Ellen's Finished FFT #9 Block

YAY!!!! Ellen's block is finished!!! She'll be the first in our FFT #9 Round Robin to have her block come home... Ellen, I hope you like the work we've done on your block!!!!

Thearica was the first to work on Ellen's block, and she made the wonderful, whimsical beaded bluebird in the upper left corner, as well as the bright yellow daisy and leaves, the metal branch with the tiny birds and nest, angel charm in the center, scattered daisies, and the tiny mother-of-pearl birds everywhere. I love everything you did Thearica!

Click on the picture to see a close up view.



Next, Nicki made the beautiful garden that's growing across the bottom of the block, using her gorgeous hand-dyed lace flowers and leaves. She used French knots to create stalks of snapdragons, and then embellished it all with beads, sequins and charms. Buzzing and floating amongst the beautiful flowers are bees and dragonflies. Just gorgeous, Nicki! Click on picture for close up.

Next, Darlene added a beautiful fabric-transfer angel, (below), and then gave her a set of beautiful golden wings. There are pretty silk-ribbon flowers and a tiny butterfly to keep the little angel company. The frame is made from a delicate yellow braid and tiny pearl beads. In addition to embellishing several seams, Darlene also machine embroidered the little white bird sitting in the nest, just below the angel. Beautiful work Darlene!!! Click on the picture to see a close up view.

And, finally, it was my turn to play! I began by embellishing a couple of seams, and then moved on to make a beaded dragonfly in the upper right corner. Love those dragonflies!!!!! I've had some really nubby, lumpy Edmar boucle thread that I hadn't a clue what to do with, until I decided to use it for a nest and a branch to hold Darlene's adorable little bird. I was pretty happy with my first adventure in "boucle'ing!" (Happy I didn't mess it up!)

Everytime I looked at the dark blue patch that's next to Nicki's flower garden, I couldn't keep from thinking of a pond!!! So, I went for it!!! I used my Sulky variegated metallic thread and created the surface of the "water." I added underwater plants, stocked the pond with fishies (blowing bubbles), and a tiny dragonfly skimming along the surface. I then went back and created more "water" over the fish and plants etc. Then, just for fun, I added transparent sequins and beads here and there. The fish pond is my favorite thing that I did!

And, for even more fun, I sprinkled tiny, tiny little bees everywhere!!!! Love those bees!!!

Ellen, we all had a wonderful time working on your block!!!

My Finished Work on Thearica's Block

Thearica's beautiful block in our CQI FFT #9 round robin is rapidly making the rounds, and is nearly ready to find it's way back home. I've finished my work on the block and am ready to send it on to Ellen, who will be the the last to work on it before it heads back home to Thearica.

Nicki was the first to work on Thearica's block, and she started by adding one of her delicately beautiful hand-dyed pieces of lace in the upper right corner, which she then embellished with silk-ribbon embroidered flowers and beadwork. She then added a beautiful band of silk-ribbon roses, silk-ribbon leaves and embroidered trim - see the photo below. The little butterfly in the upper right corner is also Nicki's work.

Darlene was the second to work on the block, and her addition of the lovely white lace basket (which she made on her embroidery machine), filled with silk-ribbon flowers and leaves added to the block's elegance. She then added the adorable lace-framed kitten applique, as well as a great tag-sale find of a pin with a really cute kitten playing with a ball of yarn, adding the perfect touch of whimsy!! Darlene cleverly wrapped yarn around the existing metal ball before attaching the pin to the block. Darlene also embellished several seams on the block.

With each round of embellishing, Thearica's block is taking on it's own glitzy, glittery, girly personality!!!

Nicki added the really beautiful band of silk-ribbon roses and leaves, and then further embellished with pearls and buttonhole-stitch embroidered lavender trim. The ruched purple ribbon at the top center of the block is also Nicki's beautiful work.

The lavender-colored flower in the corner of the above picture is my work.

Using one strand of DMC thread, I made the tiny bees with four French knots (three wraps each), one black knot at each end, and two yellow knots in the middle. The wings are two metallic thread lazy daisy stitches on each side that are placed in between the two yellow knots. The dotted "speed lines" are tiny back stitches done with one strand of black DMC thread.

My favorite metallic thread is "SULKY Metallic 142 7026." It is soft, flexible, very easy to hand sew, and has a beautiful metallic sparkle. This particular spool is a variegated silver, blue, pink mix that goes with any background color. Just beautiful stuff!!!

NOTE: To give a bit of sparkle, you can substitute beads for the French knots. The remaining instructions are the same.

The web is made with metallic thread (see note above regarding SULKY metallic thread), and the spider is made with two drop beads, a small black bead for the head, and a larger iridescent blue-green bead for the body. The legs are made with glossy black beading thread.

I was the third to work on the block, and my additions were the fan in the lower right corner, the beaded dragonfly and the flowers just above the fan, the spider and spider web, the lavender colored flower in the upper left corner, the tiny bees in the lower left corner, and the cretan-stitch embellished seam across the top of the center patch. I also added beads, sequins and fluff in several places.

Hope you enjoyed seeing our work!

Finished My Work on Darlene's CQ Block

Darlene, your block is ready to go on to Ellen...

I finished my work on Darlene's CQ Block




Layered Seam Close Up

Close Up of Forget-Me-Not Flowers

Center Area of Block

July "Wings" Challenge

Following are three dragonflies I've posted in July's CQI "Wings" Challenge album.

Dragonfly Silky Painted for Kathi's HGTV CQ RR Valance

Painted with Jo Sonja's Acrylic Gouache

Beaded Dragonfly made for Tami's HGTV CQ RR Victorian block
The wings are made with clear iridescent dagger beads, the body is a cloisonne bead, and the tail is made from 6 iridescent oval beads.

Dragonfly made for Darlene's FFT #9 CQ block.

This dragonly is made from the same materials as the one above, except the wings are iridescent turquoise dagger beads. The head is a clear iridescent glass bead and the eyes are tiny iridescent Delica beads.

CQI FFT #9

Darlene's first peek of my work on her block.

Close up of the dragonfly on Darlene's FFT #9 block.

Naked Block

This is the beginning of my first CQ International Round Robin... I'm look forward to having a lot of fun!!! There are five girls in our group, Darlene, Ellen, Carolyn, Nicki, and Thearica.
Our CQ Angel is JoNZ.

Ellen's finished work on my cottage block...

Ellen was the first to work on my little cottage scene.

She embroidered tiny flowers on the rose vines and larkspurs.

I especially like the ones at the base of the mailbox!

You did a wonderful job Ellen!!!

I love the way Ellen sprinkled flower sequins and beads in the sky, and the clusters of yellow silk-ribbon flowers and leaves are beautiful!

Aren't Ellen's little bees cute?!!!!!

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The beginnings of my little cottage CQ block...

Painted Silky In Progress


Naked Block Close-Up

My naked block ready to make the rounds and get all dressed up.