BDEIG RR and TAST 2010

The next Round Robin that I received was from Maureen.  She had found a very cute embroidered pillow pattern that she she thought would be nice done in BDE instead of flat embroidery.  Here is a photo of  the way the original  pattern had been done.   The pitcher and flowers were colored with crayons and then outlined in chain stitch, with just a couple flowers done in dimensional embroidery.

She asked that we add all of our flowers with BDE.   When I got Maureen's project, two other participants had added some wonderful flowers.  They had added wonderful flowers.  I wish I'd written down the names of them so that I could share them with you.  Most were pastel shades, but there were some tiny deep wine ones, too.  I decided to add flowers and leaves in the area that had the large flowere on the original pattern.  I decided to use a deep wine and a pink to balance out the color of the small flowers in wine.  The flowers that I added are called "Joan's Rose".  I found the directions to make it in the book, "Brazilian Embroidery 101" by Cheryl Schuler.  This flower is made using bullion stitches to make the center with cast-on petals surrounding them.  I made mine with Lola and the leaves with Iris.  I improvised a bud that I thought looked good with the flower.

This is how they fit in with the rest of the project.  I liked the way they looked with the flowers that had been added previously.  I then added a vintage button for the row at the bottom. I look forward to seeing the entire bouquet of flowers once it's completed.

I finally got time to work on the second TAST 2010 challenge from Sharon Boggon.  The stitch was the knotted Loop Stitch that she'd found in the book A-Z of Embroidery Stitches 2.  I first did the stitch as the directions stated.  I tried it in a smaller, closer scale and liked that.  Trying it in a circle was interesting, but I didn't keep my stitch dimensions too even.  I think it might be easier on regular fabric, rather than on Aida cloth.  The wavy sample might work for great seaweed or something.  My very favorite was repeating the one side of the stitch in the same hole.  This produced a fan shape that would make a wonderful seam treatment or, if done on a larger scale and embellished, will make a great motif.  I'll try these two on a crazy quilt patch and post it at the end of the month.

If you'd like to find out more about Sharon Boggon's TAST ( Take a Stitch ) for 2010 check out her blog http://www.pintangle.com/