Embellishing !!

Those of you that I referred to this blog in an effort to help you start on your first CQed block........this is for you!

You have your naked block ready for embellishment;WHERE do you start?
Is there a designated theme or colour scheme____?
It's time to see what is lurking in your stash and how/where to use it.

BRAID:
One of my friends has a cute trick of embroidering over the braid and adding French knot flowers and lazy daisy leaves to a length of braid meandering over a seam.
LACE:
Cotton laces are the way to go! Old d'oyleys cut up or lace(by the metre)These can easily be changed from stark white and ecru to "aged"with tea,coffee or Parisian essence.I tend to use Ozecraft dyes,and my microwave to change colour and silk ribbon to match.
Small sections of curved lace can be turned into fan motifs.
EMBROIDERY:
All sorts of threads and stitches are available.If you're a newbie to embroidery(hand),check out SharonB's "inaminuteago" blog for a comprehensive "how to"
Threads? You'll probably start off with your stranded cotton,silk or rayon threads by DMC Madeira etc.There are also some great crochet threads in perle in both plain and variegated shades.
Cascade make gorgeous silk threads and Edmar's rayon(Brazilian) threads have five or 6 various weights and umpteen colour variations.(The Edmar can be a wee bit tricky initially,but well worth the effort to master their trickiness)
MOTIFS:...lace.
Charms,beads,
Buttons........MoP;vintage buttons,cute buttons! Singly, or in groups(button and bead trails)
Broken jewellery...............
you'll see that your embellishing is limited only by your imagination.

Embellishments

The block embellished by ChrisF,features a shisha "pond",ruched ribbon as a meandering path,and even trellised sweet-peas;topiary trees and a cat or two lurking near fences.

My eagle eyed friend in Victoria is chortling that yet again I've stumbled in my posts!
With apologies to Chris,I'll endeavour to correct that error!

Linda's entry in my Logbook explains what she did and why 

This is one of the blocks;embellished by LindaB.Linda's specialties are Tatting and using waste canvas to x-stitch motifs.In this block you can see various seam embellishments:and they don't have to cover a seam.....they can meander anywhere! 

A naked block awaiting embellishment.The stitching denotes the area to be worked in,and there is allowance for a half inch seam,plus extra (foundation fabric)in order to allow for use in an embroidery hoop 

Page one of my Logbook: 

Starry starry nights

"Starry starry nights
Paint your palette blue and grey.........." (with aplogies to Don Maclean's lyrics)

The Q/S quilt below was commenced in 2002 as a Friendship Swap on another site.The 15 blocks I received were not sufficient for the bed I had in mind,so with a few planning hiccups along the way........
e.g:
an 18 inch block that was to be the focal point,until it got "too hard" to design four triangular blocks to offset the main one!
I used two fabrics to sash the blocks in the hope of achieving a degree of unity and used a star fabric for the backing.

I had already over run my original finish date,which was July last year,so I planned for April 18 this year,and managed to come in under schedule,a first for me.

Within 10 minutes of placing the quilt on the bed for photos,Jesse (our black "panther) had checked it out,and given the quilt his "Paw of approval"

Jesse's paw of approval 

Finally completed!