Sunny
You need ribbon - green velvet, cranberry silk, blue satin. Gold and silver thread for some snazzy stitching. Gold and silver threads are right contrary but they will work okay if you're just doing a few inches. Maybe just a few tiny pearls. Rosettes. Do you know how to gather one edge of ribbon until it forms a flowery-looking circle. We can do 'oomph'. Polly
They're lovely, Sunny!
Very sweet blocks, just right for your pink and lace mother! If you want to add some oomph, try some nice clear (not quite lime) green, and some sparkly beads (or trim), as well as the extra lace and colored thread. PAT
Buttons, Sunny. I forgot about buttons. Tiny. Very lightweight. And if we're going to get entirely carried away, you might transfer a picture or two to that nice photo sheet fabric and toss that in. Polly
I agree, Sunny. I would also use a fairly bright rose color tone on tone as a narrow sashing between the blocks. (Understand, I do *not* "do" pink, but this one needs that bit of brightness to help set off the blocks. You might try doing some of your decorative stitching with metallic or "hologram/glitter" thread to make it pop a bit more. Also doing a double row of decorative stitching, one just to each side of the seam line might help if you don't have really wide stitches. Blocks are looking good though.
Pati, >
Charms can also add a lot. So can fabric clothing labels, the "old" kind that are woven fabric, customized for a shop or designer or such. Silk ribbon embroidery by machine can add some dimension, as can all sorts of other dimensional techniques (Think ribbon work, ruching, and so on.)
Pati, > Buttons, Sunny. I forgot about buttons. Tiny. Very lightweight. And if
Pati, how the heck do I do silk ribbon embroidery by machine? And where would I get that kind of silk ribbon? You sure don't find it in Wenatchee.
Sunny
There is a wonderful book, Simple Silk Ribbon Embroidery by Machine, written by Susan Schrempf, published by C&T Publishing. It has wonderful illustrations and step by step instructions. Silk ribbon for embroidery are made by YLI and Superior Threads, that I know of. You can order directly from Superior if you wish. Their ribbons are wonderful, variegated and fairly new to the market. (They were just getting them in stock and on the order list when I was at the Seminar in Feb. ) You can also check any stitchery source that carries silk ribbon and other embroidery supplies. Doing the SRE by machine takes some practice, probably more than doing it by hand, but when/if you get the hang of it, it goes fast, and all the ribbon stays on top of the fabric. (Note: you also want invisible thread to do it, that way the thread doesn't "interfere" with the ribbon. )
Lots of fun.
Pati, > Pati, how the heck do I do silk ribbon embroidery by machine? And
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