A bumble bee has found it's place

on the fabric that was once  my children's nursery fabric.

When I started this small crazy quilt, I knew I just had to incorporate a piece of this precious "memory" fabric into it.

 I then embroidered the bumblebee and I also embroidered the main part of the small flowers, including the trunk of the tree....................

I did not want to add too much embroidery to this piece..............

I want the delicate design to remain...........

I think this small stitching adds just enough..........

don't you?

As you can see in the bottom right hand corner........I have embroidered a daisy or two.........

but that will be for a later post to see.

I also decided to create one more border stitch........the little red french knot flowers add just enough "life" to this red piece of fabric.

I am almost through with this little piece of "craziness" and I will soon show you the whole quilt.

I am still not sure what kind of border I will add...........

do you have any suggestions?

I would love to hear.

When I stand before God at the end of my life,

I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left,

and could say,

"I used everything you gave me".

Erma Bombeck

I have always loved Erma Bombeck and this saying  holds so much meaning to me.

There is still so much I want to learn..........to try...........to accomplish as I watch the time on

" life's clock"

tick on.

How about you?

 Have you discovered your many talents and used them all?

Beaded flowers and a graceful butterfly

have now been added to the small crazy quilt I have just started. I have had these beads for a very long time...............handed over to me by my husband's grandmother..........a long time ago. As you can see, I still have basting thread running through...........I am still not quite finished with this section.

I am still in the process of embroidering the butterfly............it seems the more I work on this quilt, the more ideas begin to unfold and to reveal themselves.

In researching "the craziness of crazy quilts" I have found some to be  heavily embroidered and embellished............and so pretty. This small quilt is a representation of sorts of .............

my life.

I don't have that much "craziness" in my life.............as of yet.In fact, I try to avoid a lot of" craziness"

My life is  more simple, yet filled with (what I think to be) beauty of many forms. Along the journey of incorporating that into my quilt............I am not sure how heavily it will be embellished. But I have really been enjoying the path of this "crazy journey"...........and I find myself anticipating to get it finished. I am hoping that by the time I have finished, I will have a quilt that is full of stitches, embellishment, yet still has a simple charm to it.

How about you?

Is your life like a crazy quilt,............ bold and full of sparkles from life?...............or do you have a more quiet path to walk along?

I would love to hear!

Working Your Embroidery Into Other Mediums

I have embroidered on just about every kind of linen throughout all of my years...........always leaning toward my love of pillowcases and bed linens. Over the past weekend, I gave my needle a try at crazy quilting.........something I have always wanted to try............it is a wonderful way to use small pieces of embroidery  and a wonderful way to incorporate my embroidery into my other love..........

quilting.

And I have always loved embroidering little pieces..........pieces I embroidered to send to customers to show samples of my stitch work...........(the days before I had computer and a digital camera)

little pieces just because they were whimsical or pretty. The one piece above I love because I stitched my favorite saying to it. That saying I clung to throughout the first 20 years that we lived in a scary neighborhood on busy city street. I made up my mind during that time that I would definitely bloom where I was planted. ................I must say, I am so happy that I have been transplanted to my country life I live now. {:

I am blooming in a so much brighter way.

In my stash of fabric, I have many floral prints with roses and leaves...........

I think they are my favorites................

what is your favorite material design?

I decided to embroider over one of the printed roses for the crazy quilting..........I love the way the texture is on this..........don't you?

This is material I hold dear to my heart.........it is what I used for my children's baby nursery.........the crib pads, the baby quilt.......the pad on the changing table.........and a few bibs. It always brings back those sweet memories. I think I need to embroider a bee or a butterfly here...........

what do you think?

Along with learning the new stitches that accompany crazy quilting...........I took use of my
"creative license" and made my own leaf scroll to go with the green fabric.

I also had to add some blue and white............

I think I will work some stitches over the white flowers............

and here it is...........in it's very beginning stages.I made the "bloom" embroidery my main center piece and will work and add around it.  I still have much I want to do and to add. I am planning on making this a small wall quilt..........I have more flowers, a butterfly or two and of course there has to be a chicken pecking in there somewhere.

How about you?

 Do any of you crazy quilt or do regular quilting?

Do you add embroidery or other embellishments to it?

Do you incorporate your embroidery into something else?

I would love to hear..........and see! 

For the weekend,

get creative with your favorite color!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Finding Inspiration For Embroidery Designs

As most of you know, I live out in the middle of nowhere,...........Texas...........

and in the middle of mesquite filled woods. There is never a day that I am without inspiration to find something for a great embroidery design. Long morning walks and the bounty from Mother Nature provides an unending source.

However, I find wonderful ideas for an embroidery design in fabric. I love botanical prints and vintage fabric with faded flowers and leaves. I have always love the cluster of these blue flowers on a piece of upholstery fabric I have had for years.............

A pretty flower to stitch, using french knots in the center and center ring, and shading with long and short stitch.

I have always loved leaves...........with their various shapes and changing colors..............

one can let their imagination run wild when it comes to stitching leaves. Shading done in long and short stitch and .............a new stitch I will show you at the end of this post..........to make the veins of a leaf more raised.

What designs do you like best in fabric? Is it the chintz roses? perhaps a group of floral sprays?

I would love to hear!

As you can see in the photo above, the center vein of the leaf is raised and draws more attention.

This is called an overcast stitch............I use it in embroidery like this, but I also use it when I am monogramming a design in white work.

Using 3 strands of the color you want your leaf vein to be, lay the strands along the vein line. With one strand of the matching color, couch.......or tack a few stitches to the strands along the vein line to keep the strands in place. Now you are ready to stitch......

This stitch is made up of tiny, upright satin stitches, worked very close together over a group of threads, resulting in a raised line. Starting at one end of the vein line and using 1 strand of matching thread, cover the tacked threads with small straight satin stitches, making sure to pull the thread firmly so that there will be no loose threads along vein. Work the stitches all the way to the other end of vein, making sure all threads are covered. Push needle under the design and secure in the stitching underneath and cut. Your veins should look wonderful after your shading work on the leaf is done.

So go out and take a walk to look at leaves..............or find your favorite material in your stash and create something!

Most importantly.........have fun!