CQJP2015 January completed - & some Crochet textures

  Crazy Quilt Journal Project 2015  .  

I had a great week of stitching and this block for January is now finished.

    Red January   

Entirely hand stitched, with a couple of pieces of crochet for embellishment.

To recap my theme:

Embroidery threads will be the predominant form of embellishing.

Crochet lace or embellishing will be made specifically for each block.

I will be experimenting a lot with patterns and the build up of combination seam treatments.

   Texture in Crochet   

Just thought I would share a crochet project with you.

I love texture, and I love crochet..... so put the two together and I am in a happy place.

CQJP 2015 - January's Red Block

Currently, my January block for CQJP 2015 has the composite seam stitching mostly done.

I have been doing some fiberart crochet as well, but I can't share that with you yet until it has been published in it's intended book form later in the year.

New Year - New Beginnings - New CQJP

  Welcome to the year of change.  

This will be the year that hubby and I finally move into 'real' retirement. I may already be unofficially retired, but it's about time that Tony gets to enjoy more of life without having to work on the farm etc. He's worked hard all his life to provide everything that our family needs, and I know that, for myself and our four kidsies, we really appreciate all he has done for us.

His unselfish sacrifices have been made for the love and well-being of the family group, and now it's time for the family group to make some sacrifices for him. It may include spending a little bit of their inheritance (haha), but hey, he earned it in the first place, so I think he's entitled to enjoy a bit of it to help him retire and do what he wants, for a change.

I think he might have trouble relaxing though because he's not the sort of person who can sit around and do nothing. 

Always 'tinkering' with something.

  CQJP 2015  

My goal for the Crazy Quilt Journal Project for 2015 is to stitch one block a month as per the guideline/requirements.

The fabrics that I shall be using this year for my Crazy Quilt blocks will all be neutrals and whites, with some of the neutrals being my hand-dyed fabrics.

And, because I am expecting to be 'on-the-road' (or at least in the caravan) for most of the year, I am putting some limitations on what I can do, such as:

Embroidery threads will be the predominant form of embellishing.

Each block will have a different colour scheme (I'm hoping this will add interest in the finished quilt).

I will not be following the colour wheel, but will jump to whatever colour appeals at the time.

Beads, sequins & charms will not be used, as I wont be able to travel very well with them.

(I may add beads etc. in one go, at the very end, after ALL the 12 blocks have been made).

Crochet lace or embellishing will be made specifically for each block.

There will be no main overall theme for the blocks.

I will be experimenting more with patterns and the build up of combination seam treatments.

The blocks will be entirely hand-stitched, which includes the piecing of the naked blocks.

My first naked block - January

And the first bit of seam embellishing has begun.

This block is (obviously) going to be a RED colour scheme.

The dark fabrics here are not as dark in real life as they show in the photo.

CQJP January Block

CQJP January Block

Just a few days after the end of January and I have my block at a good finish point for the Crazy Quilt Journal Project.

So this is the 9 inch completed block so far.

And here are a couple of close-up pics

 

 

In that last pic you can see I've added a piece of crochet to a seam. 

I have decided to create a piece of crochet lace (or maybe two or three pieces) for each of my blocks. Crochet is my 'other' passion, so it feels very natural to include my own crochet on the crazy blocks. Crochet pieces will be designed and made specifically for the cq block and staying within the colour scheme. That will make my blocks even more 'personal' to me.

I shall be adding a raised stitch butterfly to the centre fabric patch at some time in the future, but I want to have a few blocks at the completed stage so that I can stitch a few at a time for continuity throughout the 12 blocks. 

I'm not sure yet what form they will take. I've still got that part on the project design board.

I'm happy to have the first block of my CQJP done now, and I look forward to getting February's block started. I'm really enjoying the challenge of working on these blocks.

My stitching 'theme' is not entirely traditional looking. I am trying to incorporate a more geometric look to the blocks as I don't want to go too 'flowery' with them (although a flower or two did pop up on this block, lol)

I love experimenting with pattern, line, shape and form.

That's all for now folks!!

Happy Stitching

.

Cy - BJP - January

Yay!!! I eventually got around to finishing the top part of my 'teardrop' pendant. Not bad for a beading novice I think.

I'm happy with how it turned out.

I purposely left some of the orange showing through as it's a great contrast for the black, and it enhances the gold semi-see-thru glass beads.

 

And finally.............. drum roll please..........my first bead encrusted Teardrop Pendant on a gold chain.

 

I also tried it attached to a black neckwire which is shorter than the chain and for using as a choker pendant. 

The photo below was taken at a different time of day and the colours are more true without the glare of the shiny bits.

This was a big learning curve for me. 

When I next use this encrusted bead embroidery technique I will do things differently. But that is what this BJP is for ...... to experiment with techniques that I may have not tried before, or to play with and develop techniques that I have enjoyed using.

February's BJP will be the same shape as above but a totally different technique that will be such fun to do.

WATCH THIS SPACE.

....Cy....

A link to the Bead Journal Project is in the right hand column.

TAST Week 3 - Feather Stitch

TAST Week 3 - Feather Stitch

Here are my experiments with Feather Stitches for this week.

And here is the journal page so far, with three week of TAST stitches.

I feel sort of cheated, or hard done by, with this stitch because I was very short of time to do any stitching this week, and I don't think I have experimented with feather stitch enough for my liking yet.

I may have to come back to 'play' with feather stitch some more when I get some spare time, but at least I did manage to get a few rows done in time for my weekly reveal on

Tuesday Stitchers Group Blog

BJP - WIP - January

BJP - WIP - January

My shape for this challenge has ended up a Teardrop.

The starting point for this piece is my own hand-made black and gold scroll bead that didn't make it into a necklace in it's own right (poor thing). 

I thought the orange felt background was suitable for showing off both the black and the gold. All other colours that I auditioned had a muted effect on one colour, and I want both colours to stand out equally on this.

And then I started the embellishing with gold beads.

When this pendant is finished it will be heavily encrusted all over and hopefully have the light reflecting off it in all directions. 

The bugle beads semi-circle are in two colours - gold and copper. I think they work well together. The orange background was a good choice here as it enhances the gold and copper beads.

I'm looking forward to working on the next section of it during this coming week. 

Very pleased with the progress made this week.