was like Christmas come early. Anyway I sat up last night sewing and again this morning and here is the end result. My only problem was remembering that there are four other people besides me that will work on this block and to make sure I only did 1/5th of the area.  I hope Susan likes what I have done because before I started, the block looking oriental now it looks floral.

PARASOLS Block 12 Cream on Cream Crazy Quilt Finished.

These are my Parasols for the March Victorian Symbolism Challenge for CQI but it is also Block 12 for the Cream on Cream Crazy Quilt.  I have had the hand-made broderie anglaise circular lace motif for ages - it consists of the circle in the centre, the flowers joined on individually with a few over-sewn stitches and finally the ovals around the outer edge were sewn on separately at the end. I kept picking it up and deciding that it just didn't suit any of the crazy quilted blocks until this one. It made a perfect parasol top!!  First of all, I appliqued the lace motif to cream satin and attached the tatting around the edge. It was still a bit ho-hum boring so I cut the parasol shape out of the cream satin and appliqued it to some darker fabric which matched the lace.  It was still missing something so I added the pearl beading and that's how it stayed while I finished off the rest of the block. This morning I added the parasol spines, ending each one with a 'grain of rice' pearl and a round pearl in the centre and voila! A parasol viewed from the top. 

The other parasol is the one that I embroidered last week while watching the DVDs of my nephew's wedding. Because I didn't want to take away from the parasols, I concentrated on the seam treatments and on some really unobtrusive flowers which hopefully will remain in the background.