Pics of finished hats and items.

Been A while since I posted but was well worth the wait.

It has been a while since my last post, but I have been busy on a personal challenge to make one hundred items to donate to our local hospital and I am well over half way there. I started the middle of June and it is now almost the middle of August and with little or no effort have been able to accomplish this little miracle. I will finish this set and then set out to do a series of special items for nursing homes, shelters, and those in need. I like to be a secret angel so only put a card on my work so that when it goes to the hospital they know it is acrylic, cotton and how to wash.

I hope to share some with you. A lot of the patterns are adaptions of patterns I have found on line and some are those that I have created as I went along. One can soon learn many variations on a pattern when they set a goal this high.

I highly recommend the site http://www.yarncat.com as a great starting point for adult hats and have used a lot of their patterns int he beginning. I then graduated to my own and a series of my own in both knit and crochet for preemies and small babies. I also have some christening dresses on the horizon to finish as well as three sweater sets. Sounds ambitious but it sure is helping to do stash reduction in yarns.

Prayer Pouch for Lynn

This is the front and back of a prayer pouch that I made for a special friend

who asked how I made the bridal roses of the bridal pillow.

She offered to send a brazilian embroidery pattern for the cost of postage and I wanted to make her something special to remember me by so I chose to put two or three different versions of how I do my roses into the pouches.

On the front there are several shades of 7mm wide purple to lavender and they are free handed as I work along. I added stems, bead works and a flirty little butterfly to the front. On the back I used another silk ribbon technique to do a rose branch and added some lace and beads to this as well.

I also shared some different ways and sizes of satin bridal roses that I enjoy making. I am so used to making them right on the garment that it is hard to describe as there are several ways to make them. I will try and do a little tutorial on them when time settles down.

I hesiate to post this as I am not sure if this has arrived at " Lynn's " home or not, but we will see.

Beautiful Pin Wheel from Rengin in Turkey

Above are several photos of the gorgeous pin puff I received from Rengin when I offered to make her a prayer pouch. It is decorated with her infamous "oya " flowers and very dainty work. I feel so honoured to have received one. I also got a lovely postcard and bookmark which I shall treasure, but not as much as the two miniature doilies crocheted by her mom, whichi will be added to the back of the pin puff so that I will never forget where they came from and the amount of work that went into them. These are crocheted with what we would call machine sewing thread, they are gorgeous as well. I loved this Rengin and will treasure.

Lots on the go and finishing.

I have finished another prayer pouch for a special friend and it has gone in the mail and I will when she does receive hers along with some satin handmade roses.

I received the most beautiful pin puff from my Turkish friend Rengin in return for the two prayer pouches that I have made for her.

I will share these photos when I get on the main computer. I finished up the stitching on a crazy quilted one yesterday afternoon.....the background is maple leaves in gold and the accent piece is a unicorn ear ring that I found at an antique shop some time ago. I used one on this pouch and one on my dd's Christmas stocking, which I must finish.

I have so many little things to finish that it is scary and while I am in the process of doing same I keep on stitching away on other things. Like a lot of fiber artists I am continuously thinking.

I have at least three large clutch purses to put together and they will go into my hope chest to be given away someday when my heart lets them go. I have at least five long christening gowns on the go and two more on the way to being complete. I do want to do long slips with matching crochet lace on them to accent them.

I have two borders on my Angels in Blue quilt to hand quilt and I will then add the ribbons and flowers to this one and e had a lot share.

I have had a lot of requests on how I do my prayer pouches and all I can say is I will share how I do a basic one as no two are the same. Depends on how the fabric speaks to me.

I was inspired by the works of Pat Winters of Gatherings when a friend sent me two kits, one for me and one to do for her.

I was also given a pouch made by Pat from my friend Rita Geoff as a Christmas gift one year and fell immediately in love with it.

Well, enough chatter and I must get some more pics up. Been getting ready for a family get together this week coming and have let the poor blog lapse.

Have a great day. I am also learning Brazilian embroidery and admit I have fallen in love with this technique and the realism of three dimensional floral work.

I will also put some tutorials up on how I do my ribbon flowers as there are not a lot of blogs on silk ribbon or ribbon art work. I love it.

Friendship Block

Tribute to An Angel

-
A butterfly fluttered to my window and made me stop and stare,
Twas not an ordinary butterfly as she held a special glare.
As she approached the window I was compelled to open it wide,
The little butterfly flew in gently and landed by my side..

She fluttered from room to room and finally settled in,
To the most comfortable spot in my home, it was my sewing den
She went up and down the bookcases and through the fabrics too,
Then landed on a quilt top that it appeared she knew.

She winged her ways across, almost every block before,
She stopped and lingered on one a little longer more.
She stopped on a button and spreads her wings open wide,
Then flew down and landed on a bead on the other side.

Before I knew what was happening the quilt began to talk,
It started to tell me stories and then it seemed to walk.
It said when you were down and needed me, I was there
to comfort you,
When life seemed so empty my threads and fancies pulled
you through.
When life seemed so hopeless and you felt so all alone,
A group of angels gathered and made me in your home.

A true labour of love as anyone can plainly see, lots of love
caring and full of memories.

When the little butterfly stopped and hovered over square,
I saw a little angel dust appear from out of the air.
A little teardrop filled my eyes,and slowly down my face,
I felt an inner peace come over me, it was a saving grace.

This feeling did not leave me and the tears began to flow,
The little butterfly fluttered over each block in a row.
It seemed to flutter twice when it landed on a name,
Then the memories came floating back and more teardrops came.


Froggie was the siggy and beside it was a boullon frog,
Holding onto a fishing line and sitting on a log.

Next to her was Priscilla dressed all in purple and red,
Stitched with such softness it was a loving thread.

Roses, roses everywhere and such beautiful lace,
Sandi had touched this quilt and left her dainty grace.

Marianna and her love for fully embellished seams,
Left her siggy and embellishments and a special dream.

Nark had left a collection of Carole Samples designs,
Amazing what can come out of a little stitcher's mind.

Carolyn left a little girl on a button with praying hands held high,
Now where did I find that button, and it lit up the sky.

Beautiful Brazilian embroidery covered one little square,
It was not hard to tell that Rita had stopped here.

A dainty little floral square covered with tiny laces
Gayle had added angels and tiny little faces.

A collection of tatting, silkribbon roses too,
Chatty was the name written on this block in blue.

As the butterfly was flitting from one block to another,
It stopped and lingered on one word or another.
One name was missing from the square and she spun a special thread,
And inscribed the word " Barbee " in gorgeous red.

I watched so very closely to see what the butterfly would do,
Would she go out the window or stop and visit you.
Sh flitted to my shoulder and seemed to whisper in my ear.
Do not be sad my little angel for I am always here.

I am in each and every block, in every stitch I made for you,
I am free from pain and sorrow and no longer live alone,
Heaven is my mansion, but I can still visit you at home.

I can tell you different stories that you might want to hear,
But, just pull out the blocks that we have worked on over
the past ten years,
Hold them in your hands and hug them and know they were
made with love.
Now, they are safe in heaven and resting with me above.

I still have my memories, the good ones are all I knew,
But once a year I will come down and visit you.
So when you see a butterfly flitting on your window pane,
Open up the window sill and let me in again.

Excuse me little angel I must be on my way,
I have nine other angels who are waiting for me today.
They have not forgotten me,nor will I ever forget them,
I have a lot of flying to do but will return again.

Love
B

(c) L. Boudreau out of love and respect for Chatty's Angel " Barbee " 2008

Prayer Post Two

This is the second prayer pouch that I made and finished over the past week. I added floating hearts, some fantasy flowers and a little cupid to the top. A trick I have learned in working with the fringed bead work is to hide it under a seam on the lace or a ribbon of it's own and you can feel confident that it will work.

I hope to do a step by step to how these are made and will share on my blog along with a basic pattern as each one changes in size and shape.

Prayer Pouch One

This little prayer purse is what has been keeping me busy the last few weeks on and off finding time to work on it and say a few prayers at the same time. I hope it brings happiness and joy to the new home it will soon arrive at.

I sincerely love doing this as they are a true labour of love and creativity and all are lined with batiste and backed with dress linen.

First attempt at Brazilian Embroidery

I am so pleased with the kit that came with this beautiful piece and seeing as it is my first attempt using these radiant threads and working with the twists and beautiful colours I am very pleased.

I love how the little hydrangea turned out and this is square one in my quilt.

I received this kit as a gift from my special Chatty's Angel Sister Carolyn as a gift for doing her wedding pillow and I cannot thank her enough for leading me down this embroidery path. I am hooked.

Rose Swag Pouch

Spring Cleaning my sewing room I decided to set aside some small pieces of tone on tone fabrics and lace as well as some ribbons that were left over from other projects, beads as well and a second pouch is now designed.

The overall size of these finished and lined are about 4.5 x 6.5 depending on the main fabric I have to play with.

I enjoy working with ribbon and want to start using different types of flowers as well as techniques.

Boquet of Roses Pouch

With Easter upon us and the bulbs popping through the ground it reminded me of my beautiful rose bushes that I had planted last year so I decided to take their colours and use them on a pouch.

Vintage Colours Block

This one is ready to play with today. The motif will not necessarily remain in the same spot and there will be more definition in the work as it goes along.

Fourth Gold Block Finished

This is the fourth and final block in the wall hanging that I have to do. I just have to decide how to sash and this and the other three will be hung on a wall. Reason being, so much swag and swinging beads.

This will now sit on the back burner while I finish up, and or start some new items.

Bridal Pillow Finished

This is a bridal pillow that I have designed and made for a friend who has her grandson getting married in Mexico.

I was asked to make a larger pillow than normal so it could be used later so this one is twelve inches in diameter excluding the lace.

My largest challenge was the names. I ended up placing them on fine linen and then bordering them with hand rusched bridal satin and dotted them with pearls. I then went in and added some rosettes and floating hearts.

Most of the silk ribbon work in the centre fills a six inch diameter spot and has some teardrops added to the large ribbons 15 and 35 mm and small hearts as well as pink/blush 7 mm gathered roses and 7 mm over dyed green ribbon for leaves. I then used a green and added baby's breath and used mill hill beads to put on the end.

I also added beads to the bridal motifs then were added and added different collages of lace and beads to them as well as silk ribbon roses in large with floating teardrops.

The large six inch lace section is gathered and pleated by hand and attached from the back, with pearls securing it to the pillow top.

Swags of bridal satin ribbon are held onto the four corners with satin rosette ribbons and beads.

The pillow inside is made of batiste and the moire' is also back with the same batiste fabric so this pillow can be used after the ceremony.

Small bridal satin ribbons hold the rings on and floating hearts fall from the centre know with a cascade of pearls.

I do hope the new bride to be enjoys this pillow as making a larger than normal one for me was a bit challenging.

Bridal Pillow

Corner of bridal pillow with name cross stitched with metallic threads and surrounded by bridal satin and beads.

Block Four and final Block

This is the final block in the series. I had originally covered all of the seams in the brown wildflowers threads with very long stitches so had to remove them gently.

I will take a break from this one until after work today and then decide on how to work with this.

I have added another little face to the block, but she probably won't stay on this one, but one doe not know until they get moving along. I have to remove the brown stems or do something creative with them as well. I am also not sure that the green and gold braid is staying as I would like to curve this and do some rusched ribbon work so it blends with the rest.

Have a great day stitching.

The lady block is done in the gold block series. I have one more to do and this will be finished. I like the way she turned out and had a difficult time deciding on what to do to make her stand out, but not stray away from the other blocks and the bottom piece of metallic gold and black lace lead the way, the silk ribbon work above softened her. I would put a face on a block again.

Face Mold

When designing the third block in my gold series, I had a plant pot with vines coming from it and then one of the quilters online asked for some examples of face cab use and I decided to try and see what I could do with a simple one. I am very pleased with how she turned out and this is the first one that I have actually worked with detail on the face.

I had purchased the small faces from "Leslie " and wanted to work with them as I use them in my beaded flowers. Click on beadwork and you can see them in my blog. I received these one's glazed and at first did not know where to take them from here, but now must admit that I like the glaze as it gave me the opportunity for self shading.

I first took the cab and highled the face with two coats of nude nail polish., lingerie coloured or whatever shade you like. I then took some pigma pens and did the eyes, eyebrows ( which I would change in the next one ), outlined the lips in a deep red, ( must get some suttler shades ) and then went back in and highlighted the lips and eyes in black. I felt she had a vintage look to her.

I then took an eighteen piece of 7mm over dyed ribbon and cut six inches off. I first gathered along one edge and and kept this close to the top of the cab for a full hair. I then gathered the other twelve inches and lowered the placement and tacked it around the cab. This cab is held on with double faced tape as if I decide that I want to, I can now go back in and add an adhesive, but I am pleased with the soft feel of double faced tape without the hardness of glue and the fact that I did not have to bead around this particular face. I then added a little bead each side for ear rings, add a fluff of feather to the top and a deep rose with a pearl.

As the vines were already stitched I had to decide what to do for the background so I chose a sort of Mother Nature attempt and did beaded lilacs ( in other words groups of four and five beads clustered on the ends), and went back in with a darker green thread and worked leaves and sprigs. I feel she is as finished as I want her to be on this block as I do not want her to take over the block as it is only six inches. I hope to work more on this one today.

Second Gold Block

Friday when I went to finish this block the bower of roses changed my theme of sticking with a small pink flower on every block. I wanted to move out a bit more. I am still keeping with using up small amounts of things I have saved. For example the tatting was a design that never did make it anywhere else, but it did fit well on the project. I also scrunched some gold toned ribbon and collages beads. I did cut the dangling cluster of beads that was hanging as it did not look like it belonged. I love the little fairy hiding under the beads and used some special sequins from my friend. I have one more block laid out and and fourth one to pull some stitches out of and then I can proceed further. I am truly enjoying this challenge.

Gold Block

I picked another block from a little stash that I had prepieced to do a purse for and decided to work on this to see if I could get the sttiches back in line again as it has been so long since I did seams and silkribbon work.

I never throw anything away. The wild rose at the top left is a small piece of 17mm hand dye that was cut into thirds, each was gathered separately and then added as if the wild rose was with large petals, the little white beads added to this. I also took a piece of green that highlighted this and it also was a leftover and cut it in two and did a loop stitch and tacked it under for leaves. I had previously started to work bead work on a large piece and tossed it into a bead box and pulled this out as it seemed like a nice accent on the rose piece. Another piece of ribbon came out just as I was about to rusche a piece of off white ribbon and it was satin brown, it went beautifully into a bow. The heart button and the dangles were saved from a project that they did not work on before. I just re threaded them. On a purse I would leave them dangling on a block I secure them down. I have now laid out another gold block as I have had four of them waiting to be worked on for about a year now and see what develops.

Pink, beige and white Block 6" square

I found this a very soothing block to work on. As you can see from a previous post I have removed the rose and put a fluted flower with a beaded pistil lop at the end of the gathered and rusched ribbon. I also removed the flower with the white in it, as it was taking over the block. I like how the little bouquet of roses adds to the design in the middle and the bleached wooden buttons fade out as if the little dragonfly is going to land on them.

I will have to place a new work in progress on my table so that I can start something new to work on. I do want to do the Piecemakers block, but want to warm up a bit with some smaller ones.

Playing with Colours

This is a block that I made as a spare and now I have taken and started to work on this one.

I love the suttle colours and a touch of pink just seems to add to the beauty of this block.

I have the Piecemakers pattern for this year and wanted to start the large quilt and take away from the black in the background and perhaps I have innocently stumbled upon a colour that I can work with other than the blacks, greys and whites. I love the concept of the quilt and also love the layout, but when I look at all of the dark colous in it it makes me feel cold. I know it is out of darkness as it rises from the ashes. A picture of the quilt I hope to start on this week is at http://www.piecemakers.com/ and is not only a quilt but a calendar as well. I have started collecting butterflies to keep putting onto the quilt.

Labour of Love Gift Block

This block was created for a friend and hopefully when this one arrives there will be more so that she can have a wall hanging or prayer quilt.

I chose suttle colours and was going to stay with a suttle theme and that did not work. I felt compelled to keep working and working on this block and now it is time for it to start it's journey home.

I truly enjoyed working on this one, and have started to work on a second one that I am going to set aside and allow it to motivate me to keep stitching.